WASHINGTON – Israel and Hamas have not yet reached a deal on a temporary ceasefire, the White House and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on the night of Nov 18.
The US is continuing to work to get a deal between the two sides, the White House spokesperson said. A second US official confirmed no deal had been reached.
“No deal yet, but we continue to work hard to get a deal,” Ms Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House’s National Security Council, said in a statement.
Mr Netanyahu told a press conference on Nov 18 evening: “Concerning the hostages, there are many unsubstantiated rumours, many incorrect reports. I would like to make it clear: As of now, there has been no deal. But I want to promise: When there is something to say – we will report to you about it.”
The Washington Post, citing people familiar with the deal, reported earlier on Saturday that Israel, the United States and Hamas have reached a tentative agreement to free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting.
The hostage release could begin within the next several days, barring last-minute hitches, according to people familiar with the detailed, six-page agreement, the paper said.
Under the agreement, all parties would freeze combat operations for at least five days while 50 or more hostages are released in groups every 24 hours, the Post reported.
Hamas took about 240 hostages during its Oct 7 rampage inside Israel that killed 1,200 people.
The pause also is intended to allow a significant amount of humanitarian aid in, the newspaper said, adding the outline for the deal was put together during weeks of talks in Qatar.
The report comes as Israel appears to be preparing to expand its offensive against Hamas militants to southern Gaza after air strikes killed dozens of Palestinians, including civilians reported to be sheltering at two schools.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas after the Oct 7 attack. As the conflict entered its seventh week, authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip raised their death toll to 12,300, including 5,000 children.
After dropping leaflets earlier in the week, Israel on Nov 18 again warned civilians in parts of southern Gaza to relocate as it girds for an onslaught after subduing the north.
Raising international alarm, Israel made Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City a primary focus of its ground advance in northern Gaza.
A team led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) which visited Al Shifa on Nov 18 described it as a “death zone” with signs of gunfire and shelling. WHO said it was developing plans for immediate evacuation of the remaining patients and staff.
There were 25 health workers and 291 patients, including 32 babies in critical condition, remaining in Al Shifa, WHO said.
Elsewhere in the north, Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini of UNRWA, the UN aid organisation for Palestinian refugees, said on social media platform X that Israel bombarded two agency schools. More than 4,000 civilians were sheltered at one of them, he said.
“Dozens reported killed including children,” he said. “Second time in less than 24 hours schools are not spared. ENOUGH, these horrors must stop.”
A spokesperson for Gaza’s Hamas authorities said 200 people had been killed or injured at the school. Israel’s military did not comment.
Witnesses reported heavy fighting overnight between Israeli ground forces and Hamas gunmen in north-west Jabalia refugee camp, the largest of all camps in the enclave with nearly 100,000 people.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose government controls parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Nov 18 said “hundreds of forcibly displaced people were killed” at the two schools in Gaza.
Mr Abbas appealed to US President Joe Biden to intervene to stop the Israeli operation in Gaza.
Palestinian health officials said 31 people were killed in Israeli strikes in the Bureij and Nusseirat refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, including two Palestinian journalists.
The officials said a woman and her child were killed in a strike overnight in Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip.
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2023-11-19 01:52:11Z
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