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EXPLAINER

As the truce enters its final day and attacks on Palestinians continue in the West Bank, here are the major updates.

Here is what to know about the situation on Monday, November 27, 2023:

Truce, captive and prisoner swap

• Monday is the fourth and final day of the agreed truce between Israel and Hamas, although mediators are working to extend the deal.
• Since Friday, Hamas has released 58 people including citizens of Israel, Thailand, the United States and Russia. Israel has released 117 Palestinians from its prisons.
• Hamas is expected to release 11 captives on Monday.
• An 84-year-old Israeli captive was rushed to the emergency unit of a hospital shortly after being released by Hamas on Sunday, according to the director of the hospital where she is being treated.
• The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is “evaluating” an extension of the truce deal, its senior leader Daoud Shehab told Al Jazeera on Monday. He added that the PIJ is “committed to the interests of the Palestinian people more than anything else”.
• Israel’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that it would summon the Irish ambassador for not adequately condemning Hamas in a tweet celebrating the release of nine-year-old captive, Emily Hand.

Human impact and fighting

• Although Gaza’s skies have witnessed a break in relentless bombardment, attacks are continuing in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces carried out overnight raids and prevented an ambulance from reaching a refugee camp to help injured Palestinians, according to Al Jazeera Arabic and videos verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad news agency.
• Hospitals struck by Israeli bombardment before the truce, including al-Shifa and the Indonesian Hospital, are struggling to cope with damage and wounded patients.
• Three men of Palestinian descent studying in the US were shot in Burlington, Vermont on Sunday. The 20-year-olds were wearing a keffiyeh and are suspected to have been targeted in a hate-motivated crime, according to authorities. Their families issued a joint statement calling on law enforcement to “conduct a thorough investigation”.
• Thousands of protesters blocked New York City’s Manhattan Bridge on Sunday, demanding a permanent Gaza ceasefire.
• Two ballistic missiles reported to have been fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen landed near a US vessel off the Gulf of Aden on Sunday, according to the US Central Command.
• The US has arrested five people in a suspected hijacking attempt of an Israel-linked ship on Sunday, according to the US navy.

Diplomacy

• Joe Biden’s administration is working to extend the four-day truce, joining similar efforts from Egypt and Qatar, the US president said in a post on X on Sunday.
• Meanwhile, the Biden administration is also seeking to lift nearly all restrictions on Israel’s access to weapons from a US weapons stockpile.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a phone call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday. Blinken thanked Shoukry for his efforts towards mediating the deal and discussed the need for expanding “humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in urgent need”, according to a White House readout of the call. Shoukry called on extending the truce into a comprehensive ceasefire, according to a statement from Egypt’s foreign ministry.
• Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has called on Arab countries to come together to push European states to align behind calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
• Elon Musk will meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Monday along with Israelis whose relatives have been held by Hamas in Gaza.

On Sunday, the third day of the truce between Hamas and Israel, both communities appeared to have gotten used to the guns being silent and captives being released.

The first releases of the captives, on Friday, were tense as the procedures were unknown to all. Expectations were high and all waited for those first groups to get home. By Saturday, the media on both sides of the divide was inundated with emotional scenes of families reuniting and embracing their dearest.

At one point on Saturday, it looked like fresh celebrations might have to be postponed – Hamas announced that it would not release the second batch of captives because Israel was not respecting the truce deal.

Israeli forces were shooting at Palestinians trying to reach their homes, Israel was not releasing prisoners according to the agreed guidelines and, most importantly, aid deliveries were short of targets set in the agreement. Hamas warned that unless the agreed number of trucks enter the Strip, with a significant number taking supplies north to what remains of Gaza City, there would be no release.

Qatari and Egyptian diplomats immediately went into overdrive and a frenzy of phone calls and emails is reported to have ensued. In a couple of hours, assurances acceptable to Hamas that the agreed number of aid trucks would get to Gaza before the truce expires on Tuesday morning were issued, and the captives were released late in the evening, the Palestinian detainees minutes later.

The two divided communities took to the streets to vent 50 days of fear, anxiety and frustration in mass displays of emotion. In Tel Aviv, 100,000 Israelis rejoiced, half an hour’s drive away in Ramallah, Palestinians went around town singing and dancing. The celebrations repeated on Sunday.

Saturday clearly demonstrated how much the world wants and needs this truce to succeed. Even limited as it is, and only four days, it is nevertheless the first positive development since October 7 and the international community is eager to extend it, hoping to make it permanent. We have heard that efforts are ongoing, although no details have leaked yet, but I am certain that the success of brokering the current truce encouraged countries to express to the warring sides, either directly or through Qatar and Egypt, their desire for the conflict to end and support for any deal the parties reach.

 

So strong is the desire for a feeble, limited pause to become a more lasting cessation of hostilities, that any inconvenience that could mar it is pushed aside, minimised or ignored. Like the Israeli forces killing of eight Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday. It made the news but nobody, Palestinian authorities included, pushed for the condemnation of the perpetrators or raised the issue with any international organisation. The truce seemed more precious than a few civilian lives.

Even before the fighting paused Friday morning, it was clear that the warring sides and regional powers agreed that it should be given a chance and not be upset by any irresponsible act. The biggest worries were that Hezbollah, or the Houthis might continue or even step up their attacks on Israel, endangering the fragile ceasefire. Neither group was party to the agreement, so they did not have any obligation to honour it.

Again, as several times earlier during the last seven weeks, Iran stepped in with uncharacteristic delicacy. To make sure Hezbollah would not do anything reckless, Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian flew to Lebanon on Thursday, as pre-truce bombardments were still ongoing, to meet with Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah. Tehran’s message was clear, and the minister repeated it to the media: If the then-tentative truce is not observed, “the scope of the war will expand”.

Known for its effective command and disciplined officers and soldiers, Hezbollah clearly decided to conduct itself as its mentors expected. Only one incident was reported, on Saturday, when Hezbollah fired a missile at an Israeli observation drone over Lebanese territory. Israel retaliated with artillery fire directed at the missile site but it seems that neither side wanted to escalate further.

The Houthis were not subject to the same degree of attention from Tehran, so they showed less restraint. New missile launches against Israel – 2,000km (1,240 miles) away – were recorded after the start of the truce. No projectile managed to get through the multilayered defences consisting of US Navy destroyers in the Red Sea, an Israeli navy corvette in international waters at the top of the Gulf of Aqaba and Israeli air force aircraft ready to intercept anything that manages to squeeze through the shipborne defences.

In a further escalation, the Houthis continued threatening cargo ships with alleged links to Israel. Just days after hijacking the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, on Saturday their armed drones attacked the Malta-flagged CMA CGM Symi without attempting to board it, unlike the next incident on Sunday when they first attacked from the air and then tried to hijack the Central Park, flying the Liberian flag. US Navy destroyer USS Mason, patrolling the Gulf of Aden, intervened, forcing the attackers to flee the ship.

The Houthis, known for tenacity and aggressiveness, obviously do not feel obliged to refrain from attacking what they see as Israeli assets, so it is a blessing that their arsenal appears unable to mar the current agreement.

After three days of quiet and captives from both sides coming home, we should remind ourselves that this almost idyllical respite is only scheduled to last until Tuesday and that in less than 24 hours, explosions will again rock the Gaza Strip and more people, civilians and soldiers, will be killed.

As the expiry of the truce neared, both sides toyed with the possibility of extension. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, venturing into Gaza territory for a brief propaganda photo op amid heavy security, hinted that the truce could be extended if Hamas continued releasing hostages and that every group of 10 would buy another day of pause. Hamas told the Reuters news agency that it is seeking to extend the truce but wanted more Palestinians freed from Israeli jails.

While something might be cooking under a tightfitting lid and civilians in Palestine and Israel seem hypnotised by three days of “peace”, soldiers and politicians remind them that it is only a pause after which the fighting is scheduled to continue. Chief of General Staff General Herzi Halevi said on Sunday that once the pause expires, his forces “will return to our operations with determination, for the continued release of the hostages and the complete dismantlement of Hamas”. The message was repeated by Netanyahu later as he vowed to continue “until victory”.

Barring some last-minute miracle, it will be legal for both sides to resume military activities at 7am sharp on Tuesday 28 November. I have never seen a ceasefire last until the agreed-upon moment: Usually, they are either extended by an agreement made while they still last or they are broken before the deadline.

In the absence of an official extension, it is very likely that fighting might resume on Monday night after the last batches of hostages are out and the last aid trucks are in. Realising that the last prisoner exchange is over, soldiers might not see a need to wait for hours until the official expiration. Any shot fired at or near the current front lines on Monday night will probably signal to every fighter to return to war with all his might.

The only way to prevent the unravelling of the truce is to announce its extension before the last captives are freed on Monday.

Israel’s deadly bombardment of Gaza has killed nearly 15,000 people, including 10,000 women and children, in over 50 days, making it the deadliest war for the besieged Palestinian enclave till date.

Israel has rebuffed calls for ceasefire as a four-day humanitarian truce comes to an end on November 28. The utter devastation of Gaza and the mounting death toll has triggered worldwide protests, bringing the decades-long issue to the centre-stage of global politics.

The Balfour declaration

The Israeli-Palestinian issue goes back nearly a century when Britain, which still controlled historic Palestine, pledged to establish a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine under the Balfour Declaration.

Jewish immigration to Palestine

A large-scale Jewish migration to Palestine began, accelerated by Jewish people fleeing Nazism in Europe. Between 1918 and 1947, the Jewish population in Palestine increased from 6 percent to 33 percent.

Palestinians were alarmed by the demographic change and tensions rose, leading to the Palestinian revolt from 1936 to 1939.

Meanwhile, Zionist organisations continued to campaign for a homeland for Jews in Palestine. Armed Zionist militias started to attack the Palestinian people, forcing them to flee. Zionism, which emerged as a political ideology in the late 19th century, called for the creation of a Jewish homeland.

The UN Partition Plan

As violence ravaged Palestine, the matter was referred to the newly formed United Nations. In 1947, the UN adopted Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, handing over about 55 percent of the land to Jews. Arabs were granted 45 percent of the land, while Jerusalem was declared a separate internationalised territory.

The city is currently divided between West Jerusalem, which is predominantly Jewish, and East Jerusalem with a majority Palestinian population. Israel captured East Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967 along with the West Bank – a step not recognised by the international community.

The Old City in occupied East Jerusalem holds religious significance for Christians, Muslims, and Jews. It is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, which is known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount.

In 1981, the UN designated it a World Heritage Site.

The Nakba

Leading up to Israel’s birth in 1948, more than 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed from their homes by Zionist militias. This mass exodus came to be known as the Nakba or catastrophe.

A further 300,000 Palestinians were displaced by the Six-Day War in 1967.

Israel declared the annexation of East Jerusalem in 1980, but the international community still considers it an occupied territory. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The Oslo Accords

In 1993, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords, which aimed to achieve peace within five years. It was the first time the two sides recognised each other.

A second agreement in 1995 divided the occupied West Bank into three parts – Area A, B and C. The Palestinian Authority, which was created in the wake of the Oslo Accords, was offered only limited rule on 18 percent of the land as Israel effectively continued to control the West Bank.

Israeli settlements and checkpoints

However, the Oslo Accords slowly broke down as Israeli settlements, Jewish communities built on Palestinian land in the West Bank, grew at a rapid pace.

The settlement population in the West Bank and East Jerusalem grew from approximately 250,000 in 1993 to up to 700,000 in September this year. About three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The building of Israeli settlements and a separation wall on occupied territories has fragmented the the Palestinian communities and restricted their mobility. About 700 road obstacles, including 140 checkpoints, dot the West Bank. About 70,000 Palestinians with Israeli work permits cross these checkpoints in their daily commute.

Settlements are considered illegal under international law. The UN has condemned settlements, calling it a big hurdle in the realisation of a viable Palestinian state as part of the so-called “two-state solution”.

Blockade of Gaza

Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza in 2007 after the Hamas group came to power. The siege continues till date. Israel also occupies the West Bank and East Jerusalem – the territories Palestinians want to be part of their future state.

Israel imposed a total blockade on the Gaza Strip on October 9, cutting its supplies of electricity, food, water, and fuel in the wake of a surprise Hamas attack inside Israel. At least 1,200 people were killed in that attack.

Israel and Palestine now

This is what Israel and Palestine look like now.

Today, about 5 million Palestinians live in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem and 1.6 million Palestinians are citizens of Israel. This makes up about half of their total population. The other half lives in other countries, including Arab countries. There are about 14.7 million Jews around the world today, of which 84 percent live in Israel and the United States. The rest live in other countries including France, Canada, Argentina and Russia.

 

Here is an account of Palestinian and Israeli lives lost to the violence between 2008 and 2023.

Data compiled by Sarah Shamim

Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen came near a US warship after it aided an Israel-linked tanker that had been seized in the Gulf of Aden, the US military said.

The missiles splashed down in the water around 10 miles from the USS Mason as it aided the tanker named the Central Park on Monday, the US Central Command added in a statement.

It also said it apprehended five armed attackers who targeted the tanker, which has links to Israel, off the coast of Yemen on Sunday.

“There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident,” it added.

The Houthis, a Yemen-based rebel movement backed by Iran, did not immediately acknowledge the attack.

London-based Zodiac Maritime, which manages the Liberian-flagged Central Park, said on Monday the tanker was carrying phosphoric acid when it was seized in the Gulf of Aden.

The company added that the tanker’s crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam was “unharmed”.

“We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law,” the company said.

It offered no details on how the attackers left the vessel. It also did not identify them.

Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier warned “two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing” had been seen in the area before the tanker was targeted.

Read more:
US-Israeli girl among freed hostages
Four-day Gaza truce enters final 24 hours
Freed Palestinian prisoners complain of mistreatment

Yemen’s internationally recognised government blamed the Houthi rebels for the attack, which followed at least two other recent maritime attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

On Friday, a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean.

Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack.

On Monday 20 November, Houthi rebels released a video showing armed men seizing a cargo ship in the Red Sea the day before.

The video from Yemeni Military Media shows at least seven masked men, carrying what appears to be AK-47s, drop from a helicopter and land on the top deck of the ship.

نشرت في: 27/11/2023 – 01:05

3 دقائق

أعلنت الشرطة الأمريكية أن ثلاثة طلاب جامعيين من أصل فلسطيني أصيبوا السبت في إطلاق نار في مدينة بيرلينغتون في ولاية فيرمونت الواقعة شمال شرق الولايات المتحدة، مشيرة إلى ما يبدو أنها “جريمة بدافع الكراهية”.

ووصفت الشرطة مطلق النار، الذي لا يزال طليقا، بأنه “رجل أبيض مسلح بمسدس”، مضيفة أنه “من دون أن يتفوه بكلمة، أطلق ما لا يقل عن أربع رصاصات من المسدس، ويعتقد أنه فر سيرا على الأقدام”.

وتأتي الواقعة وسط توترات شديدة وأعمال عنف تشهدها الجامعات وأماكن أخرى في الولايات المتحدة على خلفية الحرب بين إسرائيل وحماس.

وذكر بيان الشرطة أن اثنين من الضحايا في حال مستقرة، بينما أصيب الثالث “بجروح أكثر خطورة”.

ولفتت إلى أن طالبين يحملان الجنسية الأمريكية والثالث مقيم بشكل قانوني.

وفي حين لم يرد أي تأكيد رسمي لدوافع مطلق النار، أكدت الشرطة أن اثنين من الطلاب كانا يضعان الكوفية الفلسطينية التقليدية.

وقال بيان صادر عن قائد شرطة بيرلينغتون جون مراد: “في هذه اللحظة المشحونة، لا يمكن لأحد أن ينظر إلى هذه الواقعة من دون أن يساوره شك بأنها ربما جريمة بدافع الكراهية”.

وأضاف: “الآن بعد أن أصبح الضحايا في مكان آمن ويتلقون الرعاية الطبية، فإن أولويتنا التالية هي تحديد هوية المشتبه به ومكانه والقبض عليه”.

وقال متحدث باسم عائلات الضحايا في بيان، إن الطلاب من خريجي مدرسة الأصدقاء التابعة لمدارس كويكر في رام الله في الضفة الغربية، وهم الآن يتابعون دراستهم في جامعات مختلفة في شمال شرق الولايات المتحدة.

أضاف البيان: “ندعو سلطات إنفاذ القانون إلى إجراء تحقيق شامل، ولن نرتاح حتى تتم محاكمة مطلق النار”.

بدورها، قالت عائلات الطلاب في بيان وزعه معهد التفاهم الشرق أوسطي، وهو منظمة غير ربحية مؤيدة للفلسطينيين: “ندعو سلطات إنفاذ القانون إلى إجراء تحقيق شامل، بما في ذلك التعامل مع هذا الأمر باعتباره جريمة كراهية. لن نشعر بالارتياح لحين تقديم مطلق النار إلى العدالة”.

وقالت اللجنة العربية الأمريكية لمكافحة التمييز: “لدينا سبب للاعتقاد بأن إطلاق النار حدث لأن الضحايا عرب”، ودعت سلطات ولاية فيرمونت إلى التحقيق في الواقعة باعتبارها “جريمة كراهية”.

وأفاد البيت الأبيض بأنه تم إطلاع الرئيس جو بايدن على واقعة إطلاق النار.

ووصف السناتور المستقل عن ولاية فيرمونت بيرني ساندرز الاعتداء بأنه “صادم”، مضيفا أن “لا مكان للكراهية هنا، أو في أي مكان”.

ويأتي إطلاق النار في الوقت الذي حذرت فيه منظمات حقوقية من تزايد جرائم الكراهية ضد الأمريكيين المسلمين ومن أصل عربي.

والشهر الماضي، قتل طفل أمريكي من أصل فلسطيني يبلغ ستة أعوام طعنا، وأصيبت والدته في ولاية إلينوي. ودفع المشتبه به بارتكاب الجريمة البالغ 71 عاما ببراءته.

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