Live updates (closed)
The Times of Israel liveblogged Thursday’s events as they happened.
At least 85 Jewish graves damaged in Belgian cemetery, in antisemitic vandalism
The Belgian city of Charleroi condemns antisemitic vandalism after at least 85 Jewish graves in one of its cemeteries were damaged and Star of David emblems were stolen.
A gravedigger in a cemetery in the Marcinelle neighborhood of the southern city discovered the damage in plots for Jewish tombs yesterday. An investigation has since been opened.
“The place chosen and the theft of many Stars of David leave little doubt about the antisemitic nature of the intentions,” Charleroi mayor Paul Magnette says.
“In the name of the city, I fully condemn these abject acts,” he adds, saying he has asked the city’s administration to notify each family.
Only the cemetery’s Jewish section was affected, suggesting the antisemitic nature of the vandalism.
Belgium has registered a rise in reported antisemitic acts since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7.
Police are monitoring more closely Jewish schools and places of worship.
Report: IDF general, Shin Bet head claim settler violence unchecked on Ben Gvir’s orders
The head of the IDF’s Central Command, Maj. Gen. Yehuda Fox, has reportedly written a secret document, presented to the IDF chief of staff alongside an opinion by Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, alleging that police are not dealing with settler violence toward Palestinians in the West Bank on the orders of the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Channel 12 news, without citing a source, says Fox has also warned in the document that security forces are unable to prevent a potential flareup in the West Bank due to far-right extremist violence.
The Shin Bet portion of the document reportedly says that phone calls with senior police officials have revealed that the almost complete lack of enforcement on settler attacks comes at the directive of Ben Gvir, who is in charge of the police.
Police deny any such directive not to enforce nationalistic violence committed by Jews, adding that such attacks have since October 7 been down 50% compared to the same period last year, and that the number of cases opened is up by 30%.
Ben Gvir doesn’t confirm or deny giving the directive, with his comment consisting primarily of attacks on the media for running a “false media campaign about settler violence.”
Report: Hamas also set to release 23 Thai hostages following Iranian mediation
Hamas has said that in addition to the Qatar-mediated hostage deal with Israel, it will also release 23 Thai hostages it is holding in Gaza, without any conditions, following Iranian mediation between the Palestinian terror group and the Thai government, the London-based pan-Arab news site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reports.
Quoting an unnamed Egyptian source, the Arabic-language outlet says Tehran has provided Bangkok with details on the condition of the 23 abductees, who were kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas onslaught in which thousands of terrorists murdered some 1,200 people, including dozens of Thai workers, and took over 240 hostage.
Israel unlikely to uphold hostage deal commitment for boost in Gaza aid — US officials
Volunteers stand in front of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to Palestinians at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Egypt, October 31, 2023. (Ahmed Hatem/AP)
While Israel has agreed as part of the hostage deal with Hamas to allow in at least 200 trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza for every day of the multi-day truce, the current aid delivery mechanisms the IDF has in place are unlikely to allow for this much-needed increase in assistance, two officials in US President Joe Biden’s administration tell The Times of Israel.
Accordingly, Washington has been pressuring Israel to open its Kerem Shalom crossing to help facilitate the entry of more aid into the enclave both during the four-day-plus truce and beyond, the administration officials say.
Israel has refused to reopen Kerem Shalom since Hamas’s October 7 onslaught and only allowed aid to enter Gaza through Egypt’s Rafah crossing two weeks into the war, arguing that it would not directly supply the Strip with assistance as long as the hundreds of hostages remain there.
International actors have sought to make do with just Rafah, but only on several days since its opening has the number of trucks eclipsed the initially set goal of 100.
The two Biden administration officials cite several reasons for the underwhelming amount of aid that has been able to enter Gaza through Rafah, pointing first to the convoluted inspection system, which has seen already-inspected trucks in Egypt then enter Israel’s Nitzana crossing, where they are examined by Israeli authorities before being returned to Egypt and ferried through Rafah.
This extra round of inspections was not in place before the war, but Israel has insisted on the addition over the past month.
The US officials also point to problems with Egypt’s El-Arish airport, which is the only one receiving shipments of aid that are then driven into Gaza through Rafah. The airport has only one runway and very limited parking, making it unsuitable for the mass deliveries that are needed for the coastal enclave.
Washington intends to continue raising the demand for reopening the Kerem Shalom crossing, the two administration officials say.
A Hamas security officer checks a truck entering Gaza at the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with Israel, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, June 21, 2021. (Adel Hana/AP)
Israel’s rejection of the demand has been “really problematic because the level of aid going into Gaza now is totally unsustainable” as the humanitarian situation worsens and more people are reliant on assistance, the senior administration official warns.
The official adds that the refusal to reopen Kerem Shalom is “completely political,” given that there are no security concerns about allowing aid into Gaza through that crossing.
A second administration official argues that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was most exposed to criticism from its right-wing base when the premier first agreed to allow aid in through Rafah last month, after vowing that it wouldn’t do so. But with Rafah now operating, opening Kerem Shalom comes with far less political risk.
“The [Israelis], rightfully so, have made a point to highlight the aid they’ve been allowing in, recognizing that it gives them more international legitimacy to continue the military operation,” says the second administration official. “But it can’t just be a talking point.”
Deri says hostage talks were held months ago, appearing to confirm report Hamas duped Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) reads a letter to Shas chair Aryeh Deri, informing Deri that he must remove him from ministerial office, at the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, January 22, 2023. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
Shas party leader Aryeh Deri, a close confidante of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, says Israel just months ago held advanced negotiations with Hamas over a potential hostage swap deal that would have seen Israel free terror convicts in return for two hostages and the bodies of two IDF soldiers who had been held in Gaza.
The comments appear to confirm a report last month by the Kan public broadcaster that Hamas duped Israel by holding fake negotiations with the highest echelons in the Israeli government, all while planning its October 7 mass invasion, in which thousands of terrorists murdered some 1,200 in Israel and kidnapped more than 240.
“We were prepared, a few months ago, with the same [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar — we held negotiations over [the bodies of] Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin and the other two civilians who are there [Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed],” Deri tells the ultra-Orthodox Kol Chai radio station.
“I don’t want to repeat the number and the type of murderers we were willing to release.”
IDF says Gaza airstrike has killed Hamas’s navy commander in Khan Younis
The Israel Defense Forces says it has killed the commander of Hamas’s naval forces in Khan Younis, in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip today.
It says Amar Abu Jalalah was killed along with another member of the Hamas naval forces.
The IDF says Jalalah was “a senior operative in Hamas’s naval forces and was involved in directing several terror attacks by sea that were thwarted.”
The airstrike was carried out following intelligence information provided by the Shin Bet security agency, the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Navy.
צה״ל בהכוונה מודיעינית של זרוע הים, אמ"ן ושב"כ חיסל באמצעות מטוסי קרב, את עמר אבו ג'אללה, מפקד הכוח הימי של חמאס בחאן יונס ומחבל נוסף מהכוח הימי של הארגון.
עמר אבו ג'אללה היה בכיר בכוח הימי, ומעורב מתחילת הלחימה בשילוח מספר פיגועים ימיים שסוכלו על ידי כוחותינו >> pic.twitter.com/jcg7Ag7Xyd
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 23, 2023
Report: Biden asked Netanyahu to act to calm down northern front during 4-day truce
US President Joe Biden (left) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. (Haim Zach/GPO)
US President Joe Biden asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday for Israel to act to calm down the northern front in the war during the planned four-day ceasefire, according to Channel 13 news.
Quoting an unnamed source familiar with details of the phone call, the network says Netanyahu didn’t make a promise on the matter.
The issue may come up during tonight’s meeting of the war cabinet, which is convening right now.
Palestinian doctor claims 27 dead in Israeli strike on UN school in Gaza; no comment from IDF
A Palestinian doctor claims that at least 27 people have been killed and 93 more injured in an Israeli strike on a United Nations school in Gaza.
The strike hit a UN-run school where thousands of displaced Palestinians are sheltering in Jabaliya, the doctor at a hospital in the camp says on condition of anonymity.
There is no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
In response to previous reports of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit has said in a statement to The Times of Israel that the military carries out “many warning measures before its actions in order to avoid harming uninvolved [people] and even carries out many humanitarian procedures to help the citizens of the Gaza Strip.”
“Every strike by the IDF is based on intelligence indications of terror infrastructure or the presence of terrorists in the area of the attack,” the IDF said.
“The Hamas terror organization uses the citizens of Gaza as human shields for its terror needs and acts in total violation of international law,” the IDF added.
The IDF has published evidence showing that Hamas uses hospitals, schools, kindergartens and other civilian sites for terror purposes.
Rabbis print Jewish scripture on ruins of Sderot police station; terrorist’s body found after 40 days
Rabbi Moshe Zeev Pizam near the demolished Sderot police station, November 23, 2023. (Canaan Lidor/Times of Israel)
On the rubble-strewn lot of what used to be the police station of Sderot, several rabbis guide a wheel-mounted printer hooked up to a sputtering generator.
Behind them, police sappers work to extract the remains of a terrorist whose decomposing body was only discovered today, 40 days after a team of Hamas terrorists murdered dozens of people in Sderot as part of the group’s October 7 onslaught in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 victims died.
Rabbi Moshe Zeev Pizam, an envoy for the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement, presses the print button and the machine produces an A3-sized copy of the Tanya, or Likutei Amarim — a volume of scripture that is the magnum opus of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, who died in 1812.
“This was a place of great darkness,” Pizam says of the former police station, which Israeli troops torched after terrorists took control of it. “So we are bringing light to where it’s needed.”
It’s a relatively quiet day in Sderot, a favorite target of rocket launchers in Gaza, but which has hardly seen any inbound projectiles today. Locals who had stayed away because of the rockets return here to inspect their houses, thinking that a ceasefire is in effect. (It is not: Its going into effect was postponed by one day from today to tomorrow.)
But that’s not the reason for the printing ceremony’s timing. It is happening because this week is believed to be the same Hebrew Calendar week as the passing of Dovber Schneuri, the successor and son of Liadi, Pizam says.
“Look, this place just became better lit,” he says as he downs a shot of whiskey, pointing to the sappers, who are removing the terrorist’s remains after confirming they are not boobytrapped.
Intelligence commanders ignored soldiers’ warnings Hamas was simulating major invasion — reports
Several Hebrew media outlets report that an experienced intelligence soldier reported earlier this year that the Hamas terror group had held a large-scale drill simulating a scenario in which Israeli communities are stormed, public buildings are taken over and soldiers are killed — but that her concerns were dismissed by superiors.
A non-commissioned officer with expertise in a specific relevant field sounded the alarm about the extraordinary drill, which also simulated downing of Israel aircraft, but an officer said he believed the scenario was “totally imaginary” and that the Palestinian terror group was “boasting.”
Some others disagreed, saying the option was realistic and should be taken seriously, according to the Kan public broadcaster, but the information was not acted upon.
Another, less experienced non-commissioned officer, also tried to draw attention to Hamas drills, according to Channel 12 news. She noted plans for breaching the Gaza border fence at multiple points, and said the conclusion was that Hamas was planning a major invasion, but a senior commander told her: “These are fantasies.”
After central elements of the simulated scenarios became reality on October 7, Channel 12 quotes an unnamed member of the army’s 8200 intelligence unit saying its commanders “were told about it in real time, there were so many things that should have lit red lights.”
Last week, a report detailed charges of sexism by young female surveillance soldiers monitoring the Gaza border whose warnings were ignored by commanders in the weeks before the brutal Hamas massacre.
Warning of Hamas ‘psychological terror,’ IDF says hostage deal may face curveballs
IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari gives a statement to the media in Tel Aviv on October 16, 2023. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari warns that there may be changes amid the hostage deal with Hamas, and that the terror group will attempt to use “psychological terror” against the Israeli public.
He says officers have contacted the hostages’ families and notified them who is being released, “with the necessary reservations.”
“These will be complex days, nothing is final until it actually happens. And even amid the process, there may be changes at any moment,” he says.
“It is important to note that Hamas is a ruthless enemy. Difficult days are ahead of us, joy mixed with sadness,” he says.
“Hamas will try to use the days of the deal and the pause in fighting to spread fear, disinformation and psychological terror,” Hagari warns.
He says that the deal is not “the end of the process, but the start.”
In answer to a question, Hagari adds: “We have [overall] goals that must be attained — to demolish Hamas; to bring home the hostages; to organize the borders to ensure that they are secure, and to create deterrence in the region.”
“This stage,” of the current deal with Hamas, he cautions, “until it happens, it doesn’t happen. If it indeed happens [from] tomorrow morning, it is a finite period in which we are going to bring female and male hostages home. After that, we will continue with the fighting. Returning the hostages is in stages, and the military campaign is in stages.”
Israel taps expert on Iran as new ambassador to France, almost a year after envoy quit
An undated handout photo of Foreign Ministry official Joshua Zarka. (Foreign Ministry)
The Foreign Ministry’s deputy director for strategic affairs, Joshua Zarka, is appointed as Israel’s new ambassador to France.
The post has been vacant for almost a year following the resignation of the previous ambassador, former Yesh Atid minister Yael German, over her opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government.
Zarka, who is a professional appointment rather than a political one, has previously taken part in negotiations between Western powers and Iran, and is an expert on Iran affairs.
The appointment must be approved by the government.
Jewish man indicted for punching Arab man’s face, shouting racial insults
An Israeli Jew, Elazar Leibowitz, 19, is indicted on charges of racially motivated assault for allegedly punching an Arab man who was sitting in his parked vehicle, and shouting racist epithets at him.
According to the indictment filed by the Haifa division of the State Attorney’s Office, the 40-year-old victim was waiting in his car in a car park before starting a work shift on October 23 in the city of Hadera.
Leibowitz pulled up in his own car, got out, approached the victim’s car and asked to speak with him through the vehicle window to verify he was an Arab.
Leibowitz then opened the driver door, punched the man in the face, said “Go, you Arab,” and then kicked at the car as the man sought to drive off, the indictment says.
The victim suffered bruises on his face and eye socket.
Leibowitz is indicted on one count of racially motivated assault causing bodily harm.
Gallant: After ‘short’ truce, intense fighting will resume for at least 2 more months
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant speaks to troops of the Navy's Shayetet 13 commando unit, November 23, 2023. (Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry)
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says that once the “short” temporary truce with the Hamas terror group ends, the military will resume the fighting “with intensity” for at least two more months.
“What you will see in the coming days is first the release of hostages. This respite will be short,” Gallant says to troops of the Navy’s Shayetet 13 commando unit.
“What is required of you in this respite is to organize, get ready, investigate, resupply arms, and get ready to continue,” he tells the forces.
“There will be a continuation, because we need to complete the victory and create the impetus for the next groups of hostages, who will only come back as a result of pressure,” he says.
Even after the period of intense fighting ends, he says, “there will be many operations in which Shayetet 13 will have something to do, until there is no military threat from the Gaza Strip, and we will have freedom of action to do what we want at any given moment.”
Israeli gov’t spokesman’s reply to UK host’s question about hostage deal goes viral
An exchange today between a Sky News presenter and an Israeli government spokesperson is going viral, with the British anchor ridiculed after asking whether the fact that Israel has agreed to release a higher number of Palestinian terror convicts than the number of hostages freed by terrorists in Gaza means Jerusalem regards Palestinian lives as inferior.
The first question that left me speechless (but only for a second): pic.twitter.com/P4Bh0SKtl9
— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) November 23, 2023
“I was talking to a hostage negotiator this morning,” asks host Kay Burley. “He made the comparison between the 50 hostages that Hamas has promised to release, as opposed to the 150 prisoners that are Palestinians that Israel has released. And he made the comparison between the numbers and the fact that ‘Does Israel not think that Palestinian lives are not valued as highly as Israeli lives?’”
At the end of the question, government spokesperson Eylon Levy raises his eyebrows in shock and remains silent for a moment.
“That is an astonishing accusation. If we could release one prisoner for every one hostage, we would obviously do that,” he replies. “We’re operating in horrific circumstances. We’re not choosing to release these prisoners who have blood on their hands. We are talking about people who have been convicted of stabbing and shooting attacks.”
“Notice the question of proportionality doesn’t interest Palestinian supporters when they’re able to get more of their prisoners out. But really, it is outrageous to suggest that the fact that we are willing to release prisoners who are convicted of terrorism offenses, more of them than we are getting our own innocent children back, somehow suggests that we don’t care about Palestinian lives? Really, that’s a disgusting accusation.”
Levy’s eyebrow raise has since become an online meme.
Today Hamas spokesman said the long tunnel discovered under Shifa hospital is “a water well” 🤣
I kid you not… pic.twitter.com/s588UTQLBb— Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) November 23, 2023
My first time creating a meme.
What do you think?
Open for the full photo. pic.twitter.com/hga8kwK0R0— Elad Simchayoff (@Elad_Si) November 23, 2023
Schools run by Palestinian Authority celebrated Oct. 7 Hamas massacres, watchdog finds
Since the brutal Hamas massacres of Israelis on October 7, the atrocities have been celebrated by at least 11 West Bank schools, including eight run by the Palestinian Authority, according to a watchdog’s new report.
The schools “are openly and publicly celebrating the horrors of the October 7 massacre,” says the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), adding that “this follows years of hate-teaching in PA schools.”
“The international community heavily funds PA education sector civil servants responsible for curriculum development and the operation of schools,” it says.
In one example, the Ya’bad Secondary Boys School told parents it would be closed on October 18 “out of respect for the pure blood of our martyrs, and to denounce the massacres made by the cowardly Nazi Occupation.” The letter also said: “God punish the Jews and those who support them.”
The full report can be found here.
IDF forces unveil Hamas tunnel inside Gaza mosque, rocket launchers near homes
This image released by the IDF on November 23, 2023, shows a Hamas tunnel entrance inside a mosque in northern Gaza's Jabaliya. (Israel Defense Forces)
Troops of the Nahal Brigade have uncovered a Hamas tunnel inside a mosque and rocket launchers adjacent to homes during its operations in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya, the military says.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces says Nahal troops have battled Hamas operatives on the outskirts of Jabaliya.
In the area, it says troops found six tunnel shafts, including one in a mosque. In an orchard next to the mosque and civilian sites, including homes, a number of rocket launchers and weapons were found, according to the IDF.
English soccer official quits after saying ‘Hitler would be proud of Netanyahu’
A council member at the English Football Association who made an inappropriate post regarding the war in Gaza has resigned from his position.
Wasim Haq had been suspended for the comments he made this month on the social platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in which he reportedly said, “Adolf Hitler would be proud of Benjamin Netanyahu.” The post was deleted and Haq apologized.
The FA, the governing body of soccer in England, has been conducting an investigation.
“This morning I have resigned from The FA. I have also reiterated my apology to the Jewish community,” Haq posts on X. “This war has left thousands dead, many of us are in despair and deeply troubled. I hope football can play a future role in easing tensions between communities.”
Haq joined the FA Council in 2019 as a representative for the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic community. He was removed from a similar role on the Lawn Tennis Association Council last week.
IDF spokesman: More than 20 rockets in Hezbollah barrage landed inside Lebanon
IDF spokesperson in Arabic Avichay Adraee comments on Hezbollah’s major barrage of almost 50 rockets toward northern Israel earlier today, saying that according to the army’s operational systems, over 20 of the projectiles landed short in southern Lebanon.
“The attack caused economic damages in the villages of Rmeish, Ain Ebel and Yaroun,” Adraee says in a statement.
Communications minister proposes sanctions against Haaretz for ‘false propaganda’
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi heads into a cabinet meeting in the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, September 10, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi proposes a government resolution to halt any state advertising, subscriptions or other commercial connection with the Haaretz daily newspaper, due to what he describes is the left-wing publication’s “defeatist and false propaganda” against the State of Israel during wartime.
In a letter to Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs, Karhi denounces Haaretz for its editorial stance on the war and proposes that the state not enter into any new commercial agreements with the newspaper, halt all advertising in it even if it has been paid for, and block any outstanding payments from being made.
“Since the beginning of the war, my office has received numerous complaints that the Haaretz newspaper has taken a harmful line that undermines the goals of the war and weakens the military effort and societal resilience,” writes Karhi.
He alleges that some of Haaretz’s articles may even have “crossed the criminal threshold” and says he is sure that this will be “examined by the relevant authorities.”
Karhi spearheaded the drive to pass emergency government regulations allowing his ministry to shut down foreign news broadcasts deemed to be harmful to national security and cause incitement, although it has been reported that his initial draft of the regulations included domestic media as well.
The Communications Ministry has shut down the Lebanese al Mayadeen news channel associated with Hezbollah as a result, but has yet to shutter the Qatar-based Al Jazeera channel, the original target of Karhi’s regulations, in order not to antagonize the Qatari government as it serves as a mediator in hostage negotiations with Hamas.
Ex-spy Pollard: Israel should have imprisoned some hostage families ‘to silence them’
Former Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard has said Israel should have silenced families of hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, and even imprisoned some of them, in order to avoid public pressure to reach a deal with the terror group.
Channel 14 airs a clip of Pollard making the remarks, saying the remarks came during an online call this week with Rabbi David Bar-Hayim of the Shilo Institute.
המרגל הבכיין שבגד במדינה שלו יוצא נגד משפחות החטופים? מי ראה את זה בא. pic.twitter.com/SiwTAsT4Q4
— Shaul Greenfeld (@shaulig) November 23, 2023
“When we declared war, the first thing that the government should have done was to declare a state of national emergency and told all of the hostage families, ‘You will keep your mouths shut, or we will shut them for you. You will not interfere in the management of this war. You will not be used by the international community or by our own leftists, who managed the Shalit deal, as a weapon against us,'” he says.
He was referring to a 2011 deal, opposed at the time and since by many on the right, in which Israel released over 1,000 Palestinian terror convicts in exchange for a single kidnapped IDF soldier.
“And if that means imprisoning, to silence certain members of hostages’ families, then so be it. We’re in a state of war,” adds Pollard, who served decades in US prison for espionage before being released during former US president Barack Obama’s tenure and later being allowed to move to Israel by then-president Donald Trump.
Pollard lambastes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for approving a new hostage deal this week, saying he will also not vote again for the far-right Religious Zionism party, which voted for the agreement.
“I was dead-set against turning all these posters out, the kidnapped, with all these pictures of these poor people that were kidnapped,” Pollard adds. “Why? Because each one of them was a poison dart at our ability to wage total war against our enemies.”
He advocates for Israel to go on with the war without any deal, even at the cost of killing many Israeli hostages.
All hostage families are told who’s slated for release tomorrow, in change of strategy
The Prime Minister’s Office issues a statement on behalf of the government’s point person on hostages and missing people, Gal Hirsch, saying officials have notified all the families whose loved ones are expected to be released from captivity in Gaza tomorrow.
Officials have also told all the other families that their loved ones are not on the list Israel has received.
The PMO urges the public to refrain from “spreading rumors and unofficial information,” and asks media not to publish the list of names until the hostages are back in Israel.
Israel seems to have changed its initial planned strategy, outlined yesterday in a briefing to reporters by a senior diplomatic official, which would have seen Israel avoid notifying families until live proof is received of the hostages’ release.
The previous decision was explained to be due to fear that Hamas’s list of names is inaccurate or that the group is playing cruel tricks, and in order not to spark false hope.
However, top officials have evidently changed their mind, and the information has been conveyed, with many qualifications, to the relatives.
PM’s office says Israel has received initial list of hostages to be freed from Gaza
After Qatar’s announcement about the hostage deal going into effect tomorrow, the Prime Minister’s Office confirms that Israel has received an “initial” list of names of abductees expected to go free.
“The relevant officials are checking the details of the list and are currently in contact with all families,” the statement says.
Hamas confirms 4-day truce will begin Friday, 3 Palestinian prisoners will be freed for each Israeli hostage
Hamas’s military wing confirms that a ceasefire will go into effect tomorrow morning and last 4 days.
“In four days, 50 [hostages] will be released,” Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades says, also confirming information from Israel that three jailed Palestinian terror convicts will be freed in exchange for every Israeli hostage.
Qatar: Ceasefire to kick off tomorrow at 7 a.m., 13 hostages will be freed at 4 p.m.
Qatari Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari gives details of a planned hostage release, at a press conference in Doha, November 23, 2023 (CNN screenshot, used in accordance with clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
A spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry says the Israel-Hamas ceasefire will go into effect tomorrow at 7 a.m.
Majed Al-Ansari says the first group of 13 Israeli hostages will be freed tomorrow at 4 p.m.
He says Doha has received the list of names of the civilians the Hamas terror group will free on the first day of the deal, out of at least four groups.
Asked about other countries’ hostages, he says the initial focus “was on getting the women and children out of harm’s way” as a priority, and speaks of “expanding the pause through the formula of getting more hostages out.”
He says the aim is for the pause in fighting to end “with a lasting truce.”
IDF locates weapons under beds of top Hamas member’s kids, as well as 4 deep tunnels
The IDF says fighters from its 401st Brigade operating on the outskirts of Gaza’s Jabaliya have located four “significant” tunnels dug deep underground, as well as a stash of weapons hidden under the beds of a senior Hamas member’s kids and in closets.
The military says the tunnels are connected to an electricity network and were used by Hamas. One of them was found in a search of the home of a different senior member of the terror group.
At the home of the first official, in addition to weapons, troops also located many documents and battle plans, which have been handed to intelligence forces for examination.
The troops also found shafts used to launch rockets, alongside long-range rockets of the type used to target central Israel.
“We have reached the heart of Hamas’s deployment,” says the brigade commander, Col. Benny Aharon.
צוות הקרב של חטיבה 401 נלחם ב'עמק הגראדים' בפאתי ג'באליה וחשף תשתיות תת קרקעיות ואמצעי לחימה מתחת למיטות שינה של ילדים>>https://t.co/FTj58GmfVL pic.twitter.com/dVI46AVKxy
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 23, 2023
IDF hits Hezbollah targets, including rocket launchers and terror cell
The IDF says it hit Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, including rocket launchers and other infrastructure, in response to repeated attacks on northern Israel.
Separately, a drone, helicopter and tanks struck a Hezbollah cell that fired an anti-tank missile at the Biranit base, the IDF adds.
מטוסי ומסוקי קרב של צה"ל תקפו תשתיות טרור ואתרים לשיגור רקטות של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בשטח לבנון בתגובה לשיגורים לעבר שטח מדינת ישראל מוקדם יותר היום. כוחות צה"ל תקפו באמצעי הלחימה "עוקץ פלדה" תשתית צבאית של ארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בשטח לבנון >> pic.twitter.com/vqXHZNVt41
— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) November 23, 2023
France says hostage deal must go ahead ‘without further delay’
France says an agreement between Israel and Hamas on the release of 50 hostages in exchange for a security prisoners and a humanitarian truce should go ahead “without further delay.”
Paris is also urging “the immediate release of all hostages,” says Anne-Claire Legendre, spokeswoman for the French foreign ministry. “We call for the terms of this agreement to be fully respected,” she adds.
Israel has made a truce deal with the Palestinian terror group but it says no hostages are expected to be released until at least tomorrow.
Netanyahu: ‘We hope to get our hostages out – it’s not without its challenges’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) meets with UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron in Tel Aviv on November 23, 2023. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)
At a meeting with visiting UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel hopes “to get our hostages out.”
Amid delays in the purported truce/hostage deal, Netanyahu says that “we hope to get our hostages out — it’s not without its challenges, but we have to, we hope to get this first tranche out and then we’re committed to getting everyone out.”
Netanyahu says that Israel will then “continue with our war aims, namely to eradicate Hamas, because Hamas has already promised that they will do this again and again and again. They are a genocidal terrorist cult.”
WSJ report: Egypt says it has received list of first 10 Israeli hostages to be released
A woman looks at photographs of hostages held in Gaza displayed in Ramat Gan on November 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A report in the Wall Street Journal cites an Egyptian official saying that Cairo has received a list of the 10 hostages held by Hamas who would be released first, amid ongoing delays in realizing a truce deal.
Qatar has promised an imminent update on the talks, after the deal was initially expected to take effect this morning and then delayed until at least tomorrow. All the hostages in question will be children and women, according to the terms.
According to the WSJ, one of the gaps in the negotiations is the fact that Israel had wanted the hostages to be handed first to the Red Cross and then transferred to Israel, while Hamas wants to give them straight to Egypt.
The report also says that Israel has demanded the Red Cross have access to the hostages still in Gaza, and Hamas has not agreed.
Air raid sirens sound in Gaza border communities
Air raid sirens sound in communities near the border with Gaza, including Yesha and Amioz near the southern part of the Strip.
IDF confirms arrest of Shifa Hospital director, says he is being questioned on Hamas presence
IDF soldiers operate at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in a handout photo distributed on November 15, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
A joint statement from the IDF and the Shin Bet confirm the arrest of the director of Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital.
The statement says the director, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, is being questioned after “a great deal of evidence” revealed that the hospital is being used as a command center for Hamas under his directorship.
Last week the IDF published footage from inside the hospital showing Hamas operatives bringing two hostages into the building on October 7 as hospital staff look on.
The military has also published images and footage from a number of Hamas tunnels underneath the hospital. It also says that a pathological report confirmed that captive Noa Marciano was murdered inside the complex.
The statement says that a decision on detaining Abu Salmiya will be made in conjunction with the results of the investigation into his involvement in and knowledge of Hamas activities.
BBC cites Israeli source saying Hamas has made ‘additional demands’
The BBC news network reports that Hamas has made further demands to the already delayed hostage/truce deal.
Citing an “Israeli government source,” BBC says Hamas has made “additional demands… though it’s not clear what those demands are.”
Hamas originally said the deal was supposed to go into effect this morning at 10, but late last night Israel noted that it was not going to begin until at least tomorrow.
Qatar has promised an update on the situation imminently.
Air raid sirens sound again in Shlomi near Lebanon border
Air raid sirens sound again in the town of Shlomi near the border with Lebanon.
Sirens have been ringing throughout much of the border area all morning and afternoon.
Earlier, Hezbollah said it fired 48 rockets at Israel, the largest barrage since the start of the war. Israel says around 30 crossed the border, and no injuries were reported.
Hamas claims to have fired rocket from West Bank city of Jenin
The Hamas terror group claims to have a fired a rocket from the West Bank city of Jenin at a settlement in the northern West Bank.
Hamas releases a video on social media of what appears to be a failed rocket launch.
תיעוד: הניסיון הכושל של המחבלים באזור ג'נין לשגר את הרקטה ליישוב שקד בצפון השומרון@Doron_Kadosh pic.twitter.com/QDLQCNOVVz
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) November 23, 2023
No sirens were set off in the West Bank and no damages or injuries were reported.
Body of Hamas terrorist found in rubble of Sderot police station 7 weeks after assault
Officials at the site of the Sderot police station where the body of a Hamas terrorist was found on November 23, 2023. (Sderot Municipality)
The body of a Hamas terrorist was found in the rubble of the Sderot police station almost 7 weeks after the terror group’s onslaught against southern Israel.
The police station in the southern city was the site of fierce battles during and after the October 7 invasion, as terrorists holed up inside the building and Israel bulldozed it during the ensuing battle.
According to the Sderot municipality, the body was found during construction work to restore the sewage system that was damaged during the firefight. Police and explosives experts were called to the scene and neutralized the weapons found on the body before it was removed from the scene.
Israel to face Iceland in Euro 2024 playoffs; a win would see it play winner of Bosnia vs. Ukraine
Romania's forward #17 Florinel Coman and Israel's midfielder #08 Dor Peretz vie for the ball during the UEFA Euro 2024 group I qualification football match between Israel and Romania in Felcsut on November 18, 2023. (Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP)
Israel is drawn to face Iceland in the qualifying playoffs for the European Championship, and Ukraine is paired with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The winners of those two games will then face each other next March for a place at Euro 2024 in Germany, setting up a potential decisive match between Israel and Ukraine.
Both Ukraine and Israel must currently play “home” games in a neutral country for security reasons because their own country is at war. Israel was drawn as the host against Iceland, while Bosnia is at home against Ukraine.
Israel has never qualified for the European Championship since becoming a member of UEFA in 1994.
Meeting PMs of Spain, Belgium, Herzog says Israel in ‘critical hours’ before hostage deal
President Isaac Herzog (center) meets with the prime minister of Spain (left) and Belgium (right) in Jerusalem on November 23, 2023. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Meeting with the prime ministers of Belgium and Spain, President Isaac Herzog says Israel is facing “critical hours” ahead of slated hostage release.
Alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, Herzog says, “These are critical hours. We are waiting and praying for the return of the first group of hostages and the entry into the ceasefire that was agreed between Israel and Qatar, and Qatar and Hamas, under the auspices of the United States of America.”
Herzog tells the European leaders that “we want to give hope to the families who are going through hell, for them to see the young babies, children and adults, women, coming back home with the aim of seeing all of them come back home. But for that, we need to make sure that Hamas adheres to the strict rules of the agreement, and these are the exact details that are being discussed right now.”
The president also says that Israel is “taking major steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza together with the United Nations, with Arab countries,” noting the hope to see “the introduction of field hospitals, and further supply of necessary food and medicine, and of course make sure that the humanitarian corridor from north to south will supply the needs of the people who are moving, the uninvolved civilians, who are moving from north to south.”
According to the president’s office, Sanchez says that Spain “shares in Israel’s pain and sorrow” and welcomes the “agreement that will allow for the release of some of the hostages and establishment of the humanitarian pause.” De Croo says Belgium “stands on your side” and says he hopes the nascent deal “will lead to the liberation of hostages.”
Ahead of slated Palestinian prisoner release, Ben Gvir tells police to shut down celebrations
Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai (left) meets with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (right) on November 23, 2023. (Courtesy)
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir holds an assessment with the police and prison services’ top commanders, ahead of the expected release of some 150 Palestinian prisoners as part of deal with Hamas to trade 50 Israeli hostages for a four-day fighting pause.
Ben Gvir instructs the head of Israel’s Prison Service, Katy Perry, to quash attempts to celebrate prisoner releases within incarceration facilities, according to a readout from Ben Gvir’s office.
Similarly, the national security minister tells Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai to use “an iron fist” against attempts to celebrate prisoner releases or support terrorism, Ben Gvir also tells Shabtai to up police presence in the expected homecoming destinations of released prisoners, for those being released within Israel’s Green Line.
In particular, Ben Gvir says the police can shut down celebrations in East Jerusalem, where the police have a substantial presence.
“My instructions are clear: there are to be no expressions of joy,” Ben Gvir says. “Expressions of joy are equivalent to backing terrorism, victory celebrations give backing to those human scum, for those Nazis.”
Up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, all women and minors who have not been convicted of murder, can be released if Hamas agrees to release more Israeli hostages, also all women and children, under the deal framework.
IDF: Around 35 rockets fired from Lebanon crossed into Israel; no injuries reported
A shell from Israeli artillery explodes over Kfar Kila, a Lebanese border village with Israel, as it is seen from Marjayoun town in south Lebanon, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The IDF says some 35 rockets fired from Lebanon crossed the border in the earlier barrage on northern Israel. Hezbollah claimed to have fired 48 rockets.
Air defenses intercepted several of the rockets. There were no reports of injuries in the attacks.
The IDF says it struck the rocket launchers in response.
Additionally, several anti-tank missiles and mortars were fired from Lebanon at areas along the border.
Hezbollah has claimed several attacks along the border today.
בהמשך להתרעות במרחב צפון הארץ, זוהו כ-35 שיגורים משטח לבנון שחצו לעבר שטח מדינת ישראל. לוחמי ההגנה האווירית יירטו מספר שיגורים.
בנוסף, מחבלים שיגרו משעות הבוקר מספר טילי נ"ט ומרגמות לעבר מספר מרחבים לאורך הגבול >> pic.twitter.com/Ez4Vfgt1pr— דובר צה״ל דניאל הגרי – Daniel Hagari (@IDFSpokesperson) November 23, 2023
IDF releases footage of Egoz unit operating in Gaza City’s Shati camp
Troops of the Egoz unit operate in Gaza City's Shati camp, in an IDF handout photo published November 23, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
The Israel Defense Forces releases new footage of the elite Egoz unit operating in Gaza City’s Shati camp amid the military’s ground offensive.
It says the forces captured Hamas sites, battled operatives, directed airstrikes and seized weapons and military equipment during the raids.
IDF releases new footage of the elite Egoz unit operating in Gaza City's Shati camp. pic.twitter.com/UEmSM1c6JZ
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 23, 2023
Iranian FM visits Lebanon, meets with Hezbollah leader Nasrallah
This handout picture provided by Hezbollah's media office on November 23, 2023, shows Lebanese Shiite group's secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah (2nd-R) meeting with Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (2nd-L) at an undisclosed location in Lebanon. (Hezbollah's Media Office / AFP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian meets with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at an undisclosed location in Lebanon.
Amir-Abdollahian arrived yesterday in Beirut for his second visit to Lebanon since October 7, according to the Lebanese news website Naharnet.
After his arrival, he told the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen news channel that the Gaza war is likely to spread unless the truce between Israel and Hamas, which is supposed to enter into force tomorrow, is maintained.
“If this ceasefire starts tomorrow, if it does not continue… the conditions in the region will not remain the same as before the ceasefire and the scope of the war will expand,” he said.
The Iranian foreign minister held talks in Beirut yesterday with Ziad al-Nakhaleh, secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Khalil Al-Hayya, a member of the Hamas politburo, and other officials from the two terror groups, according to the Iranian official news agency Fars.
Visiting Kibbutz Be’eri, UK’s Cameron says he needed to see for himself the ‘horrific’ assault
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (left) escorts UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron (right) through Kibbutz Be'eri on November 23, 2023. (Miri Shimonovich/Foreign Ministry)
Visiting Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza border, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron says he wanted to see the destruction wrought by Hamas firsthand.
“I wanted to come here myself to see the horrific nature of the attacks that you suffered on October 7 — and they are absolutely horrific,” he say alongside Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.
New UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron visits destroyed Kibbutz Be'eri with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, says:
"I wanted to come here myself to see the horrific nature of the attacks that you suffered on October 7th — and they are absolutely horrific." pic.twitter.com/NhV9EgLti6
— Amy Spiro (@AmySpiro) November 23, 2023
“I mean, the terrorism, parents shot in front of their children, children shot in front of their parents,” he says. “I’ve heard things and seen things that obviously, I will never forget, and it’s important we understand that.”
Cameron reiterates his comments that the slated “humanitarian pause” is “important because it’s an opportunity to get hostages out and to get aid in.” He says he plans to meet with officials as well as with the family members of hostages during his trip.
Cohen thanks Cameron for visiting, and says that “we need to fight together. This is not just a local battle, this is a global war that we all should fight against terrorism,” noting also the need to discuss the escalation along the border with Lebanon.
Gaza health official says Israel has ordered staff at Indonesian Hospital in north to evacuate
Palestinians stand outside the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on January 13, 2016. (MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
An official with the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says that Israel has ordered the complete evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
Dr. Munir al-Boursh, an official inside the facility, tells Al-Jazeera television that hospital officials are trying to organize buses to evacuate some 200 patients, including older adults and children with burn injuries.
Fighting has raged outside the hospital for days, and hundreds of people have already been evacuated to the south.
New UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron visits Israel, tours Kibbutz Be’eri
Britain's Foreign Secretary David Cameron leaves at the end of a cabinet meeting at 10 Downing Street in central London on November 22, 2023. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)
New UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has arrived for a visit in Israel, according to reports.
Photos on social media show him visiting Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza border, which was devastated by the Hamas onslaught on October 7.
🔴 NEW: David Cameron shown site of Hamas atrocities on first visit to Israel as Deal to free Hamas hostages delayed until Friday.
Follow our liveblog here: https://t.co/tgQi4hEWXC pic.twitter.com/Xy9FncOAI9
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) November 23, 2023
He is also expected to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials during his trip.
Last night, Cameron chaired a meeting of Arab and Islamic leaders in London, calling the agreement on a temporary truce “an important opportunity to get the hostages out and more aid into Gaza to help the Palestinian people.”
30-50 rockets said fired at Israel from Lebanon in largest barrage since start of war
Rockets fired by terrorists in southern Lebanon are intercepted above a position across the border near Kibbutz Dan in northern Israel on November 7, 2023. (Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
According to initial estimates cited by Hebrew-language media, between 30 and 50 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Upper Galilee, making it the largest barrage since the beginning of the fighting on the northern border.
Footage shows a number of rockets being intercepted over the area.
There are no reports of injuries as a result of the attack.
The Hezbollah terror group claims responsibility for the attack, saying it fired 48 rockets at an IDF base near Safed.
Multiple interceptions over the Upper Galilee pic.twitter.com/MsGaIuuqZQ
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 23, 2023
Palestinian official says gaps in hostage deal include talks over Red Cross visits
People walk next to pictures of civilians held hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza, in Jerusalem, November 22, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
A Palestinian official tells AFP that gaps in the delayed hostage and truce deal between Israel and Hamas include questions over the involvement of the Red Cross.
The official, who is close to the negotiations, says that questions are being raised over Red Cross access to the hostages before they would be released into Egypt, and whether the Red Cross will have access to those who remain.
When the ceasefire will go into effect will be announced by mediator Qatar, “in co-ordination with the Egyptians and the Americans, in the coming hours today,” he adds.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that the deal included a promise that the Red Cross would visit those hostages who have not been released, something the international body then said it was unaware of.
At a press conference last night, Netanyahu reiterated that a clause in the deal includes Red Cross visits, and read from a document in Hebrew he said guaranteed their involvement, adding that “the Red Cross is part of the agreement” — as agreed to by Israel “and the other side.”
“So I expect the Red Cross to act according to that clause” in the deal. “Hamas might not honor it, but it is unthinkable that the Red Cross won’t demand it… if the Red Cross didn’t know — it knows now.”
Air raid sirens sound again across Upper Galilee
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in several communities in the Upper Galilee, close to the Lebanon border.
The alerts are activated in Yir’on, Dovev, Baram, Kerem Ben Zimra, Dalton, Sassa, Zivon, Jish, Safsufa, Or HaGanuz, Biriyeh, Kadita, Bar Yochai, Rehaniya, the Marom HaGalil Regional Center and Ramat Dalton Industrial Zone.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The sirens come amid repeated attacks from Lebanon by the Hezbollah terror group and allied Palestinian factions on northern Israel.
⚡️ Large Rocket Alerts [10:15:54] – 17 Alerts:
• Confrontation Line — Zivon, Sdeh Meron School, Dovev, Dalton, Rehaniya, Kerem Ben Zimra, Baram, Yir'on, Jish (Gush Halav), Ramat Dalton Industrial Zone, Sassa#Israel #RocketAlert #RedAlert pic.twitter.com/6gn97n2KS0
— ILRedAlert (@ILRedAlert) November 23, 2023
Ahead of slated four-day truce, IDF chief says military ‘is not ending the war’
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi (center) meets with senior officers in the Gaza Strip, November 23, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
As Israel is expected to enter a temporary truce with the Hamas terror group, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi says the military is “not ending the war.”
“We are trying to connect the goals of the war, so that the pressure from the ground operation brings about the ability to also achieve the goal of this war, to create the conditions for the release of the abducted hostages,” Halevi says to commanders during a visit to the Gaza Strip.
“We are not ending the war. We will continue until we are victorious, going forward and continuing in other Hamas areas,” he adds.
Halevi met with the brigade commanders of the 36th Division, and held an assessment with senior officers, according to an IDF statement.
High Court rejects 2 further petitions against Hamas hostage deal
A view of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem October 17, 2021. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
The High Court of Justice rejects two further petitions against the deal with Hamas to exchange some 50 Israeli hostages for approximately 150 Palestinians jailed in Israel on security-related offenses, insisting that there is no substantive reason for it to intervene.
The unanimous decision of the three-member panel, written by Justice Alex Stein, states that the government has broad discretion over security and diplomacy issues that are outside of the court’s purview.
The court also rejects claims by the petitioners that the government is discriminating against some captives by releasing others, saying the government’s statements indicate it is trying to free all hostages and that it is Hamas that is responsible for the separation of hostages into different categories.
Palestinian official to AFP: Deal delayed over ‘last minute’ details on hostage list
An installation consisting of chairs with books and portraits of Israeli hostages in Gaza seen at the new building of the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, November 21, 2023. (Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)
A Palestinian official tells AFP that a delay in implementation of a truce in Gaza is due to “last minute” details over which hostages will be released and how.
The truce, widely expected to go into force today but delayed during the night, has been put back over “the names of the Israeli hostages and the modalities of their release,” says the official, who has knowledge of the negotiation process.
Israel has demanded the release of all children held in Gaza as well as their mothers, although Hamas has reportedly indicated that it does not necessarily know the whereabouts of all of them, with some of them being held by other terror groups in the Strip.
IDF says it struck missile launchers in Lebanon after number of rockets fired at Israel
A shell explodes over Kfar Kila, a Lebanese border village with Israel, as it seen from Marjayoun town in south Lebanon, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
The Israel Defense Forces says it carried out a drone strike and artillery shelling against an anti-tank missile squad in southern Lebanon, near the northern community of Zar’it.
A number of rockets were also fired from Lebanon at northern Israel this morning, setting off sirens.
No injuries are reported in the rocket attacks.
The IDF says it is responding with artillery shelling at the sources of the fire.
Separately overnight, a surface-to-air missile was fired at an IDF drone over Lebanon. The IDF says the missile was intercepted by air defenses.
In response, an airstrike was carried out against the missile launcher and a weapons depot, the IDF says.
Report: Director of Gaza’s Shifa Hospital arrested by IDF for questioning
Palestinians at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, November 10, 2023. (Flash90)
A doctor at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City tells AFP that the facility’s director and several other medical personnel were arrested by Israeli forces today.
“Doctor Mohammad Abu Salmiya was arrested along with several other senior doctors,” says Khalid Abu Samra, a chief of department at the hospital, which has been a major focus of the Israeli operation against Hamas.
A report in the Kan public broadcaster says that Abu Salmiya is being questioned by the Shin Bet and IDF intelligence, and Army Radio reports that he was detained as he was moving to evacuate to the south of the Strip.
The IDF says it is looking into the reports.
Grandfather of 3-year-old hostage Avigayil Idan: She doesn’t know she’s an orphan
Avigail Idan (left), 3, here with her father Roee and brother Michael, was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023 from Kibbutz Kfar Aza. (Courtesy)
Carmel Idan, the grandfather of 3-year-old Avigayil Idan, who is being held captive in Gaza after her parents were both murdered by Hamas, says he is worried about the trauma his granddaughter will experience amid her expected return to Israel.
“I don’t know how [she’ll be] when she comes back,” Idan tells Kan public radio. “When she comes back, she won’t know she’s an orphan.”
He adds that he is worried if Avigayil “sees an [Israeli] soldier, she’ll be afraid… she might be afraid they’re moving her to another place, she might think they’re Hamas members,” he says, asking that a family member be there to greet her instead of an IDF soldier.
Idan says that Avigayil’s 9-year-old brother, Michael, who saw his parents murdered, does not communicate.
US officials said yesterday that Idan, a dual US-Israeli citizen, is slated to be released under the nascent hostage deal.
Air raid sirens also sound in Upper Galilee
After a number of sirens in towns in the Western Galilee, air raid sirens are also sounding in the Upper Galilee.
There is no indication yet what set off the sirens, amid regular cross-border fire from Lebanon. There have also been a number of false alarms.
Germany says police raiding homes of Hamas supporters
German riot police officers push back Pro-Palestinian demonstrators as they protest outside the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on October 18, 2023. (John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
Germany says raids were underway in four regions on the homes of members and supporters of Hamas and another Palestinian terror organizations that are banned in the country.
“We are carrying out action against radical Islamists. By banning Hamas and Samidoun in Germany, we have sent a clear signal that we will not tolerate any apology or support for Hamas’s barbaric terror against Israel,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser says in a statement.
Air raid sirens sound again in Western Galilee near Lebanon border
Air raid sirens sound in Shlomi and Betzet in the Western Galilee near the border with Lebanon.
Coalition MK says there are ‘small details’ left to finalize in hostage deal
MK Ze'ev Elkin attends the funeral of Israeli soldier Yossi Hershkovitz, at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery in Jerusalem on November 12, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
National Unity MK Ze’ev Elkin says, “There are all sorts of small details they are trying to finalize in the hostage return deal.”
The coalition lawmaker tells Army Radio, “We’re up against a cynical and horrible organization that shouldn’t expect good from us. During the negotiations we struck 300 Hamas sites, we will keep striking them until the moment the truce deal goes into effect, and we will keep going a minute after it ends.”
Air raid sirens sound in Western Galilee
Air raid sirens are sounding in the Western Galilee near the border with Lebanon
IDF says it struck 300 sites in Gaza over past day, including tunnels, weapons depots
Palestinians inspect the damage of a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
The Israeli Air Force carried out strikes against some 300 targets in the Gaza Strip over the past day, the IDF says.
The sites, according to the IDF, include command centers, tunnels, weapons depots, weapon manufacturing sites and anti-tank missile launch positions.
במהלך פעילות צה"ל ברצועה, הותקפו מהאוויר ביממה האחרונה כ-300 מטרות טרור של ארגון הטרור חמאס, ביניהן מפקדות מבצעיות, מנהרות לחימה תת קרקעיות, מחסני אמל"ח, אתרים לייצור אמל"ח ועמדות שיגור נ"ט. pic.twitter.com/QDCnxIlRsj
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) November 23, 2023
Ground operations in the Gaza Strip continued overnight, with the IDF saying its 215th Artillery Regiment struck several targets in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya as troops operate in the area.
A drone strike was also carried out against a group of Hamas operatives moving toward Israeli forces, and an observation post was targeted with a guided munition, the IDF says.
In another incident, the IDF says tanks and a drone struck a Hamas cell amid a gun battle led by the Golani Brigade.
Meanwhile, the IDF says combat engineering forces of the 924th Battalion found and destroyed a Hamas tunnel shaft in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza.
The IDF says combat engineering forces of the 924th Battalion found and destroyed a Hamas tunnel shaft in the Beit Hanoun area of northern Gaza.
Meanwhile troops of the Bislamach Brigade found a tunnel shaft in a mosque, and the 14th Brigade found a tunnel in a residential… pic.twitter.com/hmCUH19VPT
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 23, 2023
Additionally, troops of the Bislamach Brigade found a tunnel shaft in a mosque, and the 14th Brigade found a tunnel opening in a residential home, along with weapons, the IDF says.
After delay, Qatar says announcement on timing of truce to be made in the coming hours
Israeli soldiers stand outside Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, November 22, 2023. (AP/Victor R. Caivano)
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson says the hostage talks Doha is mediating between Israel and Hamas are “progressing positively” and that an announcement will be made in the coming hours regarding the exact time that the truce will begin.
Officials in Qatar, Israel and Hamas separately announced yesterday that the deal would come into place this morning at 10 a.m., but Israel later announced that implementation would not take place before Friday morning due to apparent logistical delays.
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari says in a statement that Qatar is working with the two warring parties along with Israel and the US “to ensure the rapid start of the truce and to provide what is necessary to ensure the parties’ commitment to the agreement.”
Likud minister says he believes the hostage deal will still ‘be realized’
Energy Minister Israel Katz speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv, March 13, 2023. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Likud Minister Israel Katz reacts to the delay in implementing the hostage deal, saying dealing with Hamas obviously has its challenges.
“You have to remember who we’re working with — [Hamas chief Yiyha] Sinwar, an insane man who gave orders to kill, rape, abuse,” Katz tells Army Radio. “We’re ready for any possibility. Right now the assumption is that the deal will be realized.”
Katz responds to the fact that family members of the hostages said they found out about the delay from the media, claiming that “the connection with and treatment of the family members is all-encompassing. It seems that after the press conference [by Netanyahu, Gallant and Gantz] Tzachi Hanegbi wanted to express a development, and it was important from a diplomatic and strategic point to clarify that — it’s likely that there was no opportunity to update the families in that moment.”
Family member of hostage: The uncertainty ‘is killing us’
A woman looks at photographs of hostages held in Gaza displayed in Ramat Gan on November 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A family member of a hostage held captive in Gaza says that the delays and changes in the deal to release their loved ones is taking an enormous toll on the already frayed emotions of the families.
“These ups and downs are killing us,” Diego Engelbert, whose sister Karina, brother-in-law Ronen and their daughters Mika and Yuval are held hostage, tells Army Radio.
“We were holding onto a ray of hope and once again it’s gone — this is part of the psychological terror we go through on a daily basis.”
US official says decision to delay hostage deal made together by Israel, Qatar, Egypt
A senior US official tells CNN that the decision to delay the implementation of the hostage deal by a day, to Friday, was made by Israel together with Qatar and Egypt and that the US was in the loop.
The official says more time was needed to finalize details and to “minimize things going wrong,’ CNN reports.
According to the deal, Hamas will free 50 Israeli hostages — children, their mothers, and other women — for a four-day lull in fighting and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners, women and minors.
The US official says there is no cause for concern yet as Israel had not yet received the names of the first group of hostages to be released, a move that was expected Wednesday night. The official said worry would be warranted if there was still no list by Thursday night.
Earlier, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson insisted that the agreement will still move forward and “hopefully” be implemented on Friday morning.
“The deal was agreed and remains agreed,” Watson said in a statement. “The parties are working out final logistical details, particularly for the first day of implementation.”
“It is our view that nothing should be left to chance as the hostages begin coming home,” Watson said. “Our primary objective is to ensure that they are brought home safely.”
“That is on track and we are hopeful that implementation will begin on Friday morning.”
An Israeli official earlier attributed the delay to the sides having not yet signed onto a document enshrining the agreement while a second source told The Times of Israel that the mechanism for releasing the hostages had not yet been finalized and Hamas had not yet provided a list of the first batch of hostages it planned to release as expected.
Both sources expressed optimism that the deal would go into place on Friday morning.
Over a million displaced Gazans sheltering at UN facilities, says UNRWA
CAIRO — The UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees says that almost 1,037,000 internally displaced Palestinians are currently seeking shelter in 156 UNRWA facilities across the Gaza Strip.
In its report, the aid agency says that the number of its workers killed by the ongoing conflict in Gaza stands at 108. The information in the report was valid as of Tuesday.
Earlier Wednesday, UNRWA’s Secretary General, Philippe Lazzarini, gave a press conference in southern Gaza warning that the suffering of Palestinians will only worsen with the coming of winter, and that the besieged territory is on the verge of a waterborne disease outbreak.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, a temporary truce was agreed between Israel and Hamas that will facilitate the release of some 50 Israelis, women and children, taken hostage during the terror group’s shock assault on Israel on October 7, in which terrorists killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted some 240.
The truce has been welcomed by UNRWA whose leaders have continually called for a ceasefire.
After delay, US asserts hostage deal ‘remains agreed,’ sides just finalizing logistics
Children look at photographs of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas during a rally joined by hundreds in solidarity with Israel and those held hostage in Gaza, in Bucharest, Romania on Nov. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Following the delay in the hostage deal implementation, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson insists that the agreement will still move forward and “hopefully” be implemented on Friday morning.
“The deal was agreed and remains agreed,” Watson says in a statement.
“The parties are working out final logistical details, particularly for the first day of implementation,” she adds.
“It is our view that nothing should be left to chance as the hostages begin coming home,” Watson says. “Our primary objective is to ensure that they are brought home safely.”
“That is on track and we are hopeful that implementation will begin on Friday morning.”
While Israeli, Hamas and Qatari officials had said earlier Wednesday that the agreement would go into effect on Thursday at 10 a.m., Israel announced at the end of the day that it would implementation would not take place before Friday morning.
An Israeli official attributed the delay to the sides having not yet signed onto a document enshrining the agreement while a second source told The Times of Israel that the mechanism for releasing the hostages had not yet been finalized and Hamas had not yet provided a list of the first batch of hostages it planned to release as expected.
Both sources expressed optimism that the deal would go into place on Friday morning.
Sirens blare in Ashkelon and surrounding area
Sirens warning of incoming rocket fire sound in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and the surrounding area.
There is no immediate confirmation of rocket explosions, injuries, nor damage.
US says it’ll continue cooperating with Jordan on Gaza after its FM blasted Biden’s post-war strategy
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi speaking to the press in Amman, Jordan, on September 12, 2019. (Screen capture Al-Mamlaka TV)
The US has been working to rally Arab allies around its day-after strategy for Gaza — one that envisions the Palestinian Authority eventually returning to govern the enclave.
However, the Biden administration recognizes that an international force will be needed to manage and secure Gaza for an interim period after the war until a “revitalized” PA is prepared to take over.
Biden officials have been floating the idea of Arab countries contributing troops and funds to help rebuild and rehabilitate Gaza after the war, three officials told The Times of Israel last week
While the idea has not yet been wholly embraced by Arab allies, who are hesitant to contribute to a temporary regime, given that Israel has not shown interest in working toward a two-state solution with the PA, the officials said.
But only Jordan has made a point of rejecting the proposals publicly, with its Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi tearing into US efforts to even begin discussing post-war plans while the fighting still rages.
“What happens next? How can we even entertain what will happen next?” Safadi said earlier this month in a fiery press conference alongside Blinken and Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, left, and Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi hold a press conference in Amman, Jordan, November 4, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool via AP)
“We don’t have all the variables to even start thinking about that… We need to get our priorities straight,” he Safadi.
Over the weekend, Safadi took aim specifically at the US proposal for Arab countries to dispatch soldiers to Gaza.
“There will be no Arab troops going to Gaza. None. We are not going to be seen as the enemy,” Safadi said during a conference in Yemen.
Asked for comment on Safadi’s remarks, a US State Department spokesperson avoids responding directly to Safadi’s criticism.
“We continue to work with our regional partners, including Jordan, on addressing the conflict in Gaza, protecting civilian life, and providing life-saving aid to the Palestinian people,” the spokesperson says.
The spokesperson also pointed to recent comments by Blinken who stressed, “The Palestinian people’s voices and aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza.”
The United States is Jordan’s single largest provider of bilateral assistance, providing more than $1.65 billion in 2021.
US shoots down several drones launched by Houthi forces in Yemen
Armed Yemeni supporters of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels brandish their weapons at a rally in the capital Sanaa, January 27, 2022. (Mohammed Huwais/AFP)
The United States shot down several drones launched by Houthi forces in Yemen, the US Central Command tweets
“The drones were shot down while the US warship was on patrol in the Red Sea. The ship and crew sustained no damage or injury,” the tweet adds.
Since the war’s outbreak, the US has shot down several missiles fired by Houthi rebels toward Eilat. Saudi Arabia has also shot down a number of projectiles as well.
Blinken stresses need for Palestinian state in phone calls with Saudi, Emirati and Qatari counterparts
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks an aircraft as he arrives at Yokota Air Base ahead of the G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Tokyo on November 7, 2023. (JONATHAN ERNST / POOL / AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stresses the need for the establishment of a Palestinian state in phone calls with counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to discuss the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
The US has intensified its rhetoric in favor of a two-state solution since the war’s outbreak, hoping that the potential removal of Hamas from Gaza will provide an opening for the Palestinian Authority’s eventual return in what would better unite the enclave with the West Bank and lay the groundwork for a two-state solution with Israel.
Israel has all but rejected the idea though, with Netanyahu stressing that he will not allow the PA in its current form to return to Gaza.
In his call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, Blinken also welcomed the hostage deal slated to be implemented later this week, which will allow for at least a four-day truce during which the sides have agreed to surge humanitarian aid into the Strip.
In his call with Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Blinken thanked MBAR for his efforts to negotiate the hostage deal, and the two discussed efforts to increase the flow of aid into Gaza, according to the US readout. They also stressed the need to get foreign nationals out of Gaza.
As of Tuesday, 800 US citizens, permanent residents and their families have managed to exit Gaza but 1,200 people in those categories remain.
In his call with Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the two discussed efforts to expand aid into Gaza while keeping the conflict from spreading. The two also “affirmed our shared commitment to building a more secure and prosperous region,” the US readout says.
Warning sirens sound in Kerem Shalom on Gaza border
A siren warning of incoming rocket fire sounds in Kerem Shalom in southern Israel, right on the Gaza border and the site of a now-closed main crossing.
There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
Palestinian UN envoy calls for pause to become ‘end’ to Israel-Hamas war
The Palestinian UN ambassador called Wednesday for a “definitive end” to Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, warning that a truce to release hostages “cannot be just a pause before the massacre starts all over again.”
“Hundreds of Palestinian children will not be killed thanks to this truce,” Mansour tells the UN Security Council. “We owe it to them and to all the civilians in the Gaza Strip to put a definitive end to this criminal assault on the Palestinian people.”
He thanked the nations of Qatar and Egypt for their roles in paving the way for the deal, and called on all those who contributed to “stopping this madness” to work to “to ensure a way forward that averts the resumption of this aggression.”
Hamas initiated a war on October 7 when thousands of terrorists crossed from Gaza into Israel by land, sea, and air, and killed over 1,200 people, a majority of them civilians, and took some 240 hostages.
Mansour says Palestinians “do not justify the killing of a single Israeli civilian,” adding: “No-one should condone atrocities based on the identity of the perpetrator.”
Israelis and Palestinians must not turn a blind eye to each other’s wounds and histories, but instead build respect on a “common vision of the future where all can live… not where one’s life is at the expense of another,” he says.
Israeli UN ambassador Gilad Erdan responded by saying that, as soon as the truce ends, “we will continue striving towards our goals with full force.”
“We will not stop until we eliminate all of Hamas’ terror capabilities and ensure that they can no longer rule Gaza and threaten both Israeli civilians and the women and children of Gaza,” says Erdan.
No pause in Gaza fighting until hostage deal with Hamas finalized, says official
An Israeli official tells AFP early Thursday thar there would be no halt in the fighting between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers or any release of hostages held by the terrorists “before Friday.”
The agreement was approved by the Israeli government early Wednesday and had been widely expected to take effect on Thursday.
The official’s comments came shortly after national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said in a surprise announcement before midnight Wednesday that none of the hostages seized in the Hamas massacres on southern Israel on October 7 would be freed before Friday.
The negotiations for the hostages “are constantly progressing” and “the release will begin according to the original agreement between the parties, and not before Friday,” said Hanegbi.
According to the agreement, Hamas will free 50 living Israeli hostages — children, their mothers, and other women in groups of 12-13 people — for a four-day lull in fighting and the release of up to 150 Palestinian female and underage prisoners. The deal would also enable an influx of fuel and humanitarian supplies to Gaza during the pause, a first since Hamas initiated war nearly seven weeks ago when its terror members rampaged through southern Israel and slaughtered some 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
Israel has vowed to destroy the terror group and has been waging an air and ground campaign in Gaza for nearly 50 days.
White House: War won’t end after multi-day truce, Hamas still poses a threat
File: US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 8, 2023. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby indicates that the US anticipates that the Israel-Hamas war will continue after the multi-day truce expires.
“The fight is not over. The war is not over. The threat that Hamas poses is still real and still viable to the Israeli people,” Kirby says during a briefing with American Jewish community leaders.
Kirby reiterates that the US will “continue to make sure that we’re giving [Israel] the tools the capabilities the weapons systems that they need to continue to go after Hamas.”
The White House spokesperson cautions against assuming that the deal has been finalized, speaking hours before Israel announced a one-day delay in implementation due to logistical hiccups.
“Nobody’s doing touchdown dances here. Now’s the time for everybody to watch very, very closely. Because this is this is going to come down now to implementation and execution,” Kirby says.
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