Israel-Hamas war November 30 updates: Israel says two hostages handed over to Red Cross in Gaza

As per report, Israeli and US officials discussed about expelling thousands of lower-level Hamas fighters out of the Gaza Strip, so that the war can be shortened.

The idea, which was published in the Wall Street Journal, is similar to the US-brokered deal that had permitted the deportation of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) members.

One proposal, which was created by the Israeli military’s thinktank, will start with the creation of “Hamas-free safe zones” that a new Gaza authority backed by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, as per the report.

International criminal court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan has been visiting Israel “at the request and invitation of survivors & the families of victims of the 7 October attacks,” said the court.

Khan will also be visiting Ramallah where he will be meeting senior Palestinian officials, said the ICC, in a social media post on Thursday, adding: “The visit, while not investigative in nature, represents an important opportunity to express sympathy for all victims and engage in dialogue.”

The Palestinian Prisoners Society published the list of Palestinians, who have been kept in the in Israeli jails, and will be released today. Eight women and 22 children will be included in the list.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen confirmed that he recalled Spain’s ambassador over the “outrageous” remarks given by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Taking to social media, Cohen said that Sanchez had “once again repeated baseless accusations” against Israel regarding the war.

“Israel is acting, and will continue to act, according to international law, and will continue the war until all the hostages are returned and Hamas is eliminated from Gaza,” wrote Cohen.

In an interview with Spanish television, Sanchez had said that he has “sincere doubts” regarding Israel respecting international law in Gaza.

The two Israeli hostages, who were just released by Hamas, were identified as Mia Schem, 21, and Amit Soussana, 40.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the released hostages were handed over to Israeli special forces by the Red Cross . 

An IDF statement read, "A short while ago, Red Cross representatives transferred two Israeli released hostages to IDF special forces and ISA forces adjacent to the security fence with the Gaza Strip. Afterwards, they will make their way to the Hatzerim Base." 

In the coming hours, more hostages are expected to be released by Hamas.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas presented the US Secretary of State with “a comprehensive file documenting Israeli occupation crime in Gaza, and the West Bank, including Jerusalem”, according to a report in the Palestinian state news agency Wafa.

Abbas raised the topic of the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, particularly in light of increased attackers from settlers there since October 7.

Police said that the homes of two Hamas terrorists, who carried out deadly terror shooting attack at the entrance to Jerusalem, were raided. The attack was carried out Ibrahim Nemer, 30 and Murad Nemer, 38, from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher.

Police also detained the six family members  for questioning, which included their parents.

The Israeli military said that Hamas handed over to two Israeli hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza, after the extension of the truce between Hamas and Israel started.

The two women "are on their way to Israeli territory", it said in a statement. "In the next few hours, additional Israeli hostages are expected to be transferred to the Red Cross," it said.

Israeli government, releasing the latest figures, said that a total of 145 hostages, who were taken in 7 October attacks, are still being held in Gaza. Spokesman Eylon Levy said that the remaining hostages include three people, who are under the age of 18 and 10 over the age of 75.

Israeli army said that two Israeli soldiers were injured in a ramming attack which took place on a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, adding the assailant had been "shot and neutralised".

The military was "searching the area for additional suspects", it said in a statement. 

Visiting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and stressed on the need to protect civilians in southern Gaza, said the State Department said.

Blinken "stressed the imperative of accounting for humanitarian and civilian protection needs in southern Gaza before any military operations there", said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, in a statement, adding that he "urged Israel to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm".

Meanwhile, Blinken has now reached Ramallah where he will be meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Hamas said that the attackers in the shooting that took place in Jerusalem were its members, as per Reuters.

The group, in a statement, said the “operation came as a natural response to unprecedented crimes conducted by the occupation”.

A UN commission of inquiry, which is investigating war crimes that took place on the two sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict, will be looking into sexual violence committed by Hamas in the October 7 attacks on Israel and will appeal for evidence, said its chair, while speaking to Reuters. 

Chair of the three-member commission of inquiry into abuses committed in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories Navi Pillay said that the evidence will be transferred to the International Criminal Court and appealed it to consider prosecutions.

Speaking to AFP, a Hamas source said that 10 Israeli hostages are set to be released from the Gaza Strip on Thursday, and two of them are set to be holding Russian citizenship under the one-day truce extension.

"All of them are alive. Israel last night refused a list Hamas proposed that included three Israeli bodies," said the source. 

Israeli government’s spokesperson Eylon Levy, in a press briefing said, "IDF is investigating the death of 10 months old, 4 year old and mother killed claimed by Hamas. Israel remains commited to bring all hostages - when Hamas stop releasing hostages we will stop our pause. Hamas is denying Red Cross the access to the remaining hostages, we demand that the access is given to Red Cross." 

"We welcome the demand of UN to release all hostages and the vigorous investigation against sexual violence," the spokesperson added. 

Hamas official Basem Naim, while speaking to Qatari-owned channel Al-Araby Al-Jadeed based in London, said that under the terms of the extension of the truce for the seventh day, bodies of three Israeli hostages will be handed over by Hamas.

Naim stated that the three, whose identity is not known, died during military operation of Israel in Gaza.

Palestinian Ministry of Health, in a statement, said that Israeli forces killed a 21-year-old Palestinian man, Fadi Muayyad Badran, during a prisoner release from the Ofer prison in the West Bank. 

It was reported by the Palestinian WAFA news agency that Badran, who was one of the prisoners among those being released, died after suffering a gunshot wound in the chest and added that four others suffered injuries in live firing which took place in front of the prison in the city of Beitunia.

Russia thanks Hamas for releasing two Russian women captives from Gaza.

"We are grateful to the leadership of the Hamas movement for the positive response to our constant appeals," said Russian foreign ministry, in a statement. 

"We will continue to strive for the quick release of the remaining Russians held in the Gaza Strip," it added.

In light of the shooting in Jerusalem, Israeli PM expressed his condolences and hailed the "quick reaction" of two soldiers and one armed civilian who were able to kill the gunmen. 

"The government headed by me will continue expanding the distribution of weapons to citizens. This is a measure that proves itself time and time again in the war against murderous terrorism," said the Israeli PM, in a statement on X. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv spoke about how the truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza was "producing results" and should continue.

"We have seen over the last week the very positive development of hostages coming home, being reunited with their families," said Washington's top diplomat.

"It's also enabled an increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately. So this process is producing results. It's important, and we hope that it can continue," he added.

A plane carrying 17 Thai hostages freed by Hamas landed in Bangkok on Thursday, the foreign ministry said. 

Family members waited to greet the freed captives at Bangkok’s main airport.

Nine Thais are still being held by the Palestinian group in Gaza. 

After years at the bottom of the foreign policy priority lists in Washington and European capitals, the “two-state solution” for one of the most intractable problems of the Middle East is high on the agenda again. Alas, it looks further from reality than ever.

The underlying idea is simple: create two states, one for Palestinians and one for Israelis to live side by side in peace. The concept is rooted in a United Nations Security Council resolution, 242, passed after the end of the 1967 war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states.

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At least 45 Palestinians have been arrested after overnight raids throughout the occupied West Bank with most of the arrests from Biddu, near Jerusalem, reported Al Jazeera.

The report also said that number is expected to rise as raids were still going on in Tubas, Jericho, and Bethlehem with Tulkarem being the flashpoint, with a heavy military presence there.

In a first tally by Israel's Defense Ministry, at least 2,005 wounded soldiers and security forces members have been recognised by its rehabilitation department since the war began on October 7. 

The ministry also said that 287 soldiers and security forces are currently hospitalised, 28 of them in serious condition. This is first time that Israeli officials have provided the number of troops injured since the beginning of the war. 

The death toll after the shooting at the entrance to Jerusalem rises to three, according to Israeli media reports. 

This comes after Hebrew-language media reports citing the Magen David Adom ambulance service said two elderly victims who were critically injured have succumbed to their injuries after being taken to the hospital, in addition to the 24-year-old declared dead at the scene, reported Times of Israel.

At least three people, including two suspects and one woman was killed after shooting in Jerusalem, according to the Israeli police and the media reports.

According to the Israeli ambulance service, a 24-year-old woman was killed after a shooting attack at the entrance to Jerusalem. 

The police said that the two suspected attackers "were neutralised on the spot," reported Reuters.

The Israeli government said it has received a new list of women and children hostages in the Gaza Strip to be released by Hamas on Thursday in exchange for a one-day extension of the truce. 

"A short time ago, Israel was given a list of women and children in accordance with the terms of the agreement, and therefore the truce will continue," said the statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. 

The number of hostages to be released was not immediately known.

At least six people have been injured after a shooting incident near entrance to Jerusalem, reported Times of Israel. 

Medics and security forces are responding to reports of a shooting attack which has caused a number of injuries at the scene, near the Ramot neighborhood in East Jerusalem, according to initial reports.

Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom said it is treating six people wounded by gunfire at a bus stop on Weizman road near the entrance to Jerusalem.

Qatar, which is acting like a mediator amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas confirmed that the truce will be extended by one day, on Thursday, as an six-day humanitarian pause in Gaza was set to end.

"Palestinian and Israeli sides reached an agreement to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for an additional day under the same previous conditions, which are a ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid, within the framework of the joint mediation of the State of Qatar," Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed Al Ansari said in a statement.

Israel's military announced on Thursday (Nov 30) that the truce with Hamas will continue, citing ongoing mediator efforts to release hostages and adherence to the agreement's terms. Reuters reports that Hamas has agreed to extend the truce for a seventh day. The initial six-day ceasefire, set to conclude at 7 am local time (5 am GMT) on Thursday, followed the release of 16 Hamas-held hostages on Wednesday night in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.

Seventeen Thai hostages, who were kidnapped and detained for weeks by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, are anticipated to reunite with their families on Thursday (Nov 30), reported Reuters. 

Protesters in Cebu, central Philippines, assembled along Colon, the country's oldest street, to mark the birth anniversary of Filipino revolutionary Andres Bonifacio. Members of The Network Opposed to War (No to War) advocated for a lasting Gaza ceasefire, condemning the "genocide" of Palestinians. Photos on X by a Filipino photojournalist revealed demonstrators also pressing for increased wages for Filipino workers and climate justice.

Hamas said that Israel refused to accept seven women and child hostages, along with the bodies of three people claimed to have been killed during Israel's bombardment, as part of a proposed exchange for extending a temporary truce on Thursday (Nov 30). 

“This is despite confirming through mediators that this group is all the (Hamas) movement has in terms of detainees in the agreed-upon category,” Hamas said in a statement, as quoted by Al Jazeera.

Hamas' military arm has instructed its fighters in Gaza to prepare for renewed hostilities with Israel if the temporary truce, set to expire today at 7 am (0500 GMT), is not extended.

“The Al-Qassam Brigades asks its active forces to maintain high combat readiness in the last hours of the truce,” the group said in a statement obtained by Reuters. 

Ofer detains prisoners, including administrative detainees and children, according to Addameer prisoners’ rights group in Ramallah.

The prison, constructed on land taken from Beitunia village, near Ramallah, has hosted military courts, including a juvenile court, since 2009, as noted by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem.

Reported human rights abuses at Ofer involve collective punishment, tear gas use, and raids on sections holding children, according to Addameer, as reported by Al Jazeera. 

A 25-year-old with diabetes died shortly after arriving at Ofer in October. In 2020,

Defense for Children International – Palestine, citing Israeli Prison Services data, highlighted that the "overwhelming majority of Palestinian children detained by Israeli authorities are held in Ofer prison or unlawfully transferred to Megiddo prison located inside Israel."

Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, has identified the victim as 21-year-old Fadi Muayyad Badran from Beit Ur al-Tahta village, west of Ramallah. Badran was shot in the chest during confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians outside Ofer Prison in Beitunia, near Ramallah. Subsequently, he was taken to a hospital in the occupied West Bank, where he was declared dead.

Israel's war cabinet meeting concludes without a truce extension decision, demanding an 'improved list' from Hamas by 7 am; an Israeli source warns, "If the list doesn't change by seven in the morning, we will resume the fighting," reported Al Jazeera. 

Renowned Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was one of 30 detainees released by Israel early on Thursday (Nov 30) as part of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, as confirmed by Israeli and Palestinian authorities. Tamimi, previously hailed as a local hero in the occupied West Bank since her teenage years, had been apprehended by Israeli forces earlier this month on suspicion of inciting violence. Her mother refuted the accusation, asserting it was based on a fabricated social media post.

It is well past 3 am in Tel Aviv and in another four hours (7 am local time) on Thursday (Nov 30), the second truce deal is set to expire. Despite the exchange of hostages, the two sides could not arrive on a decision to extend the ceasefire. Crucial few hours ahead.  

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated in clear terms that his country will return to the battlefield for the eradication of Hamas, once the current phase of hostage exchange ends.

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In response to the release of 12 Israeli hostages by Hamas, 30 Palestinian prisoners were released on Wednesday (Nov 29), informed Israeli authorities, according to an AFP report. 

In an attempt to make a breakthrough in the ongoing truce talks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv early Thursday (Nov 30). It is Blinken's third visit to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October.  

Here are the 12 Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Wednesday:

• Irena Tatti, 73

   

• Elena Trupanov, 50

   

• Gali Tarshanksy, 13
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• Liat Atzili, 49

   

• Yarden Roman Gat, 36

   

• Raz Ben Ami, 57

   

• Raaya Rotem, 54

   

• Ofir Engel, 17

   

• Liam Or, 18

   

• Amit Shani, 16

   

• Moran Stela Yanai, 40

   

• Itai Regev, 18

“Efforts to extend the truce have not yet matured, and as for the offer that has been made to us to extend the truce, we do not find it worthy to study,” said Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official in Lebanon. 

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to X on Wednesday (Nov 29) night and said the country will return to fight to finish off Hamas after the exchange of hostages. 

"In the last few days I hear a question - will Israel return to fighting after this phase of returning our abductees is exhausted? So my answer is unequivocal - yes," wrote Netanyahu. 

"There is no way we are not going back to fighting until the end. This is my policy, the entire cabinet stands behind it, the entire government stands behind it, the soldiers stand behind it, the people stand behind it - and that is exactly what we will do."

Israel is investigating to verify Hamas' claims that the youngest Israeli hostage ten-month-old baby Kfir Babis who was held by the Islamist militant group has been killed. Unconfirmed media reports quoting Hamas said that the baby was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike before the truce.  

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US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she remains hopeful that the truce in Gaza can be extended. 

"We're hopeful the truce can be extended. This is all in the hands of Hamas. The Israelis have said if they continue to release ten hostages a day, they will extend by a day," said Thomas-Greenfield. 

"So it truly is in their hands. But I do think there is a potential for that and we're actively working to extend the deal."

Two Russia hostages released by Hamas on Wednesday (Nov 29) arrived in Egypt via the Rafah crossing, per AFP. The two women have been identified as Yelena Trupanov, 50, and 73-year-old Irena Tati.