Members of a local circus group perform at a school, used as a temporary shelter, in Rafah, southern Gaza, earlier today. (Credit: Mahmud Hams/AFP)
In case you took a break from following the news all day or just want to be caught up, here is a summary of today's events from the Hamas-Israel war.
Over the past two days, anticipation pulled the news in several directions, as details for the coming humanitarian pause were announced, retracted, confused, halted, and eventually set straight. Throughout all this, the war raged on, with intensified fighting and several casualties on the Lebanon-Israel border and the ongoing, relentless bombardment of besieged Gaza.
The truce, its details and delays
Early yesterday (Wednesday) morning, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the Israeli government voted in favor of a truce agreement and hostage-prisoner exchange with Hamas. The deal came after weeks of negotiations between the warring sides – peace talks that were initiated, hosted, and mediated by Qatar with the involvement of Egyptian and American advisors. Since the deal’s formal announcement, Qatar has received many thanks from Hamas, Israel, and the US for its diplomatic work.
Details about the hostage-prisoner exchange and four-day truce can be read about here.
A Palestinian boy searches for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. (Credit: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)
On Wednesday morning, Haaretz reported that the first exchange of hostages would take place Thursday at 5 a.m., 24 hours after the Israeli government cast its vote, a window allowing for the Israeli public to appeal the decision in court. Sometime Wednesday afternoon, a Hamas official stated that the first exchange would happen at 10 a.m. instead. This information stuck until late Wednesday evening, when reports came from Israel saying the truce, and by extension the exchange, would not happen any earlier than Friday. As of the publication of this summary, Qatar, Israel, and Hamas have all publicly declared that the pause in fighting will start at 7 a.m. tomorrow (Friday) morning, followed by the first set of hostages released at 4 p.m.
Mourners carry the coffin of Abbas Raad, senior Hezbollah figure and MP Mohammad Raad's son, during his funeral in the town of Jbaa, southern Lebanon Nov. 23, 2023. (Credit: Alaa Al-Marjani/Reuters)
High-ranking casualties in southern Lebanon
Late last night (Wednesday), an Israeli strike targeted a house in Beit Yahoun, southern Lebanon, killing five Hezbollah members who were inside. One of the dead is Abbas Raad, son of Hezbollah’s head of the Parliamentary wing Mohammad Raad. The funeral was held today in Jbaa. Hassan Nasrallah’s cousin and senior Hezbollah official Sayyed Hashem Safieddine had strong words for Netanyahu, calling the temporary truce a sign Israel is “incapable of liberating [hostages] by force and of eliminating Hamas and the resistance” during a speech to mourners gathered there. Sources close to the Shiite party said Wednesday that the humanitarian pause between Israel and Hamas will apply on the Israel-Lebanon border as well. Supposedly, Hezbollah will cease aggressions so long as Israel does the same.
Mohammad Raad attends the funeral of his son Abbas Raad today in Jbaa. Abbas was killed by an Israeli strike on the house he was in along with four other members of Hezbollah last night. (Credit: Hussam Chbaro)
That being said, today Hezbollah claimed responsibility for 22 attacks on northern Israel, the most in one day since the start of the war. Similarly in Gaza, reports came out describing a particularly violent day of attacks leading up to the start of the truce.
A child stands in the rubble of a destroyed building following an Israeli strike in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 23, 2023, during the Hamas-Israel war. (Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP)
Netanyahu criticizes UN efforts, Israel strikes UN schools
In a meeting with Spanish and Belgian prime ministers today, Netanyahu accused the United Nations of being slow to attend to the spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza. He is quoted saying: “I have yet to see the effort that I would like to see on the part of the UN and international agencies,” adding that there is no reason for the UN not to be erecting tens of thousands of refugee tents in what he repeatedly referred to as “designated safe zones” for Palestinian refugees.
A few hours later, AFP reported an Israeli attack on a UN school in Jabalia, northern Gaza – one of many converted into a shelter since the war started. A Palestinian doctor there said at least 27 people were killed and 93 more injured. Since Oct. 7 at least 176 displaced Palestinians sheltering at schools run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) have been killed in Israeli attacks. On Nov. 18, Israel targeted al-Fakhoura school — another UN school-turned-shelter. The UNRWA Chief spoke the next day saying, “This is the second time that this school is hit. In less than 24 hours, two UNRWA schools sheltering displaced families were hit in the Gaza Strip ... This is yet another proof that no one, and nowhere is safe in Gaza. Once again, shelters meant to provide safety and protection to civilians have been hit."
Palestinians clash with Israeli security forces during a raid at the Balata camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 23, 2023 as violence has escalated in the occupied Palestinian territory amid Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. (Credit: Zaom Jaafar/AFP)
Compiled by Amelia Hankins
