Israel Hamas war RECAP: Two Israeli-Russian women released by terror group to ‘thank Vladimir Putin’ as IDF checks terror group’s claim that 10-month-old hostage was killed in airstrike

Ahed Tamimi was among the 30 Palestinian prisoners freed on Wednesday night.

Tamimi, 22, was arrested by the Israelis earlier this month after posting an appalling anti-Semitic attack on Instagram, recalling the Holocaust and telling Jewish settlers: ‘What Hitler did to you was a picnic’.

‘Our message to the herds of settlers — we are waiting for you in all the West Bank cities from Hebron to Jenin. ‘We will slaughter you and you will say that what Hitler did to you was a picnic.’We will drink your blood and eat the skulls of as many as we like. Come on, we are waiting for you.’

When aged 16, Tamimi shot to international prominence after slapping and kicking an Israeli soldier during a protest outside her house in Nabi Salih on the West Bank and became a heroine of the Palestinian resistance.

‘During the night, 30 male and female security prisoners were released from a number of prison facilities,’ Israel’s prison service said in a statement.

The overnight releases, which came after a sixth batch of hostages were freed from Gaza, bring the number of Palestinian prisoners freed by Israel under a truce deal to 210.

Hamas and other militants in Gaza have released 70 Israelis under the deal, along with nearly 30 hostages of other nationalities outside the truce framework.

This is the incredible moment a ‘hero’ Israeli hostage stared down a masked Hamas terrorist as she was finally released following 53 days in captivity.

Rimon Kirsht, 36, was part of the fifth group of Israeli and foreign hostages who were handed back over to Israel yesterday as part of a fragile ceasefire deal which is currently set to end tomorrow morning.

International mediators are working to extend the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas terrorists to keep freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive.

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The 10 freed Israeli hostages and four Thai nationals have arrived in Hatzerim in southern Israel. They were greeted by a large crowd of people who lined the streets.

They will be taken to the Hatzerim Air Force base from where they are expected to be flown to various Israeli hospitals.

Some of the hostages are expected to reunite with their families at the air base and other reunions are set to occur at the various hospitals.

The 10 Israeli nationals — some dual citizens — were released as part of the Israel-Hamas truce deal. Four Thai citizens were released outside the framework of the agreement.

Two Israeli-Russian hostages were also released Wednesday outside the deal. They have been admitted to the Sheba Medical Center in the Tel Aviv area.

The Israel Prison Service said early on Thursday it had freed 30 Palestinians from Israeli jails in the sixth such release under a truce arrangement with Gaza’s Hamas terrorist group, Reuters is reporting.

The Palestinians were released from prison facilities in Israel, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, the prison service said in a statement.

Pro-Palestine activists have sparked outrage after 20 demonstrators stormed a hotel where loved ones of Israeli victims and hostages were staying in Melbourne‘s CBD.

The activists, armed with flags and signs with anti-Israel messages, had tracked the Israeli supporters to their hotel in Docklands on Wednesday at about 10pm.

The Israeli group had been speaking about their experiences earlier in the evening at the Mount Scopus Memorial College.

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Mediators are racing to broker another extension to the truce between Israel and Hamas hours before it expires and as more hostages are released.

Underscoring the urgency, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel for talks on aid for Gaza and the truce, which is scheduled to end early Thursday after a six-day halt in fighting.

However, there are potential complications with a Hamas source claiming the Palestinian militant group is not satisfied with Israel’s proposals for another extension.

‘What is being proposed in the discussions to extend the truce is not the best,’ the source told AFP, adding that the talks were focused on extending the pause by ‘two days or more’.

Pictured below is a scene of devastation in Gaza City caused by Israeli strikes:

Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas keeps freeing captives.

But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said while the release of hostages taken by Hamas is welcome, the country’s military will continue its fight against the terrorist group.

Ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, he said:

After this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted, will Israel return to fighting? So my answer is an unequivocal yes. There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end.

Israeli-American dual citizen Liat Beinin is reportedly in the hands of the Red Cross after being freed by her Hamas captors after seven weeks.

Beinin, 49, is an American-born Israeli who was taken along with her husband, Aviv Atzili, from Kibbutz Nir Or on the morning of October 7.

Earlier, CNN reported that ‘at least one American citizen’ being held by the radical Palestinian terrorist organization is expected to be among the sixth group of ten hostages due to be handed over on Wednesday.

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These are the 10 Israeli hostages released by Hamas

• Raaya Rotem, 54
• Raz Ben Ami, 57
• Yarden Roman-Gat, 36
• Liat Beinin Atzili, 49
• Moran Stela Yanai, 40
• Liam Or, 17
• Itay Regev, 18
• Ofir Engel, 17
• Amit Shani, 16
• Tarshansky Gali, 13

Ten Israelis and four Thais have been handed over by Hamas and are on their way to Israel, the Israeli military announced.

‘According to the information provided by the Red Cross, 10 Israeli abductees and abductees and four abductees with Thai citizenship are on their way to Israel,’ Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari tweeted a few minutes ago.

According to Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari, the Israeli hostages include 5 minors and 5 women.

He added that those of dual nationality within the group are a Dutch minor, 3 Germans and 1 American.

In exchange, the Palestinians to be released from Israeli prisons include 16 minors and 14 women, Al Ansari said.

It comes after two Russian-Israeli women were handed over earlier this evening.

The two hostages were released as a special case outside of the parameters of the Israel-Hamas deal, the Israeli government said.

They were named as Russian-Israeli citizens Yelena Trupanob, 50, and Irena Tati, 73.

As two newly freed hostages arrived in a van in Ofakim in southern Israel on Wednesday, they were greeted by a large crowd of people who lined the streets.

The crowd, most of whom were holding Israeli flags, were cheering and singing while the van passed by.

The vehicle was seen making its way to the Hatzerim Air Force base where the freed hostages are expected to be put on a helicopter to be flown to an Israeli hospital.

The two hostages were released as a special case outside of the parameters of the Israel-Hamas deal, the Israeli government said.

They were named as Russian-Israeli citizens Yelena Trupanob, 50, and Irena Tati, 73.

Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, has said Israeli forces are ready to resume fighting “immediately”.

Posting to social media on Wednesday, Gallant wrote:

We are making every attempt to return all the abductees and to fully exploit the current move to return all the abducted women and children in Gaza. IDF forces in the air, on land and at sea are ready to resume fighting immediately.

The dying mother of Noa Argamani – a young woman abducted by Hamas terrorists on the back of a motorcycle – has issued a painful video plea to see her daughter before cancer takes her life.

Liora Argamani, who is currently battling stage four brain cancer, called on President Biden and the Red Cross to intervene, as she told her daughter: ‘If I don’t get to see you… please know I love you very much’.

Noa, 26, an only child, was snatched at the Supernova music festival during the Hamas incursion of Israel on October 7 and filmed begging for her life on the back of the bike, screaming ‘Don’t kill me!’

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An IDF spokesperson has confirmed the elimination of three terrorists who broke the ceasefire agreement.

They also assured their stance that they are ‘ready to continue the fight’.

We eliminated 3 terrorists that broke the ceasefire and are ready to keep fighting if there will be a violation in the agreement

Two Israeli-Russian women released by Hamas today have been named as Yelena Trupanob and Irena Tati, Israeli media reports.

It comes after a Hamas official said more Russian-Israeli citizens would be released today in appreciation of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s support for the Palestinian cause.

An Israeli man with a Russian citizenship was released on Sunday outside the truce deal with Hamas, becoming the first male hostage to return home.

‘None of the Israeli men detained in Gaza were released, except for Roni Krivoi, of Russian origin, as a result of the movement’s appreciation for President Putin’s positions,’ Musa Abu Marzouk, an official with the political wing of Hamas, said on X.

‘Today, others will be released outside the deal in appreciation of President Putin’s commendable positions,’ he added.

Putin has been critical of Israel’s operation in the Gaza Strip and its toll on Palestinian civilians. He has urged a political solution to the conflict and has backed the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The IDF have released a statement announcing that two Israeli hostages have been handed over to the Red Cross.

Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that according to information provided by the Red Cross, two Israeli hostages ‘are on their way to Israeli territory.’

‘Their release is in addition to the list of abductees scheduled to be released today,’ he added.

His translated statement reads:

According to the information provided by the Red Cross, two Israeli abductees were transferred to them and are on their way to Israeli territory. Their release is in addition to the list of abductees scheduled to be released today.

Family members of the youngest Israeli hostage being held in Gaza, 10 month old Kfir Bibas, have said they’ve been informed of Hamas reports that the infant, his brother and mother have been killed

They added that are awaiting official notice from Israeli authorities.

‘Our family has learned of Hamas’ latest claims,’ a statement from the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said. ‘We are waiting for the information to be confirmed and hopefully refuted by military officials.’

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for Gaza’s vulnerable health infrastructure to be safeguarded.

The war-torn enclave is facing an increased risk of epidemics and challenges in detecting infectious diseases, experts have said.

A fragile truce agreement between Israel and Hamas last week has allowed WHO and aid organisations to increase their deliveries of essential supplies but these have been far from enough to meet the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million people.

Speaking at a press conference in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said only 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals were still functioning and were completely overwhelmed.

‘Of the 25 hospitals north of the Wadi Gaza (river) before the conflict began, only three are functioning at the most basic level,’ he said.

Even these three, he said, ‘lack fuel, water and food’, adding: ‘the remaining health system capacity must be protected, supported and expanded.’

WHO has sounded the alarm about the spread of infectious disease in Gaza, where the internal displacement of the population has caused overcrowding in shelters and other temporary living facilities.

The agency has noted a staggering increase in cases of diarrhoea, especially among infants and children, and detected ‘very serious signals around acute jaundice syndrome’ in the enclave.

Tedros, who said that 1.3 million people were currently living in shelters in Gaza, said the enclave had recorded 111,000 acute respiratory infections, 24,000 cases of skin rash and 12,000 cases of scabies since the conflict began.

Israel believes Hamas has enough women and children hostages to allow the current pause in fighting in Gaza to be extended by another two to three days, an official involved in the negotiating process has told Reuters news agency.

‘We know for a fact that there are additional hostages in the hands of Hamas for at least two more days, potentially three days from the list of women and children,’ said the official, who spoke on condition that he not be named.

‘Any additional agreement would be conditional on first of all releasing these remaining women and children and only then could we negotiate follow-on agreements,’ he said.

The official made the remark on the last day of a two-day extension to the original pause in fighting agreed to allow hostages held by Hamas to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

‘We are of course fully prepared to resume fighting but our preference would be to continue,’ the official said.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told the UN Security Council that a resumption of fighting in Gaza threatens to ‘devour the region.’

‘(A resumption) in fighting would only, most likely, turn into a calamity that devours the whole region,’ he said.

Gazans are ‘in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe before the eyes of the world,’ UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said today.

He also called for an expansion of the current pause in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

‘Intense negotiations are taking place to prolong the truce – which we strongly welcome – but we believe we need a true humanitarian ceasefire,’ he said at a United Nations Security Council meeting.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the meeting that the Palestinian people ‘are faced with an existential threat’ amid the conflict.

‘We are owed respect to our inherent dignity… Israel has no right to self-defense against a people that it occupies,’ he said.

The IDF has released statements on Hamas’s claim that 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, along with his brother and mother, were killed in Gaza by an Israeli airstrike.

Earlier, Israel’s military said it was investigating the report.

Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, the IDF’s chief spokesperson, said ‘Hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages in the Gaza Strip’ anc called on the terror group to release all of the hostages.

The IDF’s longer statement on Telegram reads:

During the Hamas massacre of October 7, the Bibas family, including 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, his 4-year-old brother Ariel Bibas, and their mother Shiri Bibas — were kidnapped alive into Gaza. The barbarism and cruelty of Hamas is on full display to the world. IDF representatives spoke with the Bibas family following the recent reports and are with them at this difficult time. The IDF is assessing the accuracy of the information. Hamas is wholly responsible for the security of all hostages in the Gaza Strip. Hamas must be held accountable. Hamas’ actions continue to endanger the hostages, which include nine children. Hamas must immediately release our hostages. The IDF, along with other security agencies, will continue to accompany the Bibas family, as well as all families of the hostages and missing persons.

Hamas says it has released two women hostages with Russian citizenship in the Gaza Strip, as a truce held between Israel and the terror group.

The women were handed over to the Red Cross by the armed wing of Hamas, the movement said in a statement, ‘after the efforts of the Russian president’.

An eight-year-old boy and a teenager were killed today by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

The ministry said in a statement that ‘Adam al-Ghul, eight years old, and Bassem Abu el-Wafa, 15 years old, were killed by bullets from the occupier’ (Israel).

CCTV footage circulating online and on television news shows a boy being struck by a bullet and falling in the street, sending other children fleeing.

Other images show a teenager also being hit by a bullet and falling, then appearing to call for help as more shots hit the ground around him and other people run for cover. The teenager can be seen struggling on the ground in apparent agony for at least half a minute.

An official with the Palestinian Red Crescent told AFP news agency that the boy and the teen had been on a side street of central Jenin’s main thoroughfare, an area theoretically off limits to the Israeli military as it is under the sole control of the Palestinian Authority.

Asked about the deaths by AFP, the army said it was ‘verifying’ the information.

In a seperate report (see update at 14:14), the IDF is understood to have said children were throwing explosive at their forces in the area.

Israel has said it is checking claims by Hamas that Kfir Bibas, a 10-month-olf baby who was snatched and taken into Gaza by the terror group, was killed in an Israeli airstrike alongside his mother and four-year-old brother.

Hamas’ armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades claimed, without providing evidence, that the 10-month-old baby, his mother Shiri Silberman-Bibas, 30, and brother Ariel, were killed in an Israeli bombardment before the truce was announced.

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The IDF has said that the two children killed in Jenin, West Bank (see update at 13:28) ‘threw explosives at our forces,’ according to Haaretz newspaper.

Palestinian officials said the children had been killed by gunfire.

Germany’s domestic intelligence chief has warned that the risk of Islamist attacks is ‘real and higher than it has been for a long time’ because of the Israel-Hamas war.

‘We see calls in jihadist spectrums for attacks and for Al-Qaeda and IS to tag on to the Middle East conflict,’ said Thomas Haldenwang in a statement.

A flood of images online related to the war triggered by Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel, paired with fake news, could act as catalysts for radicalisation, he said.

Palestinians or Muslims were being portrayed as ‘victims of the West’ in some of these social media posts, which sometimes also carry anti-Semitic content.

‘The situation is exacerbated by foreign state actors, which are exploiting or seeking to boost this mood,’ warned Haldenwang, the president of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

Haldenwang did not cite examples of the state actors, but added that the different extremist groups’ common view of Israel as an enemy was generating ‘new connections and could lead to strong cooperation in certain cases,’ he warned.

German authorities had already announced they were ramping up security for Jews and Jewish institutions in the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel.

The IDF has claimed it has killed Muhammad Zubeidi, who it says was the commander of the Jenin branch of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Its claim came in a post on social media, seen below:

Hamas’s armed wing the al-Qassam brigades has said three hostages were killed in a previous Israeli bombardment of Gaza, Reuters has reported.

This is a breaking news update. Read the full story below:

Two Palestinian children were killed today by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The IDF have been carrying out a military operation there since Tuesday.

This is a breaking news update. More to follow…

An elderly hostage has said she confronted Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

Yocheved Lifshitz, an 85-year-old peace activist who was taken into Gaza on October 7 and was one of the first people to be released, said Sinwar visited the hostages in the underground tunnels where they were being held captive.

‘Sinwar was with us three to four days after we arrived. I asked him how he is not ashamed to do such a thing to people who have supported peace all these years,’ Lifshitz told Israel’s Hebrew-language Davar newspaper.

‘He didn’t answer. He was silent,’ she said.

Lifshitz was released by Hamas after 16 days of captivity. Her 83-year-old husband Oded remains in Gaza.

The United Nations has called for the international community to move towards a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, saying Jerusalem should serve as the capital of both states.

‘It is long past time to move in a determined, irreversible way towards a two-state solution, on the basis of United Nations resolutions and international law,’ said Tatiana Valovaya, Director-General of the UN office in Geneva, delivering a speech authored by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

She added this would mean ‘Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security with Jerusalem as the capital of both states.’

Israel believes there are 161 hostages still being held captive in Gaza.

Around 240 people were dragged into Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7, according to the Jewish state.

Speaking to CNN, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said that it now believes 161 of those people are still in Gaza after five days of hostage exchanges.

Spokesperson Eylon Levy said that number includes 146 Israelis and 15 foreigners, of whom 126 are men and 35 are women. There are still four children under the age of 18, and 10 people aged 75 and older.

It is unclear how many of the hostages are soldiers, he said.

‘We want to get all of the hostages home, we’re committed to that pledge, there will be no one left behind,’ Levy said at a news conference.

‘The current framework allows for a few more days of hostage relief pause, and as long as there is a serious offer on the table to release the remaining hostages as we are demanding, we will of course consider every serious proposal because we’re committed to doing everything to bring them back,’ he said.

Mediators are still scrambling to extend the truce between Hamas and Israel.

The terror group is preparing to release a last batch of hostages under the existing deal in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Hamas says it is willing to extend the truce by four days and release more Israeli hostages, a source close to the militant group said.

The current truce is scheduled to expire early Thursday after a two-day extension that was agreed on Monday and went into effect on Tuesday morning.

Hamas ‘informed the mediators that it is willing to extend the truce for four days’, a source close to the militant group told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli government has received a list of the new hostages to be freed, Israeli media reported. There was no official confirmation.

Israel has agreed to release three Palestinian prisoners for every hostage freed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said he would work to prolong a pause in the fighting in Gaza on an upcoming visit to Israel.

‘Looking at the next couple of days, we’ll be focused on doing what we can to extend the pause so that we continue to get more hostages out and more humanitarian assistance in,’ Blinken said after a NATO meeting in Brussels.

Israel has indicated it is unwilling to extend the ongoing truce agreement with Hamas beyond Sunday, according to Haaretz.

The Israeli newspaper cited ‘an official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations’.

The Jewish state has previously said it would be willing to extend the truce by one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas from Gaza.

Fighting between the two sides paused on Friday for four days, and was extended for a further two, meaning the current agreement is set to end tomorrow.

Negotiations are continuing in Qatar.

• A senior Hamas official said ‘several’ Russian hostages would be released today from the Gaza Strip.
• The agreement only covers women and children, and Hamas official Mussa Abu Marzuq posted on X, formerly Twitter, that only one man, a Russian-Israeli dual citizen, had been freed so far.
• ‘Today, several others will be released separately from the truce agreement in appreciation for the stance of President Putin,’ he wrote.

Four-year-old Abigail Edan was discharged from hospital late on Tuesday night, following her release after more than 50 days as a hostage in Gaza, a spokesperson for Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikvah said.

The Israeli-American dual citizen was the first US hostage to be released under the cease-fire. Abigail marked her fourth birthday in captivity.

Both of her parents were killed in the Hamas attack that started the war on October 7. During the rampage, she ran to a neighbor’s home for shelter.

The Brodutch family took her in before terrorists took the family to Gaza.

Hagar Brodutch and her three children were also released on Sunday. President Joe Biden celebrated her release, telling reporters, ‘I wish I were there to hold her.’

• Israel has said it will ‘settle accounts’ with Qatar after the war is over, a foreign ministry official has said.
• In an interview on Israeli army radio, Joshua Zarka, deputy director general for strategic affairs at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, said that while Israel needs Qatar for mediation talks, he has questions over the country’s ‘role in everything related to hosting and legitimising Hamas’s activities’.
• ‘Right now we need them. But when this thing passes from the world, we will settle accounts with them,’ he said, according to Al Jazeera.

Earlier, we brought you the update that Hamas has said it is willing to extend the ongoing truce with Israel for more days.

You can read our full story by clicking the link below…

Meanwhile in the UK, BBC staff who defied the corporation’s ‘ban’ on attending last Sunday’s March Against Antisemitism have slammed bosses who ‘got it badly wrong’ and showed insensitivity towards us that will be hard to repair’.

Dozens of Jewish employees in news and current affairs attended the demonstration in London despite being referred to impartiality rules that say editorial staff ‘should not participate in public demonstrations about controversial issues’.

Follow the link below to read our full story…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has branded Benjamin Netanyahu ‘the butcher of Gaza’ and accused him of spawning anti-Semitism across the world.

Erdogan has lashed out repeatedly at Israel for the scale of destruction caused by its response to Hamas militants’ unprecedented October 7 cross-border attack.

He has branded Israel a ‘terrorist state’ and called Hamas ‘a liberation group’ in inflammatory comments which have threatened to rupture Turkey’s budding relations with Israel.

Erdogan redoubled those attacks during an appearance before his Islamic-rooted ruling party members in parliament.

‘Netanyahu has already written his name in history as the butcher of Gaza,’ Erdogan said in nationally televised remarks.

‘Netanyahu is endangering the security of all Jews in the world by supporting anti-Semitism with the murders he committed in Gaza.’

The Gaza war prompted Israel to recall all diplomatic staff from Turkey and other regional countries as a security precaution.

Turkey has also withdrawn its Tel Aviv envoy in protest at Israel’s approach.

The family of Kfir Bibas, a baby who was snatched and taken into Gaza by Hamas terrorists during their October 7 attack on Israel, has said he and his brother are not among the hostages set to be freed tonight.

Follow the link below to read our full story…

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday that the US has airlifted over 54,000 pounds of Gaza-bound medical items and food aid to a staging area in Egypt.

Two more airlifts are planned in the coming days, Sullivan said.

Since October 21, more than 2,000 trucks have delivered aid to Gaza, he said.

Pope Francis has called for the continuation of the ongoing truce in the Gaza Strip, for the release of all hostages and for humanitarian aid access into the territory.

‘We call for peace,’ he said during his Wednesday weekly audience, saying he was concerned by the lack of water, bread and by the suffering of ordinary people in Gaza.

The World Health Organisation’s chief Tedros Ghebreyesus has detailed the number of cases of different diseases in Gaza, home to around 2.3 million people.

‘Given the living conditions and lack of health care, more people could die from disease than bombings,’ he warned on X.

The father of a young girl who was held hostage by Hamas for 50 days has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to help her recover.

To read the full story, follow the link below…

The US-based Institute for the Study of War has said that the ability for Hamas to govern the Gaza Strip ‘appears to be breaking down’.

In its daily update on the conflict, the think tank said this was even in the case in southern Gaza, ‘which will complexify Israeli clearing operations.’

It pointed to Oxfam saying that the situation in the Gaza Strip was ‘absolute chaos’ and without the ‘rule of law’, and a report by the Associated Press that said civilians in the south of the strip were challenging Hamas’s rule.

The ISW also said that both Israel and Hamas had reported at least ‘one violation of the temporary truce agreement in the Gaza Strip, but neither side escalated the situation to more general fighting across the strip.’

You can read the think tank’s full report below:

The Israeli army raided the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, according to the head of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Dr Christos Christou, international president of Médecins Sans Frontières, said he and his team were trapped in a hospital for two hours during the raid.

‘Israeli military vehicles blocked the entrance of the hospital and the road, preventing ambulances from leaving,’ he wrote on X, adding that two Palestinians died from their wounds while ‘ambulances could not reach them’.

Clashes in the West Bank have increased dramatically since October 7.

United States President Joe Biden has said that to continue down the path of ‘terror, violence, killing and war’ is to play into the hands of Hamas.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter) he said: ‘Hamas unleashed a terrorist attack because they fear nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace.

‘To continue down the path of terror, violence, killing and war is to give Hamas what they seek. We can’t do that.’

• A US official said yesterday that the White House had told Israel that it could not employ the same methods in southern Gaza as it had used in the north.
• Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled from northern Gaza since the war began on October 7, when Hamas terrorists killed 1,200 people in Israel.
• In response, Israel launched an air and ground offensive that has killed more than 15,000 people, according to officials in Hamas-run Gaza.
• There are concerns that when the truce comes to end, Israel will launch an offensive into southern Gaza to continue its mission to destroy Hamas.

A source close to Hamas has the Islamist movement was willing to extend by an additional four days a Gaza truce that has seen Israeli hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners, AFP news agency reports.

‘Hamas has informed the mediators that it is willing to extend the truce for four days and that the movement would be able to release Israeli prisoners that it, other resistance movements and other parties hold during this period, according to the terms of the existing truce,’ the source told AFP.

A series of satellite images captured on Novebmer 26 have been released, showing vehicles transporting aid into Gaza and the area around hospitals.

In one picture, dozens of trucks carrying aid are seen waiting at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza during the on-going temporary truce.

Another shows the area around Gaza’s Al Shifa hospital, which has been at the centre of much international attention during the conflict.

Israel’s goal of destroying Hamas could be slipping out of reach.

While the IDF’s bombardment had destroyed swathes of Gaza and killed thousands of civilians, it seems to have had little effect on Hamas’s rule, AP reports.

This is evidenced by the terror group’s ability to conduct complex negotiations, enforce the cease-fire among other armed groups, and orchestrate the release of hostages who were dragged into Gaza from southern Israel on October 7.

Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yehya Sinwar, and other commanders have likely relocated to the south of the strip, along with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who have packed into overflowing shelters after fleeing from the north.

An Israeli ground invasion of the south could eventually ferret out Hamas’ leaders and demolish the rest of its militant infrastructure, including miles of tunnels, but at a cost in Palestinian lives and destruction.

This is a cost the United States, Israel’s main ally, seems unwilling to bear.

The Biden administration has told Israel that if it resumes the offensive it must operate with far greater precision, especially in the south.

That approach is unlikely to bring Hamas to its knees any time soon, and international pressure for a lasting cease-fire is mounting.

Hamas yesterday handed over a fifth group of Israeli and foreign hostages, Israel’s Defence Forces confirmed, with negotiators now working to hash out another extension of the ongoing ceasefire set to expire later today.

The Israelis in the group were named as 36-year-old Rimon Kirsht, whose husband remains a hostage, Gabriela Leimberg, 59, and her daughter Mia, 17, who was filmed clutching her pet dog Bella as she was flanked by Hamas fighters.

The group also includes Mia’s aunt Clara Merman, 63, Argentina-born Ofelia Roitman, 77, Ditza Herman, 84, Tamar Metzger, 78, Merav Tal, 53, Philippines-born Noralin Babdilla, 60, and Ada Sagi, 75, whose British son Noam has been campaigning in Israel and London for her release.

Click the link below to read our full story:

Good morning and welcome to MailOnline’s live blog covering the 54th day of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Here’s what you need to know:

• International mediators are working to extend the truce in Gaza, hoping the territory’s Hamas rulers will keep freeing hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further respite from Israel’s offensive.
• Israel has welcomed the release of dozens of hostages in recent days and says it will maintain the truce if Hamas keeps freeing captives.
• After a 48-hour extension of an initial four-day truce, a new group of 12 hostages was freed from Gaza on Tuesday, with 30 Palestinians released by Israel.
• The final 24 hours of the extended agreement began on Wednesday, with one more exchange of hostages for prisoners expected.
• Mediator Qatar said it was hoping for a more durable arrangement.
• The Israeli hostages freed were all women, including 17-year-old Mia Leimberg, who returned to Israel with her mother and aunt.
• The three were all abducted from kibbutz Nir Yitzhak, and the teenager was seen after her release holding her dog Bella.
• Meanwhile, The World Food Programme warned Tuesday that Gaza’s population faced a ‘high risk of famine if WFP is not able to provide continued access to food.’
• Conditions in the territory are ‘catastrophic,’ the agency’s Middle East director said, while a spokesman for the UN children’s agency UNICEF said aid entering Gaza under the truce deal was ‘not even enough for triage.’
• The dire humanitarian situation has piled on pressure for a more lasting pause or even an end to the fighting, though Israel has made clear it sees the truce as a brief interlude to ensure hostage releases before its war continues.