Palestinians walk amid debris of buildings hit in Israeli strikes, near Al-Zawiya market in Gaza City on November 27, 2023. (Photo by Omar El-Qattaa / AFP)
Doha, Qatar: Many countries, including US, Jordan welcomed the extension of the humanitarian pause in Gaza Strip for additional two days. There have also been calls from Germany to utilise this time as a path to a political process to reach a lasting solution to the conflict. Arab League, meanwhile, stressed the need for a permanent ceasefire. US President Joe Biden, on X, reiterated call for two-state solution to resolve the conflict.
“A two-state solution is the only way to guarantee the long-term security of both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. To make sure Israelis and Palestinians alike live in equal measure of freedom and dignity, we will not give up on working towards that goal,” Biden said, as the fourth batch of Israeli hostages and imprisoned Palestinians were being exchanged.
As the day five begins, watch this page for more live updates
[11:00pm Doha Time] Hamas fighters accompany newly released hostages this evening, November 28, before handing them over to Red Cross officials in Rafah, on the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt. (Photos: AFP)
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[10:49pm Doha Time] Update: Of the detainees released from Gaza today, two Thai citizens were added, bringing the total of captives released to 12.
[10:04pm Doha Time] Qatar is making unremitting efforts to extend the humanitarian truce in Gaza during the next 48 hours: Dr. Majed Al Ansari, Official Spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Dr. Majed Al Ansari, Official Spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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[9:42pm Doha Time] Palestinians released from Israeli prisons include 15 minors and 15 women: Dr. Majed Al Ansari, Official Spokesperson for Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
[9:23pm Doha Time] The Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Majed Al Ansari, has released a statement in reference to the handover/release of captives from both sides.
Statement reads:
"In implementation of the commitment to the 5th day of the humanitarian pause, 30 Palestinian civilians will be released today in exchange for the release of 10 Israeli hostages from Gaza. Those released from Gaza include a minor and nine women. One of them holds Austrian citizenshi, two Argentinians, and a Filipina citizen, were handed over to the ICRC."
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[9:13pm Doha Time] Handover of captives to Red Cross has begun
Palestinian official familiar with truce talks has said that Hamas has begun today’s captive release, reported Al Jazeera .
Once the Israeli captives are freed it is expected that Israel will release 30 Palestinian prisoners.
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[7:30pm Doha Time] Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations H E Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani has just finished addressing UN General Assembly meeting on the situation in Gaza.
Here’s part of what she said:
• “This meeting is held as we are witnessing the worst humanitarian crisis for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, due to Israeli military aggression.”
• “We are holding this meeting following four days of a humanitarian truce thanks to the joint mediation efforts of the state of Qatar, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the United States of America.”
• “We hope that this humanitarian truce will lead to a sustained and durable ceasefire that will put a stop to the war machine and the bloodshed.”
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[6:45pm Doha Time] Palestinian Ambassador addresses UN General Assembly
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, is currently addressing a special session of the UN on the situation in Gaza.
In his speech, he called on the UN to reaffirm its “permanent responsibility towards the question of Palestine,” and for the end of the “grave and historic injustice for over 75 years, since the start of the Nakba.”
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[5:10pm Doha Time] The Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Majed Al Ansari, during the weekly media briefing said: "what we can validate, at this moment, that we have an extra number of 20 hostages that are ready to be released within this 48 hours, I cannot testify to any other number at this moment."
He added: "Regarding the late release yesterday, you have seen that the timelines differed every day, and it has to do a lot with the logistics on the ground."
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[3:50pm Doha Time] Dialysis unit reopens at Al Shifa Hospital
The dialysis unit at Al Shifa Hospital has been reopened and is receiving patients, said the Gaza Health Ministry, adding that it now invites patients back to the hospital to resume treatment.
Israeli occupation forces raided Al Shifa earlier this month, which led to the evacuation of hundreds of patients and thousands of displaced people who had been sheltering there.
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[1:30pm Doha Time] Qatar Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson gives a press briefing on developments in Gaza
Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Dr. Majed Al-Ansari reiterates gave a press briefing in Doha with an update on the developments in the Israel-Gaza war.
He says: “Qatar is working with the concerned parties to have truce extended”.
“The negotiations process is difficult from all aspects,” he told a media briefing in Doha adding that “each party has its own demands and reservations. We’re doing our best to sort things out.
Al-Ansari adds that Qatar cannot confirm the total number of hostages held in Gaza. “What we can only say with certainty is the number of them being released.”
“The priority at this moment is civilian women and children” to be released, adding that “military men will come into discussion” after that, the Qatari official says.
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[1:02pm Doha Time] US sending three military planes to Egypt with Gaza aid: officials
The United States is sending three military aircraft to Egypt to bring vital humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza during a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas, senior US officials said.
The first plane bringing medical items, food aid and winter gear will land in North Sinai on Tuesday and the other two will arrive "in coming days," the officials said in a briefing call on Monday. Read more here
[12:15pm Doha Time] Qatar sends over 30 tonnes of aid to Egypt for Palestinians in Gaza
A Qatari Armed Forces plane headed to the city of Al-Arish in the Republic of Egypt, carrying 31 tons of aid, including food supplies. Read more here
[12pm Doha Time] Food, medicine, water, other supplies reach northern Gaza: UN
Several tonnes of aid have managed to reach northern Gaza, which has borne the brunt of Israel’s military assault.
The supplies include ready-to-eat meals, drinking water, tents and blankets, as well as medicines, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), has said.
Fuel for electricity production and supplies for the operations of desalination and sewage treatment plants, as well as water pumping stations, had also been delivered.
Drinking water is being supplied to people in the south via two pipes from Israel, OCHA said.
[11am Doha Time] 60 Palestinian women still held in Israeli jails: Palestinian Prisoners Society
Israeli authorities continue to hold 60 Palestinian women in jail, with most of them arrested after October 7, a local nongovernmental organisation says.
Speaking to Anadolu, Amal Sarahneh, media officer at the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), said the Israeli army detained 56 Palestinian women and girls in a major wave of arrests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem after October 7, so far detaining 3,260 people.
Palestinian reacts after being released from an Israeli jail on November 28, 2023. (Photo by Fadel Senna / AFP)
[7:30am Doha Time] Oakland latest US city to call for ceasefire
Oakland City Council has passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, joining nearly a dozen other US cities from Michigan to Georgia that have adopted similar motions, US media outlets report.
The resolution before the Oakland City Council saw several hundred people sign up to speak at a meeting on Monday, with many wearing black-and-white Palestinian scarves, the Associate Press news agency reports.
Similar resolutions have passed in three cities in Michigan as well as in Atlanta; Akron, Ohio; Wilmington, Delaware; and Providence, Rhode Island.
