Prolonged truce nears end as Israel steps up crackdown in occupied West Bank; here are the recent updates.
Here is what you need to know about the situation on Wednesday November 29, 2023:
Truce, prisoner and release of captives
- A sixth group of captives is expected to be released Wednesday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as Israeli media report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office received the list of names of captives scheduled for release.
- Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed group released 12 prisoners on Tuesday. This brings to 81 the total number of captives freed since the truce took effect on Friday. The freed captives included 10 Israeli women and two Thai citizens.
- Shortly afterward, Israel released 30 Palestinians from Ofer prison and a Jerusalem detention center. The Palestinian Prisoners Society, a semi-official organization, said half were women and the rest children. This brings to 180 the number of Palestinians released since the start of the truce.
- However, as the truce draws to a close, the Israeli army’s X account posted a video in which spokesperson Daniel Hagari accuses Hamas of torturing the captives, calling it a “cruel terrorist organization.” . He also said Israel would recover captives held by Hamas, whether “during the ceasefire or through continued fighting.”
- During the four days of the initial truce, Israel arrested at least 133 Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, according to Palestinian prisoners’ associations.
- The United States says it has airlifted more than 54,000 pounds (about 24,500 kg) of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza.
- The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said that although some deliveries reached northern Gaza, most of the aid went south to Wadi Gaza.
We will recover our hostages. pic.twitter.com/vtYetMD7aH
– Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 29, 2023
Diplomacy
- Qatar and Egypt helped negotiate the truce in coordination with the United States. On Tuesday, Qatar hosted the heads of Israel’s Mossad and the US Central Intelligence Agency to discuss extending the ceasefire.
- Rashida Talb, a Palestinian-American MP, posted on X, calling for the release of all captives and prisoners.
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council on “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue” on Wednesday.
- US President Joe Biden said on X that Hamas launched the attack on October 7 because it feared that “Israelis and Palestinians would live side by side in peace.”
My statement calling for the release of all Palestinian hostages and political prisoners. pic.twitter.com/VtHYFiZpit
– Rep. Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) November 29, 2023
Israeli military raid on Jenin
- The recent Israeli military incursion continues into the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
- Forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at residents in several neighborhoods, who then required medical treatment. Israeli bulldozers have also destroyed infrastructure.
- It is reported that forces were positioned near the Jenin medical complex, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
- Two Palestinians, including a child, were injured after Israeli forces fired live ammunition during Tuesday night’s raids, Wafa reported.
- Besides Jenin, other areas of the occupied West Bank would also be targeted. Israeli forces reportedly stormed the Al-Askar refugee camp in Nablus, targeted a Bedouin community in Jericho and shot and injured a young man in Ramallah, the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority.
International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People
- On November 29, the United Nations celebrates the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.
- An exhibition titled “Palestine – a land with a people” is being held in the visitors’ lobby of the UN headquarters in New York.
- In Geneva, a special meeting will take place at the UN Palais des Nations at 11:00 a.m. local time (10:00 GMT).
- People around the world can join the ASHTAR Palestine Theater for online readings of The Gaza Monologues; public performances will also take place in Auckland and London.
- Marches, sit-ins, protests and events are planned in South Africa, Bangladesh, Lebanon and Germany.