Gaza: Truce to start on Friday morning, Qatar announces

A special aircraft brought home to Moscow 103 Russian nationals evacuated from Gaza, Russia's emergencies ministry said early on Friday.

In a post on Telegram, the ministry said the group flew home aboard a chartered Ilyushin-76 aircraft.

The post said 101 Russian nationals had been taken from Gaza to Egypt in the past 24 hours, bringing to more than 750 the total number of Russian evacuees. More than 650 had been flown to Russia, including more than 300 children.

A Russian emergency plane transports dozens of Russians from Cairo to Moscow after their evacuation from Gaza

🇷🇺 🇪🇬 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/PMRsOEXFUr

— 🇷🇺 Эсса Али 🆉 Essa Ali 🇦🇪 (@ESSA_A1I) November 17, 2023

Egypt said 130,000 litres of diesel and four trucks of gas will be delivered daily to Gaza when a four-day truce starts on Friday.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service, also said in a statement early on Friday that 200 trucks of aid would enter Gaza daily.

US President Joe Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to calm Israel’s northern front with Lebanon during the four-day truce in Gaza which will go into effect Friday morning, Israel’s Channel 13 reported.

The Israeli army claims that it killed the commander of Hamas' naval forces, Amar Abu Jalalah, in an airstrike on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Achieving control over the northern half of the Gaza Strip will mark only the first stage in the Israeli campaign to destroy Hamas, the chief military spokesman said on Thursday, a day before a four-day pause in fighting was due to start.

"Control over northern Gaza is the first step of a long war," Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a regular news briefing.

"We are preparing for the next stages, we are looking forward in the coming days we will focus on planning and fulfilling the next stages of the war."

The Iran-backed Hezbollah group on Thursday intensified its attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon where Israeli bombardments killed seven of its fighters, including members of an elite unit.

Hezbollah said it carried out more than 20 attacks on Israeli military positions and claimed to have caused casualties.

مراسل المنار :

إستهداف موقع "المطلة" الصهيوني في القطاع الشرقي وتصاعد الدخان الأسود في محيطه pic.twitter.com/JJ7zqm1aPT

— علي شعيب || Ali Shoeib 🇱🇧 (@alishoeib1970) November 23, 2023

Israel's Metulla targeted as black smoke is seen billowing from settlement.

In one of the attacks, it said it fired 48 Katyusha rockets at a military base at Ein Zeitim, near the town of Safed in northern Israel, about 10 kilometres from the border.

That attack, using the heavy-duty Burkan missile, marked the largest rocket salvo to be fired by Hezbollah since clashes broke out last month.

Lebanon's official National News Agency said the Israeli army had shelled several locations in southern Lebanon in response.

مراسل المنار :

العدو يستهدف احد حاويات المشروع الزراعي الخاص في منطقة الحمامص شرقي مستعمرة "المطلة" pic.twitter.com/XtRyD9INSw

— علي شعيب || Ali Shoeib 🇱🇧 (@alishoeib1970) November 23, 2023

Israel targets agricultural project in south Lebanon.

The spokesman of Hamas' armed-wing called on Thursday for the escalation of the confrontation with Israel on all resistance fronts.

"We call for escalation of the confrontation with the occupation throughout the West Bank and all resistance fronts" the spokesman for the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obaida, said in a video speech aired by Al Jazeera broadcaster.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told troops that he expected there to be two months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, as quoted by Israeli journalists.

"This will be a short respite after which the fighting will resume with intensity and pressure to bring back more hostages. At least two more months of fighting are expected," Gallant told Israeli soldiers during a visit to the 'Shayetet 13' elite navy commando.

Around 30 people were killed in an Israeli attack on a school affiliated with the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, Hamas said in a statement on Thursday.

#خاص |شهدا.ء وجرحى جرّاء استهداف مدرسة فيها نازحين في مخيم جباليا pic.twitter.com/S5vLJYIwgX

— عاجل - قناة فلسطين اليوم (@paltoday_tv) November 23, 2023

Turkey plans to evacuate some wounded or sick Gazan children and young people on Friday as part of its third round of evacuation, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Thursday.

Turkey has so far brought 150 people, mostly cancer patients and their companions, from Gaza to continue their treatment. It has also evacuated more than 100 Turks, Turkish Cypriots, and their relatives this week.

Speaking at Ankara's Esenboga airport, Koca said three sick Gazan children had been brought to Turkey on Thursday. He added that the children – a two-year-old boy, as well as two girls aged nine and 10 – would receive treatment in Turkey.

The third round of evacuations, consisting of a group of 50 people, has been delayed due to issues regarding permissions for their releases, the minister said, but added that those problems were now largely resolved and officials were working to complete the preparations.

"We expect the third evacuation to be tomorrow [Friday] and it will be an evacuation that will largely consist of children and young people," Koca told reporters.

"There are less cancer patients [in the group], but it will be an evacuation that mostly consists of wounded children and young people," he said, adding that none of the people in the list of 50 were in critical condition.

Ankara has sent some 800 metric tons of humanitarian aid, medical supplies, medicine, and medical personnel to Egypt for Gazans. It has said it wants to set up a field hospital on the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing.

On Thursday, Koca said a coordination mechanism comprised of Turkish, Egyptian, and Israeli officials was working to identify a suitable location for the field hospital.

"A team formed with Israel, Egypt, and Turkey's coordination is in Egypt, especially to conduct field work. We are at the stage of identifying a location," he said.

"We want to take action as soon as possible."

(Reuters)

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) says only a permanent ceasefire can end Gaza's suffering.

It comes as a four-day truce in the devastating war, which has killed nearly 15,000 people in the besieged enclave, is set to begin on Friday morning.

"Only a permanent ceasefire can bring an end to Gaza's suffering, and allow people to rebuild their lives and communities," UK-based group MAP posts on social media platform X, adding the hashtag "#CeasefireNOW".

Only a permanent ceasefire can bring an end to Gaza's suffering, and allow people to rebuild their lives and communities.#CeasefireNOW pic.twitter.com/OzPDiQjcad

— Medical Aid for Palestinians (@MedicalAidPal) November 23, 2023

Gaza authorities said Thursday the death toll in the Palestinian territory had reached 14,854 since war began on 7 October.

Authorities said 6,150 children and 4,000 women were among the dead, with another 36,000 people wounded.

Israel has provided a list of about 300 Palestinians it is holding who might be released – double the number of women and children it has agreed to be freed at first – and suggested it expects more than 50 hostages to be released under the deal.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that as of Wednesday, 7,200 prisoners were being held by Israel, among them 88 women and 250 children 17 and under.

Most on the list of 300 are from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Jerusalem and were held over allegations such as attempted stabbings, hurling stones at Israeli soldiers, making explosives, damaging property and having contacts with hostile organisations. None are accused of murder.

Many were held under administrative detention, meaning they were detained without trial.

Amnesty International has said that "while administrative detention may be lawful in certain circumstances, Israel's systematic use of it against Palestinians indicates that it is used to persecute Palestinians, rather than as an extraordinary and selective security measure".

Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to a highly controversial military court system.

Those released could be taken by buses to the presidential headquarters of the Palestinian Authority first as in past releases, even though President Mahmoud Abbas had no role in these truce negotiations, a Palestinian official said.

(Reuters, The New Arab)

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says it is "deeply worried" about a colleague arrested by Israel.

Awni Khattab, the head of the Khan Younis Medical Center, was arrested yesterday and now his whereabouts are unknown, PRCS adds on social media platform X.

The humanitarian group says: "The arrest took place… while the convoy of the wounded from Al-Shifa Hospital was traveling through the checkpoint that separates north and south #Gaza.

"PRCS holds the Israeli authorities responsible for the safety of Khattab, and we demand his immediate release along with other medical teams that are under arrest."

The organisation says it calls on the international community to "ensure protection of our medical teams as per international humanitarian law".

"In no way should medical teams be targeted," it adds.

🚨PRCS is deeply worried about Awni Khattab, our colleague the head of Khan Younis Medical Center, #Gaza. Israeli forces arrested him and now his whereabouts are unknown. 📍The arrest took place yesterday while the convoy of the wounded from Al-Shifa Hospital was traveling… pic.twitter.com/amr9JoBewL

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 23, 2023

The number of premature births has risen by almost a third in Israeli-besieged Gaza over the past month as mothers suffer growing stress and trauma, British charity Oxfam said on Thursday.

Dozens of premature babies made headlines this week when they were rescued from a north Gaza hospital and transferred to Egypt after the site came under bombardment.

The northern part of the densely populated enclave has born the brunt of Israel's indiscriminate, six-week-old war and none of its hospitals are functioning normally.

Juzoor, an Oxfam partner organisation that is supporting hundreds of pregnant women in Gaza, said the number of premature births had risen by 25 to 30 percent in the last month, attributing the rise to difficulties faced by mothers who have had to flee their homes due to bombardment and have suffered stress and trauma.

Premature babies are more susceptible to illness and Juzoor said that at least one newborn had died in each of its 13 shelters for displaced people in north Gaza over the past month.

Even before the current conflict, Gaza had a high infant mortality rate, with newborn deaths representing 68 percent of the total, according to the World Health Organization.

Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam's Middle East Regional Director, said some displaced mothers have had to give birth in crowded classrooms, without medical support or basic hygiene.

"I don't think there is anyone anywhere in the world that would disagree that is simply inhumane," she said.

(Reuters)

Tunisian film star Hend Sabri has resigned as World Food Programme goodwill ambassador in protest at what she called the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.

Sabri, a leading figure in Arab cinema, said that she had decided with "a heavy heart and deep sadness" to step down after 13 years with the United Nations agency.

In a statement published on social media platform X late on Wednesday, the 44-year-old said that she had asked the WFP leadership to push for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian territory.

She said that she had hoped the agency "would use its voice forcefully" as it had done in previous crises.

"However, hunger and starvation have been used as weapons of war… against more than two million civilians in Gaza," Sabri said.

A pause in fighting, due to take effect on Friday, was "too little too late," she added.

Sabri's most recent film, Four Daughters, was named joint winner of a documentary film prize at this year's Cannes festival.

Directed by Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania, it explores the true story of how a mother comes to terms with the decision by two of her children to flee to Libya and join the Islamic State group.

Following her resignation, the WFP offered its "heartfelt gratitude" for Sabri's "unwavering support and dedication" as goodwill ambassador.

A Gaza truce and hostage release will start on Friday morning, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said.

"The pause will begin at 7:00am (05:00 GMT) on Friday… and the first batch of civilian hostages will be handed over at approximately 4:00pm (14:00 GMT) on the same day," Majed Al-Ansari said on Thursday.

Spain has said it will push the European Union to adopt policies more in line with Palestinian wishes and the approach was on display on Thursday as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited Israel.

"It is in Israel's interest to work for peace. And today peace means the establishment of the Palestine state," the Socialist premier, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu.

While Sánchez stressed that he backed Israel's "right" to defend itself following the "atrocities" carried out by Hamas on 7 October, he said the number of Palestinians killed by Israel's military response "is truly unbearable".

Sánchez, who is also to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, has repeatedly endorsed the two-state solution – a Palestinian state established in territory that Israel began occupying in 1967 – since the conflict began.

As he was sworn in for a new term this month, Sánchez said his foreign policy priority would be to "work in Europe and in Spain to recognise the Palestinian state".

Sánchez will on Friday travel to Egypt. He is accompanied on his trip to the Middle East by Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, whose country will take over the EU presidency on 1 January.

The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, on Thursday confirmed that a truce with Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip would "begin on Friday at 7:00am" (05:00 GMT).

"The truce applies for four days, starting from Friday morning, accompanied by the cessation of all military actions from the Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian resistance, as well as the Zionist enemy throughout the truce period."

Over the four days, it said 50 hostages – women and boys aged 18 or under – would be freed, with three Palestinians held by Israel to be released for each of them.

The humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip will start on Friday at 07:00 (05:00 GMT), Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari says.

He says the list of hostages to be released has been given to the Israeli intelligence services, adding that the first lot of captives will be released from Gaza at 16:00 (14:00 GMT) on Friday.

A Palestinian official previously told AFP that a delay in implementation of the truce between Israeli forces and Hamas was due to "last minute" details over which hostages would be exchanged and how.

The truce, widely expected to go into force on Thursday but delayed during the night, had been put back over "the names of the Israeli hostages and the modalities of their release", said the official, who has knowledge of the negotiation process.

Lists of those to be freed had been exchanged by both sides, he added. Questions were also being raised over Red Cross access to the hostages before they would be released into Egypt, he said, and whether the Red Cross would have access to those who remained.

Official Spokesperson for Ministry of Foreign Affairs @majedalansari: The humanitarian pause in Gaza will begin at 7 am on Friday November 24#MOFAQatar

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) November 23, 2023

The Israeli military confirmed on Thursday that the director of Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip had been held for questioning over purported evidence that the facility had been used as a command-and-control centre for Hamas.

The military provided no details on the circumstances of his detention but the Palestinian health ministry said Abu Salamiyah and a number of doctors were arrested at dawn at a checkpoint on the road linking northern Gaza to the south.

Palestinian Health Minister Mai Al-Kaila said the arrests showed that Israel was flouting international humanitarian law.

The Israeli military claimed Al-Shifa director Dr Muhammad Abu Salamiyah had been in charge of the sprawling complex as Hamas militants built up a network of military infrastructure and stored weapons inside the hospital and its grounds.

"In the hospital, under his management, there was extensive Hamas terrorist activity," the military alleged in a statement.

The Israeli military raided the hospital last week and has claimed that Hamas fighters used a tunnel complex beneath the facility in Gaza City to stage attacks. Hamas and hospital officials have repeatedly denied the allegations.

(Reuters, AFP)

A project founded by British MP Jeremy Corbyn calls the arrest of Al-Shifa Hospital's director "deeply concerning".

"Gaza’s health system is on the brink of collapse and continues to be the target of Israeli raids," the Peace & Justice Project adds on social media platform X.

"We continue to call for a permanent ceasefire and a path to peace."

The arrest of Al-Shifa Hospital’s director and its medical teams by Israeli forces is deeply concerning.

Gaza’s health system is on the brink of collapse and continues to be the target of Israeli raids.

We continue to call for a permanent ceasefire and a path to peace. https://t.co/FozRoSeuVQ

— Peace & Justice Project (@corbyn_project) November 23, 2023

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has met with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, which has traded deadly cross-border fire with Israel since the start of the Gaza war, the Lebanese movement said on Thursday.

In a statement, Hezbollah said Amirabdollahian and Nasrallah "reviewed the latest developments in Palestine, Lebanon and the region, and… the efforts made to end the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip".

Amirabdollahian, who warned on Wednesday that the war could spiral out of control, left Beirut for Doha after their meeting, Iran's Nour news agency reported.

A former senior US State Department official who was filmed making racist, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic comments to a halal food vendor of Egyptian origin in New York City has been arrested.

Sixty-four-year-old Stuart Seldowitz, who was previously the deputy director of the State Department's Office of Israel and Palestinian Affairs, was detained on Wednesday on charges of aggravated harassment, hate crime stalking, stalking causing fear, and stalking at a place of employment, according to a statement by New York police.

Seldowitz had reportedly harassed the vendor, identified as 24-year-old Mohammed Hussein, over a period of around two weeks.

"A 24-year-old male victim stated to police that an individual approached him at his work place multiple times and made anti-Islamic statements multiple times on different dates causing the victim to feel afraid and annoyed," New York police said.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Thursday said his country is in favour of a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas "in the very short term".

"Our position with regards to Palestine and the Palestinian people is clear. We are in favour of a Palestinian state. In the very short term, what is truly urgent is for a humanitarian ceasefire to happen," Albares said in an interview with Spanish radio station RNE.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit Israel and the occupied West Bank on Thursday.

(Reuters)

The UK-based Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) says the route for this Saturday's march through London has been confirmed.

The protest will assemble on Park Lane at 12:30 GMT and march to Whitehall, the PSC posts on social media platform X.

A map published by the pro-Palestine group shows the demonstration will end near the British parliament.

🚨The route for the March for Palestine on Saturday 25 November has now been confirmed. 🇵🇸

It will be assembling on Park Lane at 12:30PM and marching to Whitehall.#CeasefireNOW #FreePalestine pic.twitter.com/iStUNeB25L

— PSC (@PSCupdates) November 23, 2023

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says it "remains dedicated" to its mission in a post on social media platform X.

"Despite the difficult circumstances we face in the #Gaza Strip, our medical teams tirelessly work around the clock to fulfil their humanitarian responsibilities to our people" in the enclave, the humanitarian group adds.

The situation for medics in besieged Gaza is dangerous. Israeli forces have attacked hospitals and ambulances during their indiscriminate war on the strip.

🤚🚑 We remain dedicated to our mission
Despite the difficult circumstances we face in the #Gaza Strip, our medical teams tirelessly work around the clock to fulfill their humanitarian responsibilities to our people in Gaza Strip.#NotATarget ❌ pic.twitter.com/LV1BOkZ5Wu

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 23, 2023

US President Joe Biden told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in a phone call on Wednesday the US would not permit the forced relocation of Palestinians from Gaza or the West Bank, or the besiegement of Gaza, or the redrawing of Gaza's borders, the White House said.

(Reuters)

German authorities searched 15 properties on Thursday in connection with a recent ban on activities of Hamas as well as pro-Palestinian group Samidoun, the German interior ministry said in a statement.

The searches in four German states, which started at 06:00 local time (05:00 GMT), are intended to enforce the ban as well as clear up illegal structures of Hamas, designated a terrorist organisation in the country, and Samidoun, it said.

"We continue our consistent action against radical Islamists," German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in the statement.

"With the bans on Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any glorification or support of the barbaric terror of Hamas against Israel."

According to the ministry, there are around 450 members of Hamas in Germany, whose activities range from support and propaganda to financing and the collection of donations.

(Reuters)

A seemingly endless row of white trucks lines the road through the desert in northern Egypt, their drivers desperate for the go-ahead to move badly needed aid into besieged Gaza.

After tedious days marked by idle chitchat and dreary diets of beans and instant coffee, the men, all Egyptians, took some comfort in news that more fuel and other essentials may soon be allowed in as part of a four-day truce that could begin as soon as Friday.

But it was far from clear when they might actually move, and as they faced still more mindless waiting – separated from their families and without beds and showers – some showed clear signs of irritation and fatigue.

"Before the war we used to work for just two or three days and then take a break. Today we have been for seven days in the same place without moving," said 48-year-old Alaa Moustafa, shuffling around in sandals as he mashed beans into yet another stew.

"You want me to speak about my daily life?" asked another driver who insisted on anonymity, mindful of Egyptian security forces who maintain a heavy presence near the border with Gaza.

"It's in the street – that's how we are living now. Sleeping, waking up, eating in the same place without taking a shower."

A doctor at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City told AFP that the facility's director and several other medical personnel were arrested by Israeli forces on Thursday.

"Doctor Mohammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other senior doctors," said Khalid Abu Samra, a chief of department at the hospital.

The director of the health ministry in Gaza says it has resumed its detailed count of casualties from the war, and has documented more than 13,000 deaths.

Medhat Abbas confirmed the resumption to The Associated Press on Thursday.

The health ministry had stopped updating its figures on 11 November after the breakdown of access and communication in northern Gaza, where Israel's war is at its heaviest.

The latest count is based on updated figures from hospitals in the south and 11 November figures from the northern hospitals. The real toll is likely higher.

The health ministry says another 6,000 people have been reported missing, and are feared buried under the rubble.