5th Day Truce: More Gaza Hostages, Palestinian Inmates Freed

Another 12 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have returned to Israel via Egypt, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Tuesday evening. This occured as the temporary truce in the Gaza war appeared to hold amid reports of an exchange of fire between the two sides. According to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the latest group of freed hostages comprises 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals. Among the Israeli nationals are senior female citizens – one in her 80s and a 17-year-old teenager, who was released together with her mother. One of the releases hostages also holds German citizenship, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on X, formerly Twitter. This puts the total number of hostages released from Gaza since the beginning of a breakthrough truce agreement between Israel and the Palestinian extremist organisation Hamas on Friday at 81, including 61 Israeli nationals. In return for the group released from Gaza on Tuesday, 30 Palestinian prisoners were released from different Israeli jails on Tuesday evening, according to the Israeli prison authority. Among them were 15 women, some of them minors, and 15 male minors, the youngest being 14 years old. In total, 180 Palestinian prisoners have been released from Israeli prisons since the beginning of the temporary ceasefire negotiated by Qatar and Egypt last week. In return, Hamas has released a total of 81 hostages, including 61 Israelis. One male Israeli, who also has Russian citizenship, was released on Monday evening as a gesture of goodwill to Russia, with no Palestinians being released in return. Some 240 people had been abducted into the Gaza Strip amid the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on southern Israel by Hamas and other militant groups. The pause in fighting, which came into effect on Friday morning and was initially set to last four days, has been extended by another two days under the previously negotiated conditions. It is unclear whether it can be extended further. The agreement has also facilitated the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. In spite of the ongoing truce, an exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas was reported in the north of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, according to the Israel army. Israeli soldiers were reportedly shot at and returned fire. In addition, a total of three explosive devices exploded next to soldiers at two locations. This meant that the framework of the ceasefire had been “violated,” the IDF said. According to the army, several soldiers sustained slight injuries. The soldiers were at the locations agreed upon as part of the ceasefire. Hamas confirmed a confrontation with the Israeli army. The group charged that Israel had violated the truce in the north of the Gaza Strip. However, Hamas emphasised that it would continue to feel bound to the agreement as long as Israel also felt committed. Hamas called on mediators Qatar and Egypt to put pressure on Israel to respect the ceasefire. Netanyahu meanwhile reiterated Israel’s commitment to continue its military campaign in Gaza to destroy Hamas once the truce agreement runs out. In an interview with German broadcaster Welt TV published on Tuesday, the premier did not comment on for how long the deal could be extended. “We agreed that women and children as well as the foreign hostages would be released first,” Netanyahu said in the interview, which was conducted in English and later translated by Welt TV into German. “After that has happened, we will continue the fighting,” he added. Hamas, who took power in Gaza by force in 2007, had committed the worst murders, Netanyahu said, referring to the brutal Oct. 7 attacks committed by Hamas fighters and other groups from Gaza on Israeli border communities in which some 1,200 people were killed. “We have absolutely no choice but to destroy Hamas,” Netanyahu said in view of the massacre. Israel would continue to do everything in its power to spare civilians in the Gaza Strip as much as possible, he said. However, according to Hamas, almost 15,000 people have already been killed and around 36,000 injured amid Israel’s military campaign in Gaza triggered by the Oct. 7 attacks. A further 7,000 inhabitants of the densely populated coastal area are considered missing. The numbers cannot currently be independently verified.

ECOWAS Condemns Plot To Truncate Peace In Sierra Leone

*As Sierra Reschedules Flights For Departing Airlines  The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), has condemned the plot by some individuals to disturb the peace of Sierra Leonians. The condemnation is contained in a statement issued by ECOWAS on Sunday in Abuja. “The bloc has learnt, with utter disgust, a plot by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order in Sierra Leone. “ECOWAS condemns this act and calls for the arrest and prosecution of everyone involved in the illegality. “The bloc has always maintained its zero-tolerance for unconstitutional change of government. “We want to reaffirm our commitment to supporting the government and the people of Sierra Leone’s quest to deepen democracy and good governance by consolidating peace and security so as to foster socio-economic development,” it stated. The Sierra Leonean government has declared a 24-hours nationwide curfew in a proactive step to ensure that the peace is not tampered with. Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) has imposed a rescheduling of flights for departing airlines. In a statement on Sunday by the Management of SLCAA, the authority said the rescheduling of the flights is in view of the nationwide curfew imposed by the government. “SLCAA is aware that passengers intending to depart from and arrive at the Freetown International Airport (FNA) on flights scheduled for today, Sunday Nov. 26, 2023 are affected by the nationwide curfew declared by the state and currently in force,” the authority said. SLCAA urged all airlines to reschedule departing passengers on the next available flights after the curfew is lifted, “as SLCAA airspace remains open.” “While we appreciate the inconvenience this may cause, we urge all to respect the curfew and follow directives of the state security forces. “The SLCAA assured the airlines and the wilder aviation industry of its unflinching support,” the authority added in the statement.

Israel Releases Another 42 Palestinian Women, Children From Prison

More Trucks With Fuel, Aid Head To Gaza Another 42 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons are to be released on Saturday as part of the agreement between the Israeli government and the Islamist Hamas movement, according to the Times of Israel newspaper. Israel will initially transfer the detainees to Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank for medical examinations by International Red Cross staff, according to the newspaper, which cited Israeli prison officials. Al Jazeera reported that the prisoners to be released include 18 women and 24 teenage boys. As a condition of the agreement, Hamas militants must first release Israeli hostages being held in Gaza before the Palestinian prisoners are released from Israeli custody, according to the report. After their release, the Palestinians are to return to the places where they previously lived, for example in the West Bank or East Jerusalem. The first group of Palestinian prisoners consisted of minors and women held in Israeli prisons on offences ranging from stone-throwing to attacks on police officers, including some who were arrested but never faced trial, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.  Meanwhile, more trucks carrying humanitarian supplies moved through Egypt’s Rafah border crossing to the Gaza Strip on Saturday, the second day of a temporary truce agreed to by Israel and the Islamist Hamas movement. Seven fuel trucks, including four loaded with cooking gas, passed through the crossing on Saturday, an Egyptian official said. In addition, 100 trucks carrying food and medical aid bound for Gaza also crossed through Rafah, Dr Raed Abdel-Nasser, the head of the Red Crescent in Egypt’s northern Sinai, told dpa. The Palestinian Red Crescent, meanwhile, said its teams received 196 trucks of relief supplies via Rafah on Friday from its Egyptian counterpart. The truce agreement, which was brokered and announced by Qatar on Wednesday, involves a four-day pause in fighting between both sides. The pause will allow desperately needed aid to flow into the densely populated Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of some hostages Hamas kidnapped during bloody Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. Israel also agreed to release a number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons as part of the deal.