Palestine

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — International mediators on Wednesday worked to extend the truce in Gaza, encouraging Hamas militants to keep freeing hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and further relief from Israel’s air and ground offensive. The cease-fire will otherwise end within a day.

Ahead of the swap of 10 militant-held hostages for 30 Palestinian prisoners panned Wednesday, Hamas handed over two Russian-Israelis, the Israeli military said.

28 November 2023; MEMO: Muhammad Nezzal, a Palestinian child released as part of a prisoner exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas, said some prisoners lost consciousness due to beatings by Israeli forces in prison, Anadolu Agency reports.

Nezzal, who was arrested three months ago in Kabatiye, affiliated with Jenin in the West Bank and placed under “administrative detention” for six months, spoke to Anadolu after being released in the fourth group of the agreement.

28 November 2023; MEMO: The number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in the Occupied West Bank since 7 October has exceeded the number of Palestinians killed in the last year, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Anadolu Agency reports.

It said,

"the army and settlers have since killed 242 Palestinians in the West Bank, including Occupied East Jerusalem"

29 November 2023; MEMO: A video revealed a new crime committed by the Israeli occupation army, after it forced medical staff of Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital in Gaza without the five premature Palestinian babies who were being cared for.

The five infants were found “dead and in a state of decomposition” in Al-Nasr Hospital after being alone for three weeks, in what may amount to a horrific execution and a crime against humanity.

AL BIREH, West Bank (AP) — Hamas militants on Saturday released 17 hostages, including 13 Israelis, from captivity in the Gaza Strip, while Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners in the latest stage of a four-day cease-fire.

The late-night exchange was held up for several hours after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement. The delay underscored the fragility of the cease-fire, which has halted a war that has shocked and shaken Israel, caused widespread destruction across the Gaza Strip, and threatened to unleash wider fighting across the region.

BEITUNIA, West Bank (AP) — Over three dozen Palestinian prisoners returned home to a hero’s welcome in the occupied West Bank on Friday following their release from Israeli prisons as part of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The procession of freed prisoners, some accused of minor offenses and others convicted in attacks, at a checkpoint outside of Jerusalem stoked massive crowds of Palestinians into a chanting, clapping, hand-waving, screaming frenzy.

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Hamas on Friday released 24 hostages it held captive in Gaza for weeks, and Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison in the first stage of a swap under a four-day cease-fire that offered a small glimmer of relief to both sides.

Israel — wrenched by the abduction of nearly 240 people in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war — cheered as 13 Israeli women and children emerged free from Gaza. Most were in their 70s or 80s, and the youngest was a 2-year-old. Also released were 10 people from Thailand and one from the Philippines.

GAZA, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Trucks loaded with fuel and cooking gas entered the Gaza Strip after a temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas entered into force Friday morning, a Palestinian source said.

A Palestinian security source, who requires anonymity, said that "the fuel and cooking gas trucks began arriving in the special area to be transported to the Gaza Strip, followed by convoys of humanitarian supplies through the Rafah land crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt."

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A four-day cease-fire between Israel and Hamas began Friday, allowing sorely needed aid to start flowing into Gaza and setting the stage for the release of dozens of hostages held by militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

23 November 2023; MEMO: Thousands of Palestinian children were killed during Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Wednesday, calling Gaza the “most dangerous place in the world to be a child”, Anadolu Agency reports.

“More than 5,300 Palestinian children have been reportedly killed in just 46 days … or over 115 a day, every day, for weeks and weeks. Based on these figures, children account for 40 per cent of the deaths in Gaza. This is unprecedented.