The Palestine Red Crescent Society has just posted to social media to say that on average it has been receiving “around 42 trucks per day” of humanitarian aid, and that since 21 October, “a total of 1353 trucks have been received.”
🤚Since October 21, 2023, a total of 1353 trucks have been received, averaging around 42 trucks per day.#Gaza#HumanitarianAid pic.twitter.com/JwfInNg1r1
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) November 21, 2023
The Times of Israel is reporting that Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has issued a statement warning against a deal with Hamas.
It quotes him saying “I’m very concerned because there is talk of some deal. We are being kept out, and we’re not being told the truth. The rumours are that Israel is again going to make a major mistake in similar vein to the Shalit deal.”
In a 2011 deal, Israel released over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners it held in return for the hostage Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Ben-Gvir said, according to the Times of Israel report, that Israel might be about to make “a deal that might bring disaster”.
Yesterday Ben-Gvir was involved in angry exchanges with families of those being held hostage by Hamas.
Israel’s air force has posted to social media to claim that in the last 24 hours it has “struck approximately 250 Hamas terror targets”.
The Israeli military has also issued a video of its troops in action within the Gaza Strip, claiming that “division 162 completed the encirclement of Jabalia tonight and is ready for the continuation of the attack”.
אוגדה 162 השלימה הלילה את כיתור ג׳באליה וערוכה להמשך המתקפה; מחבלים חוסלו ותשתיות הושמדו.
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) November 21, 2023
כוחות ארטילריה של 215 וכלי טיס של חיל האוויר פעלו להכנת השטח ללחימה במרחב ג'באליה. הכוחות תקפו מטרות טרור בסיוע מטוסי קרב וכלי טיס מאויישים מרחוק >> pic.twitter.com/oOhTguNHbO
Al Jazeera is reporting that people are trapped under rubble after Israeli air raids targeted eight houses near Kamal Adwan hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.
The network reports:
Images from site, verified by Al Jazeera, show widespread destruction as rescuers searched for victims. One man crying loudly can be seen searching under the rubble for friends and family using the phone flash. According to an ambulance official at the site, they only had two ambulances to carry those killed and injured. One paramedic said the houses had more than ten people residing in there, with one home having up to 18 people.
It is unclear how many people remain in the north of Gaza after over a month of Israeli bombardments and repeated instructions by Israel’s military that civilians should flee to the south of Gaza, which has also been repeatedly bombed.
AP notes the UN agency for Palestinian refugees estimates that about 160,000 people are still in its shelters there, even though it is no longer able to provide services. About 1.7 million Palestinians, about three fourths of Gaza’s population, have fled their homes.
Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from Gaza, Israel and Egypt.
In our First Edition newsletter today, Archie Bland has spoken to Daniel Levy, president of the US / Middle East Project and an Israeli peace negotiator under prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak, about what it will take to get the hostages out – and why both sides are considering it when each has so much to lose:
“My sense is that the Israelis are always trying to get another day, and another day, and another day of operations before agreeing to a deal,” Levy said. “Each day, they hope that they’ve won the lottery and killed [Hamas leaders] Mohammed Deif or Yahya Sinwar and that they will be able to point to a major military success.”
Hamas took the hostages in part because it knows the leverage that comes with the high value that Israeli society places on the release of its citizens: the most famous example is the deal struck by Netanyahu for the release of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for a single Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in 2011. (One of those prisoners was Sinwar himself.)
By its refusal to accept a deal before now, Israel has kept that leverage to a minimum. “But once that path is taken, Hamas can play that card much more effectively,” Levy said. “They’re not going to roll over for the release of the rest of the prisoners – they’re going to demand as much as they possibly can for each one.”
One reason for Netanyahu’s resistance to a deal may be his understanding that once the war comes to an end, his own position will come under far more urgent scrutiny because of a wide consensus that the failure to protect civilians near the Gaza border was his responsibility. “He is almost certainly toast the morning after the war is over,” said Levy. “The same is probably true of the military leadership, so they have not played the moderating role that they might ordinarily be expected to.”
Read more here: Tuesday briefing – How a deal that could mean a truce in Gaza became possible
Israel’s military has issued its latest update on the operational situation, and has said that it is “operating against terrorist infrastructure and operatives in the Jabalia area in the northern Gaza Strip”.
In the update posted to social media and to the Telegram messaging app, the IDF claimed “during the battle, the division struck three tunnel shafts in the area of Jabalia, in which terrorists were hiding” and that “troops killed dozens of terrorists with air support, captured enemy weapons in various locations, including private houses and children’s bedrooms, and located and destroyed tunnel shafts.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
This is Martin Belam taking over the live blog in London. You can contact me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said early on Tuesday morning that Hamas is “close to” a truce agreement with Israel. “We are close to reaching a deal on a truce,” Haniyeh said, adding that the group has delivered its response to Qatari mediators.
Hamas official Izzat el Reshiq told Al Jazeera that ongoing talks were for a truce that would last “a number of days” and include arrangements for the entry of aid in to Gaza, and a swap of hostages taken by Hamas for people imprisoned by Israel.
El Reshiq said the deal would include the release of Israeli women and children from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian women and children from “occupation prisons”.
El Reshiq said that Qatar would announce the agreement.
Two sources familiar with the truce talks told AFP a tentative deal includes a five-day truce, comprising a ceasefire on the ground and limits to Israeli air operations over southern Gaza. In return, between 50 and 100 prisoners held by Hamas and Islamic Jihad – a separate Palestinian militant group – would be released. They would include Israeli civilians and captives of other nationalities, but no military personnel.
Qatar’s prime minister said on Sunday that a deal to free some of the hostages in return for a temporary ceasefire hinged on “minor” practical issues.
On Monday, the US president, Joe Biden, said he believed a deal to free the hostages was close. “I believe so,” Biden said when asked whether a hostage deal was near, and crossed his fingers. The White House said the negotiations were in the “endgame” stage, but refused to give further details, saying it could jeopardise a successful outcome.
Here is the beginning of the latest entries from Ziad’s diary in Gaza:
I have been having nightmares. I believe it is due to a variety of reasons: fear, stress, the cold weather and lack of proper sleep. I would manage to sleep for a few minutes or an hour from time to time. At first, my nightmares were about me or a loved one dying by a bomb. But now they are different, they are about not being able to find food. I have been so lucky that, till now, we have food, regardless of what it is; today one thing is available and tomorrow another. This is a blessing.
This night, I dreamed about going to many shops, fancy ones. None of them had anything edible. The last one did have, but the seller refused to sell to me. I kept screaming at him: “I have money, I have money.” I woke up with half of my body off the couch I was sleeping on.
Jack the cat’s health has deteriorated suddenly. We don’t know why. He feels cold even though we are covering him properly. My sister held him all night, he had his arm around hers. He refused to even drink water. I hope he gets better.
If you’re just joining us: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has said his militant movement is nearing a truce agreement with Israel, more than six weeks after its deadly assault sparked retaliatory strikes on Gaza in which thousands have been killed.
“We are close to reaching a deal on a truce,” Haniyeh said, and the group has delivered its response to Qatari mediators.
Hamas official Izzat el Reshiq told Al Jazeera that ongoing talks were for a truce that would last “a number of days” and include arrangements for the entry of aid in to Gaza, and a swap of hostages taken by Hamas for people imprisoned by Israel. Reshiq said the deal would include the release of Israeli women and children from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian women and children from “occupation prisons”.
Negotiators have been working to secure a deal to allow the release of around 240 mostly Israeli hostages who were seized on 7 October. Qatar, where Hamas has a political office and where Haniyeh is based, has been mediating.
Talk of an imminent agreement has swirled for days. Qatar’s prime minister said on Sunday that a deal to free some of the hostages in return for a temporary ceasefire hinged on “minor” practical issues, while on Monday, US president Joe Biden said he believed a deal to free the hostages was close. “I believe so,” Biden said when asked whether a hostage deal was near, and crossed his fingers.
The White House said the negotiations were in the “endgame” stage, but refused to give further details, saying it could jeopardise a successful outcome.