Israel's Prime Minister Office confirmed on Thursday (November 23) that Israel has received an initial list of names of abductees to be released by Hamas. The announcement came after Qatar’s Foreign Ministry informed that the temporary truce between parties would go into effect Friday at 7 am (local time). The first group of 13 Israeli hostages would be freed at 4 pm.
“The relevant officials are checking the details of the list and are currently in contact with all families,” an official statement by Israel said.
Earlier, senior Egyptian officials blamed the delay in hostage exchange on Hamas. The militant group, as per Egypt, failed to hand over a complete list of the first group of hostages it planned to release.
However, Wall Street Journal, citing Egyptian officials, reported that the country received a list of 10 hostages who would be released first as part of an agreement to free 50 people held in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners and a "humanitarian pause" in war.
The BBC news network, citing Israeli government sources, claimed Hamas has made additional demands now. However, it remains unclear what those demands are.
Israel's National Security Adviser (NSA) Tzachi Hanegbi said the release of the first group of hostages will not happen before Friday. The agreement was earlier set to take effect at 10 am local time (1.30 pm IST) on Thursday. Qatar has promised an imminent update on the talks.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a four-day ceasefire in Gaza in a big diplomatic breakthrough brokered by Qatar, the US, and Egypt that aims to bring temporary relief to common civilians across the border.
However, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Tel Aviv would resume the war after the truce and keep fighting “until we achieve all our goals” — complete destruction of Hamas and the return of remaining hostages to safety.
Septics of the deal say the truce will provide an opportunity to Iran-backed organisations to regroup and rearm itself for the battle that lies ahead.
Israel's Northern border remains active
In one of the largest barrages since the outbreak of the war, Iran-backed-Hezbollah group fired around 35 rockets into northern Israel Thursday morning. Hezbollah claims the number to be 48.
Rocket fire resulted in air raid sirens again in the town of Shlomi near the Lebanon border. According to the statement from the Israeli military, a number of the rockets were intercepted, and there were no reports of injuries.
Israel's Northern border has seen mild activities ever since Hamas carried out surprise raids into Israeli territories.
Israeli troops arrest director of Gaza hospital
Israeli forces have also arrested the director of a hospital in the Gaza Strip. Israel said the director of Al-Shifa Hospital — Mohamed Abu Salmiya — was arrested on the charges that the hospital served as a storage facility for weapons and provided electricity for a “Hamas' tunnel network.”
Hamas operated a command centre in tunnels under the hospital for years, Israel claimed. Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has denied all charges.
AFP citing local sources reported that one other doctor and two nurses had been detained. Salmiya said last week that he had refused several evacuation orders from Israeli forces.
The hospital remained a major focus of the Israeli ground offensive following the October 7 attacks. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) raided the hospital last week in an effort to uproot terror infrastructure in the enclave.
Gaza's Health Ministry claims more than 14,000 people have been killed in Israeli retaliatory airstrikes followed by intense ground invasion. Tel Aviv has maintained that over 1,200 people lost their lives in the October attacks that came at the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War.
First Published: Nov 23, 2023 8:24 PM IST
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