The Bottom Line
The truce was extended until 5 GMT on Thursday to allow for the release of about 20 hostages and 60 more prisoners, a ratio of one hostage to three prisoners as in previous days. At the same time, the pause in fighting is intended to allow new trucks of humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip.
Behind the scenes, mediators are working to extend the truce beyond Thursday. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to return to Israel and the West Bank this week.
The first of three planned U.S. military planes loaded with aid to the Gaza Strip arrived in Egypt on Tuesday. His transfer to Gaza is to be carried out by the UN.
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November 28 Essentials
A new group of hostages held in Gaza (30 Israelis and two Thais, according to Israel and Qatar) were released on Tuesday in exchange for the release of 48 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, after the truce between the Palestinian Hamas and the Israeli army was extended for <> hours.
As part of the truce agreement, several hundred trucks loaded with aid have been able to enter the Gaza Strip since Friday, via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. But "the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains catastrophic," said UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland.
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The heads of U.S. and Israeli intelligence services traveled to Doha on Tuesday to try to "consolidate the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement" and discuss with Qatar's prime minister the "next phase" of a potential agreement between Hamas and Israel, according to an informed source.
Two Palestinian teenagers were killed in clashes with the Israeli army on Tuesday in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel for 56 years, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
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Namely: The number of casualties is provided by Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health
The ministry collects information from hospitals in the enclave and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Gaza's health ministry does not say how Palestinians were killed, either by Israeli airstrikes and/or barrages or failed Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all victims as victims of "Israeli aggression" and also makes no distinction between civilians and combatants.
During the four wars and the numerous clashes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have regularly cited Health Ministry figures in their reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestine Red Crescent Society also use these figures.
In the aftermath of previous episodes of war, the United Nations Humanitarian Office published casualty figures based on its own research into medical records. The UN figures are largely in agreement with those of Gaza's Ministry of Health, with a few differences.
To read more about Gaza's Ministry of Health's assessments, click here or here.
(France 24 with AP)
With AFP, Reuters and AP
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