Summary
- More than 14,100 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the official death toll from Hamas’s attacks stands at about 1,200.
- Israel and Hamas agree on Qatar-mediated deal for a four-day truce in Gaza and release of 50 captives held in the enclave.
- 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails will be freed as part of the deal.
- Israeli PM Netanyahu says agreement does not mean war will stop, vows Israeli military will press on after the pause in fighting.
- Israeli bombardments continue overnight across Gaza, including around Indonesian Hospital and in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
As the Hamas-Israel war drags on, here are the latest updates:
10am
Israeli forces raid hospital in the occupied West Bank’s Tulkarem
According to the Wafa news agency, Israeli soldiers raided the emergency department of Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarem and forcefully arrested an injured patient seeking treatment there.
The condition of the injured patient is unclear, reports Al-Jazeera.
Earlier, it was reported that two strikes hit a house in the Balawneh neighbourhood in the Tulkarem refugee camp, wounding at least three young men.
9:55am
Qatar confirms humanitarian pause, exchange deal for Gaza captives
Qatar, a mediator in the Gaza truce talks, has confirmed that a humanitarian pause has been agreed in Gaza.
A statement posted by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided additional details including that:
- The starting time of the pause will be announced within the next 24 hours
- The pause will last for four days, subject to extension
- The agreement includes the release of 50 civilian women and children currently held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of several Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons.
9:41am
150 Palestinians will be released from Israeli jails under deal: Hamas
BBC in it`s breaking news says;
“We’ve been hearing from Israel on the hostage deal signed off by the cabinet a little while ago. Hamas has also released a statement on the agreement.”
The statement, published via the Palestinian Information Centre which carries the group’s official statements, said the 50 hostages would be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children being held in Israeli jails”.
The deal will also allow hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid, medical supplies and fuel to enter Gaza, according to Hamas, writes BBC.
The statement added that Israel said it would not attack or arrest anyone in Gaza during the pause in fighting.
And it said that during the four-day pause, air traffic will completely stop in southern Gaza and will halt for six hours a day, from 10:00 to 16:00 local time, in northern Gaza.
Hamas, considered a terrorist group by many countries including the UK and the US, abducted around 240 people from Israel during its brutal attacks on 7 October.
9:36am
US Jewish group that opposes Israeli war on Gaza welcomes truce
IfNotNow national spokesperson Eva Borgwardt says her organisation welcomes “the temporary cessation of hostilities between Israeli and Hamas”.
“Negotiations must build on this agreement to secure a long-term ceasefire that is still urgently needed to end the bloodshed, bring every hostage home, and rebuild Gaza,” she said in a statement.
“As the millions calling for a ceasefire have been saying for over a month, this deal is proof that there is no military solution to this crisis.”
The group has opposed Israel’s military operation in Gaza and has long been a critic of the Israeli “apartheid” against Palestinians.
Source; Al Jazeera
9:31am
Hamas releases more details on Gaza truce agreement
The Palestinian group confirmed that the temporary ceasefire agreed to by both sides would last four days, reports Al Jazeera.
In a statement shared on Telegram, Hamas said this means that during this period:
- Israel will stop military actions in all areas of the Gaza Strip, including movement of military vehicles
- Hundreds of humanitarian aid trucks, including medical and fuel supplies, will be allowed into Gaza
- Drones in southern Gaza will stop for four days. They will stop in the north for six hours per day, between 10am and 4pm local time
- During the truce period, Israel “is committed not to attack or arrest anyone in all areas of the Gaza Strip”
- Freedom of movement will be guaranteed along Salah al-Deen Street
Hamas also said that 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons would be released as part of the deal, Al Jazeera added
9:29am
Deal is designed to encourage more hostage releases
BBC’s Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem, Yolande Knell said,the deal is designed to encourage more hostage releases. While it initially allows for 50 women and child hostages to be freed in batches by Hamas in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting, the deal has evidently been structured to encourage further releases.
The incentive is a longer pause in fighting: “The release of every additional 10 hostages will result in one additional day in the pause,” the Israeli government statement says.
That clause is an important one for the hostage’s families, some of whom had told me they didn’t want to see a partial deal, Knell writes. It is also expected that the 50 hostages to be released would be those with Israeli nationality or dual nationals, he added.
9:23am
Partial hostage deal, says Israeli media
The government approved early Wednesday morning a partial hostage deal that includes a pause in the Gaza war in exchange for a release of up to 80 out of over 239 people seized by terrorists during Hamas’ infiltration of southern Israel on October 7, reports Jerusalem Post.
Opponents of the deal warned that it will harm Israel’s ability to secure the release of all the hostages and complicate Israel’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza. They also warned that it will be difficult to resume the war once it has been temporarily halted, the media added.
Netanyahu dismissed those charges explaining that the IDF planned to resume the war once the deal was executed.
The Religious Zionist party headed by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the Otzma Yehudit party headed by Public Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir stated before the meeting that they planned to oppose the deal, although the Religious Zionist party ultimately voted in favor of the deal early Wednesday morning.
Such an agreement is “bad for Israeli security, bad for the captives, and bad for the IDF soldiers,” the RZP stated before the meeting.
It noted that obviously, its heart went out to the families and that it, like them, wanted to see all the captives safely returned.
“It is precisely for this reason that the deal should not be approved,” the RZP said.
9:08am
Full Israeli government statement on Gaza deal
“The Government of Israel is obligated to return home all of the hostages.
“Tonight, the Government has approved the outline of the first stage of achieving this goal, according to which at least 50 hostages – women and children – will be released over four days, during which a pause in the fighting will be held. The release of every additional ten hostages will result in one additional day in the pause.
“The Government of Israel, the [Israeli army] and the security services will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza.”
Source: Al Jazeera
9:00am
Israel’s approval of Gaza deal comes amid continued pressure on Netanyahu
The Israeli government’s approval of the temporary Gaza truce deal comes as Netanyahu has faced weeks of pressure from the Israeli public, most notably the families of captives held in the bombarded enclave, reports Al Jazeera.
Netanyahu said ahead of the vote – announced shortly after 3am local time in Israel (01:00 GMT) – that he spent last night meeting with some of those families.
He told them that returning their loved ones was “a sacred and supreme task”, Netanyahu said.
But the Israeli prime minister has also been clear that he has no intention of ending Israel’s war on Gaza.
“Let me make it clear,” he said earlier, “we are at war – and will continue the war”.
He said Israel will not stop until it achieves its goals, which are “eliminating Hamas, returning all of our hostages and assuring that … Gaza will no longer threaten Israel”.
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