TRANSCRIPT
The International Committee of the Red Cross says it has facilitated the release of 17 hostages, including 13 Israeli citizens and four foreign nationals from Hamas in Gaza.
In exchange, Israel's prison service says it has released another 39 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
Crowds in Israel and the West Bank have welcomed friends and family off buses in the third round of releases, on the third of a four-day truce ((Sun Nov 26)).
In the West Bank city of Al-Bireh, teenager Mohammad Sabah, released on Saturday, said he was surprised to find out he would be freed.
“We were taken at seven in the morning, and around ten they told us that there was a deal and we would be released. We were very surprised, but it was a wonderful feeling, thank God.”
In Tel Aviv, in a tent erected on a plaza where supporters have gathered frequently to show their support for hostages' families, Rabbi Shmuel Herman welcomed the news as he joined families to write 240 blessings for each of the hostages originally taken.
“We're writing 240 of this to symbolise the 240 that are kept hostage. Thank God we have 26 that just came back yesterday. Now we have 13 more on the way coming back together with their families, but we're not going to stop until we have all the 240 here together with their families, healthy and happy. Amen.”
A four-year-old American-Israeli girl, Abigail Edan, who was orphaned when her parents were killed in the Hamas attacks on October 7th, is among those released.
United States President Joe Biden has welcomed her release, saying he had spoken to her family in the U-S, as well as to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He says he hopes the pause in fighting goes on as long as hostages keep coming out.
“Look, you know the deal calls for every ten hostages released to extend another day. So I'm hopeful this is not the end. It's going to continue, but we don't know. And I get a sense that... all the players in the region, even the neighbours who aren't and haven't been directly involved until now , are now looking for a way to end this so the hostages are all released and Hamas is just completely - how can I say it? - no longer in control of any portion of Gaza.”
But Mr Netanyahu says he has warned President Biden Israel will resume its campaign in Gaza with full force once the temporary truce is over.
Mr Netanyahu says he is open to continuing the truce only if additional hostages are released every day, as agreed under the Qatari-brokered deal, which Qatar [[cutter]] and Hamas have both said they are seeking to extend.
The Israeli Prime Minister, who visited Gaza on Sunday, told I-D-F soldiers Israel will not stop its campaign until the return of all hostages.
“We have three goals for this war: eliminate Hamas, return all our hostages, and ensure that Gaza will not become a threat to the State of Israel again. I am here to say to my friends here, to the fighters here, who are telling me the same thing, and I repeat this to you, the citizens of Israel: we will continue until the end - until victory.”
The truce, the first significant pause in seven weeks of war, has allowed much-needed humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, where the U-N estimates 1.7 million people out of a population of 2.4 million have been displaced, with around 200 aid trucks set to enter the region under the deal.
Regional tensions have threatened to undermine the ceasefire, with violence continuing to flare in the West Bank, where local sources say Israeli forces killed seven people, including two children and at least one gunman, late on Saturday and early Sunday.
UNICEF spokesman James Elder, who took part in a humanitarian aid convoy to northern Gaza said on Sunday, says a lasting ceasefire is the only way to bring security to the region.
“Peace and security for Palestinian children, for Israeli children, is going to be built around us looking after children, around us focusing on their wellbeing, on their health.These aid deliveries are going to very quickly fade into the memory if we don’t get more and more up every single day. And that is going to require a continuation of the pause, and I really hope - and the United Nations really hopes - turning it into a lasting ceasefire.”
Hamas' Health Ministry in Gaza says nearly 15,000 people, around two thirds of them women and children, have now been killed since October 7th.
Israel says 1,200 people, mainly civilians, were killed in Hamas' attacks on Southern Israel on that day.
Protests linked to the conflict have continued worldwide and in Australia.
Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has been criticised for her involvement in pro-Palestinian protests, which have continued for a seventh straight weekend, after sharing a photo on social media with student protesters with a poster depicting the Israeli flag being thrown into a rubbish bin.
Former Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma, who is returning to federal parliament after being elected to a New South Wales senate seat, says the Greens party has what he calls a "blind spot" on antisemitism.
Greens Leader Adam Bandt says Ms Faruqi has removed and apologised for the post after failing to see the poster, and says the Greens maintain a long-standing opposition to intolerance.
“We oppose antisemitism. We've been concerned about the rise of antisemitism in Australia for some time. It's been ongoing for a number of years now. We've thrown our weight behind pushes to tackle antisemitism as well as Islamophobia in this country. And, I think, taking a position to steadfastly call for peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians on an equal footing. And calling for an end to the invasion (of Israel into Gaza).”
