Israel-Hamas war, Day 46 updates | Israel’s cabinet votes on hostage deal

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is planning to travel to Israel early next week for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials about the ongoing war in Gaza, Axios reported on Tuesday, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the trip. - Reuters

Australian police arrested 23 pro-Palestinian protesters for blocking roads near one of the country’s largest container ports in Sydney, authorities said on Wednesday, after they protested against a ship owned by Israeli carrier Zim.

About 400 people had gathered near Port Botany on Tuesday evening for a planned unauthorised protest activity, New South Wales state police said. Protesters who did not comply with directions and occupied roads near the port were charged with offences, including disrupting operations of a major facility. - Reuters

Jordan said on Tuesday the army had beefed up its presence along its borders with Israel and warned that any Israeli attempt to forcibly push Palestinians across the Jordan River would represent a breach of its peace accord with its neighbour.

Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said his country would resort to “all the means in its power” to prevent Israel from implementing any transfer policy to expel Palestinians en masse from the West Bank. - Reuters

Israeli bombardment of south Lebanon on Tuesday killed eight people, official media said, including two journalists from Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen television, the broadcaster reported, in ongoing violence at the Lebanon-Israel border.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, the frontier between Lebanon and Israel has seen escalating exchanges of fire, mainly between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, but also Palestinian groups, raising fears of a broader conflagration. - AFP

Fifteen people were killed and 22 others injured in an Israeli strike on a residential apartment in Khan Younis, southern Gaza on Tuesday night, according to Al Jazeera TV and a Telgram channel affiliated to Hamas.

The Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV showed video footage of the apartment site and a number of dead children wrapped in bed sheets while other residents were searching the rubble.

The victims and the injured arrived at Nasser Hospital, according to Shehab News Agency, a channel close to Hamas on Telegram. - Reuters

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Tuesday that accepting a deal for the release of hostages taken in the Hamas attacks of October 7 was “a difficult decision but it’s a right decision”.

U.S. President Joe Biden had helped “improve the framework being laid out before you... to include more hostages at a lower price”, he told his cabinet as it met to vote on the deal.

“The entire security establishment fully supports it.”

The hostages’ families have demanded that Israel should insist on the return of all those being held, and the Religious Zionist party, which is part of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition government, has voiced opposition to the deal, denouncing it as “bad” for Israel’s security, for the hostages and soldiers.

Sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which also participated in the attacks, told AFP on condition of anonymity that the tentative agreement would include a five-day truce, comprised of a complete ceasefire on the ground and an end to Israeli air operations over Gaza, except in the north, where they would only halt for six hours daily.

Under the deal, which the sources said could yet change, between 50 and 100 Israeli and dual-national civilians would be released in exchange for some 300 Palestinian women and children currently held in Israeli jails.

“It will allow the IDF to prepare for a continuation of the fight - the war is ongoing, and it will continue until we achieve all of our objectives: destroying Hamas and bringing back all the hostages,” Mr. Netanyahu said. - AFP

Palestinian health officials in Gaza said on Tuesday that they have lost the ability to count the dead because of the collapse of parts of the enclave’s health system and the difficulty of retrieving bodies from areas overrun by Israeli tanks and troops.

The Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which carefully tracked casualties over the first five weeks of war, gave its most recent death toll of 11,078 on November 10. The United Nations humanitarian office, which cites the Health Ministry death toll in its regular reports, still refers to 11,078 as the last verified death toll from the war. - AP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will continue its war against Hamas, even if a temporary cease-fire is reached with the Islamic militant group to release hostages.

In comments on Tuesday ahead of an expected Cabinet vote on a ceasefire proposal, Mr. Netanyahu vowed to press ahead.

“We are at war, and we will continue the war,” he said. “We will continue until we achieve all our goals.” - AP

The European Union will continue to provide substantial amounts of financial aid to the Palestinians after an investigation found that no money has been diverted to the militant group Hamas, the EU’s executive branch said on Tuesday. - AP

The United States said on Tuesday it was considering designating Yemen’s Houthi rebels a terrorist organization after their seizure of an Israel-linked cargo vessel in the Red Sea.

U.S. mulls designating Yemen's Houthis a terrorist organization

U.S. considers designating Houthi rebels a terrorist organisation after seizing Israel-linked cargo vessel in Red Sea. NSC spokesman called for immediate, unconditional release of ship and crew.

Israel and the Hamas militant group on Tuesday appeared close to a deal to temporarily halt their devastating six-week war so that dozens of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip could be freed in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

Hamas predicted a Qatari-mediated deal could be reached in “the coming hours,” while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening top decision-makers to discuss the matter.

“We are advancing,” Mr. Netanyahu told troops during a visit to a training base. “I hope there will be good news soon.”

The announcement came as Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza and around hospitals overcrowded with patients and sheltering families.

Mr. Netanyahu’s office said the special three-member War Cabinet met on Tuesday and would be followed by meetings of his Security Cabinet, a forum of senior security officials, and the full Cabinet.

There was no word on whether a vote would take place, and details of a deal were not released. Israeli media reported that an agreement would include a five-day halt in Israel’s offensive in Gaza and the release of 50 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for some 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Israel’s Channel 12 TV said the first releases would take place Thursday or Friday and continue for several days. - AP

Gaza’s Hamas government said Tuesday the death toll in the Palestinian territory had reached 14,128 since war began on October 7 between Israeli forces and Hamas militants. - AFP

South African lawmakers voted in favour of closing down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspending all diplomatic relations until a ceasefire is agreed in its war with Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.

The resolution is largely symbolic as it will be up to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government whether to implement it; a presidency spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

But Ramaphosa and senior Foreign Ministry officials have been vocally critical of Israel’s leadership during its devastating military campaign against Hamas in the densely populated Gaza Strip, calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate them for potential war crimes.

- Reuters

U.S. President Joe Biden signalled that a deal to free hostages held by the Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and a temporary truce is “now very close.”

“We are now very close, very close. We could bring some of these hostages home very soon. But I don’t want to get into the details of things, because nothing is done until it’s done,” he said at the White House. “Things are looking good at the moment,” he added.

- AFP

Two premature babies being cared for at the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza died before the evacuation of 31 others, the U.N. said on November 21, adding that most of those who reached Egypt were “unaccompanied”.

The United Nations health agency helped evacuate 31 premature babies from the Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on Sunday, lamenting that the hospital had become “a death zone”.

Two premature babies died before evacuation from Gaza: UN

The other three babies moved from Al-Shifa in the north of the Gaza Strip are now in a hospital in southern Gaza and have their families with them.

Fifty-three journalists and media workers have been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas, according to a tally by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) published on the day.

The toll includes 46 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese killed since the war began on October 7, the New York-based organisation said.

The CPJ said 11 journalists have been injured and three are missing since the start of the conflict, while 18 have been arrested.

- AFP

The leaders of the BRICS group of nations called for an “immediate” humanitarian truce in Gaza during a summit aimed at drawing up a common response to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“We called for an immediate, durable, and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities,” the group of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said in a statement.

- AFP

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said his Foreign Minister and intelligence chief were working in coordination with Qatari authorities on the release of hostages held by the Hamas.

“Both my Foreign Minister and my intelligence chief, they are continuing the process with a joint effort with Qatar,” Erdogan told a news conference with his Algerian counterpart in Algiers.

“Our hope is that we reach an outcome on the exchange of the prisoners as soon as possible. We are in constant communication, and our hope is to get positive results from this,” he added.

- Reuters

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed two journalists who were reporting for a Beirut-based TV news channel Al-Mayadeen on military activity along the border with Israel, according to Lebanese officials and the broadcaster.

A Palestinian official and a Lebanese security official said a separate strike at another location in Lebanon killed four members of Hamas.

Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon kills 2 journalists of a pan-Arab TV station, official says

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed on Tuesday two journalists reporting for the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV

The European Commission said a review of its development aid to Palestinians had found no evidence of the funds going to Hamas and its programme would continue without delay.

“The review found no indications of EU money having directly or indirectly benefited the terrorist organisation Hamas,” said Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis.

- Reuters

All parties involved in the Israel-Palestinian conflict should immediately ceasefire and suspend hostilities, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared on November 21. At the same meeting of the BRICS group, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar condemned the killing of civilians in the conflict, but stopped short of echoing the Chinese demand for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The Chinese President said that the only way out of the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian crisis is to implement the two-state solution, “restore the legitimate rights of the Palestinian nation”, and establish a sovereign and independent State of Palestine. He cautioned that without a fair solution of the Palestinian question, there can be no lasting peace and stability in West Asia.

At BRICS meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

At BRICS-Plus meeting, Chinese President Xi Jinping calls for immediate ceasefire and suspension of hostilities in Israel-Palestinian conflict. PM Modi absent from meeting, EAM Jaishankar expresses India's concern and calls for direct and meaningful negotiation.

The Palestinian national soccer team is in Kuwait to face Australia in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday, with the Palestinians unable to play matches at home.

“Obviously everyone knows the situation that’s happening in Gaza and Palestine in general. And this is in our minds,” defensive midfielder Mohammed Rashid said.

“It’s hard to not see and not think about what’s happening back home. So really, it’s emotional. It’s like an emotional preparation. It’s more mental than it is physical.”

The Palestinian national team was recognized by FIFA in 1998 following the creation of the Palestinian National Authority. - AP

Saudi Arabia demands the start of a serious and comprehensive peace process to establish a Palestinian state along the borders of 1967, Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman told a virtual summit of the BRICS group.

“The Kingdom’s position is constant and firm; there is no way to achieve security and stability in Palestine except through the implementation of international decisions related to the two-state solution,” Prince Mohammed said.

- Reuters

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa accused Israel of war crimes and “genocide” in Gaza, as he chaired an extraordinary summit of the BRICS group on November 21.

South Africa is hosting a virtual meeting of BRICS —a group of major emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — aimed at drawing up a common response to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“The collective punishment of Palestinian civilians through the unlawful use of force by Israel is a war crime. The deliberate denial of medicine, fuel, food and water to the residents of Gaza is tantamount to genocide,” Ramaphosa said.

He also called for an “immediate and comprehensive ceasefire” and the deployment of a U.N. force “to monitor the cessation of hostilities and protect civilians.”

- AFP

The World Health Organization said three hospitals in Israeli-besieged northern Gaza had requested help with evacuating patients and that planning for that was under way, expressing regret that doing so would rob people of a lifeline.

Hospitals have come under bombardment in the Israel-Hamas conflict and all hospitals in the northern part of the enclave have effectively ceased functioning normally, although they continue to house some patients that could not flee and displaced Gazans.

“We’re looking at three hospitals right now in the north that asked to be evacuated but the important point is where to? There is no safe space,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier told a Geneva press briefing, saying that southern hospitals were already full and suffering shortages.

- Reuters

An Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed four people on November 21 near the southern city of Tyre in the second deadly incident near the Israel-Lebanon border, Lebanese state news agency NNA reported.

The strike took place about 8 km south of Tyre and 11 km north of the border with Israel, NNA reported.

- Reuters

India has donated $2.5 million to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the UNRWA, and the agency welcomed the generous contribution at a “difficult time”, particularly in Gaza.

India on November 20 gave UNRWA $2.5 million as part of its annual contribution of $5 million for the year 2023-24 to support the agency’s core programmes and services, including education, healthcare, relief, and social services provided to Palestinian refugees, the Representative Office of India at Ramallah said.

The contribution was handed over by the Representative of India (ROI) to Palestine, Renu Yadav, to the Director of Partnerships, Department of External Relations of UNRWA, Karim Amer.

- PTI

Germany’s Interior Minister urged Muslim groups in the country to explicitly condemn the deadly October 7 attacks by Hamas and to voice solidarity with Israel.

“I expect the Muslim organisations to clearly position themselves and uphold their responsibilities in society,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in an interview with German broadcaster ARD.

The groups need to “clearly condemn” the attack by Hamas and not just with a “yes, but”, she said.

“It must be very clear. We stand by Israel’s side,” added Faeser.

- AFP

A Qatar-mediated agreement between Israel and Hamas is in its “final stages” and “closer than it has ever been”, a source briefed on the development said.

The deal is for a multi-day pause in hostilities, release of around 50 civilian hostages by the Hamas and the release of Palestinian women and children from Israeli jails, the source said.

- Reuters

Speaking in the Informal meeting of the plenary in the U.N. General Assembly on a briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, India’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj on Nov. 20 stressed that the message from the Indian leadership has been “clear and consistent”.

“India welcomes all efforts by the international community that strive towards the de-escalation of conflict and enables the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine,” Ms. Kamboj said.

“We are firmly opposed to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, clearly against violence and are on the side of adherence to international humanitarian law and ensuring that further escalation is prevented, humanitarian aid delivery continues, all hostages are released unconditionally and all parties work towards an early restoration of peace and stability,” she said.

Ms. Kamboj underlined that towards this, “We also welcome efforts for humanitarian pauses.”

Ms. Kamboj underlined India’s consistent position of achieving a just, peaceful and lasting solution to the Israel-Palestine issue. “India has always advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine, living within secure and recognised borders side by side at peace with Israel,” she said.

Ms. Kamboj underlined India’s commitment to providing humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine, including delivering 70 tons of disaster relief materials. These include 17 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies in two tranches, adding that India’s humanitarian support will continue.

Similarly, India continues to play an active role as a member of the Advisory Commission of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, she said. — PTI

Israeli settlements (in occupied territory) are contrary to the two-state solution in the Israel-Palestinian crisis, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said.

Australian Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong are in Delhi for bilateral talks and the 2+2 dialogue.

Senior Hamas officials on Tuesday 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. - AP

Israeli troops battled Palestinian militants in an urban refugee camp and outside the gates of a nearby hospital on Tuesday as the army expanded operations across northern Gaza, where residents have been without electricity, water or access to humanitarian aid for weeks.

The front line of the war, now in its seventh week, has shifted to the Jabaliya camp, a dense warren of concrete buildings near Gaza City that houses refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants. - AP

Israel on Tuesday re-affirmed its declaration of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a ‘terror organisation’ ahead of the 15th year anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 persons, including six Jews, were killed.

“Yes, I can confirm it. It’s not a new thing and it is actually from 2013. It was recently re-published because of a bureaucratic error but it is not a new thing,” Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson, Lior Haiat, told PTI.

The Red Cross said that its president had travelled to Qatar to meet with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh “to advance humanitarian issues related to the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza”.

“President Mirjana Spoljaric met with Ismael Haniyeh, Chair of Hamas’ Political Bureau, and separately with authorities of the state of Qatar,” the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement.

- AFP

The Galaxy Leader commercial ship was “illegally boarded by military personnel via a helicopter” on Nov. 19 and is now in the Hodeidah port area in Yemen, the vessel’s owner said on November 20.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis released video footage on Monday showing armed men dropping from a helicopter and seizing a cargo ship in the southern Red Sea.

Read more here...

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, more than 45,000 Ukrainians have sought refuge in Israel, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics and aid groups. Most of them were slowly picking up the pieces of their lives and finding ways to cope when the war in Israel erupted. Now they are reliving their trauma. Some have left Israel, but many remain — refusing to again flee a war. Most have lost in-person support systems due to restrictions around gatherings. Others have lost hope of reuniting with loved ones they left behind.

Some Ukrainians have been forced to move within Israel since the war began. About 100 children sheltering at a Jewish home in Ashkelon fled soon after Hamas attacked to the center of the country, said Yael Eckstein, of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a philanthropic organization that supports the children.

It was the second time they were forced from their home in less than two years — they fled a city near Ukraine’s capital and evacuated to Israel during the early weeks of that war. They’re struggling to process everything, Eckstein said, with one asking: “Since he’s now living in a war zone, why can’t he go back to Ukraine?”

- Reuters

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend November 21 virtual summit of the “BRICS-Plus” grouping that is being held to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict, officials confirmed.

Unlike all other countries in the grouping, India has taken a stand that is closer to that of U.S. and other western countries.

PM Modi to skip BRICS-Plus virtual meet on Israel-Hamas conflict today, EAM Jaishankar to attend instead

PM Modi will not attend the virtual summit of the “BRICS-Plus” grouping that is being held to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar would join the event instead

Talks underway between the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel are about a temporary truce for arranging entry of aid into the Gaza Strip and a hostages-prisoners swap deal, Hamas official Izzat el Reshiq told Al Jazeera TV on Tuesday.

“The expected agreement will include the release of Israeli women and children hostages in exchange for release of Palestinian children and women in the occupation’s prisons,” he added.

The details of the truce will be announced by Qatari officials, el Reshiq said.

- Reuters

India has welcomed efforts for humanitarian pauses in the Israel-Hamas conflict as well as efforts by the international community aimed at de-escalation and delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine.

Speaking in the Informal meeting of the plenary in the UN General Assembly on a briefing on the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj on Monday stressed that the message from the Indian leadership has been “clear and consistent”.

“India welcomes all efforts by the international community that strive towards the de-escalation of conflict and enables the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine,” Kamboj said.

- PTI

The conflict between Israel and Haman is expediting many changes in regional dynamics, with the growing presence of Russia and China offering regional players alternatives to an American vision.

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The Israel-Hamas conflict and bombardment of Gaza could “pause” progress on India-U.S. trade, and connectivity initiatives, including the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEEC) and the India-Israel-UAE-U.S. (I2U2) groupings, U.S. Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said.

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Hamas officials are “approaching a truce agreement” with Israel and the group delivered its response to Qatari officials, the leader of the Palestinian group, Ismail Haniyeh, said in a statement sent to Reuters by his aide.

There were no further details about the terms of the potential agreement.

- Reuters

Relatives of some of the 240 people held by Hamas in Gaza urged far-right Israeli lawmakers on Monday not to pursue proposed capital punishment for captured Palestinian militants, saying that even talk of doing so might endanger the hostages. A number of suspected gunmen were detained after members of the armed Islamist faction breached the Gaza Strip border on Oct. 7 and went on the rampage, killing over 1,200 people and kidnapping others, Israel said.

Israel’s Justice Ministry said on Nov. 7 that a task force was discussing how to try the Palestinians who had been detained and secure “punishments befitting the severity of the horrors committed” for those convicted.

Some of the relatives of the people held captive by Hamas in Gaza worry the publicity around the capital punishment debate could invite reprisals even as hopes of a deal to free some of them is growing.

- Reuters

A top World Health Organization official described the hospital situation in Gaza as “catastrophic” on Monday, saying most are no longer functioning and what remains will likely be overwhelmed by thousands of births expected in the next month.

The United Nations briefing came hours after a shell struck the second floor of a hospital in northern Gaza, killing 12 people, according to the Health Ministry and a medical worker. The ministry and the worker both blamed Israel, which denied shelling the hospital.

- AP

Japan has said that it is “directly approaching” Houthi rebels, who recently hijacked an international cargo shop in the Red Sea, according to Al Jazeera.

Tokyo announced on Monday that it is “communicating with Israel” in addition to other countries in an effort to get the Galaxy Leader released.

The ship is notably owned by an Israeli businessman and is run by a Japanese company.The previous day, as the ship was travelling from Turkey to India, it was attacked by a group of rebels from Yemen. According to the group, Israel’s “heinous acts” in Gaza were the reason behind the attack.

- ANI