Day Forty-Seven Of Swords Of Iron
Rockets launched in Syria were struck down by Israeli air defense.
9:10 am
Eilat, the southernmost city in Israel on the Red Sea is currently under attack. In recent weeks, it has received fire from terrorists in Yemen.
According to Fox News, a prominent Muslim anti-Israel activist and member of a Maryland anti-hate crime task force published antisemitic social media posts, including claims that the babies brutally murdered in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack were "fake." She also compared Israel to Nazi Germany. Zainab Chaudry is the director of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) Maryland office. She issued the posts in the weeks following Hamas' attack, which saw more than 1,200 people murdered, including children and babies, as well as numerous rapes.
8:26 am
The Israeli cabinet approved the 'hostages for ceasefire deal' that will see dozens of women and children kidnapped by Hamas freed during a 'five-day truce.' However, Israeli PM Netanyahu vowed to continue his war to destroy Hamas. .
Israeli officials stated that the “4-Day Ceasefire” in Gaza will be extended by a day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in addition to the 50 Hostages already contemplated in the agreement.
Rockets launched from southern Syria have reportedly been intercepted by the Israeli Air Defense Array over the Sea of Galilee. No casualties reported.
The IDF says it has breached the blast door at the end of a tunnel discovered underneath Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital. It published two images, one showing the open door and the other further inside the tunnel.
Israel and Hamas have agreed a deal for the release of 50 women and children hostages held in Gaza in return for 150 Palestinian women and children to be freed from Israeli jails during a four-day ceasefire, both sides announced on Wednesday morning. The first hostage release is expected on Thursday morning, and the total number of hostages freed could rise.
A statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office said the “lull” in Israeli military operations would be extended for an additional day for every 10 more hostages released. It did not say when the ceasefire would start, though in his address to his cabinet, Benjamin Netanyahu said the first hostages should be free within 48 hours of the agreement.
Qatar’s foreign ministry said early on Wednesday that the start time of the deal would be announced in the next 24 hours. It said the ceasefire will “allow the entry of a larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid, including fuel designated for humanitarian needs”.
Hamas confirmed an agreement had been reached, calling it a “humanitarian truce” in which 150 Palestinian women and children would be freed from Israeli jails. It said that expanded humanitarian deliveries were also part of the agreement, as well as a halt to Israeli air sorties over southern Gaza during the four-day pause, with sorties over northern Gaza restricted to six hours a day.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said the hostage deal was “the result of tireless diplomacy and relentless effort across the department and broader US government”. “While this deal marks significant progress, we will not rest as long as Hamas continues to hold hostages in Gaza,” Blinken said.
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said the EU will seek to use the pause in fighting in Gaza to deliver more humanitarian aid to the territory. The UK foreign secretary, David Cameron, urged both sides to deliver the agreement in full, saying: “This pause provides an important opportunity to ensure much greater volumes of food, fuel and other life-saving aid can reach Gaza on a sustained basis.”
The Times of Israel is reporting that the Almagor Terror Victims Association has said it will file a petition in Israel’s high court today against the hostage and ceasefire deal.
Israel’s military has said its campaign inside Gaza is continuing, amid reports that the air bombardment has intensified in the last hours. The IDF said its operation is “striking terrorist infrastructure, killing terrorists, and locating weapons”. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported that “Israeli air raids have intensified during the last couple of hours across the Gaza Strip” and “conditions remain dire”.
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, is to make a regional tour following the announcement of the deal.