Live Updates: CIA, Mossad chiefs and Qatari PM to meet in Doha for further Gaza ceasefire

Tuesday, November 28, 2023

1100 GMT - CIA director to meet Mossad counterpart

CIA Director Bill Burns is set to meet Mossad Director David Barnea and Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al Thani in Doha on Tuesday.

The focus will be on discussing a potential extension of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, contingent on more hostage releases, Axios reported, citing a US official and two well-informed sources.

During the meeting, Burns intends to advocate for additional hostage deals with Barnea and the Qatari Prime Minister, the report says. The broader conversation aims to encompass the Gaza crisis, according to a statement from a US official.

10:23 GMT - More people at risk of death from disease than bombings in Gaza: WHO

There is a risk that more people could die from diseases than from bombings in Gaza if the enclave's health system is not put back on its feet quickly, a World Health Organization spokesperson said.

"Eventually we will see more people dying from disease than from bombardment if we are not able to put back together this health system," said the WHO's Margaret Harris.

She described the collapse of Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza as a "tragedy" and voiced concern about the detention of some of its medical staff by Israeli forces.

09:25 GMT — Yemen's Houthi group denies involvement in acts of piracy in Gulf of Aden

The Yemeni Houthi group denied any involvement in maritime piracy in the Gulf of Aden, affirming that their actions target Israeli ships.

This statement came in response to the United States' announcement that "two ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen towards an American naval destroyer in the Gulf of Aden."

Abdulmalik Al Ajri, a member of the Houthi political bureau and negotiation team, wrote on X, "Regarding the announced acts of piracy in the Gulf of Aden by the United States, the statements issued by the Yemeni Armed Forces (the Houthis) are clear that their maritime operations only target hostile Israeli ships."

08:04 GMT - Israeli army kills second Palestinian

A second Palestinian has been killed by Israeli army gunfire near the city of Ramallah in the central occupied West Bank.

Palestinian medical sources at Salfit Governmental Hospital told Anadolu Agency, "A citizen from the town of Kafr Ayn northwest of Ramallah arrived at the emergency department with multiple gunshot wounds, described as critical, and died as a result."

Local sources in the town of Kafr Ayn said that "an Israeli force stormed the town and arrested a citizen, leading to clashes with dozens of Palestinians."

07:39 GMT - About 60 Palestinian women 'still in Israeli jails'

Israeli authorities continue to hold 60 Palestinian women in jail, with most detained after October 7, a local non-governmental organisation has said.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Amal Sarahneh, media officer at the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), said the Israeli army detained 56 Palestinian women and girls in a major wave of arrests in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem after October 7, so far detaining 3,260 people.

Sarahneh added that Israel had released 33 Palestinian women under a prisoner swap deal with Gaza-based resistance group Hamas over the past four days.

06:53 GMT - Jordan evacuates wounded members of its medical staff in Gaza

Jordan announced that it had evacuated members of its medical staff in Gaza who had been wounded in Israeli airstrikes, transporting them to the kingdom to continue medical treatment.

According to a statement from the Jordanian Armed Forces on their website, the evacuation took place in response to a directive from King Abdullah II.

It said that "upon the royal directive, the Jordanian Armed Forces evacuated the injured personnel from the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza to Al Hussein Medical City in Amman. They sustained injuries while attempting to provide assistance to those injured in Gaza, who were subjected to Israeli airstrikes in the area."

05:52 GMT - UN experts call for independent investigations into crimes committed in Israel, Palestine

Urging Israel, the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank and authorities in besieged Gaza to cooperate fully with the investigations, UN experts said "independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict."

"The duty to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity, including any act of summary or extrajudicial killing, torture or other outrages on human dignity, is a fundamental legal obligation," they added.

They also called on the international community to work so that all those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity as well as for any other international crimes committed in the conflict are swiftly brought to justice, especially those with command responsibility.

04:17 GMT - Israel frees Palestinian minors

Israel has freed 30 Palestinian minors and three women "during the night" under the terms of a truce deal that returned captives from besieged Gaza.

The release brought the total number of Palestinian women and minors freed by Israel during the initial four-day pause in the fighting to 150.

Those freed early on Tuesday included the youngest female Palestinian, 16-year-old Nofuz Hammad, from Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem, who was initially handed 12 years in prison by Israeli authorities and now released in Hamas' swap deal with Israel, Anadolu Agency reported.

03:44 GMT - Israel receives list of additional Gaza captives to be released

Israel's government has received a list of captives held by Hamas in besieged Gaza who are expected to be released on Tuesday under an extended truce deal with the resistance group, Israel's Army Radio reported, citing the Israeli prime minister's office.

The Axios news website reported the list contained 10 captives.

03:13 GMT — Netanyahu's office approves inclusion of 50 female Palestinians in release list

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said it has approved the inclusion of 50 female Palestinians in the list for release in case additional Israeli captives are released from besieged Gaza.

The statement came after Qatari mediators said a four-day truce agreed to allow an exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinians languishing in Israeli jails that was set to expire after Monday had been extended for another two days.

For our live updates from Monday (November 27), click here.