- War Qatar, the triangular negotiator who has won the trust of Israel and Hamas
Qatar announced today the extension for another day of the humanitarian truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which began on Friday and expired on Thursday, and in which both sides exchanged hostages for prisoners. Egypt and Qatar, key mediators between Israel and Hamas, announced today that they have intensified their efforts to extend the truce agreement in the Gaza Strip for another two days before the expiration of the second extension, of just 24 hours.
The extension of the humanitarian truce allows for the daily release of 10 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Israel's release of 30 Palestinian prisoners, as well as increased humanitarian aid to Gaza's civilian population through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian enclave.
During its first six days, 210 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children, have been released as part of the swap deal, while Hamas has released 97 captives in Gaza, including 73 Israelis and 24 foreigners.
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14:46
Blinken tells Netanyahu it's "imperative" to protect civilians in Gaza
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, visiting Tel Aviv on Thursday, told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that it is "imperative" to protect civilians in southern Gaza, the State Department said.
Blinken "underscored the imperative to ensure humanitarian and civil protection needs in southern Gaza prior to any military operation there," Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said in a statement.
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14:37
Israel calls for a meeting to "reprimand" the Spanish ambassador
Israel has summoned the Spanish ambassador in the country to a meeting of "reprimand" due to the statements of the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, who today said that in the face of the high number of deaths in Gaza he has "serious doubts that Israel is complying with international humanitarian law", reports Efe.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "ordered Foreign Minister Eli Cohen to invite the Spanish ambassador to Israel," Ana Sálomon Pérez, "to a rebuke conversation following Sánchez's shameful statement" on the day Hamas terrorists are killing Israelis in Jerusalem, the Israeli president's office said in a statement.
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13:57
Netanyahu meets with Blinken to discuss "the next phase" of Gaza war
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met today with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to tell him more details about "the next phase" of the war against Hamas in Gaza, after a new extension on Thursday of the truce in force since last Friday.
"The secretary and I had the opportunity to start discussing the many issues that we want to talk about," Netanyahu said, after receiving Blinken in his office in Jerusalem, during a meeting that also brought together members of the War Cabinet, including the defense minister and the chief of staff of the Israeli army.
Netanyahu thanked Blinken for "the support from the beginning" of the United States in "the war to eliminate Hamas."
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13:43
Albares and his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, meet to discuss the diplomatic crisis between Spain and Israel
Spanish diplomacy has been working since last Friday to resolve the diplomatic crisis caused by the end of Pedro Sánchez's tour of Israel and Egypt. Thus, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, held a meeting last Wednesday with his Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, on the sidelines of the OSCE summit, which is being held in North Macedonia.
Read Marina Pina's full information here.
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13:30
Tamimi among 10 hostages freed on Thursday
According to a source in the Palestinian Islamist movement, "ten Israelis, including two who also have Russian nationality," will be released on Thursday. Israel must also release a new group of Palestinian prisoners.
Overnight, Hamas freed 10 Israeli hostages, including five dual nationals (one Dutch, three Germans and one American), as well as two Russians and four Thais. In return, 30 Palestinians (16 minors and 14 women) held in various Israeli prisons were later released, including 22-year-old Ahed Tamimi, an icon of the struggle against the Israeli occupation.
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13:08
Lula says Qatar has a "central role" in Israel-Palestine conflict
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Thursday during a meeting with businessmen in Doha that Qatar has a "central role" in the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
"At a time when war is once again raging in the Middle East, Qatar is once again playing a central role in favor of peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," Lula said during the opening of the Brazil-Qatar Economic Forum, the presidency said.
In his speech, Lula acknowledged Qatar's "mediation" for the release of 32 Brazilians and their families who spent a month in the Gaza Strip and then were able to cross the border into Egypt to board a boat from Cairo back to Brazil.
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12:50
Hamas Claims Deadly Attack in Jerusalem, Calls for 'Escalation'
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack that killed three people in Jerusalem on Thursday and called for an "escalation of resistance" against Israel.
"Brothers Mourad Nemr (38 years old) and Ibrahim Nemr (30 years old) (...), members of Sour Baher's Ezzedine al-Qassam brigades, sacrificed themselves by carrying out an operation" that "killed three settlers and wounded others," Hamas said in a statement. Israeli police confirmed that the two attackers, brothers from East Jerusalem, had been shot dead.
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12:15
Thais liberated by Hamas: "We are happy to be home"
"We are happy to be home and see our families soon," the spokesman for the first group of 17 Thais released after being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for more than a month and a half said Thursday in Bangkok.
With a mixture of smiles and serious faces, the group, made up of 16 men and 1 woman, arrived this afternoon at Bangkok's main airport after departing last night on a flight from Tel Aviv.
The representative of the group of freed men, who wore a white T-shirt with the flags of Thailand and Israel printed on it, expressed during a media event at the capital's airfield his joy and gratitude to the Thai authorities for achieving his release.
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12:00
Thailand calls the release of 23 Thai hostages in Gaza a "diplomatic success"
Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara on Thursday described as a "diplomatic success" the release so far of 23 Thai hostages by the Palestinian organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
At a press conference at Bangkok airport, Parnpree expressed his joy at arriving in the capital today on the flight in which he accompanied the first 17 freed hostages, all men except one woman, who have returned to Thailand.
"It's been a success story of everyone who has collaborated. It has been a diplomatic success," said the minister, who thanked "friends and allies" for their help, referring to countries such as Qatar, Malaysia, Iran and Egypt, among others.
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11:46
Israel intercepts "suspicious aerial object" entering Israeli territory from Lebanon
Israel on Thursday intercepted "a suspicious aerial object" that entered from Lebanon into Israeli airspace, after days of calm on the border between the two countries since Hezbollah and Palestinian groups stopped attacking Israeli territory as part of the truce with Hamas in Gaza.
The incident set off air raid alarms in communities in northern Israel, while "the Israeli army's air defense apparatus successfully intercepted a suspicious air target crossing from Lebanon into Israeli territory," a military spokesman said in a statement.
Since October 8, a day after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, Palestinian groups and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah began launching rockets and anti-tank missiles from this Arab country into Israeli territory.
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11:21
El presidente israelí viaja hoy a Dubái para COP28 y abordar liberación de rehenes en Gaza
El presidente israelí, Isaac Herzog, viaja hoy a Dubái para asistir a la COP28, la mayor reunión mundial para abordar la emergencia climática global que arranca este jueves, donde también se reunirá con dirigentes mundiales para hablar sobre la cuestión de los rehenes que siguen cautivos en Gaza.
Herzog viajará a Emiratos Árabes Unidos para el evento junto a una pequeña delegación israelí formada por 20 cargos de los ministerios de Exteriores, Protección Ambiental, Energía y Economía, en el marco de la actual guerra entre Israel y Hamás en Gaza, lo que hizo que el equipo de personas enviado al evento sea mucho menor que el plan inicial.
Aprovechando la conferencia, el presidente mantendrá "reuniones diplomáticas con varios líderes mundiales" para "recalcar de manera clara y profunda las atrocidades" de Hamás "durante la abominable masacre perpetrada contra Israel el 7 de octubre", en que murieron más de 1.200 personas, dijo Presidencia en un comunicado.
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11:00
Blinken dice que la tregua entre Israel y Hamas está dando "resultados" y debe continuar
El secretario de Estado norteamericano, Antony Blinken, dijo este jueves que la tregua temporal entre Israel y el movimiento palestino Hamas en la Franja de Gaza "está dando resultados", y debería continuar.
"En la última semana vimos la noticia muy positiva del regreso de rehenes a sus casas, con sus familias", dijo Blinken en un encuentro con el presidente de Israel, Isaac Herzog, en Tel Aviv. "También ha permitido incrementar la asistencia humanitaria a civiles inocentes de Gaza, que la necesitan desesperadamente. Así que este proceso está dando resultados. Es importante, y esperamos que pueda continuar", agregó.
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10:40
Sánchez cree "correcta" la relación con Israel: "Los amigos tienen que decirse las cosas"
El presidente del Gobierno, Pedro Sánchez, ha calificado este jueves de "correcta" la relación con Israel, pero ha reiterado sus "francas dudas" sobre el cumplimiento del derecho internacional por el presidente israelí, Bejamin Netanyahu, en su guerra en Gaza con Hamas.
"Los países amigos también tenemos que decirnos las cosas de verdad", ha defendido en una entrevista en TVE, en la que ha reiterado su condena a los atentados de Hamas en Israel del 7 del pasado 7 octubre.
Ha denunciado que fue "absolutamente deleznable" y "execrable" lo ocurrido ese día, como así pudo comprobar en su reciente encuentro con Netanyahu, quien le mostró un vídeo de 20 minutos con imágenes de los crímenes de Hamás.
"Les puedo garantizar que fue muy triste, muy duro ver esas imágenes", ha confesado Sánchez, quien ha vuelto a pedir la puesta en libertad de los rehenes en Gaza "sin ningún tipo de condiciones y de manera inmediata".
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10:20
Moscú agradece a Hamas la liberación de dos rehenes rusas
Rusia agradeció hoy al grupo islamista Hamas la liberación el miércoles de dos rehenes rusas y prometió seguir trabajando para rescatar del cautiverio a más ciudadanos de su país.
"Agradecemos a los dirigentes del movimiento Hamas su respuesta positiva a nuestros insistentes llamamientos. Seguiremos esforzándonos para lograr la pronta liberación de los restantes rusos retenidos en la Franja de Gaza", informó el Ministerio de Exteriores a través de un comunicado.
La nota precisa que las rusas liberadas ayer no estaban sujetas a las condiciones del trato entre Israel y Hamas para el canje de rehenes por prisioneros palestinos.
Hamas anunció ayer la liberación de dos ciudadanas rusas cautivas en Gaza como gesto de buena voluntad con el presidente de Rusia, Vladímir Putin.
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10:00
Llegan a Bangkok 17 ex rehenes tailandeses de Hamas
El avión que transportaba a 17 ex rehenes tailandeses liberados por Hamas como parte de un acuerdo de tregua con Israel aterrizó en Bangkok este jueves, dijo el Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores tailandés.
A su descenso fueron esperados por sus familiares que vinieron a darles la bienvenida al aeropuerto internacional de Suvarnabhumi. Nueve ciudadanos tailandeses siguen en manos del grupo islamista palestino en la Franja de Gaza.
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9:35
The two Jerusalem attackers were Hamas members previously convicted of terrorism
The two attackers in today's shooting in Jerusalem, where three people were killed, are members of Hamas and had previously been convicted and jailed on terrorism charges, the Shin Bet, Israel's security agency, reported.
The two were identified as brothers Murad Namr, 38, and Ibrahim Namr, 30, two Palestinians living in the Sur Baher neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
Murad was imprisoned from 2010 to 2020 for "planning terrorist attacks under the direction of terrorist elements in the Gaza Strip," the Shin Bet reported; while Ibrahim was jailed in 2014 for undisclosed "terrorist activity."
The two arrived at one of the entrances to Jerusalem today at around 7:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m. GMT) and opened fire with a pistol and an M-16 on civilians, killing three - a 24-year-old woman, a 73-year-old man and a woman in her 60s - and leaving six others wounded, three of them seriously.
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9:00
Podemos demands that Sumar Belarra take the floor during Albares' appearance in Congress for Gaza and Israel
Podemos has asked Sumar that the purple leader, Ione Belarra, can intervene on behalf of the parliamentary group during the appearance of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, before the Plenary of Congress on the situation in Gaza and Israel next Tuesday.
Sources from the party indicate that they have formally sent their request to the parliamentary spokesperson of Sumar, Marta Lois, given that their will is for Belarra to take the floor and establish a position on Spain's position in the conflict opened on October 7.
Podemos, through its main leaders, has repeatedly denounced the commission of war crimes and planned genocide by Israel against the Palestinian people.
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8:37
More than 20 organizations will call today in Callao for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza
More than 20 organisations, including Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Greenpeace, Médecins du Monde and Amnesty International, and the State Coordinator of Development NGOs (Congde) will hold a street action on Thursday to demand a permanent ceasefire, respect for the civilian population and humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip.
The event, which joins similar ones held in London, Paris, Washington and Montreal, will take place in the Plaza de Callao in Madrid.
It will consist of a large-scale projection on the Palacio de la Prensa building, on Gran Vía, during which a statement signed by all the participating organisations and entities will be read.
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8:05
UN warns of possible outbreaks of hepatitis and other infections in Gaza
After a six-day truce, humanitarian aid has increased in the Palestinian Gaza Strip and respect for the temporary ceasefire is almost complete, but the United Nations warns about the health situation in the area, where outbreaks of hepatitis and other infections have been reported.
Poor hygienic conditions and overcrowding in UN reception centres, which are home to some 946,000 people, have increased the incidence of respiratory and skin diseases, as well as diarrhoea and lice, the daily report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs acknowledged.
The report also notes that despite the truce, which has allowed for the release of Israeli and other hostages, as well as Palestinian prisoners, northern Gaza still lacks access to clean water, which could increase epidemic outbreaks and cases of dehydration.
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7:23
The Government of Bolivia tells Palestine "that it is not alone" and that it accompanies its "struggle"
The Government of Bolivia ratified on Wednesday its support for Palestine and assured that it accompanies its "struggle and resistance", as it commemorates the 'International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People'.
The Ministries of the Presidency and Foreign Affairs of Bolivia organized an event at the Government House in La Paz to commemorate the date and express support for Palestine in the midst of the war conflict with Israel.
"From Bolivia we tell Palestine that it is not alone and that we are here as the Bolivian people (...) that here there is a dignified and standing people who accompany the struggle and resistance of the Palestinian people," said the Bolivian Minister of the Presidency, María Nela Prada.
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7:00
Thailand awaits arrival of first group of 17 Thais released by Hamas
Thai authorities are finalizing preparations for the expected arrival on Thursday of a first group of 17 Thais freed by Hamas after holding them hostage since the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel.
The group, released during the first three days of the truce between Hamas and Israel, is scheduled to arrive in Bangkok on Thursday afternoon after departing last night on a flight operated by Al Israel Airlines from Tel Aviv airport.
The other six Thais released this week are not in this first group, while at least nine others are believed to remain in Hamas hands.
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