Tel Aviv: In the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, 11 Israeli hostages, all women and children, were released from Hamas captivity Monday night in the Gaza Strip. Early Tuesday, 33 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons were freed and driven to the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.
A temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended for two more days, the key mediator Qatar announced on Monday, which would have been the final day of the cease-fire.
The truce deal has brought more shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza — although aid groups say that barely makes a dent in the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians who have endured weeks of Israeli siege and bombardment.
Monday's releases bring the number of Israelis freed to 50, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons. Roughly 240 hostages were captured by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that ignited the war. One was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.
Currently:
As freed hostages return to Israel, details of captivity emerge.
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Here's what's happening in the war:
- FREED PALESTINIAN PRISONERS ARRIVE IN WEST BANK CITY
A Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah early Tuesday. Israel's prison service said it was releasing 33 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth such release as part of the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.
The prisoners were greeted by cheering crowds who surrounded the bus as it made its way through the streets of the West Bank city. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.
- THREE OF THE NEW HOSTAGES RELEASED FROM GAZA ARE FRENCH CITIZENS
France says three of the hostages released from Gaza on Monday were French citizens, all three children. "France welcomes the liberation of three of its children today: Eitan, Erez and Sahar,'' the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. ''They are now in security in Israel. We share the relief of their families and all those who mobilized for their freedom.''
- US SECRETARY OF STATE TO VISIT ISRAEL AND WEST BANK THIS WEEK
U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East for the third time since Israel's war with Hamas began, a senior State Department official said Monday.
Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank after attending Ukraine-focused meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels and Skopje, Macedonia, where foreign ministers from NATO and the Organization for Peace and Security in Europe are gathering, the official said. The official spoke to reporters traveling with Blinken on condition of anonymity ahead a form State Department announcement.
- 11 MORE HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS ARE BACK IN ISRAEL
The Israeli military says 11 hostages have been released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip late Monday. This is the fourth such release under a cease-fire deal with the Hamas military group. Israel is to free 33 Palestinian prisoners later Monday. The hostages were back on Israeli territory and undergoing initial medical checks before being reunited with their families.
The cease-fire had been set to expire early Tuesday. But Qatar, which has been mediating between the sides, said Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the truce by two more days.
Israeli media said the hostages included two women and nine children. Two of the children are 3 years old.
- 200 AID TRUCKS ENTER GAZA, ISRAEL SAYS
Around 200 container trucks brought humanitarian aid into Gaza on Monday after being inspected by Israel, including a small amount of fuel, according to the Israeli military body that handles civilian affairs.
"Four containers carrying diesel fuel and four containers carrying cooking gas were transferred from Egypt to U.N. humanitarian aid organizations in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing," COGAT said in a statement. The aid trucks brought "food, water, shelter equipment, and medical supplies," the statement said.
- FAMILY OF FREED 4-YEAR-OLD HOSTAGE SAYS SHE IS SAFE AND BEING EVALUATED AT A HOSPITAL
A day after 4-year-old Israeli American hostage Abigail Edan was released by Hamas, her family has given an update on the girl's well-being. "Abigail is still being evaluated at Schneider Children's Medical Center, where she was taken immediately upon her release," the statement said.
The girl is "safe" and being looked after by her aunt, uncle and grandparents, the statement said. Her parents were killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion into Israel.
- MULTI-NATION TASK FORCE WILL CRACK DOWN ON HAMAS FUNDING
A multi-nation financial task force is working to crack down on funding for Hamas and other militant groups, U.S. officials said Monday. Financial Intelligence Units in 13 Western nations are looking to more effectively coordinate financial intelligence and information sharing, and created the task force shortly after Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion into Israel, according to a U.S. Treasury statement.
The task force members emphasized "the importance of the private sector in achieving these goals, particularly in identifying and mitigating terrorists' use of the global financial system," the Treasury statement said.
- QATAR SAYS ISRAEL AND HAMAS AGREE TO EXTEND TRUCE FOR TWO MORE DAYS
Qatar's Foreign Ministry said Monday that an agreement has been reached to extend the Israel-Hamas truce for another two days. The announcement, made by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al Ansary in post on X, came on the final day of the original four-day truce between the warring sides.
Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. Hamas has also said it hopes to extend the truce.
- ELDERLY ISRAELI HOSTAGE STILL IN CRITICAL CONDITION A DAY AFTER RELEASE
The 84-year-old Israeli hostage Elma Avraham is still in critical condition a day after she was released from Hamas captivity and airlifted directly to a hospital, her doctors said Monday.
Avraham's daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother left Gaza just "hours from death" with a body temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit). Avraham is currently intubated and sedated, but Amano was able to tell her mother beforehand of a new great-grandchild born while she was in captivity.
- ELON MUSK VISITS A KIBBUTZ THAT WAS ATTACKED BY HAMAS
Elon Musk, who's been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants.
The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, which was stormed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. Musk, wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel, used his phone to take photos or videos of the devastation, according to video released by Netanyahu's office.
- PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS TRUCE MUST BE EXTENDED
Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riad al-Malki says the pause in fighting that is about to expire in the Israel-Hamas war must be extended to avoid more deaths in Gaza.
"We have work so that this truce continues … so that Israel does not continue attacking," al-Malki said Monday at a meeting of delegations from members of the European Union and countries from north Africa and the Middle East in Barcelona, Spain.
"The truce went into effect with 15,000 deaths. If we see the war resume, then the number of deaths will double because the concentration of the population is now twicefold," he said.
- FREED HOSTAGE WAS ABLE TO FLEE FROM CAPTORS FOR SEVERAL DAYS, AUNT SAYS
A 25-year-old Israeli-Russian hostage who was released from Gaza on Sunday night told family members he was able to flee from his captors and hide within Gaza for a few days before being recaptured, his aunt told Israeli public radio, Reshet B.
"He said he was taken by terrorists and they brought him into a building, but the building was destroyed (by Israeli bombing) and he was able to flee," Yelena Magid, the aunt of Roni Krivoi, said in an interview Monday.
- IN NORTH GAZAN TOWN, VIRTUALLY EVERY BUILDING IS DAMAGED
In the north Gazan town of Beit Hanoun, virtually every building has been damaged by the ongoing conflict, some entirely leveled and others ripped open.
A handful of residents searched beneath the rubble for anything of use or value. The U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA's Beit Hanoun school was one of few buildings still standing, but with holes in its walls and roof, likely caused by missile or artillery fire.
The war-ravaged city has been largely abandoned after Israel called for Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate and head for the south.
- UN EXPERTS CALL FOR A FULL INVESTIGATION OF ANY WAR CRIMES
Experts from the United Nations have called for full and independent investigations into any crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in their ongoing conflict.
The U.N. experts, Morris Tidball-Binz, special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said in a joint statement in Geneva on Monday that "independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict."
They urged all parties involved in the conflict to protect civilians, comply with their obligations under international law, and cooperate fully with investigations.
- CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER TO LEAD SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
China's top diplomat will travel to New York to lead a U.N. Security Council meeting on the war in Gaza on Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said. Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair the meeting, spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced Monday. China currently holds the Security Council presidency.
"China hopes that by holding this high-level meeting, we can ... contribute to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, realizing a cease-fire and cessation of hostilities, protecting civilians and ultimately promoting a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue through a two-state solution," Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.
- GERMANY TO HELP RECONSTRUCT HAMAS-DESTROYED COMMUNITIES IN ISRAEL
Germany says it will provide financial support for the reconstruction of communities destroyed by Hamas in Israel.
During a visit on Monday to Kibbutz Beeri, which was brutally attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his country would provide 7 million euros ($7.6 million) for the kibbutz in 2024. (with AP inputs)
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