Live updates | Israel-Hamas truce begins with a cease-fire; 12 Thai hostages released
A four-day cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war began Friday in Gaza as part of an agreement that Qatar helped broker. The deal also includes the release of dozens of hostages held by militants and Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, which was to begin later Friday. Separately, 12 Thai hostages were freed from Gaza and taken to Israel.
With the truce deal comes increased shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza — though still only enough to dent the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment, according to aid groups. Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,300 gallons) of fuel a day into besieged Gaza for humanitarian needs for the duration of the truce.
More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza after a dayslong pause in its casualty report, which it attributed to the health system’s collapse in northern Gaza making it impossible to provide a detailed count.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will press ahead with the war after the cease-fire expires. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas.
Currently:
— A four-day truce begins, setting the stage for the release of dozens of hostages.
— Families of hostages not slated for release from Gaza during current truce face enduring nightmare.
— Palestinians in Gaza seeking refuge from war find their world is shrinking.
— Hezbollah fires rockets at north Israel after an airstrike kills 5 of the group’s senior fighters.
— Thousands led by Cuba’s president march in solidarity with Palestinians.
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Here’s what’s happening in the war:
THAILAND SAYS 12 THAI NATIONALS HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM GAZA
BANGKOK — Twelve Thai nationals were released from Gaza on Friday, Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
It said the 12 hostages have passed through the Rafah crossing and are on the way to Israel’s Hatzerim air base, and will then be taken to a hospital.
The ministry says 39 Thai citizens were killed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel and 26 were taken hostage.
Egypt’s state information service said the 12 Thais is in addition to 13 Israeli captives who are to be freed Friday.
Fifty hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed under a Qatar-brokered four-day cease-fire deal.
ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES FIRE TEAR GAS AT PALESTINIANS WAITING TO GREET PRISONERS
BEITOUNIA, West Bank — Israeli security forces are firing tear gas at a crowd of Palestinians gathered to greet prisoners who are to be released from Israeli jails as part of a truce between Israel and Hamas, AP journalists in the West Bank witnessed.
Tear gas was fired to push away crowds from the vicinity of Ofer prison, from where the prisoners are to be released later on Friday.
Palestinian authorities have released a list of 39 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released on Friday, including 24 women and 15 teenage boys, in exchange for 13 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
In all, 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed during the four-day truce.
ISRAEL’S FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS IT WILL RESUME WAR AFTER TRUCE ENDS
JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister said Friday that Israel will resume the war against Hamas after a temporary cease-fire ends.
A truce in the Israel-Hamas war began Friday, setting the stage for the release of 50 hostages held by militants in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The releases are to take place in stages over four days.
The truce could be extended by a day for each additional release of 10 more hostages — an arrangement that could translate into a longer cease-fire. In all, militants from Hamas and other groups kidnapped about 240 people in their Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Israeli leaders have pledged that the war will resume.
“Israel will continue its war on Hamas and we will not stop until we achieve our two main goals, overthrowing the rule of Hamas and returning all the abductees back to us, safe and sound,” Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said Friday as he toured Israel’s ravaged border areas with his counterparts from Portugal and Slovenia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have made similar pledges.
However, the government is under intense public pressure to bring all hostages home, which might make a resumption of the war exceedingly difficult.
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITIES RELEASE LIST OF 39 PRISONERS EXPECTED TO BE FREED FRIDAY
JERUSALEM — Palestinian authorities have released a list of 39 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released on Friday, including 24 women and 15 teenage boys, in exchange for 13 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
The swap is part of a four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war. The truce began Friday after seven weeks of war.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, an advocacy group, said the 39 detainees from the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem will be delivered to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Israel’s Ofer Prison near the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Their release is to take place after 4 p.m. local time (1400 GMT), when Hamas is due to return the 13 Israeli hostages to Israel.
Most of the 15 Palestinian teenagers to be released Friday were arrested over incitement and stone-throwing, as well as the broadly defined charge of “supporting terrorism.”
The 24 women include some convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to yearslong prison terms for attacks against Israeli security forces.
In all, 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed during the four-day truce.
Israel currently holds 7,200 Palestinians charged with or convicted of security offenses, the Prisoners’ Club said.
It said about 2,000 Palestinians were arrested since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that triggered the war.
FRANCE CALLS FOR RELEASE OF ALL HOSTAGES, INCLUDING 8 FRENCH CITIZENS, AND A LASTING TRUCE
BEIJING — French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna called Friday for the release of all hostages held in Gaza, including eight French citizens, and a lasting truce between Israel and Hamas.
‘’It is essential that international law is applied there (in Gaza) as elsewhere,’’ Colonna said during a trip to Beijing. ‘’All states have the right to defend themselves, but we must cooperate so that terrorism is contained.’’
She called for a durable truce so that ‘’the wounded can be treated, and humanitarian aid can arrive and ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.’’
The eight French hostages in Gaza include three children. The French president, foreign minister and defense minister have traveled to the region in recent weeks to push for their release and a long-term peace.
Forty French citizens were killed in the Hamas attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, and two French citizens have been killed in attacks on Gaza, according to the Foreign Ministry. France has sent flights and warships to bring humanitarian aid for Gaza.
AMBULANCES ARRIVE AT ISRAELI MILITARY BASE AHEAD OF HOSTAGE RELEASE
HATZERIM MILITARY BASE, Israel — Ambulances arrived at Hatzerim military air base in southern Israel on Friday, hours before hostages were expected to arrive after being released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials said that after arriving at the air base escorted by Israeli soldiers, the released hostages will be flown or driven to five different hospitals across the country for medical treatment, as needed.
Gaza’s ruling Hamas group has pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took in their deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In turn, Israel is to free three Palestinian prisoners for each released hostage. The releases are to take place in stages over the next four days.
ISRAELI FORCES KILL A 12-YEAR-OLD BOY IN THE WEST BANK
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces shot and killed a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said Friday, as violence surges in the territory under the shadow of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The boy was killed Thursday in the village of Beita near the flashpoint city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, the officials said.
The Israeli military said Palestinians threw stones when soldiers entered the village and that troops responded with live fire. The military said it was looking into the circumstances of the boy’s death.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began seven weeks ago, the West Bank has seen one of the deadliest periods in at least two decades. Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed 229 Palestinians, including 52 children and minors under the age of 18, in arrest raids and violent confrontations, according to U.N. figures.
The war was triggered by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed.
ISRAELI TROOPS FIRE AT PALESTINIANS ATTEMPTING TO RETURN TO NORTHERN GAZA, KILLING TWO
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israeli troops fatally shot two Palestinians and wounded 11 others as they headed toward the main combat zone in northern Gaza despite warnings by the Israeli army to stay put.
An Associated Press journalist saw the two bodies and the wounded as they arrived at a hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah in the southern half of Gaza. The injured had been shot in the legs.
Friday’s shooting came hours after the Israeli military warned hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians who sought refuge in southern Gaza not to attempt to return to their homes in the northern half of the territory, the focus of Israel’s ground offensive.
The military had dropped leaflets on southern Gaza saying that returning to northern Gaza is prohibited and dangerous.
Since a four-day truce went into effect Friday morning, hundreds of Palestinians were seen trying to head to northern Gaza.
Witnesses said Israeli troops are opening fire on people trying to head north.
Sofian Abu Amer, who had fled Gaza City, said he decided to risk heading north to check on his home.
“We don’t have enough clothes, food and drinks,” he said. ”The situation is disastrous. It’s better for a person to die.”
Since the early days of the war triggered by the Hamas attack on southern Israel seven weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people have left their homes in the north at the orders of the Israeli army.
‘EVERYONE IN RETURN FOR EVERYONE,’ PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD LEADER SAYS
BEIRUT — The leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said Friday that Israeli soldiers among the 240 hostages held by militant groups in Gaza will only be released in exchange for all the Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Islamic Jihad is reportedly holding about 40 of the hostages who were captured by Hamas and other militant groups during their Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. Over the next four days, 50 hostages are to be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, with both sides releasing women and children first.
In a televised speech on the first day of what is meant to be a four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war, Islamic Jihad leader Ziad Nakhaleh said that “the enemy’s military prisoners will not be released without the freedom of our prisoners and this is linked to the end of the aggression.” He said that Israel would be forced to “eventually reach a deal of everyone in return for everyone.”
It was not immediately clear how many of the hostages held in Gaza are currently serving in the military and whether the militants also consider reserve soldiers to be military hostages.
Close to 7,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned by Israel on security charges, including about 1,800 arrested since the start of the war.
MUCH-NEEDED FUEL AND COOKING GAS TANKERS ENTER GAZA
JERUSALEM — Israel announced that four tankers with fuel and four tankers with cooking gas entered the Gaza Strip on Friday, the first day of what is meant to be a four-day cease-fire.
Israel has agreed to allow the delivery of 130,000 liters (34,300 gallons) of fuel a day into besieged Gaza for humanitarian needs for the duration of the truce. This would be roughly twice the amount permitted previously, but still only a small portion of Gaza’s daily needs, estimated at more than 1 million liters (264,000 gallons).
For most of the past seven weeks of war, Israel had barred the entry of any fuel to Gaza, claiming it could be used by Hamas for military purposes. United Nations aid agencies pushed back against such claims, saying fuel deliveries were closely supervised and urgently needed to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.
It was not immediately clear if Friday’s deliveries meant the new daily target set by the truce deal had been reached. The announcement was made by COGAT, a body in Israel’s defense ministry responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs.
THAI FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS HE CANNOT CONFIRM REPORTS OF THAI HOSTAGES BEING RELEASED
BANGKOK — Thailand’s foreign minister said Friday morning that he has not yet been able to confirm media reports that 23 Thai workers held hostage in Gaza were set to be released. But, the minister said, his Iranian counterpart, who is serving as an intermediary with Hamas, told him there will be “good news soon.”
Thai Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara said his ministry has been preparing to receive the hostages if and when they are released.
Qatari officials, who have been the main intermediaries in hostage release talks, will have a meeting about the matter, Parnpree said, and by Friday afternoon Thai officials expect to know more developments and hope it will be good news.
The missing workers were among about 30,000 Thais employed mostly in Israel’s agricultural sector. According to the Thai foreign ministry, 39 were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks, and 36 abducted. More than 8,600 workers have been voluntarily repatriated home since the attacks.
ISRAELI MILITARY SAYS IT HAS DESTROYED TUNNELS UNDER SHIFA HOSPITAL
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Friday it has destroyed stretches of tunnels and a number of tunnel shafts in the area of Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest.
On Wednesday, Israel showed a tunnel and rooms that military officials said were a major Hamas hideout beneath Shifa. Hamas and hospital staff deny Israeli allegations that Shifa was used as a militant command center.
On Thursday, Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Israel mapped out Shifa Hospital and plans to destroy all “terror infrastructure” it has found.
Separately, the military said it continued to strike targets throughout the night leading up to a four-day truce that began Friday morning. It said it “completed its operational preparations according to the combat lines of the pause.”
FOUR-DAY TRUCE BEGINS IN GAZA
A temporary truce in the Israel-Hamas war took effect early Friday, setting the stage for the exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
The halt in fighting began at 7 a.m. local time (0500 GMT) and is to last at least four days. During the truce, Gaza’s ruling Hamas group pledged to free at least 50 of the about 240 hostages it and other militants took in their deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel. In turn, Israel is to free three Palestinian prisoners for each released hostage. The releases are to take place in stages over the next four days.
The truce deal was reached in weeks of intense indirect negotiations, with Qatar, the United States and Egypt serving as mediators. If it holds, it would mark the first significant break in fighting since Israel declared war on Hamas seven weeks ago.
About 1,200 people were killed by Hamas attackers in Israel on Oct. 7. Israel responded with a massive air and ground offensive that has devastated large swaths of Gaza and killed at least 13,300 Palestinians.