Israeli officials say no Gaza pause, hostage releases before Friday

Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip on November 22, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 23 November 2023
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Israeli officials say no Gaza pause, hostage releases before Friday

  • Truce deal was approved by Israeli government early Wednesday and had been widely expected to take effect on Thursday
  • Israel and Hamas agreed on a four-day truce during which Palestinian militants would free at least 50 of the hostages taken on Oct. 7

JERUSALEM: Israeli officials said there would be no pause in the Gaza fighting or any release of hostages held by Hamas before Friday, despite the two sides agreeing a truce.

The agreement was approved by the Israeli government early Wednesday and had been widely expected to take effect on Thursday.

But an Israeli official told AFP early Thursday there would be no halt in the fighting between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers “before Friday.”

The official’s comments came shortly after national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi said late Wednesday that none of the hostages seized in the Hamas attacks on southern Israel on October 7 would be freed before Friday.

“The contacts on the release of our hostages are advancing and continuing constantly,” he said in a statement.

“The start of the release will take place according to the original agreement between the sides, and not before Friday.”

Minutes earlier, Israeli officials notified journalists that a media center would open in Tel Aviv at noon on Thursday “to cover the return of the hostages.”

Hanegbi gave no further details, and Israeli officials did not immediately offer any explanation for the developments.

Under the deal, Israel and Hamas agreed on a four-day truce in the Gaza war during which the Palestinian militants would free at least 50 of the hostages taken in their deadly attacks in a series of daily batches.

In turn, Israel would release at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow more humanitarian aid into the coastal territory after more than six weeks of bombardment, heavy fighting and a crippling siege.

The hostages to be freed in the process are women and children, and the Palestinian prisoners are women and teenage boys aged 18 and under.

The war started after Hamas militants on October 7 launched the worst attack in Israel’s history, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 240 hostages, Israel says.

Israel launched a major bombing campaign and then a ground offensive in Gaza which Hamas says has killed 14,100 people, thousands of them children.


US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

Updated 42 min 12 sec ago
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US condemns RSF drone attack on World Food Programme convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan

  • Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, also expresses concern over the drone attack

WASHINGTON: The US has condemned a drone attack by Rapid Support Forces on an aid convoy in Sudan’s North Kordofan state that killed one person and injured three others.

“The United States condemns the recent drone attack on a World Food Program convoy in North Kordofan transporting food to famine-stricken people which killed one and wounded many others,” US Senior Adviser for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos wrote on X.

“Destroying food intended for people in need and killing humanitarian workers is sickening,” the US envoy wrote.

“The Trump Administration has zero tolerance for this destruction of life and of U.S.-funded assistance; we demand accountability and extend our condolences to all those affected by these inexcusable events and terrible war,” he added.

The Sudan Doctors Network, on its social media accounts, said the World Food Programme (WFP) convoy was struck by RSF drones in the Allah Karim area as it headed toward displaced people in El-Obeid, the state capital.

The network described the attack as a “clear violation of international humanitarian law,” warning that it undermines efforts to deliver life-saving aid to civilians amid worsening humanitarian conditions across the country.

There was no immediate comment from the rebel group.

 

 

Denise Brown, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, in a statement also expressed concern over the drone attack which hit the aid trucks in North Kordofan.

“I am deeply concerned by a drone attack earlier today on trucks contracted by the World Food Programme (WFP) in North Kordofan, the aftermath of which I came across a few hours later, as I left the state capital, El Obeid.”

“The trucks were en route from Kosti to deliver life-saving food assistance to displaced families near El Obeid when they were struck, tragically killing at least one individual and injuring many more. The trucks caught fire, destroying food commodities intended for life-saving humanitarian response.”

Brown added that “Humanitarian personnel, assets and supplies must be protected at all times. Attacks on aid operations undermine efforts to reach people facing hunger and displacement.”

“Safe and unimpeded humanitarian access remains critical to ensure assistance reaches the most vulnerable people across Sudan.”

Since April 2023, the conflict between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary forces has killed tens of thousands, displaced 11 million and which the UN has described as one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.

An alert issued by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed famine conditions in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, about 800 kilometers to the east.

The IPC said that 20 more areas in Sudan’s Darfur and neighboring Kordofan were at risk of famine.

Of Sudan’s 18 states, the RSF controls all five states in the western Darfur region, except for parts of North Darfur that remain under army control. The army holds most areas of the remaining 13 states across the south, north, east and center of the country, including the capital, Khartoum.

The conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has killed thousands of people and displaced millions.