Israel-Hamas war live: 33 Palestinians freed after 11 Israeli hostages released; Gaza truce extended by two days

LIVE – Updated at 05:15

Thirty Palestinian children and three women released from Israeli prisons; more Israeli hostages to be released as part of ceasefire extension.

Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners freed

05:15

Thirty-three Palestinians – 30 children and three women – have been released from Israeli jails following the freeing of 11 Israeli hostages from Gaza.

The Israel Prison Service said the prisoners were released from Israel’s Ofer prison in the West Bank and from a detention centre in Jerusalem, bringing the total number of Palestinians it has freed since Friday to 150.

Footage posted on Twitter showed crowds of Palestinians greeting the former prisoners as they arrived in the West Bank.

In East Jerusalem, 17-year-old Muhammad Abu al-Humus called his release “an indescribable joy” and kissed his mother’s hand as he entered his home.

Muhammed Muhannad Ebu El-Humus reunites with his family in Al-Issawiya, East Jerusalem. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

Other footage showed former child prisoners joyfully reuniting with their families.

Ceasefire extended by two days, US and Qatar say

05:06

The White House and Qatari negotiators have said that the original four-day pause in fighting in Gaza, due to expire at 7am local time on Tuesday (0500 GMT), has been extended for two more days.

US national security council spokesman John Kirby said that “in order to extend the pause, Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children”.

“We have an extension … two more days,” Qatar’s UN ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani told reporters after a closed-door UN security council meeting, saying both sides were to release more people. “This is a very positive step.”

Israel has not commented on any agreement to extend the truce but, in what may be an implicit confirmation, the Israeli prime minister’s office said the government had approved the addition of 50 female prisoners to its list of Palestinians for potential release if additional Israeli hostages are freed.

Israel had previously said it would extend the truce by one day for every 10 more hostages released.

While describing the extension as “a glimpse of hope and humanity,” UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said two more days was not enough time to meet Gaza’s aid needs.

“I strongly hope that this will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that (are) suffering so much – knowing that even with that additional amount of time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population,” Guterres told reporters.

11 Israeli hostages freed, taken to Tel Aviv hospital

04:56

Eleven Israeli hostages, nine children and two women, were freed by Hamas late Monday and taken to a hospital in Tel Aviv to reunite with their relatives.

The fourth batch of hostages was made up of dual nationals of France, Germany and Argentina, according to Qatar.

The Israel Defense Forces named the 11 released on Monday as Eitan Yahalomi, Sharon Kunio, three-year-old twins Emma and Yuly Kunio, Karina Engel, Mika Engel, Yuval Engel, Sahar Kalderon, Erez Kalderon, Or Yaakov and Yagil Yaakov.

According to Haaretz, Diego Engel-Bert, the brother of Karina Engel-Bert and uncle of Mika Engel, 17, and Yuval Engel, 11 told Channel 12 News:

We are all here glued to the screen and full of happiness and longing. It’s good to have a chest to stop the heart from escaping. We’re starting to see a little light in the darkness we are in, waiting for them to come so we can hug. Just hug, no need to talk, everything else will come later.

In total Hamas has released 69 of the about 240 hostages it seized on 7 October.

A screengrab from a Hamas video shows hostages who were abducted by the militant group during the 7 October attack on Israel are handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Photograph: Al-Qassam Brigades, Military Wing Of Hamas/Reuters

Opening summary

04:45

Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.

Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners, 30 children and three women, have been released from Israeli jails after Hamas released 11 Israelis – nine children and two women – kidnapped on 7 October.

The fourth exchange of hostages and prisoners came as officials from Qatar and the US confirmed that the four-day ceasefire had been extended by another two days.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that “in order to extend the pause, Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children”.

Israel has not commented on any agreement to extend the truce but, in what may be an implicit confirmation, the Israeli prime minister’s office said Israel’s government approved the addition of 50 female prisoners to its list of Palestinians for potential release if additional Israeli hostages are freed.

Here are the key developments:

A deal to extend the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas by two days has been agreed. Hamas said it had agreed to the extension of the four-day truce by 48 hours after the intervention of Qatar and Egypt, the principal mediators for the initial agreement, and with the same conditions. The extension came after a frantic dash by mediators with just over 12 hours remaining before hostilities in Gaza were due to resume.

Israel has confirmed the release of 11 hostages from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip on Monday. Among those released include three-year-old twins, and all were kidnapped from their homes in the same kibbutz. It brings the number of Israelis freed under the truce to 50 – out of roughly 240 hostages captured on 7 October – along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. Israel has said it would extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.

Thirty-three Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons, 30 children and three women, were released late Monday. The release was marred by clashes between the Israeli military and Palestinians awaiting the prisoners outside Ofer prison with one Palestinian killed by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

There are widespread fears that any break in the conflict that has devastated swaths of Gaza and killed many thousands of civilians will only be brief. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, told troops on Monday that when fighting recommenced its “strength will be greater, and it will take place throughout the entire strip”. “You now have a few days, we will return to fighting, we will use the same amount of power and more,” Gallant said.

Aid agencies have welcomed the two-day extension of the truce in Gaza but voiced concern that the expected resumption of Israel’s attack on Hamas would lead to an even deeper humanitarian crisis among Palestinians. A particular concern was the impact on people in the crowded south of the strip, where about 2 million people are now living around Khan Younis and elsewhere. Many fled south after Israel demanded they evacuate the northern area around Gaza City last month.

More than 14,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN has said. Thousands more remain under the rubble, he wrote in a letter to the UN security council on Monday.

The EU’s top diplomat has said that “Palestinian people cannot pay for the action of Hamas” as he urged for the truce in Gaza to be extended to a permanent one. Josep Borrell, at a press conference on Monday, said “it makes no sense to give food to somebody that will be killed the day after. We need to stop the bombardment.”

A London surgeon has described witnessing a “massacre unfold” during 43 days spent under bombardment in Gaza, saying the destruction of the Palestinian health system was a military objective of the war. Prof Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, told of horrific scenes at al-Ahli Arab and Dar al-Shifa hospitals as they ceased to function and said he witnessed the use of white phosphorus munitions.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says 57 journalists have been killed since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. The conflict was already the deadliest on record for journalists.

A suspect was arrested on Sunday in the shooting of three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont, the night before, police said. Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmed were on their way to Awartani’s grandmother’s house for Thanksgiving dinner when they were fired on. Jason J Eaton, 48, pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing on Monday. Joe Biden expressed horror at the shooting and reiterated that “there is no place for violence or hate in America”.

The far-right leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon has been charged after attending a march against antisemitism in London on Sunday. The Metropolitan police said Yaxley-Lennon, who uses the name Tommy Robinson, has been charged with failing to comply with an order excluding him from the area of the march.