Israel-Hamas temporary ceasefire extended, say Qatar and Hamas
The temporary truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas has been extended by two days, Qatar and Hamas have said.
A White House official has also told NBC News – the US partner of Sky News – that an agreement has been reached to extend the ceasefire.
The temporary truce was initially due to end at 5am UK time on Tuesday 28 November.
However, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry of Qatar – which has been involved in mediating the temporary truce – said it would last an “additional two days”.
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Hostages Emma Cunio and Yuli Cunio, both aged three, are handed over by Hamas to the Red Cross
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, spokesperson Dr Majed al Ansari wrote: “The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.”
Hamas has also confirmed the truce, while Israel has yet to comment.
“The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas announces that it has been agreed with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce for an additional two days under the same conditions as the previous truce,” a Hamas statement read.
Diplomatic developments are positive – but continuation of fighting still looks most likely
The extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas, by another two days, is further proof that mediation channels through Egypt and Qatar, with support from the US, are working.
The process of release, over the past four days, has been proven. Although neither side trusts the other, that will have built a degree of confidence.
Both sides have their own reasons to agree an extension: Israel will get more of its hostages back home and Hamas has more time to regroup after the seven weeks of intense bombardment and military ground operations.
Hamas is also being credited in the West Bank for securing the release of Palestinian prisoners. That political windfall is not to be under-estimated.
Nevertheless, there will come a point when all the women, children and elderly have been released and then Hamas is unlikely to free young Israeli men, or IDF soldiers, without demanding a much larger price from Israel.
We understand that Israel is not ready to entertain a prolonged ceasefire, although such is the intensity of negotiations behind-the-scenes, that could yet change.
Even if Israel were to get all the hostages back, as unlikely as that might currently seem, they still wouldn’t have achieved their objective of eliminating Hamas’s leadership.
And so, despite the positive developments, a continuation of the fighting still looks like the most likely eventuality – it would take considerable diplomatic efforts to persuade Israel to change course.
Hamas had been pushing for an extension to the temporary ceasefire if “serious efforts” were made to increase the number of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel.
Under the terms of the current deal, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 hostages, while Israel will release 150 Palestinian detainees over four days.
Read more from Sky News:
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Israel previously said the deal allows for the truce to be extended an extra day for every additional 10 hostages freed.
Earlier, Diaa Rashwan, the head of the State Information Service of Egypt, which has also been involved in mediation, said an extension deal would include the release of 20 Israeli hostages and 60 Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinians celebrate the release of Palestinian detainees as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal
On Monday night, the Israeli military said special forces soldiers were accompanying 11 more released hostages in Israeli territory after they were handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas.
“After they undergo an initial medical assessment of their health, our forces will accompany them until they are reunited with their families,” the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
According to Qatari officials, 33 Palestinian prisoners are to be released in exchange.
Once they have been exchanged, it means 150 Palestinian prisoners will have been freed by Israel, while 51 Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas in exchange.
As part of a separate deal, 17 Thai and one Filipino national have also been released by Hamas.
The temporary truce has also allowed for humanitarian aid to enter into Gaza.
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Thai hostages arrive at Shamir Medical Centre
A spokesman for the head of the UN said he hoped to see the temporary truce turn into a full humanitarian ceasefire.
“The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is getting worse by the day,” Stephane Dujarric said on behalf of UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.
“The dialogue that led to the agreement must continue, resulting in a full humanitarian ceasefire, for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and the wider region.”
World
‘Widespread sexual violence’ took place during Hamas’s 7 October attacks, report by Israeli experts says
A newly released report led by Israeli legal and gender experts presents detailed evidence alleging “widespread and systematic” sexual violence during the Hamas-led terror attack on 7 October.
Warning: This story contains descriptions of rape and sexual violence
The findings, published by the Dinah Project, argue that these acts amount to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV), and assert that “Hamas used sexual violence as a tactical weapon of war”.
The report draws on 18 months of investigation and is based on survivor testimonies, eyewitness accounts, and interviews with first responders, morgue personnel and healthcare professionals.
According to the Dinah Project, the documented patterns – such as forced nudity, gang rapes, genital mutilation, and threats of forced marriage – indicate a deliberate and coordinated use of sexual violence by Hamas operatives during the attack.
Reported incidents span at least six locations, including the Nova music festival, and several kibbutzim in southern Israel.
A destroyed car near the police station in Sderot, following the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Pic: AP
One section of the report describes victims “found fully or partially naked from the waist down, with their hands tied behind their backs and/or to structures such as trees and poles, and shot”.
At the Nova music festival and surrounding areas, the investigators found “reasonable grounds to believe” that multiple women were raped or gang-raped before being killed.
The report’s findings are consistent with earlier investigations by the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Read more:
What is the possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal?
Israeli soldier describes arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza
The UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict previously concluded that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” CRSV took place during the attack.
Destroyed vehicles near the grounds of the Supernova electronic music festival. Pic: AP
Significantly, the Dinah Project urges the international community to officially recognise the use of sexual violence by Hamas as a deliberate strategy of war and calls on the United Nations to add Hamas to its list of parties responsible for conflict-related sexual violence.
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The nature and scale of sexual violence on 7 October have been a subject of intense controversy, with some accusing parties of weaponising the narrative for political ends.
This report seeks to confront what its authors call “denial, misinformation, and global silence,” and to provide justice for the victims.
Hamas has denied that its fighters have used sexual violence and mistreated female hostages.
World
Israeli soldiers ‘psychologically broken’ after ‘confronting the reality’ in Gaza, UN expert says
A UN expert has said some young soldiers in the Israeli Defence Forces are being left “psychologically broken” after “confront[ing] the reality among the rubble” when serving in Gaza.
Francesca Albanese, the UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, was responding to a Sky News interview with an Israeli solider who described arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza.
She told The World with Yalda Hakim that “many” of the young people fighting in Gaza are “haunted by what they have seen, what they have done”.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Ms Albanese said. “This is not a war, this is an assault against civilians and this is producing a fracture in many of them.
“As that soldier’s testimony reveals, especially the youngest among the soldiers have been convinced this is a form of patriotism, of defending Israel and Israeli society against this opaque but very hard felt enemy, which is Hamas.
“But the thing is that they’ve come to confront the reality among the rubble of Gaza.”
An Israeli soldier directs a tank near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel. Pic: AP
Being in Gaza is “probably this is the first time the Israeli soldiers are awakening to this,” she added. “And they don’t make sense of this because their attachment to being part of the IDF, which is embedded in their national ideology, is too strong.
“This is why they are psychologically broken.”
Jonathan Conricus, a former IDF spokesman who is now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, said he believes the Sky News interview with the former IDF solider “reflects one part of how ugly, difficult and horrible fighting in a densely populated, urban terrain is”.
“I think [the ex-soldier] is reflecting on how difficult it is to fight in such an area and what the challenges are on the battlefield,” he said.
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Ex-IDF spokesperson: ‘No distinction between military and civilians’
‘An economy of genocide’
Ms Albanese, one of dozens of independent UN-mandated experts, also said her most recent report for the human rights council has identified “an economy of genocide” in Israel.
The system, she told Hakim, is made up of more than 60 private sector companies “that have become enmeshed in the economy of occupation […] that have Israel displace the Palestinians and replace them with settlers, settlements and infrastructure Israel runs.”
Israel has rejected allegations of genocide in Gaza, citing its right to defend itself after Hamas’s attack on 7 October 2023.
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‘Israel has shifted towards economy of genocide’
The companies named in Ms Albanese’s report are in, but not limited to, the financial sector, big tech and the military industry.
“These companies can be held responsible for being directed linked to, or contributing, or causing human rights impacts,” she said. “We’re not talking of human rights violations, we are talking of crimes.”
“Some of the companies have engaged in good faith, others have not,” Ms Albanese said.
Read more:
Israeli soldier describes arbitrary killing of civilians in Gaza
British surgeons on life in Gaza
Listen to The World with Richard Engel and Yalda Hakim every Wednesday
The companies she has named include American technology giant Palantir, which has issued a statement to Sky News.
It said it is “not true” that Palantir “is the (or a) developer of the ‘Gospel’ – the AI-assisted targeting software allegedly used by the IDF in Gaza, and that we are involved with the ‘Lavender’ database used by the IDF for targeting cross-referencing”.
“Both capabilities are independent of and pre-ate Palantir’s announced partnership with the Israeli Defence Ministry,” the statement added.
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