Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed wing hands over Israeli hostages

The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Al Quds Brigades, said that it had handed over “some civilian detainees” tonight as part of an exchange with Israel.

Together with Hamas gunmen, fighters from Islamic Jihad were seen handing over 17-year-old Mia Leimberg, the latest child to be freed from captivity in Gaza.

This is the first time that PIJ, or any other party, has publicly acknowledged the group being involved in negotiations. Last night, a 12-year-old boy that they had featured in a hostage video weeks before was also released – though it was not clear whether he came from Hamas or PIJ custody.

A total of 12 hostages were freed tonight, 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals, in exchange for 30 Palestinian children and women being released from Israeli jails.

10:00 PM GMT

Today's main events

• 10 Israeli hostages were released, as well as two Thai hostages in a separate deal, in return for 15 Palestinian children and 15 women being released from Israeli jails in the first day of the truce extension.

• Palestinian Islamic Jihad said that it handed over civilian hostages as part of an agreement with Israel, in the first public indication that they might be involved in the negotiations.

• More than half of the Palestinian prisoners that have been released from Israeli jail as part of the negotiations had not been charged with anything, a Telegraph count of the Israeli justice ministry data shows.

• There have been no attacks from pro-Iran groups on US troops in the Middle East since the truce began, the Pentagon said. American forces in Iraq and Syria had been targeted with rockets and drones more than 70 times since mid-October.

• Mia Leimberg, a 17-year-old girl, became the latest child to be freed from Hamas captivity. She was seen being handed over by gunmen from Hamas and Islamic Jihad while holding their family dog who reportedly stayed in captivity with them.

• Ghassan Abu Sittah, British-Palestinian surgeon, provided eye-witness evidence of alleged war crimes in Gaza to New Sctoland Yard as he returned from Gaza. Israel and Hamas accused each other of breaking the truce in northern Gaza today, though it did not appear to hinder the fifth round of hostage and prisoner releases. Israel said some of its troops were “lightly wounded”.

• UN aid chief Martin Griffiths will be in Amman tomorrow to push for a second aid crossing into Gaza to open. The World Food Programme warned that Gaza could face famine if sustained increased aid into the blockaded enclave is not achieved.

• The British-Israeli son of hostage Ada Sagi has confirmed that she was released tonight. Her son, Noam, who lives in London said: It was “a moment we have dreamt of and worked for every minute of every day.”

We will be back tomorrow with all of the latest updates from the conflict on the last arranged day of the temporary ceasefire.

09:53 PM GMT

Tonight's hostage handover

09:45 PM GMT

British-Israeli son of Ada Sagi confirms she was released today

British-Israeli Noam Sagi, who lives in London, was quoted by PA news agency as saying that it was “a moment we have dreamt of and worked for every minute of every day” since his mother was taken from her home in the kibbutz of Nir Oz.

“It will be hard to believe it is true until we are able to embrace in person. Our first priority is my mum’s mental and physical health and we ask for time and space while we prioritise her wellbeing.

Seeing my mum will be a moment of unparalleled relief and joy for us personally but comes against a backdrop of unparalleled grief and sorrow for our community. For many families, including friends and neighbours, the tragedy is ongoing as long as their family members remain hostage, and the traumas they have suffered will leave scars that might never heal.”

09:22 PM GMT

Watch: Cars carrying hostages approach Rafah border crossing earlier this evening

09:18 PM GMT

Far-right Ben Gvir threatens to break Israeli government if war doesn't restart

“Stopping the war = breaking apart the government,” the far-right Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir threatened in a statement.

The extent to which the government should be negotiating with Hamas has significantly divided Israeli society. Before the war began the fragile far-right coalition had faced months of mass nationwide protests against its government that had deeply divided Israel in an unprecedented way.

Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party has six seats in the coalition, and three ministers in the cabinet.

09:12 PM GMT

More than 3,000 Palestinians in the West Bank arrested since October 7

More than 3,290 Palestinians have been arrested in the occupied West Bank since 7 October, according to figures by the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club.

The list includes 125 women and 145 children, a statement said, adding that at least six Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons since the conflict started.

Israeli forces have arrested 168 Palestinians during the duration of the ongoing temporary truce alone, it added.

The figures did not include the Palestinian citizens of Israel who have been arrested for expressing sympathy towards Gazans online or in their WhatsApp statuses.

09:03 PM GMT

Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli forces prevented its team from transferring a wounded patient to the hospital in Jenin

The Palestinian Red Crescent has reported that its teams have been detained in front of Jenin hospital in the West Bank, preventing them from getting a patient with a gun shot wound in.

On Sunday Palestinian news agencies reported that Israeli forces had surrounded Jenin hospital as Israeli troops carried out a raid that killed several people, as violence soars in the occupied territory amid the ceasefire in Gaza.

08:50 PM GMT

Watch: Child hostage reunited with mother after 52 days in Hamas captivity

08:33 PM GMT

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians teenagers in West Bank, Palestinian health ministry says

Two Palestinian teenagers were killed Tuesday during Israeli army raids in the occupied West Bank, where violence has surged in tandem with the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry said.

According to the ministry, Amir Wahdan, 14, was killed in Tubas in the northern West Bank, where the army said troops had gone in to arrest “two wanted suspects”.

Witnesses told AFP that clashes broke out with young people throwing stones at Israeli army vehicles and soldiers responding with fire.

According to the army, “several gunmen opened fire at the security forces, who responded with live fire”.

Near Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, 17-year-old Malik Deghreh was killed by Israeli fire, the Palestinian ministry said.

Clashes erupted after the Israeli army entered a village to carry out searches, witnesses said, adding that the teenager who died was hit by four bullets.

A young Palestinian was also killed overnight Monday in Beitunia, a village between the Israeli Ofer prison and Ramallah, the ministry said.

08:25 PM GMT

No attacks on US troops since Israel-Hamas truce began, Pentagon says

The near-daily attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria have stopped since a truce between Israel and Hamas went into effect last week, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

American forces in the two countries have been targeted with rockets and drones more than 70 times since mid-October - a surge in violence the United States has blamed on Iran-backed forces.

“There have been no attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since November 23, since the operational pause began,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told journalists.

08:20 PM GMT

Girl, 17, among latest Israeli hostages to be freed

Mia Leimberg, a 17-year-old girl, has become the latest child to be freed from Hamas captivity tonight.

The Israeli Defence Forces confirmed that 12 hostages – ten Israeli and two foreign nationals – have safely been transferred to the Red Cross and are on their way back to Israel. Mia, who has been released alongside her mother, was pictured being handed over by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad fighters while carrying a dog.

In return, 15 Palestinian children and 15 women will later be released from Israeli jails in the fifth night of exchange.

While no time has been made public for the release of the Palestinian prisoners, the Israeli hostages will meet their families at hospitals inside Israel shortly.

08:05 PM GMT

More from tonight's hostage exchange

08:03 PM GMT

Two more Thai hostages among the released tonight

Two of the 12 hostages released tonight by Hamas are Thai nationals, the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

This brings the total to 19 Thai hostages that have been released from Gaza by Hamas through separate negotiations to the Israel-Hamas truce.

07:54 PM GMT

Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed wing says it handed over 'some civilian detainees' as part of exchange deal

The Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, said on its Telegram account on Tuesday it handed over ‘some civilian detainees’ as part of an exchange deal with Israel.

Al Jazeera TV broadcast footage of the handover process showing that members of both Hamas’s armed wing as well as the Islamic Jihad were present at the scene.

This is the first time that PIJ, or any other party, has publicly acknowledged the group being involved in negotiations. Last night, a 12-year-old boy that they had featured in a hostage video weeks before was also released – though it was not clear whether he came from Hamas or PIJ custody.

07:52 PM GMT

Palestinians releaed from Ofer prison

The 30 Palestinian prisoners have been released from Ofer prison, the Israeli prison service has said.

Al Jazeera broadcast live images of the bus leaving the prison to reunite detainees and prisoners with their families.

07:50 PM GMT

Tuesday's hostage handover

07:46 PM GMT

With Israeli hostages now free, Palestinians wait for the release of their family members

Israel has outlawed any celebration of Palestinians being released from Israeli jails, with far-right national security minister Ben Gvir saying that anyone caught doing so will be charged on terrorism offences.

As part of the hostage negotiations Israel has released 150 Palestinians and will tonight release a further 30, comprised of 15 children and 15 women. The majority of those released over the past four nights had not been charged with anything.

Any attempts at celebration outside of Ofer prison, where the Palestinians are released from, has led to clashes with the police in previous nights. According to Al Jazeera, the military has already deployed tear gas.

07:34 PM GMT

The list of Israeli hostages released tonight

The list of the Israelis freed from Hamas captivity are:

Tamar Metzger, 78
Ditza Heiman, 84
Nora Babadila, 60
Ada Sagi, 75
Ophelia Roitman, 77
Rimon Kirsht, 36
Meirav Tal, 54
Gabriela Leimberg, 59
Mia Leimberg, 17
Clara Marman, 62

07:22 PM GMT

Hostages arrive in Israel

The 12 released hostages have arrived in Israel, according to the IDF.

07:05 PM GMT

Ghassan Abu Sittah, British-Palestinian surgeon, provides evidence to Scotland Yard of alleged Israeli war crimes

07:02 PM GMT

Hostages have been transferred, Red Cross says

The International Committee of the Red Cross has said that it has successfully facilitated the release and transfer of 12 hostages held in Gaza by Hamas.

The freed hostages will now be taken to hospitals where they will likely be held for at least 48 hours under observation.

07:00 PM GMT

Israeli helicopter lands to transport hostages to hospital

06:26 PM GMT

Hostages handed over tonight include a minor, nine women, an Austrian citizen, two Argentinians, & a Filipina citizen

06:17 PM GMT

Hamas invites Elon Musk to Gaza

“We invite Elon Musk to visit the Gaza Strip, as he did Israel, to see the scale of the massacres and the crimes committed against our people,” senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said during his press conference in Beirut, following Musk’s tour of the south of Israel.

Hamdan also called for an increase in the number of aid trucks that are being let into Gaza on a daily basis.

06:14 PM GMT

Pictured: The main evacuation route from north to south Gaza

05:55 PM GMT

Hamas claims more than 1,000 Israeli soldiers have been injured in Gaza

Speaking from a press conference in Beirut, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan has said that the number of Israeli soldiers who have been killed or wounded in Gaza is far higher than Israel is admitting.

Israel has said that it has killed over 1,000 Hamas fighters in its war since October 7.

Hamas has just sent the same figure back to them, claiming that 1,000 Israeli troops have been wounded, with 500 of them seriously or moderately injured. Hamdan did not give Hamas’ estimate of how many had died.

Battlefield reports from either side cannot be independently verified right now. Both sides have previously claimed higher counts that have been disputed by the other.

05:49 PM GMT

US sends first of three military planes with Gaza aid

The US has sent the first of three planes of humanitarian aid to Gaza, US officials have said.

The flights start a day after President Joe Biden said he would use an extension of the truce to get more aid into Gaza, and as international efforts continue to further prolong the pause.

The first Air Force C-17 aircraft landed Tuesday in Egypt with 24.5 metric tons of medical supplies and ready-to-eat food, the US Agency for International Development said.

“With 1.7 million people internally displaced and 2.2 million in need of humanitarian assistance, increased humanitarian supplies are essential to saving lives and alleviating suffering for the most vulnerable,” USAID said in a statement.

The United Nations will take the aid from Egypt’s North Sinai region, which borders the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, into the stricken Palestinian territory itself, US officials told AFP.

Two further planeloads will arrive in the coming days, they said.

05:23 PM GMT

Three soldiers taken by Hamas are dead, Israel tells the families

Israel has notified the families of three soldiers who were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 that they have died in captivity.

Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, 20, from Lehavim; Sgt. Kiril Brodski, 19, from Ramat Gan; and Sgt. Shaked Dahan, 19, from Afula, were listed as dead by the military.

It is not immediately clear how the IDF know that they have died. The army has claimed they were killed on October 7, with their deaths confirmed by “various findings”.

Hamas is said to be holding their bodies.

05:08 PM GMT

Pictured: Devastation in Khan Yunis, Gaza

04:58 PM GMT

30 Palestinians expected to be released tonight

The Palestinian Prisoners Club has released the list of the 30 Palestinians expected to be released in the fifth night of exchanges.

The list is comprised of 15 children and 15 women.

They will be released from Ofer Prison and most of them are from East Jerusalem. As with every other night, no one knows what time they will be released.

The majority of prisoners that have so far been released had never been convicted of anything, according to documents from the Israeli justice ministry. The Israeli military has branded them all as “terrorists”.

04:54 PM GMT

Israel and Hamas accuse each other breaking the truce

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of breaching the temporary ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces claimed Hamas fired shots at its troops who “responded with fire.”

The Israeli army said the attack “lightly injured” their soldiers.

Three explosive devices were activated in two separate incidents in the north of Gaza, the IDF claimed, adding: “In both cases, the IDF forces stayed within the agreed ceasefire lines.”

“As a result of the enemy violating the terms of the truce today, there has been a field clash today and our mujahedeen dealt with the violation,” the Hamas-run TV channel al Aqsa quoted Hamas military wing spokesperson, Abu Obaida, as saying.

“We are committed to the truce as long as the enemy is.”

The Qatari foreign ministry spokesman earlier said “minimal breaches” of the Gaza truce would not threaten the overall agreement.

On Monday, Israel and Hamas agreed a 48-hour extension to the initial four-day agreement, with 10 hostages expected to be released today.

04:46 PM GMT

Pictured: Israelis call for the release of hostages

04:44 PM GMT

Tonight's hostage handover has begun, according to reports

Hamas has begun the process of handing over the 10 Israeli hostages set to be freed tonight, according to Israeli media and the Wall Street Journal.

Israel’s Channel 13 news said that the hostages could be handed back over to Israel within the hour.

04:37 PM GMT

Israel is preventing fuel reaching the north, the Palestinian Red Crescent says

“The Israeli Occupation forces are denying the entry of the fuel truck which was supposed to enter the north of the Gaza Strip a few moments ago,” the statement says.

The amount of aid that has reached the north of Gaza is a point of contention for Hamas, who on Saturday delayed the release of hostages because it said this was one of the areas in which Israel had violated the truce. The group claimed that only half of the amount of aid that the truce was conditional upon had made it to the north.

04:11 PM GMT

UN aid chief heads to Jordan to push for second Gaza crossing to open

Martin Griffiths, the UN aid chief, is heading to Jordan tomorrow for talks on the possibility of opening the Kerem Shalom crossing to allow more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza.

Before the conflict it had been the transit route for more than 60 per cent of the aid that entered the blockaded enclave.

“We have said from start we need more than one crossing,” Griffiths told a briefing of member states at the United Nations in Geneva on Tuesday.

“The opportunity to use Kerem Shalom should be explored, and that will be topic in Amman. It would hugely add scope (to the response).”

Israel is unlikely to allow the crossing to open without significant international pressure.

“We know that more humanitarian aid should be delivered in Gaza. We know how we could increase it, but there are constraints beyond our control,” Griffiths said.

03:57 PM GMT

Israel is trampling on international law, Erdogan says

Israel must be held accountable, in international courts, for its war crimes in Gaza, the Turkish president has said.

In a phone call ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Gaza planned for Wednesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres that “Israel continues to shamelessly trample on international law, laws of war, and international humanitarian law by looking in the eyes of the international community,” according to a readout from his office.

03:45 PM GMT

WFP warns of famine in Gaza, has only reached 120,000 people since truce began

The population of Gaza, especially women and children, risk famine if humanitarian food supplies do not continue, the UN’s World Food Programme warned today.

The WFP said it had delivered food to just 121,161 people in Gaza since the truce began on Friday.

“Thanks to the pause, our teams have been in action on the ground, going into areas we haven’t reached for a long time. What we see is catastrophic,” said WFP’s director for the Middle East, Corinne Fleischer.

WFP estimated that it was “highly likely that the population of Gaza, especially women and children, are at high risk of famine if WFP is not able to provide continued access to food”.

The agency said that six days was “not enough to make any meaningful impact”, calling for “uninterrupted and regular supplies” of food into Gaza.

Aid agencies hit out at the idea that the truce would allow humanitarian aid to be beefed up, knowing that it was not long enough to do anything meaningful while Israel still refused to open other crossings into the enclave.

03:31 PM GMT

Pictured: Israeli soldiers at the border of the Gaza Strip

03:19 PM GMT

Far-right Israeli minister calls on Netanyahu to avenge alleged break in truce

Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, has called on the Israeli prime minister to drop the ceasefire and return to fighting after both sides accused the other of violating the truce today.

“Hamas has now tried to murder IDF soldiers in the northern Gaza Strip. I call on the Prime Minister not to “contain” the explosion of explosive devices used against our soldiers and to order the IDF to return and crush Hamas with force,” he wrote on X.

“We must not wait until our fighters are killed. We must once again act in accordance with the goal of the war: the total destruction of Hamas”.

Hamas described the incident as a “blatant” violation of the truce by Israel.

03:01 PM GMT

Fears 10-month-old Kfir Bibas and family will not be freed by Hamas

The family of the youngest Israeli hostage in Hamas captivity fear the 10-month-old, his brother and their mother will not be released before the current truce expires.

The Bibas family have called on Qatar, which mediated the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, to intervene to help to free Kfir, his four-year-old brother Ariel and their parents.

Shiri and Yarden Bibas, together with their two small children, were abducted by Hamas gunmen from the frontier kibbutz of Nir Oz last month.

Read more from Nataliya Vasilyeva here

02:40 PM GMT

Pictured: Israelis embrace next to photos of those murdered and taken captive by Hamas on October 7

02:34 PM GMT

The aid needs to multiply, says UN

The United Nations welcomed the increase in aid deliveries into Gaza afforded by a temporary truce but warned it was not enough to even start addressing the Palestinian territory’s massive needs.

UN children’s agency UNICEF said the aid flow to the northern Gaza Strip - the largest since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on October 7 - was “the right start”.

”(It’s) definitely the right type of aid - fuel, medicines, food, warmth,” spokesman James Elder told a press briefing in Geneva via video-link from Gaza.

But, he warned, the needs in the besieged enclave of more than two million are so huge that “all this aid is triage... It’s not even enough for triage.”

When there are insufficient resources to treat everyone who needs it, hospitals and aid organisations are forced to triage - that is, to prioritise the most urgent cases, or those people most likely to survive, and leave the others.

“The aid needs to multiply... Everything here is emergency care right now,” Mr Elder said.

02:06 PM GMT

Both Israeli and Palestinian presidents will address COP28 UN Climate Talks

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas will both address the COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai this week, officials said.

Mr Abbas, head of the Fatah party that leads the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, is expected to be in the room when Mr Herzog is speaking on Friday, as he is scheduled to address the room only three speakers later.

Mr Abbas, head of the Fatah party that leads the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, has only met Israeli officials on rare occasions.

01:57 PM GMT

Israel 'shells Lebanon' amid tense Gaza ceasefire

An Israeli shell hit southern Lebanon hours after a temporary ceasefire was extended in Gaza, according to reports.

Lebanon state media reported that Israel struck the outskirts of a town in south Lebanon. A spokesperson for the Israeli army said it was “currently not aware of such an incident”.

Weeks of cross-border shelling between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah came to a halt on Friday when Hamas - an ally of Hezbollah - and Israel agreed their temporary truce.

A spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon UNIFIL said it was looking into the reports.

01:30 PM GMT

Pictured: A Palestinian boy collects olives on a farm during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas

12:38 PM GMT

US and Israeli intelligence chiefs 'discuss next phase of Gaza deal' in Doha

US and Israeli intelligence chiefs have arrived in the Qatari capital to discuss the “next phase” of a deal between Hamas and Israel in Gaza, a source briefed on their visit has said.

“The director of the CIA and the director of the Israeli National Intelligence Agency (Mossad) are in Doha to meet with the Qatari prime minister to build on the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement and to initiate further discussions about the next phase of a potential deal,” the source told AFP, adding that Egyptian officials were also present.

It comes after Qatar said it would use a two-day extension to a humanitarian pause in Gaza to work towards a “sustainable truce” between Israel and Hamas.

Qatar has been engaged in intense negotiations, with support from Egypt and the United States, to establish and extend a truce in Gaza, and has previously said that it was designed to be broadened and expanded.

12:06 PM GMT

US to send three military planes to Egypt with Gaza aid

The United States is sending three military aircraft to Egypt to bring vital humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza during a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas, senior US officials said.

The first plane bringing medical items, food aid and winter gear will land in North Sinai on Tuesday and the other two will arrive “in coming days,” the officials said in an embargoed briefing call on Monday.

The Israeli offensive in northern Gaza has proven devastating, with thousands of Palestinians killed and vast numbers of survivors left homeless and forced to flee south by a relentless bombing campaign and a lack of essentials such as food, power and water.

11:39 AM GMT

In pictures: Israeli hostages reunite with their families

11:26 AM GMT

Avoid displacing Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza, US warns Israel

The Biden administration has told Israel that it must work to avoid “significant further displacement” of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza if it renews its ground campaign aimed at destroying Hamas, senior US officials have said.

They told the Israelis that they must operate with far greater precision in southern Gaza than they did in the north, the officials said.

It comes as the White House begins to place greater pressure on Israel that the manner of the coming campaign must be “carefully thought through,” one of the officials said.

Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that the Israel Defense Forces will eventually restart military operations after the conclusion of the current, temporary ceasefire.

11:00 AM GMT

New hostage deal 'could include men and soldiers'

Hamas has signalled it is seeking a new truce deal with Israel which could include the release of male hostages and soldiers in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

“We hope the Occupation (Israel) abides (by the agreement) in the next two days because we are seeking a new agreement, besides women and children, whereby other categories that we have that we can swap,” Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas official, told Al Jazeera.

The remarks came as Israel expanded the roster of Palestinian detainees it could release in exchange for hostages - another signal that a revision of truce terms was being considered.

Under the Qatari- and Egyptian-mediated deal clinched last week, Hamas has freed 50 Israeli women and children hostages in return for 150 Palestinian detainees released by Israel, with an option of doubling those numbers if the truce is extended by five days.

10:40 AM GMT

Watch: Eleven hostages arrive in Israel after release from Gaza by Hamas

10:09 AM GMT

Israel notifies relatives of those on today's hostage list

Israel has notified the families of those expected to be released by Hamas today, CNN is reporting.

09:57 AM GMT

Lebanese media reports Israeli shell 'hit south Lebanon'

Lebanese media reported that an Israeli shell struck the outskirts of a town in south Lebanon on Tuesday, hours after a temporary truce between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel was extended for two days.

A spokesperson for the Israeli army said it was “currently not aware of such an incident”.

Lebanon’s state-owned National News Agency and the Lebanese broadcaster al-Jadeed reported an Israeli shell had struck the outskirts of the town of Aita al-Shaab on Tuesday morning. Both outlets cited their correspondents as the source.

Weeks of cross-border shelling between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah came to a halt on Friday when the Palestinian group Hamas - a Hezbollah ally - and Israel agreed the temporary truce in their conflict which erupted on Oct. 7.

09:13 AM GMT

Iranian president postpones visit to Turkey

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi will not be making a previously announced visit to Ankara on Tuesday, the Turkish presidency told AFP, without providing a reason.

The visit had been announced earlier this month by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said the two leaders would focus on forging a joint response to the Israel-Hamas war.

It was not immediately clear whether the visit had been cancelled or postponed.

08:45 AM GMT

Watch: Child hostages reunite with dog for first time since release

After 51 days held hostage by Hamas, Oriya Brodutch, 4, Ofri, 10, and Yuval, 9, were released with their mother Hagar, 40, on Monday.

This is a clip of the children’s first reunion with their dog Rodney.

08:27 AM GMT

Pictured: A protester walks near burning tyres in the occupied West Bank

08:25 AM GMT

Joe Biden: We will not give up on a two-state solution

Joe Biden has said the United States will not give up on working towards the goal of a two-state solution.

07:59 AM GMT

Three young French hostages released by Hamas 'in good health'

Three young French hostages released by Hamas on Monday were in good health, its foreign minister has said.

“We have indirect news and that news is good... It is a great, great relief,” Catherine Colonna, the French foreign minister, said when asked about the health of Eitan, 12, Erez, 12, and Sahar 16.

She told RTL radio: “Three French children were finally freed, now we must work relentlessly for the release of all the other hostages.”

She added that five French nationals were still missing or believed to be held hostage.

07:55 AM GMT

US Secretary of State to visit Middle East this week

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit the Middle East this week in his third trip to the region since the beginning of the war.

Mr Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank after attending Ukraine-focused meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels and Skopje, North Macedonia, where foreign ministers from Nato and the Organisation for Peace and Security in Europe are gathering.

Israel has agreed to pauses in its military operations in exchange for the gradual release of hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. The agreement had been due to expire Monday but was extended for an additional two days, meaning the extension will be expiring just as Blinken is arriving in Israel.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday the US hopes to see the pause extended further, but it is dependent on Hamas continuing to release hostages.

In Israel and the West Bank, Mr Blinken will “discuss Israel’s right to defend itself consistent with international humanitarian law, as well as continued efforts to secure the release of remaining hostages, protect civilian life during Israel’s operations in Gaza, and accelerate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

07:42 AM GMT

Pictured: Palestinian prisoners upon their release

07:38 AM GMT

‘I performed six amputations in one night’: London doctor recalls war horrors after 43 days in Gaza

A British-Palestinian doctor who has returned to London after fleeing Gaza said he was forced to perform amputations on six children in one night, as he recounted the “horrendous” 43 days he spent in the heart of the war.

Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, arrived in the territory in the early hours of October 9 – just two days after Hamas’ attack on Israel – to provide medical assistance. He eventually left on 18 November and is now back home in west London, where he lives with his family.

During his time in Gaza, he worked around the clock at the Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli hospitals, operating on victims of Israel’s intensive shelling and ground operation, which is estimated to have killed 14,800 people so far.

Read more from Lilia Sebouai here

07:37 AM GMT

Hamas ‘no longer has control’ of its youngest Israeli hostage

Hamas is preventing the release of a 10-month-old baby held captive in Gaza, Israel said on Monday night.

Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage kidnapped by Hamas, has been handed over to a separate Palestinian terror group in the southern city of Khan Younis, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said.

The city is expected to be a target of Israel’s next offensive, raising the prospect the infant is being used for further leverage in talks to extend the truce.

Read more from Henry Bodkin in Jerusalem here

07:37 AM GMT

Good Morning

Good morning and welcome to today’s live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

We will be guiding you through all the latest updates.

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