A Gaza truce and hostage release will start on Friday morning, Qatar’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday. A pause in the fighting will begin at 7am local time and the first batch of civilian hostages held in Gaza since October 7 is set to be handed over around 4pm Friday. The announcement came shortly after the Israeli military confirmed that the director of Gaza City’s Al Shifa Hospital was being held for questioning over allegations that the facility was used as a Hamas control centre. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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Gaza’s health ministry collects data from enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”. The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
Key Developments from Wednesday, November 22:
- At least 13,000 Palestinians, including at least 5,500 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since October 7, the government media office in the Hamas-controlled enclave said on Saturday.
- Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial attack by Hamas, and around 240 were taken captive by militants.
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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser on Wednesday said the release of hostages from Gaza under a temporary truce agreement will not happen until Friday.
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The Qatari-negotiated truce deal between Israel and Hamas marked the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the conflict and allows at least 50 hostages and scores of Palestinian prisoners to be freed, while offering besieged Gaza residents a four-day truce and humanitarian aid after weeks of all-out war.
Read yesterday's blog here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
