November 22, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

US officials have a working list of 10 hostages they believe are likely to be released from Gaza on day one, a source familiar told CNN. It was not clear whether any of the three American hostages —including three-year-old Abigail Edan — would be released on the first day.

The deal is structured in such a way that each day, a group of hostages to be released would be handed off to the Red Cross; the Red Cross would then take the group to a designated border point, which will largely depend on the location of those hostages, the source familiar said.

Fifty Israel hostages — including some with dual nationalities — are expected to be released over the four-day pause. Ten is the minimum number of hostages to be released each day, but that could be higher. Many of the first 50 hostages are expected to come out through Egypt, they said. 

The first swap had been expected to take place on Thursday, a source familiar with how hostages are expected to leave Gaza told CNN. However, the Israeli National Security Council said later that the pause would be delayed and no hostages are expected to be released before Friday.

The first two days of the hostage release will be treated as a “testing period” to make sure the process is working, the source said. By day three, there is expected to be intense discussions about the potential second phase of the hostage release beyond the initial group of 50.

Brett McGurk, a White House official, told CNN Wednesday he could not speak about the schedule of when the Americans would be released. He confirmed that three US hostages – Abigail and two women — are expected to come home as part of the 50 hostages released by Hamas. A total of 10 Americans are believed to be hostages.

McGurk said he is “hopeful” that the Red Cross will get access to the other hostages, but noted, “I cannot confirm that nor guarantee that.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli Supreme Court “has now greenlit the (hostage) deal to go forward,” thus clearing the way for the process to move forward this week, McGurk said. 

Read more.

The Israel Defense Forces said it found further evidence of a tunnel complex under Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza.

The IDF said special forces had exposed “dozens of meters of a tunnel system” that passed under another building in the hospital complex, “as well as rooms where Hamas terrorists can operate and stay for extended periods.”

In a statement Wednesday, the IDF said “the soldiers of the 7th Brigade also located two additional tunnel shafts near the hospital: one on a nearby street and the other in a nearby house.”    

The IDF has frequently alleged that Hamas uses the hospital buildings at Al-Shifa to store weapons and as headquarters.

The IDF also released video from inside the tunnel.

CNN is unable to verify independently the extent and nature of the tunnels discovered by the IDF.

The lead Qatari negotiator of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas outlined some operational details about the deal in an interview with CNN.

The deal has two major components, he said:

“We hope that within the four days, we will be able to complete the release of women and children in both sides, moving to the safe side, away from this war,” Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, who is also Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs, told CNN Wednesday.

Israel and Hamas will have to meet certain “obligations” over a four-day pause to release a certain number of people daily, Al-Khulaifi said.

Al-Khulaifi said his team would monitor the fulfillment of both parties’ obligations and would report back to them daily. 

“By the first hours of the agreements, we will be notified of the official list of people each day. And by having that list, we will make sure that we notify either the sides, the parties themselves, or even the countries that have their hostages in the Gaza Strip currently,” he said. 

Hamas had previously said it needs pauses in fighting to gather the hostages who are being held in different places and by different Hamas-allied groups in Gaza.  

Meanwhile, fulfilling the provision of “quality” humanitarian assistance to Gazans will involve regional and international stakeholders — not just Israel, Al-Khulaifi said.

Al-Khulaifi said his team had managed to secure fuel for “vital” infrastructure, like hospitals. 

The hostage deal between Israel and Hamas would see the return of 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails in exchange for the release of at least 50 women and children held in Gaza, during a four-day pause in fighting.

The Palestinian prisoners concerned are women and children, Hamas said Wednesday, adding that the agreement also involves the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to all parts of the besieged territory.

Here's what to know about these prisoners who could be potentially released:

The charges: The Israeli government on Wednesday published a list of Palestinian prisoners for possible release with their ages and charges on which they are being held – throwing stones and “harming regional security” are among the most common. Others are listed as detained for supporting illegal terror organizations, illegal weapons charges, incitement, and at least two accusations of attempted murder. Some of the people are listed as being members of Hamas and other Islamic militant groups, but many of the prisoners are not listed as belonging to any organization.

The ages: Most of the Palestinian 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.

What to know about Palestinian prisoners held by Israel:

Israel has stepped up its arrests since Hamas’ attacks on October 7. Up to 2,070 arrests were documented in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem in that month alone, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, a non-governmental organization dedicated to addressing the concerns of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons. That figure includes 145 children and 55 women.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh claimed to Reuters last week that Israel had been ramping up arrests ahead of a hostage deal. “Israel is preparing for an exchange of prisoners, and they are arresting as many people as they can simply because they are preparing for such a deal,” Shtayyeh said.

Wednesday’s diplomatic breakthrough offers a glimmer of hope for the families of Palestinian prisoners, as well as those of Israeli hostages.

Hamas is holding 236 hostages in Gaza, including foreign nationals from 26 countries, according to the latest figures from the Israeli military. The abductions took place on October 7, when Hamas militants launched their brutal attack on Israel, killing at least 1,200 people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and members of the war cabinet will hold a news conference at 2:15 p.m. ET (9:15 p.m. local time) Wednesday in Tel Aviv, according to the prime minister's office. 

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who are members of the emergency war cabinet, are expected to be among those at the conference.

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. 

RELATED

"It wasn't easy," says Qatari official on negotiation to release American prisoners from Iran | CNN