November 29, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war has moved here.

A vehicle carrying hostages released as part of a deal between Israel and Hamas, drives by, in Ofakim, Israel, November 30.

A temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended to a seventh day, Israel Defense Forces said Thursday morning. Hamas also confirmed the extension of the truce.

This is the second extension of the initial four-day truce that began on Friday.

The truce has resulted in the return of 70 Israelis under the agreement. During the pause, three dual-national Israeli citizens and 24 foreign nationals have also been released outside of the deal.

Talks for an extension of a current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are at an impasse, according to a statement from Hamas Thursday.

Hamas said Israel had refused an offer to extend the truce in exchange for receiving seven detained women and children and the bodies of three deceased women or children who Hamas claim were killed by Israeli bombardment.

The truce is set to expire at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET).

The Hamas military wing on Thursday asked its forces to maintain a high-combat readiness posture in the final hours of a truce with Israel in case it isn’t renewed.

The Al-Qassam Brigades said on Telegram that its fighters should remain in the high-combat readiness position unless an official statement is issued confirming the extension of the truce, which is set to expire at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET). 

Key mediator Qatar is “very optimistic” an extension will be announced, a foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday. 

However, the Israeli military is prepared for the next stage of the war in Gaza when the truce ends, Herzi Halevi, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff said Wednesday, according to an IDF statement.  

A helicopter with Israeli hostages released earlier by Hamas lands at Sheba Medical Centre in Ramat Gan, Israel, in the early morning hours of November 30.

Fourteen hostages released from Hamas captivity on Wednesday have arrived at medical centers across Israel, according to the country’s Ministry of Health.

Of the 10 Israelis who were released as part of the framework agreement between Israel and Hamas:

Of the 14, four were Thai nationals whose release was part of a separate deal negotiated by the Thai government. All four arrived at the Shamir Medical Center following their release. 

Negotiations are ongoing to see if the truce between Israel and Hamas can be extended, according to two US officials.

As of now, it is unclear whether those issues will be resolved before the current truce expires at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET), leaving open the possibility that the fighting could resume Thursday.

US officials were more optimistic earlier on Wednesday, but it appears that issues arose later in the day.

An Israeli official told CNN that the war cabinet met late Wednesday night as talks continued. 

CNN’s political and foreign policy analyst Barak Ravid reported on social media that “Israeli officials say Hamas proposed via mediators to release less than 10 hostages or to release hostages that are not women & children. The Israeli officials said that if Hamas doesn’t produce a list that includes 10 women & children by 7am local time, the fighting will resume.” 

Ravid is a reporter with Axios.

There have been past issues with lists provided by Hamas, but ultimately the negotiators worked through any problems.

Thai nationals walk to a bus as they leave the Shamir Hospital in Ramle, Israel, on Wednesday, November 29, on their way back to Thailand.

Thailand’s foreign affairs ministry identified four Thai hostages who were released by Hamas Wednesday.

The names of those released are as follows:

The four are now at Shamir Medical Center, where they are undergoing medical checkups.

Some former Thai hostages will arrive back home in Thailand on Thursday. Their flight is expected to arrive in Bangkok at 3:10 a.m. ET.

A total of 23 Thai hostages have been released since the October 7 attacks, and nine remain in captivity, according to the Thai foreign ministry.

Displaced people move toward the southern part of Gaza in Gaza City, on Tuesday, November 28.

Biden administration officials are discussing with their Israeli counterparts how to protect thousands of civilians who fled to southern Gaza should the Israel Defense Forces target the area once the pause in fighting with Hamas ultimately ends, according to multiple United States officials.

Among the many options that US and Israeli officials are actively deliberating include moving civilians who went south at the onset of the war back up north once military operations there have ended, one senior US official told CNN. While much of northern Gaza has already been decimated from the fighting and airstrikes, Israel has made clear it is bent on finishing its military operations there.

So far the IDF has warned displaced Palestinians against returning from the south. Moving civilians back north would represent a significant humanitarian challenge, as an estimated 40% to 50% of structures in northern Gaza have been damaged, according to satellite analysis by independent researchers.

Why start conducting operations in the south: A major reason Israel is expected to begin focusing its military operations in southern Gaza is that intelligence suggests Hamas leadership has fled to that region, according to one US official. That official did not say whether this was US or Israeli intelligence.

In private, Biden administration officials — including President Joe Biden himself — are telling their Israeli counterparts that they do not want to see the IDF resume the kinds of air strikes from earlier in the war that led to massive casualties and widespread destruction, multiple officials told CNN. Instead, Israel must be “more cautious, more careful, more deliberate, and more precise in their targeting,” one senior administration official said.

While it’s not clear whether Israel would ultimately agree, some US officials expressed optimism that Israel was at least receptive to considering such ideas.

Read more about what the US is saying to Israel as fighting is set to resume

Israeli government and military leaders ratcheted up war rhetoric Wednesday as the expiration of a truce deal between Israel and Hamas looms.

The truce is set to expire at 7 a.m. local time Thursday (Midnight ET)

Netanyahu vowed that Israel would fight until the end. 

“This is my policy, the whole cabinet stands behind it, the whole government stands behind it, the soldiers stand behind it, the people stand behind it – that is exactly what we will do,” the prime minister said. 

Negotiators are working toward another potential extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas, now into its sixth day. Key mediator Qatar is “very optimistic” an extension will be announced, a foreign ministry spokesperson told CNN on Wednesday. 

A senior Israeli official said earlier that Israel is trying to see “whether there is a possibility” to extend the truce with Hamas.  

The Israeli military is prepared for the next stage of the war in Gaza when the truce ends, Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff said Wednesday, according to an IDF statement.  

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, echoing Halevi, said “IDF troops in the air, ground, and sea, are prepared to resume operations immediately [should the decision be made].” 

Gallant however added that Israel was “taking every possible measure to return the hostages and to maximize the current framework in which all the women and children held hostage in Gaza, will be released.” 

Meanwhile, Benny Gantz, who is a part of the emergency war cabinet, noted Wednesday that “we are in complex moments, and in a window of time within the outline for the return of our hostages.” 

Gantz stressed that fighting would continue and that it would “expand to wherever it is needed throughout the Strip. There will be no cities of refuge.” 

Halevi, the military chief of staff, on Wednesday approved plans for the next stage of the military operation in Gaza, according to the IDF. 

On Tuesday, Halevi said the Israeli military was using the pause to beef up its readiness for combat. 

“The IDF is prepared to continue fighting. We are using the days of the pause as part of the framework to learn, strengthen our readiness and approve future operational plans,” Halevi told a group of soldiers in northern Israel. 

Thirty Palestinians, 16 minors and 14 women, are being freed from Israel jails Wednesday in exchange for the release of hostages held in Gaza, according to a spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Sixteen hostages were released Wednesday and were being taken to five different hospitals in Israel — four in the Tel Aviv area and one in Be’er Sheva in the southern part of the country, the Israeli health ministry said in a statement.

Meantime, the six-day truce that allowed the release of hostages held by Hamas is set to expire at midnight ET.

Here are other headlines you should know:

A total of 30 Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons in Damon, Megiddo, Ofer, Nafha, Ktzi’ot, Ramon and Ohalay Kedar on Wednesday, the Israeli prison service said in a statement. 

Ahed Tamimi, a high-profile Palestinian activist, was among those released. Tamimi rose to prominence in 2017 after a video of her slapping an Israeli soldier went viral. 

Under terms of the Israel-Hamas truce deal, Israel has to free three Palestinians for every Israeli hostage freed. 

Of the 16 hostages released Wednesday, 10 Israeli nationals — some dual citizens — were released as part of the Israel-Hamas truce deal. 

Two Israeli-Russian and four Thai citizens were released outside the framework of the agreement. 

A convoy carrying hostages released on Wednesday, November 29, was greeted by a large crowd of people who lined the streets as the vans passed through. 

The 10 freed Israeli hostages and four Thai nationals have arrived in Hatzerim in southern Israel. They were greeted by a large crowd of people who lined the streets.  

They will be taken to the Hatzerim Air Force base from where they are expected to be flown to various Israeli hospitals.     

Some of the hostages are expected to reunite with their families at the air base and other reunions are set to occur at the various hospitals. 

The 10 Israeli nationals — some dual citizens — were released as part of the Israel-Hamas truce deal. Four Thai citizens were released outside the framework of the agreement.  

Two Israeli-Russian hostages were also released Wednesday outside the deal. They have been admitted to the Sheba Medical Center in the Tel Aviv area.  

As the current truce deal is poised to expire, multiple sources familiar with the talks told CNN that another extension would be announced once Hamas has handed over the next list of names of hostages to be released. 

The truce began on Friday at 7 a.m. local time (midnight ET). With the two-day extension, the current deal would be expected to expire at 7 a.m. local time Thursday (midnight ET).  

The sources have expressed optimism about an extension — but until the list is provided by Hamas nothing is certain.

 US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel early Thursday, local time, just hours before the current truce in the fighting in Gaza is poised to expire.

President Joe Biden said he is “deeply gratified” that Liat Beinin, an Israeli-American dual citizen abducted by Hamas on October 7, has been safely released from Gaza.

In a statement following her release, Biden praised the deal that has released dozens of hostages and permitted increased aid to be brought into Gaza, noting that such humanitarian supplies have reached northern Gaza for the first time since the conflict began. 

Four containers of diesel fuel and four containers of cooking gas were transferred from Egypt to United Nations humanitarian aid organizations in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, an Israeli government agency said.

Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said in a statement that the fuel passed through the Rafah crossing — the only crossing in and out of the enclave that is not controlled by Israel.  

The aid trucks going into Gaza are part of the pause and the hostage-release framework agreed by Israel and Hamas, COGAT said.   

“The fuel and cooking gas are designated for the operation of vital humanitarian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” it said. 

In addition, 200 humanitarian aid trucks were transferred on Wednesday to the international aid organizations operating in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, COGAT said. Those trucks had to first go through a security check at the Nitzana crossing, it added.

The humanitarian aid trucks carried food, water, shelter equipment, and medical supplies.

The 16 hostages released on Wednesday will be taken to five different hospitals in Israel — four in the Tel Aviv area and one in Be’er Sheva in the southern part of the country, the Israeli health ministry said in a statement.

Remember: Of the 16 hostages released Wednesday, 10 Israeli nationals — some dual citizens — were released as part of the Israel-Hamas truce deal. 

Two Israeli-Russian and four Thai citizens were released outside the framework of the agreement. 

Biden speaks to the media before boarding Air Force One at Pueblo memorial Airport in Pueblo, Colorado, on Wednesday, November 29.

US President Joe Biden confirmed that an American citizen held hostage by Hamas, Liat Beinin, was released on Wednesday.

He added that he has spoken with Beinin’s family.  

Beinin and her husband, Aviv Atzili, have been missing since their kibbutz was attacked by Hamas on October 7, according to Beinin’s father, Yehuda Beinin.

The status of a second American woman who was taken by Hamas remains unclear. Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old US citizen, was released on Sunday.

The 10 freed Israeli hostages and four Thai nationals are now in Israeli territory, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

The 10 Israelis were released as part of the truce with Hamas. Some of them are dual citizens, the Israeli military said.

The Thai citizens were released separate from the Israel-Hamas agreement.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the release and transfer of 16 hostages on Wednesday, the group said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Remember: Of the 16 hostages released Wednesday, 10 Israeli nationals — some dual citizens — were released as part of the Israel-Hamas truce deal. 

Two Israeli-Russian and four Thai citizens were released outside the framework of the agreement. 

Top row: Raaya Rotem, Amit Shani, Stela Yanai Moran, Yarden Roman Gat and Liam Or.Bottom row: Ofir Engel, Raz Ben Ami, Gali Tarshansky, Itay Regev and Liat Beinin.

The Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum in Israel released the names and photos of the 10 Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Wednesday.

Some of the freed hostages hold dual citizenship, it said.

These 10 hostages are separate from the two Israeli-Russian hostages released earlier on Wednesday that were not part of Israel’s hostage deal with Hamas. 

The names of the four Thai nationals released Wednesday, also separate from the hostage deal, have not been made public yet.