Israel-Hamas war: Hamas frees 17 hostages and Israel 39 Palestinians

39 Palestinians released from Israeli prisons return home

Over three dozen Palestinian prisoners returned to a hero’s welcome in the West Bank on Sunday after being released by Israel in a cease-fire deal with Hamas.

The 39 young men, wearing grey prison garb, were welcomed by several hundred well-wishers in central Ramallah. The crowd hoisted the men on their shoulders. Many waved victory signs and held green Hamas flags.

Hamas releases third group of hostages in Gaza as part of truce deal

Hamas militants freed 17 more hostages on Sunday, including 14 Israelis, in a third set of releases under a cease-fire deal.

Red Cross representatives transferred the hostages out of Gaza late Sunday. Some were handed over directly to Israel, while others left through Egypt.

The army said one of the hostages was airlifted directly to an Israeli hospital.

Israel will free 39 Palestinian prisoners later on Sunday as part of the deal.

It was the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages it has been holding in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

A fourth exchange is expected to take place on Monday – the last day of the four-day cease-fire between the two sides. A total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are slated to be freed.

International mediators led by the US and Qatar are trying to extend the cease-fire.

Israel bombs Syria’s international airport in Damascus

An Israeli airstrike on Sunday hit the international airport in the Syrian capital of Damascus and put it out of commission, Syrian state media said.

Israel has struck Syria’s Damascus and Aleppo international airports several times since the onset of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza on Oct. 7. Israel has also struck parts of western Syria after rocket fire landed on the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said Israel fired missiles from the direction of the Golan Heights, striking Damascus International Airport and other areas in the Damascus countryside causing material damage. There was no mention of casualties.

Britain-based opposition war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the strikes came just hours after the airport resumed flights after a monthlong hiatus following a previous Israeli strike.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of war-torn Syria in recent years.

It does not usually acknowledge its airstrikes on Syria. However when it does, it says it is targeting Iranian-backed groups there that have backed President Bashar Assad’s government.

Netanyahu: “we will continue until victory”

The Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip will continue “until victory” against the Palestinian movement Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday, while visiting the Palestinian territory for the first time since the start of the conflict.

“We will continue until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us,” Netanyahu told Israeli soldiers, in a video posted by his office. “We have three goals in this war: to eliminate Hamas, to return all of our abductees and to ensure that Gaza does not become a threat to Israel again.”

Thousands march against anti-Semitism in London

Thousands of people marched against anti-Semitism on Sunday in the streets of London, the day after a huge pro-Palestinian demonstration – and on the third day of the truce between Israel and Hamas.

In the procession, which set off from the Royal Court of Justice towards Parliament in the centre of the capital, many demonstrators waved Israeli and British flags and carried “Zero tolerance for anti-Semitism” signs.

They also displayed photos of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas during the bloody attack launched against Israel on 7 October.

According to the Jewish charity Community Security Trust (CST), 1,324 anti-Semitic acts were recorded in Britain between the start of the war on 7 October 7 and 15 November 15, a new record, made starker still when compared to 271 over the same period last year.

At the start of the demonstration, police arrested the founder of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) group Tommy Robinson, who had been asked to stay away.

The day before, tens of thousands of British people once again took to the streets in support of the Palestinians, demanding a lasting ceasefire in Gaza.

IDF – convoy of 200 aid trucks to enter Gaza

The Israel Defence Forces have announced that a convoy of 200 trucks is on its way to Gaza, carrying food, water, items to provide shelter and medical supplies.

Taking to social media, the IDF said: “Under UN escort, dozens of humanitarian aid trucks and six ambulances are being transferred to northern Gaza and to shelters that have not yet been evacuated.”

The ambulances and the trucks will enter the enclave via the Rafah which crosses from Egypt to the southern tip of Gaza.

Hamas says it has freed a Russian hostage as ‘thank you’ to Putin

Hamas has announced that it has released a Russian hostage kidnapped on 7 October in Israel, “in response to the efforts” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his “support for the Palestinian cause.”

Two groups of hostages, including foreigners, have already been released and a third group is expected in the evening on Sunday, according to a truce agreement between the Islamist movement and Israel which entered into force on Friday.

The Kremlin has regularly called for a ceasefire, repeating that lasting peace in the Middle East requires the creation of a Palestinian state.

The release comes as Egypt says it has received a list of “13 Israeli hostages” who should be exchanged on Sunday for “39 Palestinian prisoners”.

In a statement, the Chairman of the Egyptian State Information Service explained that the hostages and prisoners should be the subject of “an exchange today (Sunday) between the two parties”.

Pope welcomes Israel-Hamas truce and release of hostages

Pope Francis has welcomed the ongoing truce in the fighting between Israel and Hamas as well as the release of some hostages, calling for freedom for all and more humanitarian aid for Gaza.

“Today we thank God because there is finally a truce between Israel and Palestine and certain hostages have been released,” he said at the end of the Angelus prayer on Sunday.

He asked that the hostages “will all be (released) as quickly as possible, let us think of their families” and “that more humanitarian aid arrives in Gaza and that we insist on dialogue”.

“This is the only way, the only way for peace. Those who do not want dialogue do not want peace,” he concluded.

PRCS: Palestinian killed in refugee camp Gaza despite truce

The Palestine Red Crescent (PRCS) says a Palestinian farmer has been killed and another injured in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza strip.

It appears they were targeted by Israeli forces but there has been no immediate comment from Israel about the incident.

The death comes during an ongoing four-day truce deal agreed by Hamas and Israel, which began on Friday.

That day, at least two Palestinians are thought to have been killed by Israeli forces while they were making the journey to northern Gaza.

Israel tells Palestinians not to move north in Gaza amid truce

Israel’s military has asked Palestinians not to move to the north of the Gaza Strip during the ongoing four-day truce.

Following its start on Friday, the IDF took to social media to warn civilians that they must not move to the north of the Strip, but tells them they are “allowed to move south”, specifically south of Wadi Gaza.

The IDF also added that both getting within one kilometre of the Israeli border is also prohibited as is entering the sea.

Hamas confirms death of top military leader and three commanders

The armed wing of the Palestinian movement Hamas has announced the death of the military commander of the Northern Gaza Brigade and three other senior figures during the Israeli offensive on the Palestinian territory.

Ahmed al-Ghandour was also a member of the Hamas Military Council and was considered a “terrorist” by American authorities. Among the three other executives named in the press release is Ayman Siam, Hamas’ head of the rocket firing array.

New exchange of hostages for prisoners planned for the third day of truce

A new exchange of Hamas hostages for Palestinian prisoners is planned for Sunday, the third day of the truce between Israel and the Islamist movement in power in Gaza, after two previous swaps.

As a sign of the fragility of the truce, Saturday’s releases were delayed by several hours, with Hamas accusing Israel of not respecting the terms of the agreement concluded on Wednesday with the backing of Qatar and the support of the United States and Egypt.

The Israeli government said it had a list of those kidnapped who were to be released on Sunday, but did not reveal their identity, number or expected time.

Israeli forces kill at least 8 Palestinians in surging West Bank violence – despite truce

Israeli forces operating in the occupied West Bank have killed at least eight Palestinians in a 24-hour period, Palestinian health officials said on Sunday, as a fragile pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip entered its third day.

Violence in the West Bank has surged in the weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October.

Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians and arrested hundreds in the West Bank. Jewish West Bank settlers have also stepped up attacks.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said that five Palestinians were killed in the militant stronghold of Jenin, while three others were killed in separate areas of the West Bank since Saturday morning – despite the truce. One of those killed, in al-Bireh in the central West Bank, was a teenager, the ministry said.

The Israeli military said forces entered the Jenin refugee camp to arrest a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli father and son at a West Bank car wash earlier in the year. In its statement on Sunday, the military made no mention of clashes, nor of the Palestinian deaths, but said forces were still operating in the area.

Second day of hostage swap goes ahead in tense exchange

Hamas militants have released 17 hostages – including 13 Israelis – from captivity in the Gaza Strip, while Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners in the latest stage of a four-day cease-fire.

The late night exchange on Saturday was held up for several hours after Hamas accused Israel of violating their agreement. The delay underscored the fragility of the cease-fire, which has halted a war that has shocked and shaken Israel, caused widespread destruction across the Gaza Strip, and threatened to unleash wider fighting across the region.

The ceasefire, brokered by Qatar and the United States, is the first extended break in fighting since the war began. Overall, Hamas is to release at least 50 Israeli hostages, and Israel 150 Palestinian prisoners. All are women and minors.

Israel has said the truce can be extended by an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed, but has vowed to quickly resume its offensive and complete its goals of returning all hostages and destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities.

The plight of the hostages has gripped the Israeli public’s attention. Thousands of people gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday in solidarity with the hostages and their families. Many accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not doing enough to bring the hostages home. The releases have triggered mixed emotions: happiness, coupled with angst over the scores of hostages who remain in captivity.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced early on Sunday that it had received a new list of hostages slated to be released later in the day in the third of four scheduled swaps.

In the West Bank, hundreds of people burst into wild celebrations for a second night as a busload of Palestinian prisoners arrived early Sunday. Teenage boys released in the deal were carried on the shoulders of well-wishers in the main square of the town of Al Bireh. But the mood of celebration was dampened by scenes of destruction and suffering in Gaza.

The start of the pause brought quiet for 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, who are reeling from relentless Israeli bombardment that has killed thousands, driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and levelled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel also went silent.

The United Nations said the pause enabled it to scale up the delivery of food, water, and medicine to the largest volume since the resumption of aid convoys on 21 October. It was also able to deliver 129,000 litres (about 35,000 gallons) of fuel – just over 10% of the daily pre-war volume – as well as cooking gas, a first since the war began.