A new group of Palestinian prisoners were freed on Sunday following the release of Israeli and foreign hostages from Gaza, on the third day of a truce after seven weeks of war.
Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel over the course of a four-day pause brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Gaza militants took about 240 captives from southern Israel in the unprecedented October 7 attack that Israeli officials say killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians.
In response, Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed an aerial bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza that the Hamas government says has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians.
Here are six key developments from the past 24 hours:
Third Hostage-Prisoner Exchange
The Israeli army said that 13 released hostages were back on Israeli territory on Sunday, and another four were on their way to Egypt.
An earlier statement said the released hostages included three foreign nationals who had been handed over to the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip on the third day of an agreed pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Lead mediator Qatar said 39 Palestinians held by Israel are to be released from prison later in the evening, in exchange for the release of 13 Israelis, another one holding Russian citizenship and three Thais.
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Late Saturday, Hamas released a second group later than expected after the militant group accused Israel of violating the terms of the agreement, which Israeli officials denied.
Hamas said it freed a hostage who holds Russian citizenship in support of Moscow’s foreign policy toward Palestinians.
That release was in “response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and in appreciation of the Russian position in support of the Palestinian cause,” the militant group said in a statement.
Biden Backs a Truce Extension
US President Joe Biden urged to extend the pause in Israel-Hamas fighting to allow for more hostage releases.
Biden said a total of 58 hostages have now been released by Hamas during the current temporary halt in fighting, through what he called “intensive US diplomacy” by himself and administration officials working with Israel, Qatar, Egypt and others.
Biden also reiterated his support for the two-state solution. “The two-state solution is the only way to ensure permanent security for Israelis and Palestinians,” he said. He also added that he hoped to see the pause extended.
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Netanyahu in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday made his first visit to Gaza since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, telling soldiers there that Israel will continue until it wins.
“We continue until the end—until victory,” footage posted online by his office showed him saying.
“Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the war’s goals, and we will.”
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Hamas Says 5 Leaders Dead
The military wing of Hamas said Sunday that the commander of its northern brigade and four other senior leaders had been killed during Israel’s offensive against the Islamist movement.
In a statement, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Ahmed al-Ghandour was a member of its military council, and named three of the others, among them Ayman Siyyam, head of its rocket division, while its West Bank branch confirmed another leader’s death.
Airstrikes in Syria
Israeli air strikes on Sunday made Damascus airport inoperable just hours after flights had resumed following a similar attack last month, a war monitor said, as state media also reported the attack.
It said the raid targeted the runways and reported the sound of an explosion from the direction of a military airport elsewhere in the capital.
Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on its northern neighbor since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.
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Tanker Seized off Yemen
A tanker linked to an Israel-affiliated company was seized off the coast of Yemen on Sunday by unidentified armed individuals, a US defense official confirmed, following a series of incidents on the same shipping route.
“There are indications that an unknown number of unidentified armed individuals seized the M/V Central Park in the Gulf of Aden on November 26. US and coalition forces are in the vicinity and we are closely monitoring the situation,” the official told AFP.
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With AFP
