November 22, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Th Norwegian Refugee Council said it needs longer than a four-day pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas to expand aid operations in Gaza, and the lull should lead to a full ceasefire.  

“We will do all that we can to provide relief to those in need in Gaza during the four-day humanitarian pause,” the secretary general of the humanitarian organization, Jan Egeland, said in a statement Wednesday.   

Egeland also highlighted some of the challenges the coming winter season poses to the people in Gaza. 

“Winter is looming, and it will be a disaster to reignite this conflict. Small shelters have housed scores of people, with little food and water and mounting health hazards. Children are traumatised, and many face a future without their parents and siblings. They need urgent, long-term help. This can only happen through a sustained ceasefire," Egeland said in the statement.

Egeland added that “neither hostages nor access to humanitarian relief should ever become bargaining chips in political or military negotiations.” 

The Gaza Strip is “the most dangerous place” in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children's Fund.

"More than 5,300 Palestinian children have been reportedly killed in just 46 days … That’s over 115 a day, every day, for weeks and weeks,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a video on Wednesday while addressing the UN Security Council. 

“Based on these figures, children account for 40% of the deaths in Gaza,” she added. 

She also said UNICEF is receiving reports that “more than 1,200 children” remain under the rubble of bombed-out buildings or are otherwise unaccounted for. 

The comments come a week after Russell’s visit to Gaza. In a statement following her visit, she described “grave violations” being committed against children, including “killing, maiming, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access.” 

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Houthi naval forces renewed a warning to ships in the Red Sea flying the Israeli flag, managed by Israeli companies or owned by Israelis.

The group declared its intent to persist in military operations against Israeli ships and interests until Israel's "aggression against Gaza stops."

The statement warned any military units providing protection to Israeli ships, stating that they would be considered legitimate targets for Houthi operations.

Furthermore, the naval forces cautioned all companies and merchants against engaging in shipping their goods or interests with Israeli vessels, emphasizing potential repercussions.

According to the statement, the Houthi naval forces called upon all ships traversing the Red Sea to steer clear of Israeli vessels and explicitly advised against disabling identification devices.

Cargo ship seized: On Sunday, the Israeli military said a cargo ship had been hijacked in the southern Red Sea.

The Galaxy Leader cargo ship was hijacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea on Sunday with about 25 crew members on board. It is operated by the Japanese shipping and logistics company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Line, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday.

Japan is currently working with Israel and has requested Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran to urge the Houthis to release the ship and crew as soon as possible.

The United States demands “the immediate release” of the cargo ship and crew seized by the Houthis in the Red Sea, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Monday.

More background: The Israeli military said late last month that it had thwarted an aerial attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

On October 19, a US warship near the coast of Yemen also shot down four cruise missiles and 15 drones over a period of nine hours as they were heading north along the Red Sea, according to a US official familiar with the situation. Their trajectory left little doubt that the projectiles were headed for Israel, the official said.

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the missiles were fired by the Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen and were launched “potentially toward targets in Israel.” US interceptions of Houthi launches are exceedingly rare.

Iran, despite decades of draconian US-inspired sanctions, has continued to provide training and arms to the Houthis in Yemen, as well as the Syrian regime, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

Qatar’s lead negotiator said that “intensive” work was needed to broker the Israel-Hamas hostage deal, which was approved by Israel's cabinet in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, who is also the Qatari minister of state for foreign affairs, told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an exclusive interview Wednesday that the deal reached was what “the parties want.” 

“Our work was extremely intensive as you can imagine; it's a period of high escalation, military clashes, humanitarian escalation, ground invasion,” Al-Khulaifi said from Doha. 

During the past few weeks, Al-Khulaifi observed the talks go into “fits and starts.” For example, he said that mediators needed a “period of calm” when Israel announced the second phase its war with Hamas in late October. 

Israel launching a "targeted operation" on Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City also put pressure on negotiations, Al-Khulaifi said, adding that Qatar had to ask the parties not to “target vital humanitarian infrastructures.” 

“These are not going to help anyone reach an agreement and definitely is not going to help the mediator,” he added. 

But Al-Khulaifi hailed it “significant” that the parties managed to secure a deal.

He stressed that Qatar's “work is not done,” telling CNN that the country will continue to push for a complete ceasefire in the war. 

He said Qatar hopes that the breakthrough deal will “invite the parties to think more about the current situations and come up with better agreements.” 

“Our, of course, main objective here is really to seek a permanent ceasefire and stopping the bloodshed of the people and improving the lives of the Palestinian people," Al-Khulaifi said. 

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The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that was formed in response to the Hamas attack on Israel, has listed 201 Israelis believed to be alive and held hostage in Gaza since October 7. 

That list includes:

The youngest hostage is Kfir Bibas, who is 10 months old; the oldest are Yaffa Adar, Shlomo Mansour and Arye Zalmanovich, who are all 85.

Eleven of the adult women are mothers of presumed hostages, while five of the men are fathers of presumed hostages. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum list does not include foreigners who may have been taken into Gaza on October 7.

Remember: Not all of the hostages taken on October 7 are being held by Hamas. Some are held by another militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and some may be held by other groups or individuals.

In addition to the 201 people taken captive on October 7, the forum's list also includes two dead Israeli soldiers whose remains have been held in Gaza for years — Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul — and Israeli citizen Avera Mengistu, who has been held captive in Gaza since 2014.

The list also includes Shani Gabay, 26, whose death was announced by the Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday.

The IDF considered Gabay “missing” and not a potential hostage before her death was announced, so the announcement of her death does not change the current IDF estimate of the number of hostages, the IDF told CNN Wednesday.

Tamar Michaelis in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

The United States and Israel will both pause drone flights over Gaza for six hours each day as part of the deal to secure the release of 50 women and children hostages from Gaza, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told CNN. 

The US military currently flies surveillance drones over Gaza to support Israel in its efforts to find the hostages. US officials have previously said that the American intelligence being gathered is not used for lethal operations. While the pause in Israeli drone flights had been previously reported, Finer’s comments are the first official confirmation that the US will also be taking part in the pause.

CNN was first to report earlier last week that Hamas demanded that Israel stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza as part of any hostage deal. CNN also reported yesterday that a six-hour pause in drone surveillance was in the deal agreed to between Israel and Hamas.

A defense official confirmed the pause and said the US “will adjust our activities in support of hostage recovery efforts in light of the operational pause agreed to by Israel and Hamas.”

Finer also leaned into the expectation that three Americans could be included in the 50 hostages that are expected to be released as part of the deal, but cautioned that “until we actually see people coming out of Gaza we will not know exactly who is going to be released.”

Looking forward, Finer said that this is “not the end of the war” and that the US will remain “intensively” engaged as he pledged they will not rest until they can secure the release of the other Americans being held hostage.

CNN's MJ Lee and Natasha Bertrand contributed to reporting in this post.

David Barnea, head of Israel's intelligence agency Mossad, is in Doha today, says a source familiar with his meetings.

CNN has previously reported that Barnea and CIA Director Bill Burns met in Doha with the Qataris to discuss the hostage negotiations.

Remember: The complex agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered by Qatar, which served as an intermediary in exhaustive negotiations with the close involvement of the United States.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has applauded the agreement to release some of the hostages held by Hamas, but called for continued efforts to free those who remain in captivity.

The forum also demanded the terms of the agreement ensure the security and welfare for remaining hostages held by Hamas, including promised visits from the Red Cross.

“We urge leaders’ utmost efforts to meet their moral charge, with people’s lives in the balance. We are grateful for (US) President (Joe) Biden's support this agreement, and his unwavering call for all hostages’ release,” the statement said. 

Remember: Israel and Hamas have agreed to a four-day humanitarian pause to allow the release of at least 50 hostages – women and children – held in Gaza. The deal will also involve the release of 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The vast majority of the prisoners listed as eligible for release are male teenagers aged 16 to 18 – children under the United Nations definition – although a handful are as young as 14. Some 33 are women, according to a CNN count.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Wednesday the death of 26-year-old Shani Gabay who had been missing since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that was formed to provide support to those affected by the crisis, has been listing Gabay among the presumed hostages.

It was not immediately clear whether her remains were identified in Gaza or in Israel.