Israel-Hamas war live updates: Israeli government and Hamas agree hostage deal; Al-Shifa hospital sees more evacuations

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged countries to cease weapon provisions for Israel in an extraordinary session of the BRICS economic coalition of emerging markets, which includes heavyweights Russia and China.

The meeting of the alliance, to which Saudi Arabia was invited earlier this year, followed an extraordinary Nov. 11 Arab and Islamic summit in Riyadh to discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Condemning the “brutal crimes against and the destruction of infrastructure, including health facilities and places of worship, in Gaza,” Mohammed bin Salman said, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency, that the summit denounced “Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip,” called for humanitarian food, fuel and medicine deliveries to the enclave and rejected the “forcible displacement of the Palestinian people.”

It also urged “all countries to stop exporting weapons and ammunition to Israel, and embark on an effort, in the name of all members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Arab League, to reach an international stance regarding the aggression on Gaza, and make a pressure for the launch of a serious political process to realize a permanent, comprehensive peace, based on international legitimacy.”

This is so far one of the strongest stances taken by Saudi Arabia against Israel in the latest conflict, after Riyadh broadly denounced harm against civilians caught in the crossfire in the Gaza Strip. In late October, a speech by the kingdom’s prominent Prince Turki al-Faisal — which condemned both Hamas and Israeli violence in the war — was widely seen as reflective of Riyadh’s position.

This comes amid a recent U.S. push to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, its closest allies in the Middle East.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said 14 ambulances are present at the Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip to facilitate more evacuations.

“14 PRCS ambulances arrived Al-Shifa Hospital to evacuate the wounded and patients,” it said on social media.

The PRCS, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and a U.N. humanitarian branch, on Sunday carried out the evacuation of 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa, after Israeli military raided the hospital premises. The infants had to be prioritized, as the life support equipment that sustained them had collapsed because of fuel shortages.

The WHO said earlier this week that plans were being made to evacuate more patients.

— Ruxandra Iordache

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said 14 ambulances are present at the Al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip to facilitate more evacuations.

“14 PRCS ambulances arrived Al-Shifa Hospital to evacuate the wounded and patients,” it said on social media.

The PRCS, in collaboration with the World Health Organization and a U.N. humanitarian branch, on Sunday carried out the evacuation of 31 premature babies from Al-Shifa, after Israeli military raided the hospital premises. The infants had to be prioritized, as the life support equipment that sustained them had collapsed because of fuel shortages.

The WHO said earlier this week that plans were being made to evacuate more patients.

— Ruxandra Iordache

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati strongly condemned an attack that killed two journalists and several civilians, which he attributed to Israel.

“This attack proves once again that there are no limits to Israeli crime, and that its goal is to silence the media that exposes its crimes and attacks,” he said, according to a Google-translated statement.

On Tuesday, Lebanese state media outlet Al Mayadeen said that two of its journalists — correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Al-Me’mari — were killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Israel has been exchanging frequent fire with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which backs Mikati, since the start of the war against Hamas.

Reuters reported that the Israeli military said it was “aware of a claim regarding journalists … who were killed as a result of an Israeli offensive.”

“This is an area with active hostilities, where exchange of fire occur. Presence in the area is dangerous,” it said.

— Ruxandra Iordache

A spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces stressed that the Israeli military will continue its mission of dismantling Palestinian militant group Hamas outside of the recently agreed humanitarian pause between the two war parties.

“The aim of our war against Hamas is to dismantle Hamas and that what we’re seeing now is just one milestone in the bigger scheme of things, to get an opportunity to get hostages back and then we will continue fighting Hamas until we eradicate them,” Jonathan Conricus told MSNBC.

Dubbing Hamas a “corrupt and hateful organization,” he added, “They’re only using our hostages for political leverage, we keep that in mind.”

The IDF is continuing its ground incursion and airstrikes into the Gaza Strip, Conricus noted, signaling that “fighting is not done in northern Gaza” and that the military will proceed with its operation “until anything changes, until there is any type of agreement.”

Israel has faced a wave of international scrutiny over its activity in the Gaza Strip, particularly its advances against civilian sites — such as the enclave’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa — that it says are weaponized by Hamas for military purposes. The Israeli military maintains it does not set out to target Palestinian civilians as part of its campaign.

“When we took the Shifa compound, not a single Palestinian civilian was wounded or killed. And that is not by chance,” Conricus said.

— Ruxandra Iordache

France hopes its eight citizens believed held as hostages will be released as a result of a truce deal between Israel and Hamas, Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna said on Wednesday.

“We hope that there will be French people among the first batch of hostages to be released,” Colonna told France Inter radio.

Israel’s government and Hamas agreed on Wednesday to a four-day pause infighting to allow the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, and the entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged enclave.

— Reuters

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the deal to release hostages as “significant progress.”

“Today’s outcome is the result of tireless diplomacy and relentless effort across the United States government,” Blinken said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

He said the fight to release the rest of the hostages held by Hamas militants will continue.

“While this deal marks significant progress, we will not rest as long as Hamas continues to hold hostages in Gaza.”

— Joanna Tan

President Joe Biden has thanked the leaders of Qatar and Egypt for their “critical leadership and partnership” in helping to strike the temporary cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The humanitarian pause will allow 50 civilian women and children to be released in exchange for Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons, according to Qatar, which was part of the negotiation effort.

“I appreciate the commitment that [Israeli] Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government have made in supporting an extended pause to ensure this deal can be fully carried out and to ensure the provision of additional humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of innocent Palestinian families in Gaza,” Biden said in a statement.

The President said that his highest priority is to ensure the safety of Americans held hostage around the world. 

“It is important that all aspects of this deal be fully implemented,” he added.

— Joanna Tan

Israel and Hamas have agreed to a humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip that will last for at least four days, Qatar announced Wednesday.

In a post on X, previously Twitter, Qatar said: “The agreement includes the release of 50 civilian women and children hostages currently held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for the release of a number of Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons.”

The number of those released will increase in the later stages of the agreement, according to the ministry of foreign affairs in Qatar.

The time of the temporary cease-fire will be announced within 24 hours, and will “last for four days, subject to extension.”

Read the full story here.

— Joanna Tan

The Israeli government voted Tuesday night to accept a deal that would release some hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

The vote came just after 3 a.m. on Wednesday morning in Israel following more than six hours of discussion between Israeli cabinet members.

In a statement, the Israeli government said it approved “the first stage” of hostage release, which will free 50 of the roughly 240 hostages that Hamas currently holds. It said that the first tranche of hostages would be women and children, who will be released over the course of four days. During that four-day time period, Israel agreed to halt its bombardments to ensure their safe passage.

The statement also said that the war will continue.

“The Government of Israel, the IDF and the security services will continue the war in order to return home all of the hostages, complete the elimination of Hamas and ensure that there will be no new threat to the State of Israel from Gaza,” the Israeli government said.

The Israeli government noted that as part of the deal, it will agree to extend the temporary cease-fire one additional day for every additional ten hostages that Hamas releases.

A statement from Hamas said that in exchange for the 50 freed hostages, Israel will release 150 Palestinian women and children prisoners. A senior Israeli official told NBC earlier on Tuesday that the Palestinian prisoners did not directly kill Israelis themselves but rather played supporting roles in the crimes. Israel did not address this part of the deal in its statement.

Per Israeli policy, families of the victims of the Palestinian prisoners would have 24 hours to appeal their release to the Israeli Supreme Court. That means that no deal signed tonight will be able to take effect and is therefore not final until at least that 24-hour window is over.

— Rebecca Picciotto