Here’s what you need to know about the situation on Friday, December 1, 2023.
Armistice, release of prisoners of war and prisoners of war
- The Israeli military has announced that it has resumed fighting against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
- Fighting resumed at around 7:00 a.m. local time (5:00 p.m. Japan time) on Friday, as the deadline for a week-long ceasefire had passed. Israeli airstrikes have been reported across Gaza.
- “Hamas violated the cease-fire and further fired into Israeli territory. The IDF resumed fighting against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military announced.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas had violated ceasefire terms and would not agree to release more prisoners, and that Israel remained committed to achieving its goals even if fighting resumed.
- After the release of eight Israeli prisoners in Gaza, 30 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli prisons following the conclusion of the seventh cease-fire agreement.
- The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) announced that it has facilitated the release and transfer of 19 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention centers to Ramallah.
- Thai prisoners released after weeks of detention in Gaza said they were relieved to be welcomed back to Bangkok by overjoyed relatives.
Latest development status
- Al Jazeera reporters in the Gaza Strip said air strikes had resumed and the sound of aircraft hovering overhead could be heard.
- There are also reports of Israeli air raids and shelling in Gaza City.
- Witnesses in Gaza City said there were violent clashes between Palestinian fighting groups and Israeli forces.
- In Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, a Reuters witness said heavy shelling could be heard and smoke could be seen rising to the east of the town. Images on social media showed large plumes of black smoke rising over the crowded Jabalia camp in Gaza.
- About 60 percent of homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed by Israeli artillery fire, according to the government media office in the besieged enclave.
diplomacy
- Israel and Hamas agreed on Thursday to add seven days to the humanitarian hiatus, while Egyptian and Qatari mediators are negotiating to extend it by two more days, Egyptian state media said.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited Israel during his third trip to the Middle East since the start of the war, agreed that the flow of aid to Gaza was not enough.
- Blinken told Netanyahu that Israel should do more to protect civilians before taking further military action, and that he and his cabinet support this approach.
- In his talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Mr. Blinken focused on efforts to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and condemned attacks by Jewish settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
- At COP28 in Dubai, Israeli President Isaac Herzog appealed to UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to support the release of all Israeli prisoners held in Gaza. He urged them to use their “political weight” to do so.