Israel-Hamas War News Highlights: Israel, Hamas 4-day pause in fighting to take effect tomorrow morning, says report

Speaking at the opening of a virtual summit of G20 nations, of which India holds the presidency, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday said it is necessary to ensure that the conflict between Israel and the Hamas in Gaza does not expand into a regional conflict.

Russia has also welcomed a ceasefire agreement in the Israel-Palestinian conflict on Wednesday and said humanitarian pauses were the only way to make progress towards a settlement.

"This is the first good news from Gaza in a long time," Reuters quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.

"Russia and most countries were calling for a truce and humanitarian pauses, because only on the basis of such pauses can the contours of future attempts at a sustainable settlement be built," Peskov added.

French President Emmanuel Macron Wednesday welcomed othe agreement between Israel and Hamas to a four-day truce in fighting to allow the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and for the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

'We are working tirelessly to release all hostages. The humanitarian truce announced should allow to introduce aid and rescue the civilians in Gaza,' added Macron in a post on X.

I welcome the announcement of an agreement for the release of hostages and a humanitarian truce.

We are working tirelessly to release all hostages.

The humanitarian truce announced should allow to introduce aid and rescue the civilians in Gaza.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 22, 2023

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he may travel to Egypt soon and discuss how to accelerate the evacuation of patients from Gaza and other steps, broadcaster Haberturk and other Turkish media reported on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters on his plane returning from a trip to Algeria, Erdogan was reported as saying the Islamic world must act in a spirit of unity and solidarity on Gaza, and that Israel must be forced to comply with international law and give account of its actions in Gaza.

Pope Francis met separately with Israeli relatives of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinians with family in Gaza and said the conflict had gone beyond war to become "terrorism".

Speaking in unscripted remarks at his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square shortly after the early morning meetings in his residence, Francis said he heard directly how "both sides are suffering".

Israeli stock and bond prices opened higher while the shekel was slightly weaker against the dollar, after Israel's government and Hamas agreed to a four-day pause in fighting, according to Reuters.

The blue chip Tel Aviv 35 index and broader index of 125 shares were up 0.3% in early trading. Government bond prices rose as much as 0.4% while the shekel slipped 0.2% to a rate of 3.727 against the U.S. currency.

Israel’s government and Hamas agreed to a four-day pause in fighting and to release 50 of the 240 hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Israeli media said the first release of hostages was expected on Thursday. Three Americans, including a three-year-old girl whose parents were among those killed during Hamas’s October 7 attack, are expected to be among the hostages to be released, a senior US official said.

Here is a round-up of the ground and hostage situation in the Israel Hamas conflict

The European Union faces growing animosity across the Muslim world and beyond due to accusations of pro-Israel bias and double standards over the war in Gaza, the bloc's foreign policy chief has warned.

Josep Borrell said he feared such acrimony could undermine diplomatic support for Ukraine in the Global South and the EU's ability to insist on human rights clauses in international agreements. He said the EU had to show "more empathy" for the loss of Palestinian civilian lives in Israel's war against Hamas, launched in response to the deadly Oct. 7 cross-border assault by the Palestinian militant group.

His comments came in interviews with Reuters during a five-day Middle East trip that took him to the rubble of Kibbutz Be'eri devastated by Hamas, the West Bank, a regional security conference in Bahrain and royal audiences in Qatar and Jordan. (Reuters)

Mosab Abu Toha last posted on X on Nov. 15, writing “Alive. Thanks for your prayers.” The New Yorker magazine, to which Abu Toha has contributed multiple articles, called for his safe return.The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports.

Alive. Thanks for your prayers.

We don’t have any access to food or clean water. Winter is coming and we don’t have enough clothes. Kids are suffering. We are suffering.
The army is now at Al-Shifa Hospital.
More death, more destruction.

Who can stop this?
Please stop it now.

— Mosab Abu Toha (@MosabAbuToha) November 15, 2023

The brother of an award-winning Palestinian poet in Gaza said he has been arrested by Israeli troops and his whereabouts are unknown.

Mosab Abu Toha has been contributing pieces to Western media since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, painting a dire image of its toll on civilians through his personal experience. His brother, Hamza Abu Toha posted on X on Monday that Mosab was arrested while evacuating to southern Gaza, following Israeli military orders. Hamza said his brother’s wife and children were allowed to continue south, but “the military detained my brother.”

Senior Hamas officials said that an agreement could be reached soon in which the militant group would release hostages and Israel would free Palestinian prisoners.

Israel, the United States and Qatar, which mediates with Hamas, have been negotiating for weeks over a hostage release that would be paired with a temporary cease-fire in Gaza and the entry of more humanitarian aid. Similar predictions of a hostage agreement in recent weeks have proven premature.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with the leaders of the BRICS bloc in a video conference on Tuesday, after which the group is expected to issue a joint statement, the Kremlin said.

The voice of the BRICS needed to be heard in the world, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. (Reuters)

Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in a dense, urban refugee camp on Tuesday as they expanded operations across northern Gaza, where residents have been without electricity, water or access to humanitarian aid for weeks, news agency AP reported.

In the seventh week of the ongoing war, the front line of the conflict has shifted to Jabaliya camp, a dense warren of concrete buildings near Gaza City that houses refugees from the 1948 war and their descendants. 

Israel has been conducting sustained bombardments in the region for weeks, with the military asserting that Hamas fighters have regrouped there and other eastern districts after being displaced from much of Gaza City.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, stated on Monday that Israeli forces had a “full grasp” on Jabaliya and have initiated the process of dismantling a Hamas brigade in the area.

PR addressed the UNGA Informal Plenary today on the Humanitarian Situation in Gaza: https://t.co/qOdAutlu2W

— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) November 21, 2023

As many as 28 premature babies were evacuated from Gaza City's Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization, They were transported to Egypt on Monday, news agency AP reported. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the Shifa compound, which Israeli forces stormed days ago.

Seventeen Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombardment of Nuseirat camp in Gaza at midnight, the Palestinian official news agency Wafa said early on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Israeli forces continued their offensive against Hamas in northern Gaza on Monday, battling militants near a hospital where thousands of patients and displaced individuals have sought shelter for weeks.

Despite the ongoing conflict, health officials successfully evacuated some of the wounded from the facility.

According to a medical worker within the hospital and the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, a shell struck the second floor of the Indonesian Hospital, resulting in the death of 12 people.

While both sources attributed the incident to Israel, the Israeli military denied shelling the hospital. They asserted that their troops retaliated against militants who had targeted them from inside the 3.5-acre (1.4-hectare) compound.

The Israeli offensive came as 28 premature babies evacuated from Gaza City's Shifa Hospital by the World Health Organization were transported to Egypt on Monday, news agency AP reported. Three others were transferred to an Emirati-run hospital in Rafah in southern Gaza, the Red Crescent said. More than 250 critically ill or wounded patients remain stranded at the Shifa compound, which Israeli forces stormed days ago.