Hopes mounted yesterday that dozens of hostages seized by Hamas could be released from war-torn Gaza, after Hamas leader Ismail Haniey and key mediator Qatar said a truce agreement with Israel was in sight.
“We are close to reaching a deal on a truce,” Haniyeh said, according to a statement sent by his office to Agence France-Presse, after US President Joe Biden on Monday indicated an accord was on the cards.
In Qatar, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Majed al-
Photo: AFP
Ansari told reporters: “We are at the closest point we ever had been in reaching an agreement.
“We’re very optimistic, very hopeful,” he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that progress was being made on the release of hostages.
“We are making progress. I don’t think it’s worth saying too much, not at even this moment, but I hope there will be good news soon,” he told reservists, according to a statement from his office.
Netanyahu did not provide further details.
His office said that “in light of developments in the matter of the release of our hostages,” he would convene his war Cabinet at 6pm, his broader security Cabinet at 7pm and the full Cabinet at 8pm.
Hopes of a breakthrough have been mounting since Qatar on Sunday said only “minor” practical issues remained to secure a deal.
Speculation grew further when the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is often involved in prisoner exchanges and hostage releases, on Monday said that its president had met Haniyeh in Qatar.
Despite the efforts toward a truce, fighting raged on in Gaza’s bloodiest ever war, sparked by the Oct. 7 attack in which Israel says Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
In retaliation, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas government, the war has killed more than 13,300 people, thousands of them children.
Sources from Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which also participated in the attacks, said on condition of anonymity that their groups had agreed to the terms of a truce deal.
The tentative agreement would include a five-day truce, composed of a complete ceasefire on the ground and an end to Israeli air operations over Gaza, except in the north, where they would only halt for six hours daily.
Under the deal, which the sources said could yet change, between 50 and 100 Israeli civilian and foreign hostages would be released, but no military personnel. In exchange, about 300 Palestinians would be freed from Israeli jails, among them women and minors.
An agreement could bring some respite for Gazans who have endured more than six weeks under Israel bombardment and an expanding ground offensive.
Large parts of Gaza have been flattened by thousands of airstrikes, and the territory is under siege, with minimal food, water and fuel allowed to enter.
According to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad sources, the proposed deal would also allow for up to 300 trucks of food and medical aid to enter Gaza.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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