Israel, Hamas prepare for fourth swap as mediators seek to extend cease-fire

AP

Deir Al-Balah, November 27

Israel and Hamas are preparing for a fourth exchange of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, as mediators seek to extend a cease-fire in Gaza that is set to expire after Monday.

On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 more hostages — 14 Israelis and three Thais — in a third exchange under the four-day truce. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Of the roughly 240 hostages captured by Hamas in its October 7 attack in southern Israel that ignited the war, 62 have been released, one was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.

Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. Hamas has also said it hopes to extend the truce, which was mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

With the truce deal has come increased shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza — though aid groups say it’s still barely enough to dent the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began. Roughly two-thirds of them are women and minors, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he would press ahead with the war after the cease-fire expires. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas. About 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel’s ground offensive.

Here’s what’s happening in the war:

Chinese foreign minister to lead security council meeting on israel-hamas war

Beijing

China’s top diplomat would travel to New York to lead a United Nations Security Council meeting on the war in Gaza on Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi would chair the meeting, spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced on Monday. China currently holds the Security Council presidency.

“China hopes that by holding this high-level meeting, we can contribute to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, realising a cease-fire and cessation of hostilities, protecting civilians and ultimately promoting a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue through a two-state solution,” Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.

The Chinese government has joined Arab states in calling for a cease-fire as Israel mounted counterattacks in response to the initial Hamas attack and taking of hostages. Hamas has released some hostages during a truce that began on Friday in return for Israeli releases of Palestinian prisoners.

“The pace towards peace, no matter how small, should be encouraged, and the difficulty in protecting civilians, no matter how daunting, should be overcome,” Wang Wenbin said of the hostage and prisoner releases. “We have repeatedly emphasized that violence cannot create real security and the use of force cannot bring lasting peace.”        

Thailand says three more Thai hostages have been released.

Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that three more Thai nationals have been released by Hamas, leaving 15 citizens still captive.

The ministry said the three hostages were freed on Sunday, the third batch of Thai hostages released so far under a cease-fire deal. This brought the total number of Thai hostages released to 17. The ministry said the three are undergoing health checks at a medical centre in Israel.

It said it is working for the safe release of the remaining Thai hostages.

Thais were the single biggest group of foreigners taken hostage. Thais working in Israel are mostly employed as semi-skilled farm labourers at wages considerably higher than those they can earn at home.

Six teenagers go on trial in the 2020 beheading of a French teacher

Paris

Six teenagers go on trial on Monday in Paris for their alleged roles in the beheading of a teacher who showed caricatures of the prophet of Islam to his class, a killing that led authorities to reaffirm France’s cherished rights of expression and secularism.

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on October 16, 2020, near his school in a northwest Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalised. The attacker was in turn shot dead by police.

Paty’s name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015.

Palestinian prisoners return to a hero’s welcome        

Ramallah, West Bank

Over three dozen Palestinian prisoners returned to a hero’s welcome in the West Bank after being released by Israel in a cease-fire deal with Hamas.

The 39 young men, wearing gray prison garb, were welcomed on Sunday by several hundred well-wishers in central Ramallah.

The crowd hoisted the men on their shoulders. Many waved victory signs and held green Hamas flags.

The release came hours after Hamas released 17 hostages it had been holding in the Gaza Strip.

It was the third of four planned swaps under a cease-fire deal that is set to expire on Monday.

Jordan’s foreign minister wants Europeans to back calls for a permanent cease-fire

Barcelona, Spain

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi says he hopes a meeting of Mediterranean officials would help bridge a gap between Arab and European countries in calling for a humanitarian pause in Gaza to become a permanent cease-fire.

The fragile pause in hostilities between Israel and the Hamas militant group continued on Sunday with a third straight day of hostages and Palestinian prisoners released. It was originally scheduled for four days and neither side has made fully clear what comes after Monday.

Safadi said the truce was holding up but that more effort was needed to reach at least 200 daily trucks bringing aid into the Gaza Strip, and for the pause in the fighting “to immediately develop into a permanent cease-fire”.  

The minister spoke to The Associated Press on the eve of Monday’s Union for the Mediterranean gathering that would bring to Barcelona in northern Spain 42 delegations from Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa, many of them represented by their foreign ministers.  

Three men of Palestinian descent shot near University of Vermont       

Three young men of Palestinian descent who were in Burlington, Vermont, for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering were shot and injured, one seriously, near the University of Vermont, police said.

The attack may have been a hate crime, authorities said.

Police were searching for the suspect after the attack on Saturday evening near the UVM campus, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement on Sunday.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered “much more serious injuries,” Murad said. The three, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victim’s relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

The victims are of Palestinian descent, two are US citizens, and one is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.  

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