Israel-Hamas war, Day 46 LIVE updates | White House says hostage deal closer than before

Israeli settlements (in occupied territory) are contrary to the two-state solution in the Israel-Palestinian crisis, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are in Delhi for bilateral talks and the 2+2 dialogue.

Senior Hamas officials on Tuesday said that an agreement could be reached soon in which the militant group would release hostages and Israel would free Palestinian prisoners.

Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating for weeks over a hostage release that would be paired with a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and the entry of more humanitarian aid. Similar predictions of a hostage agreement in recent weeks have proven premature. – AP

Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in an urban refugee camp and outside the gates of a nearby hospital on Tuesday as the army expanded operations across northern Gaza, where residents have been without electricity, water or access to humanitarian aid for weeks.

The front line of the war, now in its seventh week, has shifted to the Jabaliya camp, a dense warren of concrete buildings near Gaza City that houses refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants. – AP

Israel on Tuesday re-affirmed its declaration of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a ‘terror organisation’ ahead of the 15th year anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 persons, including six Jews, were killed.

“Yes, I can confirm it. It’s not a new thing and it is actually from 2013. It was recently re-published because of a bureaucratic error but it is not a new thing,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson, Lior Haiat, told PTI.

The Red Cross said that its president had travelled to Qatar to meet with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh “to advance humanitarian issues related to the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza”.

“President Mirjana Spoljaric met with Ismael Haniyeh, Chair of Hamas’ Political Bureau, and separately with authorities of the state of Qatar,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.

– AFP

The Galaxy Leader commercial ship was “illegally boarded by military personnel via a helicopter” on Nov. 19 and is now in the Hodeidah port area in Yemen, the vessel’s owner said on November 20.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis released video footage on Monday showing armed men dropping from a helicopter and seizing a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea.

Read more here…

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, more than 45,000 Ukrainians have sought refuge in Israel, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics and aid groups. Most of them were slowly picking up the pieces of their lives and finding ways to cope when the war in Israel erupted. Now they are reliving their trauma. Some have left Israel, but many remain — refusing to again flee a war. Most have lost in-person support systems due to restrictions around gatherings. Others have lost hope of reuniting with loved ones they left behind.

Some Ukrainians have been forced to move within Israel since the war began. About 100 children sheltering at a Jewish home in Ashkelon fled soon after Hamas attacked to the center of the country, said Yael Eckstein, of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a philanthropic organization that supports the children.

It was the second time they were forced from their home in less than two years — they fled a city near Ukraine’s capital and evacuated to Israel during the early weeks of that war. They’re struggling to process everything, Eckstein said, with one asking: “Since he’s now living in a war zone, why can’t he go back to Ukraine?”

– Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend November 21 virtual summit of the “BRICS-Plus” grouping that is being held to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict, officials confirmed.

Unlike all other countries in the grouping, India has taken a stand that is closer to that of U.S. and other western countries.

PM Modi to skip BRICS-Plus virtual meet on Israel-Hamas conflict today, EAM Jaishankar to attend instead

PM Modi will not attend the virtual summit of the “BRICS-Plus” grouping that is being held to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar would join the event instead

Talks underway between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel are about a temporary truce for arranging entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and a hostages-prisoners swap deal, Hamas official Izzat el Reshiq told Al Jazeera TV on Tuesday.

“The expected agreement will include the release of Israeli women and children hostages in exchange for release of Palestinian children and women in the occupation’s prisons,” he added.

The details of the truce will be announced by Qatari officials, el Reshiq said.

– Reuters

India has welcomed efforts for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas conflict as well as efforts by the international community aimed at de-escalation and delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine.

Speaking in the Informal meeting of the plenary in the UN General Assembly on a briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj on Monday stressed that the message from the Indian leadership has been “clear and consistent”.

“India welcomes all efforts by the international community that strive towards the de-escalation of conflict and enables the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine,” Kamboj said.

– PTI

The conflict between Israel and Haman is expediting many changes in regional dynamics, with the growing presence of Russia and China offering regional players alternatives to an American vision.

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The Israel-Hamas conflict and bombardment of Gaza could “pause” progress on India-U.S. trade, and connectivity initiatives, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) and the India-Israel-UAE-U.S. (I2U2) groupings, U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said.

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Hamas officials are “approaching a truce agreement” with Israel and the group delivered its response to Qatari officials, the leader of the Palestinian group, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a statement sent to Reuters by his aide.

There were no further details about the terms of the potential agreement.

– Reuters

Relatives of some of the 240 people held by Hamas in Gaza urged far-right Israeli lawmakers on Monday not to pursue proposed capital punishment for captured Palestinian militants, saying that even talk of doing so might endanger the hostages. A number of suspected gunmen were detained after members of the armed Islamist faction breached the Gaza Strip border on Oct. 7 and went on the rampage, killing over 1,200 people and kidnapping others, Israel said.

Israel’s Justice Ministry said on Nov. 7 that a task force was discussing how to try the Palestinians who had been detained and secure “punishments befitting the severity of the horrors committed” for those convicted.

Some of the relatives of the people held captive by Hamas in Gaza worry the publicity around the capital punishment debate could invite reprisals even as hopes of a deal to free some of them is growing.

– Reuters

A top World Health Organization official described the hospital situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” on Monday, saying most are no longer functioning and what remains will likely be overwhelmed by thousands of births expected in the next month.

The United Nations briefing came hours after a shell struck the second floor of a hospital in northern Gaza, killing 12 people, according to the Health Ministry and a medical worker. The ministry and the worker both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital.

– AP

Japan has said that it is “directly approaching” Houthi rebels, who recently hijacked an international cargo shop in the Red Sea, according to Al Jazeera.

Tokyo announced on Monday that it is “communicating with Israel” in addition to other countries in an effort to get the Galaxy Leader released.

The ship is notably owned by an Israeli businessman and is run by a Japanese company.The previous day, as the ship was travelling from Turkey to India, it was attacked by a group of rebels from Yemen. According to the group, Israel’s “heinous acts” in Gaza were the reason behind the attack.

– ANI