Gaza war: Hamas-Israel truce extended by two days, mediator Qatar says

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An American man on Monday was charged with attempted murder in Vermont over the shooting of three men of Palestinian descent, in a crime authorities described as an act of hatred.

Vermont state attorney Sarah George said there was not yet sufficient evidence to support a hate crime enhancement of the charges against the suspect, identified as Jason Eaton, 48.

But "I do want to be clear," George told reporters in Burlington, the northeastern US city where the shooting occurred. "There is no question this was a hateful act."

Police said the gunman stepped off a front porch and -- "unprovoked" -- opened fire on the three college students as they walked together Saturday on a city block.

The attack comes during heightened tensions in the United States over the Israel-Hamas war. College campuses and other locations have seen mounting threats and incidents of violence including acts of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

Read the full report here.

Oakland considered a resolution to call for a cease-fire in Israel's war on Gaza on Monday, potentially joining nearly a dozen other U.S. cities from Michigan to Georgia that have supported the same.

The resolution before the Oakland City Council also calls for the unrestricted entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and a restoration of basic services, as well as “respect for international law” and the release of all hostages.

“Too many innocent lives have been lost,” said councilmember Carroll Fife, who brought the resolution. “And I didn’t have words prepared because my heart is too broken to even express what I’m truly feeling in this moment.”

She said the issue is “deeply, deeply concerning” to Oakland residents and called for a moment of silence for the lives lost on both sides of the conflict.

Several hundred people signed up to speak at the council meeting, with many wearing black-and-white Palestinian scarves. Their words were met with cheers and applause.

Similar resolutions have passed in three cities in Michigan, where a large percentage of Arab Americans live, as well as in Atlanta; Akron, Ohio; Wilmington, Delaware; and Providence, Rhode Island.

In a phone call with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken welcomed the release of a four-year-old American, Abigail Idan, according to the US State Department.

“The Secretary thanked the Prime Minister for Qatar’s partnership and critical efforts to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas,” said State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

“The Secretary welcomed Prime Minister Al Thani’s update that the sides agreed to extend the humanitarian pause in Gaza over the next 48 hours,” Miller added.

Joe Biden said on a statement on X that a two-state solution is the "only way to guarantee the long-term security" of both Israeli and Palestinians. 

“To make sure Israelis and Palestinians alike live in equal measure of freedom and dignity, we will not give up on working towards that goal,” Biden said as the fourth successful prisoner/hostage exchange took place amid the confirmation of a two-day extension to the current truce deal. 

Support for a two-state solution is the official US position, but with previous US-mediated efforts failing and Israel actively working to undermine the viability of a Palestinian state via settlements, there is little chance of it being achieved. 

A two-state solution is the only way to guarantee the long-term security of both the Israeli and the Palestinian people.

To make sure Israelis and Palestinians alike live in equal measure of freedom and dignity, we will not give up on working towards that goal.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 28, 2023

Israel's government has received a list of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza who are expected to be released on Tuesday under an extended truce deal with the militant group, Israel's Army Radio reported, citing the Israeli prime minister's office.

The Axios news website reported the list contained 10 hostages.

There was no immediate comment from the prime minister's office.

Israel has not yet commented on the truce extension, but its confirmation of receiving this list appears to be a sign of its tacit acceptance of it.

Two Palestinian men were injured in the occupied West Bank town of Ya'bad, west of Jenin, after Israeli forces stormed the town, according to Wafa. 

One man was shot in the leg and the other was hit in the head by shrapnel. 

Israel has approved the inclusion of 50 female Palestinian prisoners in the list of prisoners slated for release if additional Israeli hostages are freed from Gaza, the prime minister's office said on Tuesday.

The statement came after Qatari mediators said a four-day truce agreed to allow an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian detainees that was set to expire after Monday had been extended for another two days.

A Palestinian man has been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank, according to various media reports citing  the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The man was killed by Israeli forces after Palestinian protesters lit tyres on fire in Beitunia in an attempt to prevent Israeli forces from entering the town.

The Palestine Red Crescent says in post on X that Awni Khattab, head of the Khan Younis Emergency Medical Center, is still being held in Israeli custody after being arrested six days ago.

Our colleague Awni Khattab is still arrested by the IOF for the sixth day in the #Gaza Strip.#Gaza#NotATarget #IHL#Humantarians pic.twitter.com/Fv09bVEc0r

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 27, 2023

Israel's prison authority said early Tuesday that 33 Palestinian prisoners had been released "during the night" under the terms of a truce deal that returned hostages from the Gaza Strip.

The release brought the total number of detainees freed by Israel during the initial, four-day pause in the fighting to 150.

The journalist Dena Takruri has reported that the prominent Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, who hails from Nabi Saleh in the occupied West Bank, has had her detention extended by Israel for six more days.

“The military prosecution requested time to issue an administrative detention order. This means they’ve failed to bring actual charges and will hold her without charge or trial,” Takruri wrote in a post on X.

Earlier this month, Israeli troops arrested Tamimi – who many consider a hero for her activism in the West Bank – on accusations of inciting violence on social media.

Tamimi and her family have denied the claims, saying it is based on a post from a fake instagram account.

AHED TAMIMI UPDATE: Yesterday Israel's military court extended Ahed's detention another 6 days. The military prosecution requested time to issue an administrative detention order. This means they've failed to bring actual charges and will hold her without charge or trial. pic.twitter.com/Gwg3egpWj6

— Dena Takruri (@Dena) November 27, 2023

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock welcomed Monday the release of 11 Gaza hostages, including "two German teenagers" as part of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.

"After 52 days of suffering and despair, their mother can hold them in her arms again. My thoughts are with the families who are still waiting in fear. We are doing everything we can so that they too can hold them in their arms," Baerbock posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Germany opposes a permanent ceasefire, despite the huge civilian death toll and the threat posed to hostages by Israel's relentless bombardment until the truce agreement.

Eight of the eleven Israeli captives released by Hamas on Monday are children, including three-year-old twins, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's office. 

There are also four 12-year-olds and two 16-year-olds.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will pay a new crisis visit to the Middle East this week and also attend the UN climate summit in Dubai, a US official said Monday.

The official, speaking as Blinken arrived in Brussels for NATO meetings, said the top US diplomat would visit both Israel and the West Bank in his third trip since Israel's war on Gaza.

The Israeli military said Monday that 11 hostages released in the Gaza Strip were back on Israeli territory.

"Our forces will accompany them until they are reunited with their families," it said in a statement, adding the military "salutes and embraces the released hostages upon their return home".

Qatar's spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Majed Al Ansari has confirmed that the two-day extension of the truce will adhere to the provisions of the original deal, meaning 10 Gaza captives will be released each day of the extension.

“We have from Hamas a confirmation now that 20 extra hostages will be released in the next two days,” the Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said.

“On the Palestinian side, that would mean that … 60 Palestinians will be released from Israeli prisons.”

Al Ansari added that deliveries of humanitarian aid to Gaza will also continue, as will the pause in fighting.

Al Jazeera is reporting that Israeli forces have raided the house of Palestinian prisoner Nufoudh Hamad.

Their correspondent in East Jerusalem reports that this is something that’s become the norm in the past few days: when journalists gather at the houses of Palestinian prisoners who are expected to be released, especially in occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli forces come in and raid those areas, expelling journalists and even extended family members.

The raids come as  far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir warned any and all Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem that they are not to celebrate the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Majed Al Ansari, spokesman for the Qatari foreign ministry, said the 11 freed Israeli captives included three French citizens, two Germans, and six citizens of Argentina.

He added in a post on X that they have been handed over to the Red Cross.

In implementation of the commitments of the fourth day of the humanitarian truce agreement, 33 Palestinian civilians will be released today in exchange for the release of 11 Israeli detainees from Gaza.

— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 27, 2023

"The entire region is on the verge of a devastating conflict that may include everyone, and the extent of its expansion or how to control and stop it is not known," said Farhad Alaadin, foreign affairs adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

"For this reason, we see any ceasefire in the conflict as beneficial and important at this stage for the people of Palestine and Gaza first and for all countries in the region, including Iraq," he told Reuters.

Read the full report here.

A spokesman for Gaza's media office says the death toll rose after more bodies were retrieved from Gaza’s streets and the rubble of destroyed homes.

The spokesman also said that among the dead are more than 6,150 children and 4,000 women.

He added that 7,000 Palestinians are still missing, either under the rubble or their fate unknown; includes more than 4,700 children and women.

The Israeli military said Monday that 11 hostages held in Gaza were on their way to Israel, on the last day of an initial four-day pause in the fighting.

"Based on information that was received from the Red Cross, 11 hostages are currently on their way to Israeli territory," the military said in a statement.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described an extended truce between Israel and Hamas on Monday as "a glimpse of hope and humanity," but warned it was not enough time to meet the aid needs of the Gaza Strip.

Mediator Qatar said on Monday that the initial four day truce had been extended by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of warfare that has killed thousands and laid waste to the Palestinian enclave. However, this has yet to be confirmed by Israel.

"I strongly hope that this will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that (are) suffering so much - knowing that even with that additional amount of time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population," Guterres told reporters.

The United Nations has been delivering some humanitarian aid to Gaza via the Rafah border crossing from Egypt. The United Nations also wants to be able to use the Kerem Shalom border crossing, controlled by Israel.

"I am sincerely hopeful that it will be possible to have other crossings because they will facilitate the distribution and it will also facilitate the control by the Israeli side. So I'm very hopeful that this will happen," Guterres said.

Earlier on Monday, Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said negotiations must continue with the aim of turning the temporary truce in Gaza into a full humanitarian ceasefire.

"The United Nations will continue to support these efforts in every possible way," Dujarric said in a statement.

Israeli Defence Minister met with Israeli soldiers who had been fighting in the ground invasion on Gaza on Monday and told them that their attacks on the Palestinian enclave will be be "will be bigger and take place throughout the Gaza Strip," according to Israeli media.

“Everywhere I go I hear ‘let us complete the mission, we will go until the end.’” He told them that the security establishment and government stand behind them until they complete the task, and clarified, “we don’t stop until we’re done," he added. 

Lebanon does not want or seek war,” the Lebanese ministry of foreign affairs said in a post on X.

It called for “Israeli officials to stop the threats to destroy Lebanon and the daily and repeated military violations of Lebanon’s sovereignty”.

Since October 8, Lebanese group Hezbollah has been exchanging fire with the Israeli army across Lebanon’s southern border.

US National Security spokesman John Kirby says he holds out little hope that the extended truce between Hamas and Israel could become a more permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

"I won't speak for the Israeli Defense Forces, but when these pauses are over, they have made it very clear that they're going to continue to target Hamas leadership," Kirby said.

Joe Biden nevertheless believed that his approach was "getting results" both in terms of freeing hostages and getting aid to civilians enduring dire conditions in Gaza, Kirby said.

The US president had been "personally involved" in getting the truce deal in place, resolving a "snag" over the weekend, and getting the extension of the pause, he added.

A French warship arrived Monday in the Egyptian town of El-Arish near the border with the war-hit Gaza Strip to serve as a hospital for wounded civilians, a port source said.

The Dixmude is expected to have two operating rooms and 40 beds.

Hundreds of critically wounded Palestinians have crossed into Egypt in recent weeks with special exit permits, after the majority of hospitals in Gaza were forced out of service, according to the United Nations.

Hamas said it has received the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released, which includes three women: Yasmin Shaaban and Etaf Jaradat, both from Jenin, and Nufouth Hamad from Jerusalem.

"The list also includes the names of 30 children, which will be made public later," Hamas said in a statement, as cited by Al-Jazeera.

The White House welcomed an agreement Monday to extend a truce between Israel and Hamas by two days, saying it was hopeful the humanitarian pause would continue for longer still.

"Of course we welcome the announcement," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. "We would of course hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages."

The Qatari foreign ministry says five planes carrying were headed to the Egyptian city of El-Arish, from where the assistance would be transferred to war-battered Gaza.

The planes are carrying 156 tonnes of aid, including food, medical items and shelter supplies.

This brings the total number of planes to 26, with a total of 879 tonnes of assistance, the ministry said.

Five Qatari Planes Head to Egypt's Arish Carrying Aid to Support Palestinian Brothers in Gaza#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/xuOdH9yLOL

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) November 27, 2023

A humanitarian pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas will extend by two days, mediator Qatar said Monday as an initial four-day truce in Gaza was set to expire.

"The State of Qatar announces that, 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," Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X, formerly Twitter.

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.

— د. ماجد محمد الأنصاري Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 27, 2023

PM Benjamin Netanyahu's office has confirmed that families have been informed ahead of the expected hostage release on Monday, after Tel Aviv received the list of captives set to be freed today.

UNRWA aid convoys delivering water reached the northern Gaza Strip for the first time since October 7 on Sunday, providing residents with fresh, clean water and other supplies for the first time in seven weeks.

Ready-to-eat food, tents and medical supplies were also delivered

Yesterday, our aid convoys reached areas in the north of 📍#GazaStrip @UN agencies & @PalestineRCS delivered ready-to-eat food, tents, water & urgent medical supplies.

This was the first delivery of clean water that reached people sheltering in the north since the war began. pic.twitter.com/mTURaddjFH

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) November 27, 2023

The Israeli government said Monday it had put Hamas "on notice" that an "option for an extension" of the truce in the Gaza Strip was open.

"We want to receive another additional 50 hostages beyond tonight on our way to bringing everyone home," government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters, announcing the move.

The terms of the truce agreement pausing the fighting in the Gaza Strip say it can be extended beyond its initial four-day term as long as 10 hostages are released for each extra day, with three times as many Palestinians freed in return.

As such, another 50 hostages would imply a five-day extension.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pushed on Monday for a full humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas instead of a temporary truce, as the "humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is getting worse by the day."

"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," Guterres' spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"The United Nations will continue to support these efforts in every possible way," he said

Egypt and Qatar are close to agreeing a deal extending Israel's truce with Hamas in Gaza by two days, Diaa Rashwan, head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) said on Monday.

The two-day extension would include the release of 20 Israeli hostages and 60 Palestinian detainees, he said, as per Israeli and Hamas demands.

Police said Monday a man has been arrested in connection with the Burlington, Vermont shooting of three university students of Palestinian descent, as authorities investigated what they believe was a "hate-motivated crime."

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said the suspect, 48-year-old Jason Eaton, was arrested on Sunday and was expected to appear before a judge Monday.

Evidence collected during a search of Eaton's apartment, outside of which the shooting took place on Saturday, as well as additional data collected "gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr Eaton perpetrated the shooting," Murad said in a statement.

An arrest has been made in the shooting of the three Palestinian students in Vermont.

Jason J. Eaton, 48 was arrested late Sunday, and will be arraigned on Monday. The exact charges have not been announced.

Eaton lives in the same area as where the young men were shot. Police… pic.twitter.com/zXZlTCwTEs

— Abed A. Ayoub (@aayoub) November 27, 2023

Police had earlier described the shooter as "a white man with a handgun."

"Without speaking," police said, "he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot."

The incident occurred amid high tensions, and occasional violence, on college campuses and elsewhere in the United States over the Israel-Hamas war.

Ayman Safadi, Jordan's foreign minister, said that the Palestinian people should be the ones who get to decide who governs them, with any talk about Gaza post-war should focus on the the occupied West Bank and besieged Gaza Strip being 'one unit.'

Syria's ally Russia on Monday condemned Israeli air strikes on Damascus international airport, describing them as provocative and dangerous.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday's strikes could aggravate tensions in the region, already inflamed by the Gaza war.

"We strongly condemn Israel’s latest provocative attack on an important Syrian civilian infrastructure facility," Zakharova said in a statement.

"We are convinced that such a vicious practice is fraught with extremely dangerous consequences, especially in the context of a sharp aggravation of the situation in the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the resulting increase in regional tension."

Palestinian women released from Israeli jails over the weekend amid a truce between Hamas and Israel have recounted the "brutal" conditions in the country's prisons, which they say worsened dramatically since Israel's war in Gaza began on October 7.

Read more from The New Arab's West Bank correspondent Qassam Muaddi here.

Egyptian, Qatari and US negotiators are close to agreeing an extension to the truce set to expire in Gaza on Monday but were still discussing the length of an extension and which prisoners would be freed under it, three Egyptian security sources said.

Palestinian group Hamas was seeking a four-day extension while Israel wanted day-by-day extensions, with negotiations continuing over which Palestinian prisoners would be freed, the sources said.

This story is developing. More to follow...

The UNRWA Global Communications Director said that a long-term ceasefire is needed in Gaza, due to the critical humanitarian situation in the battered territory.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera, Juliette Touma said: "We do hope the truce is extended. We have been calling for this truce to transform into a longer-term humanitarian ceasefire."

Touma described the dire situation in southern Gaza, which she said resembled a "ghost town".

"Everything is closed in Gaza, the shops, the pharmacies. While humanitarian assistance is fundamentally critical, and life-saving of course, it is not going to be enough in the medium to longer term. What needs to happen is commercial supplies that need to come in support of the private sector so it [Gaza] can stand on its own feet."

Israeli forces detained overnight at least 56 Palestinians during home raids in the occupied West Bank, raising the total number of Palestinians detained since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7 to 3260, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing various sources.

Many were detained in Hebron, Ramallah, Jenin and Nablus - among other surrounding areas.

The detainees' ages ranged between 18 and 44, Wafa said.

Qatar, Egypt, the United States, the European Union and Spain are working to extend the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority's foreign minister said on Monday.

After calling for a lasting ceasefire to avoid an increase in civilian deaths, Riyad Al-Maliki said the current truce could be extended for "one, two, three days" but added that no one knew for how long.

Al-Maliki was addressing a news conference alongside Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares during the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean in Barcelona.

Palestinian authorities have demanded the Israeli military release information about more than 100 people thought to have been detained in Gaza during its assault on the territory, which has killed close to 15,000 Palestinians since October 7.

The head of the Palestinian Authority's commission for prisoners, Qaddura Fares, said on Sunday that Israeli officials had told him at one point their side had made 105 arrests.

But he said Israel had not announced the number publicly and there was "no detail about what has become of these people".

"We fear they may have been killed after being detained and interrogated," he told AFP.

The UN humanitarian affairs office OCHA said in a report that Israeli forces had detained people walking to southern Gaza from the north on the Salah al-Din road during the Israeli operations and a truce that came into force on November 24.

Only 11 hospitals remain, though partially, in Gaza, said Richard Brennan, the World Health Organization regional emergency director for the Eastern Mediterranean in an interview with The New Arab's Arabic-language channel, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Brennan said that the number of remaining hospitals is out of 36 medical facilities.

The EU's top foreign policy official Josep Borrell called for an extension of the truce in the Gaza Strip, which is due to end on Tuesday.

"The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution," he said on Monday in Barcelona, at the start of a meeting of the intergovernmental organisation Union for the Mediterranean.

Borrell called for a "political solution that should allow us to break the cycle of violence once and for all".

"Nothing can justify the indiscriminate brutality Hamas unleashed against civilians on seven of October," he said. "But one horror cannot justify another horror."

Iran on Monday called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to stop Israel's "crimes" in the territory as the truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final day.

With the four-day truce is approaching its scheduled end early Tuesday, Hamas has said it is willing to extend the pause and free more hostages.

"As the Islamic Republic of Iran, we want and expect that the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people will be stopped completely," said Nasser Kanani, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman.

Kanani told reporters during his weekly press conference that Iran is "following" the extension of the truce "with the regional party active in this field, the state of Qatar".

Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Monday that the work for a two-state solution for Palestine must begin with "ensuring an end to this brutal aggression", in reference to Israel's indiscriminate military campaign in Gaza, which has killed close to 15,000 Palestinians.

He was participating the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean in Barcelona.

Queues could be seen forming in northern Gaza on Monday, with people awaiting for long hours in cold, wet conditions to full up water bottles and tanks.

The queuing for such essentials comes as a truce between Hamas and Israel is still in effect in the war-hit territory, offering a little bit of respite and delivery of aid into Gaza.

 

 

 

 

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China's top diplomat Wang Yi will visit New York this week to hold a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Israel war in Gaza, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Monday.

"As it holds the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council this month, China will hold a high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on November 29," spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Wang Yi will preside over the meeting, he added.

China said last week it welcomed a truce between Israel-Hamas, which began Friday and led to dozens of hostages being freed and the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel and Hamas have raised concerns over the lists of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners set to be released on Monday, an official briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The official added that Qatari mediators are working with Israel and Hamas to resolve issues and avoid delays.

"There is a slight issue with today’s lists. The Qataris are working with both sides to resolve it and avoid delays," the official said.

In the previous three days of the truce Israel submitted the names of Palestinian women and teenagers it would release from jail and Hamas would submit the names of Israeli civilian hostages it would release at least 12 hours ahead of the release.