Africa-Press – Mauritius. Hind Khoudary is in Khan Younis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and she has reported for Al Jazeera, saying: “We’ve just learned of a shooting in the northern Gaza Strip by Israeli forces in which two Palestinians have been injured, one of whom is in serious condition.
” She added: “People are using the last hours of this extended truce to buy as many necessities as they can.
People say this truce is meaningless because they are not able to go back to their homes and make sure their families that are stuck in the north are safe.
” Sixty Israelis have been freed as part of the truce so far.
Another 21 hostages – 19 Thais, one Filipino and one Russian-Israeli – have also been released in separate negotiations since the ceasefire began, Associated Press reports.
Prior to the truce, Hamas released four hostages, and the Israeli army rescued one. Two other hostages were found dead in Gaza. It remains unclear how many people are still being held and their condition.
Mediators in Qatar say they have been unable to verify the numbers beyond the list of hostages expected to be released today, which marks the final day under the current agreement.
The latest swap brought to 180 the number of Palestinian women and children freed from Israeli prisons as part of the deal. Most have been teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces. Several were women convicted by Israeli military courts of attempting deadly attacks.
Prisoner advocate groups said that over the four days of the initial truce, Israeli forces arrested at least 133 Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, meaning the total number of Palestinian detainees held by Israel has reduced by less than 50.
The Times of Israel is reporting that medics have assessed some of the hostages returned overnight from Gaza and found them in generally good medical condition.
It quotes Prof David Zeltser, deputy director of emergency medicine at Ichilov hospital, saying two women taken there were well, and Prof Itai Pessach, from the facility in Sheba that took in eight returnees, saying the freed captives were “a group of extraordinary women who endured the hardships of their captivity in a remarkable fashion”.
He added: “Their medical situation is complex and they will need ongoing medical treatment and attention, but there is no immediate danger to any of them.
Haaretz reports that “according to an official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations”, Israel has indicated that it is unwilling to extend the truce beyond Sunday. Israel previously said it would extend the truce for a day for every occasion on which 10 hostages were released by Hamas from captivity in Gaza.
Foreign ministers of the Group of Seven countries have said in a joint statement that they support the further extension of the truce and future pauses in order to increase assistance and facilitate the release of all hostages.
The group urged Hamas to release all the hostages “immediately and unconditionally”. It emphasised “Israel’s right to defend itself and its people” but underscored the importance of “protecting civilians and compliance with international law”.
It also said the G7 was committed to a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution. The G7 foreign ministers cautioned against further escalation of the conflict.
They urged Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis to cease threats to international shipping lanes and commercial vessels and release the Galaxy Leader commercial ship and its crew seized on 19 November.
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