Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their cease-fire until Wednesday, raising the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war.
Eleven Israeli women and children freed by Hamas entered Israel on Monday night after more than seven weeks in captivity in Gaza in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce. Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived early Tuesday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah. The prisoners were greeted by loud cheers as their bus made its way through the streets of Ramallah.
The deal for two additional days of cease-fire raised hopes for further extensions, which would also allow more aid into Gaza, which has been battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive that have driven three-quarters of the 2.3 million population from their homes.
But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas’ military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza. That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.
Roughly 240 hostages were captured by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that ignited the war. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza. About 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas.
Currently:
— Israel and Hamas extend their truce, but it seems only a matter of time before the war resumes.
— US tells Israel any ground campaign in southern Gaza must limit further civilian displacement.
— The family of an infant hostage pleads for his release as truce winds down.
— Freed Israeli hostage describes deteriorating conditions while being held by Hamas.
— Blinken will return to the Middle East as US hopes for longer cease-fire and more hostage releases.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Here’s what’s happening in the war:
TEL AVIV, Israel — Kfir Bibas has spent nearly a fifth of his life in Hamas captivity.
The 10-month-old was abducted from his home in a southern Israeli kibbutz on Oct. 7, when Palestinian militants snatched about 240 people and dragged them to Gaza.
Kfir, the youngest captive, was among about 30 children who were taken hostage in Hamas’ assault. Under a current temporary cease-fire, Hamas has released women, children and teens, but Kfir hasn’t been included on the lists of those set to be freed.
With his red hair and toothless smile, Kfir’s ordeal has become for many a symbol of the brutality of Hamas’ attack. With most other young hostages already released, Kfir’s fate and that of his 4-year-old brother, Ariel, are now a rallying cry for Israelis seeking the speedy release of all the hostages. A demonstration in support of the Bibas family is being held in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
“There is no precedent for something like this, for a baby who was kidnapped when he was 9 months old,” Eylon Keshet, Kfir’s father’s cousin, told reporters on Tuesday. “Is baby Kfir the enemy of Hamas?”
Kfir Bibas’ family, like other relatives of captives, has been tormented since Oct. 7. They have received no sign that he is still alive and wonder how such a helpless infant can cope with being in captivity for so long.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Officials say CIA director William Burns and David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, are in Qatar for talks on extending the Israel-Hamas truce and releasing more hostages.
Qatar has played a key role in mediating with Hamas, and helped broker a cease-fire that went into effect on Friday and has been extended through Wednesday. So far, Hamas has released 69 hostages, including 51 Israelis, and Israel has released 150 Palestinian prisoners.
A diplomat confirmed that Burns and Barnea were in Qatar on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. The diplomat said officials from Egypt, which has also served as a mediator, joined the talks.
A U.S. official confirmed Burns was in Qatar, speaking on condition of anonymity because the CIA director’s travel plans are not publicized for security reasons. The official said Burns was in Qatar to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict and the hostages.
The meeting in Qatar was first reported by The Washington Post.
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By Isabel Debre in Jerusalem and Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
JERUSALEM — Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met on Wednesday with Thailand’s foreign minister, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara, and 17 Thai citizens who were released after spending more than 50 days in captivity in Gaza.
“Overwhelmed with joy and gratitude to finally meet our fellow Thais who were recently released just days ago,” Parnpree wrote on X, formerly called Twitter. “They are in good spirits and ready to go home to their loved ones.”
The 17 Thais released over the past few days are currently at the Shamir Medical Center outside of Tel Aviv. An estimated 15 Thais remain in captivity in Gaza.
According to Cohen, 39 Thai citizens were killed on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, triggering the current Hamas-Israel war. Prior to that, approximately 30,000 Thais worked in Israel, mostly in agriculture.
BERLIN — A group tracking antisemitism in Germany says it has documented a drastic increase in antisemitic incidents in the country in the month after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7.
The RIAS group said Tuesday it recorded 994 incidents, which is an average of 29 incidents per day and an increase of 320% compared to the same time period in 2022. The group looked at the time period from Oct. 7 to Nov. 9.
The incidents included three cases of extreme violence, 72 cases of targeted damage to property and more than 800 cases of offensive behavior. In one of the worst incidents, a synagogue in Berlin was firebombed in mid-October.
The monitoring group said that during the time period, about one in five incidents, or 21%, was attributed to anti-Israeli activism.
Many Jews in Germany experienced antisemitic incidents and even those who weren’t exposed to any antisemitic incidents reported feelings of insecurity, it said.
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has told Israel that it must work to avoid “significant further displacement” of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza if it renews its ground campaign aimed at eradicating the Hamas militant group, senior U.S. officials said.
The administration, seeking to avoid more large-scale civilian casualties or mass displacement like that seen before the current temporary pause in the fighting, underscored to the Israelis that they must operate with far greater precision in southern Gaza than they did in the north, the officials said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House.
Amid mounting international and domestic pressure over the rising Palestinian death toll, the White House has begun to put greater pressure on Israel that the manner of the coming campaign must be “carefully thought through,” according to one of the officials. The Israelis have been receptive when administration officials have raised these concerns, the official said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that the Israeli Defense Forces will eventually restart military operations after the conclusion of the current temporary cease-fire.
President Joe Biden has said he would like to see the pause — which has allowed an exchange of hostages and prisoners and a surge of much-needed humanitarian aid to get into Gaza — continue as long as feasible.
NICOSIA, Cyprus — Cyprus’ government spokesperson says a team of experts will travel to Qatar in the next few days to outline the technical details of an initiative to set up a humanitarian aid corridor from the east Mediterranean island nation to the Gaza Strip following Qatar’s expressed interest in assisting with the plan.
Constantinos Letymbiotis told reporters Tuesday that Qatari officials expressed a “great interest” in the initiative during a visit by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to the Gulf nation on Monday.
Christodoulides said Qatar’s ruling emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, “fully supports” the Cypriot proposal.
Christodoulides told the AP in an interview last week that Cyprus is ready to immediately begin shipping large quantities of humanitarian aid to Gaza in vessels that can navigate its shallow waters once conditions on the ground allow for it.
CAIRO — The Gaza Health Ministry says the dialysis unit at Shifa Hospital has been reopened and is receiving patients.
In a brief statement on Tuesday, the ministry invited patients to resume treatment.
Israeli troops raided Shifa, the territory’s largest hospital, earlier this month, leading to the evacuation of hundreds of patients and thousands of displaced people who had been sheltering there. The hospital had run low on food, water and electricity, and was no longer able to accept patients.
Israel says Hamas used the hospital for military purposes. The military revealed a secret tunnel leading to several rooms under the complex, along with other evidence of what it says was a militant presence. Hamas and hospital staff have denied Israeli allegations that Hamas had a major command and control center there.
The World Health Organization says there are still 180 patients, including 22 on kidney dialysis, and seven health care workers at Shifa.
The current Hamas-Israel cease-fire has allowed some relief goods and supplies to enter Gaza.
PARIS — France’s foreign minister has given behind-the-scenes glimpses into what she described as the “difficult” Qatar-brokered hostage-release negotiations between Israel and Hamas, as she expressed relief that three French citizens were among the latest group swapped on Monday.
“Until the very last moment, you don’t know. Lists are exchanged but afterward there have often been difficulties,” Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna said Tuesday on RTL radio.
She said “there were concerns and questions for part of the day” on Monday about the latest exchange and that she’d spoken to ministerial counterparts from several Arab nations to push the process along. Finally, “everything went well. Yes, I won’t hide that at the end of the day, there is a big ‘Phew’ of relief.”
The three French citizens released Monday were all children, ages 12 and 16. France still counts five citizens missing, some of them thought to be held hostage, from the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israel that triggered their deadliest and most destructive war.
UNITED NATIONS — The head of the United Nations has reiterated his call for a long-term truce in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Palestinian militants.
In a statement Tuesday, ahead of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Palestinians were enduring “one of the darkest chapters” in their history.
Guterres again condemned Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel, which triggered the fifth and by far deadliest war in Gaza, but said it “cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
He called for “a long-term humanitarian cease-fire, unrestricted access for lifesaving aid, the release of all hostages, the protection of civilians and an end to violations of international humanitarian law.”
Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend a temporary cease-fire through Wednesday, with more planned releases of militant-held hostages and Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. But Israel has vowed to resume the war to destroy Hamas once it stops releasing hostages.
CANBERRA, Australia — Relatives and a friend of Israelis kidnapped and killed by Hamas visited Australia’s Parliament House on Tuesday, sharing personal stories in an effort to lobby for international support for all hostages to be freed — and to support Israel’s war effort.
The group of five will meet political leaders during a two-day visit in Canberra.
“Our aim first is to get the hostages back, all of them,” Elad Levy told reporters outside the Parliament House. Levy’s niece, Roni Eshel, was a 19-year-old soldier initially thought kidnapped during Hamas’ Oct. 7 incursion into Israel but confirmed dead weeks later.
“Our second aim is to get the support of the Australian people and the Australian government … for Israel’s actions in wiping out Hamas and in our military actions right now to eradicate Hamas,” Levy said.
Australia’s major political parties have supported Israel’s right to defend itself but have urged Israel to comply with international law by containing non-combatant casualties in Gaza.
BRUSSELS — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East as the U.S. hopes to find a way to extend a cease-fire in Gaza and get more hostages released, the State Department said. It will be his third trip to the region since Israel’s war with Hamas began last month.
Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank after attending Ukraine-focused meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels and Skopje, North Macedonia, where foreign ministers from NATO and the Organization for Peace and Security in Europe are gathering.
Israel has agreed to pauses in its military operations in exchange for the gradual release of hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. The agreement had been due to expire Monday but was extended for an additional two days, meaning the extension will be expiring just as Blinken is arriving in Israel.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday the U.S. hopes to see the pause extended further, but it is dependent on Hamas continuing to release hostages.
BURLINGTON, Vermont — Three college students of Palestinian descent out for a walk near the University of Vermont were seriously injured over the weekend when a man shot them at close range on a city street — an attack being investigated as a possible hate crime, authorities said Monday.
A suspect, Jason J. Eaton, made his initial court appearance by video from jail on three counts of attempted murder, and a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf on Monday. He was ordered held without bail.
The U.S. Department of Justice, along with Vermont authorities, were investigating whether Saturday’s shooting was a hate crime amid an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. “There is understandable fear in communities across the country,” he said.
The three men, all age 20, were spending their Thanksgiving break in Burlington and were out for a walk while visiting one of the victims’ relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.
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