Israeli cabinet approves deal for pause in fighting – as it happened

Here are some of the latest images sent to us over the news wires from the Israel-Hamas conflict.

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The Lebanese prime minister has reportedly condemned the Israeli attack that has killed two journalists in southern Lebanon.

Najib Mikati is quoted by local media as saying: “This attack proves once again that there are no limits to Israeli crime, and that its goal is to silence the media that exposes its crimes and attacks.”

21 Nov 202307.20 EST

Erum Salam

Erum Salam reports for the Guardian from New York:

US officials say they have helped some 800 US citizens leave Gaza. But more than 1,200 people with ties to the US – including citizens, green card-holders and their families – remain trapped in the embattled territory.

The Abushaabans had left Texas for Gaza in August, excited to catch up with relatives. But what was supposed to be a joyful holiday, became a waking nightmare.

When Israeli military officials issued a sweeping evacuation order for nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people to move south or else risk being killed, the Abushaabans initially sought shelter at the Khan Younis refugee camp.

But as the siege continued, conditions became increasingly grim. Food, water and electricity became scarce and all the while Israel was still bombing Gaza from the land, sea and air.

The Abushaabans’ only connection to the outside world was via WhatsApp – and only when there was limited access to the internet. The communication blackouts in the territory meant they had to decide each day whether to call Kari to discuss their attempts to escape, or dial their family, knowing that any conversation might be their last.

Read more of Erum Salam’s report here: ‘Why can’t I get them out?’: Palestinian Americans who fled Gaza devastated over leaving family behind

Reuters has a quick snap that Lebanese media is reporting an Israeli strike on a car inside Lebanon, near Tyre, has killed four people.

Earlier Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television said two of its staff were killed in an Israeli attack in the south of the country today. It named them as correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari. The network has accused Israel of deliberately targeting its journalists.

More details soon …

There has been very little official comment from Israel on the prospect of a deal with Hamas over the release of hostages. The prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has frequently insisted there could be no ceasefire until all the hostages were released, and earlier today national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, cautioned against a deal.

However, Reuters notes that Israel’s Channel 12 television quoted an unidentified senior government source earlier today saying “they are close” but gave no further details.

Any agreement would mark the biggest hostage release and first prisoner swap since the latest war began on 7 October. Hamas is thought to have taken about 240 hostages during its attack inside Israel, which Israeli authorities claim killed 1,200 people. Four hostages have been released so far, with some people initially thought to have been held, including Noa Marciano and Shani Louk, later declared killed.

Earlier Al Jazeera presented statistics on Palestinians held in Israeli jails, reporting that before 7 October, there were about 5,200 Palestinians held, and there have been at least 2,960 arrested since then. It reports that among those being held by Israel are “at least 95 women and 37 journalists” and “at least 145 of them are children, according to rights and monitoring groups”.

Qatar has said that negotiations to free hostages seized by Hamas during the 7 October attack are at a “critical and final stage”.

The Times of Isreal reported Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari saying “we are at the closest point we ever had been in reaching an agreement”, adding that negotiations were at a “critical and final stage”.

It is reported that the deal would involve a multi-day pause in hostilities, the release of about 50 civilian hostages by Hamas and the release of Palestinian women and children held in Israeli custody, according to a source who briefed Reuters.

A World Health Organization spokesperson said on Tuesday that three hospitals in Israeli-besieged Gaza had requested help with evacuating patients and that planning had started.

Reuters reports that Christian Lindmeier said in Geneva that evacuations were a last resort, and that the situation in Gaza was “robbing the entire population of the north of the means to seek health”.

He said the three hospitals were the al-Shifa, the Indonesian hospital, and al-Ahli hospital, adding “so far it’s only in planning stages with no further details”.

Unicef, the UN children’s agency, has said there is a serious threat of a mass disease outbreak in besieged Gaza.

“It’s a perfect storm for tragedy,” Unicef spokesperson James Elder said. “Without enough fuel, we will see the collapse of sanitation services. So we have then, on top of the mortars and the bombs, a perfect storm for the spread of disease.”

“We have a desperate lack of water, faecal matter strewn across densely populated settlements, an unacceptable lack of latrines, and severe, severe restraints on hand-washing, personal hygiene and cleaning.”

Speaking in Geneva via videolink from Cairo, Elder said the potential for wider loss of life in Gaza was being significantly exacerbated because an estimated 800,000 children are displaced from their homes.

“If children’s access to water and sanitation in Gaza continues to be restricted and insufficient, we will see a tragic yet entirely avoidable surge in the number of children dying,” AFP reports Elder said.

“It’s also important to note it’s starting to rain in Gaza. Now combined, children face a serious threat of mass disease outbreak. This, of course, would be lethal.”

A protest to highlight the number of children killed in Gaza since Israel began its military campaign has been taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. Childrens’ shoes and the photographs of victims of Israeli airstrikes have been left in Üsküdar Square. Health officials in Gaza have claimed that at least 5,000 children have been killed by the assault so far.

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At the same time the Times of Israel reports that another protest is taking place in Tel Aviv, where Hadas Calderon, the mother of two children abducted by Hamas on 7 October, is protesting outside the IDF headquarters in Israel’s capital.

“We must not miss this chance for a deal,” she told reporters. “I call on all the mothers to come to the entrance to the Kirya [the name of the IDF HQ], and to stand alongside me. We must bring them home.”

Her children Erez, 12, and Sahar, 16 are believed to be in Gaza, among the 30 teenagers and young children thought to have been kidnapped.

Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen television says two of its staff were killed in an Israeli attack in the south of the country today. It named them as correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari.

The state-run national news agency in Lebanon has also reported “the death of three citizens – two journalists and another civilian – in enemy bombing” which it said occurred in the Tayr Harfa area, which is close to the UN-drawn blue line that marks the boundary between Israel and Lebanon.

Earlier today the IDF said it had been exchanging fire with anti-Israeli forces in Lebanon.