Israel-Hamas war live: efforts to extend ceasefire as deadline nears; reports of Israeli raid on West Bank city of Jenin

The Palestinian Al-Quds newspaper reports that the Israeli raid in Jenin is ongoing.

In several posts on X, the media outlet says that more Israeli troops have entered the city with further clashes reported.

An Al Jazeera correspondent in Jerusalem has said that fighting has been continuing sporadically since 9pm local time on Tuesday. The correspondent says that witnesses in Jenin have reported hearing loud explosions and that there are drones in the air above the city.

Al Jazeera has also reported that Israeli forces have raided the al-Jalazone refugee camp, north of Ramallah – as well as the al-Askar refugee camp in the city of Nablus, which are both also in the West Bank.

Palestinian media have reported two people, including a child, were injured by Israeli bullets during a large-scale military incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp

The Wafa news agency claims Israeli troops fired stun grenades and teargas canisters toward residents and their homes.

The media group quotes the director of the Jenin Governmental hospital, Wisam Baker, who said Israeli troops searched medical personnel and staff and deployed their soldiers around the hospital.

They also quote the chief Executive Officer at Ibn Sina Specialized hospital, Samer Atiyeh, who said Israeli forces cordoned off the hospital from all directions.

The Guardian has been unable to verify these reports.

The AFP news agency has reported that the final 24 hours of the extended truce agreement begins later Wednesday, with one more exchange of hostages for prisoners expected, but mediator Qatar is hoping for a more durable arrangement.

“Our main focus right now, and our hope, is to reach a sustainable truce that will lead to further negotiations and eventually to an end ... to this war,” Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a Doha news conference.

“However, we are working with what we have. And what we have right now is the provision to the agreement that allows us to extend days as long as Hamas is able to guarantee the release of at least 10 hostages.”

Rebecca Ratcliffe

Philippine president Ferdinand Marocs has said he is “very happy” to announce that Noralyn Babadilla is now safely back in Israel , adding that “all Filipinos affected by the war have been accounted for”.

Noralyn, who was released on Tuesday, was the second Filipino to be released by Hamas. Filipino caregiver Gelienor “Jimmy” Pacheco was among the group of hostages released on the first day of the temporary truce.

Marcos said in a statement: “We extend our sincerest gratitude to Israeli authorities for facilitating Noralyn’s release, and for all ongoing assistance to Filipinos in Israel . Our gratitude also goes to Egypt and the State of Qatar for their crucial role in this process over the past several weeks.”

About 30,000 Filipinos work in Israel, mainly in the care sector. Most live away from the conflict areas.

Thai foreign minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara has said he welcomes the release of two more Thai hostages that had been held by Hamas in Gaza.

“Happy to personally welcome 2 additional Thai hostages just released and arrived at the hospital in Tel Aviv,” he posted on the social media platform X.

Nineteen Thai hostages have so far been released, while the foreign ministry says 13 more remain in captivity. There were 39 Thai nationals killed in the 7 October attack by Hamas .

The Biden administration has told Israel that it must work to avoid “significant further displacement” of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza if it renews its ground campaign after the current pause in fighting, the AP news agency reported senior US officials as saying on Tuesday.

Separately, White House national security council spokesperson John Kirby said the Israelis had been receptive when US officials have raised the issue.

The White House, seeking to avoid more large-scale civilian casualties or mass displacement like that seen before the current temporary pause in the fighting, underscored to the Israelis that they must operate with far greater precision in southern Gaza than they did in the north, said officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity, according to AP.

The White House has begun to put greater pressure on Israel that the manner of the coming campaign must be “carefully thought through,” AP reports.

John Kirby speaks at a press briefing at the White House.

Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters Kirby, told reporters separately, “Now you have an added population of hundreds of thousands more in the south that you didn’t have before [the Israelis] moved into Gaza City.”

“And so it’s even all that more of an added burden on Israel to make sure ... that they have properly accounted for ... the extra innocent life that is now in south Gaza.”

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made clear that Israeli Defense Forces will eventually restart military operations after the conclusion of the current, temporary ceasefire.

President Joe Biden has said he would like to see the pause – which has also allowed a surge of much-needed humanitarian aid to get into Gaza – continue as long as feasible.

Israeli military raid West Bank city of Jenin - reports There are reports that parts of the city of Jenin, in the West Bank, have been closed off with checkpoints set up at routes into the city.

Al Jazeera says that armed clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters have taken place, with at least eight people injured. They report that hundreds of Israeli troops have taken part in the raid, supported by more than 50 armoured vehicles.

The Palestinian Red Crescent has said that one of its medical teams was detained by Israeli troops outside a Jenin hospital, preventing them from transferring a patient with a gunshot wound in the leg to the hospital. They later said that the patient was arrested.

Christos Christou, the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières, is in Jenin and says that the Israeli army “conducted an incursion on Jenin refugee camp.”

In a video posted to X, he says that he has been trapped in the Khalil Suleiman hospital for more than two hours, while Israeli forces “operated in Jenin camp”.

I’m in #Jenin , the West Bank, #Palestine , where I was just visiting the team at the Khalil Suleiman hospital. While we were there, the Israeli army conducted an incursion on Jenin refugee camp. pic.twitter.com/RNF8JGdf8I

— Christos Christou November 28, 2023

Egyptian media reports that a preliminary understanding has been reached to extend the truce Egypt’s Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper is reporting that a preliminary understanding has been reached to extend the truce for two more days, under the same conditions that are currently being observed. The paper has quoted Egyptian officials as its source.

Israeli officials confirmed to the Haaretz newspaper that the proposal was being examined, but has not yet been confirmed. Haaretz reports an Israeli source as saying the agreement on an extension depended on whether Hamas is able to release 10 additional Israeli hostages a day.

As we reported earlier, with fewer women and children remaining in captivity extending the truce may require Hamas to free at least some Israeli men for the first time.

Attention now turns to Qatar which mediated indirect talks between Hamas and Israel that resulted in the ceasefire.

On Tuesday, Qatar hosted spy chiefs from Israel’s Mossad and the United States’ CIA. The meeting sought to “build on the progress of the extended humanitarian pause agreement and to initiate further discussions about the next phase of a potential deal”, a source briefed on the visits told Reuters.