November 22, 2023 Israel-Hamas war

The Gaza Strip is “the most dangerous place” in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund.

“More than 5,300 Palestinian children have been reportedly killed in just 46 days … That’s over 115 a day, every day, for weeks and weeks,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a video on Wednesday while addressing the UN Security Council. 

“Based on these figures, children account for 40% of the deaths in Gaza,” she added. 

She also said UNICEF is receiving reports that “more than 1,200 children” remain under the rubble of bombed-out buildings or are otherwise unaccounted for. 

The comments come a week after Russell’s visit to Gaza. In a statement following her visit, she described “grave violations” being committed against children, including “killing, maiming, abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access.” 

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Houthi naval forces renewed a warning to ships in the Red Sea flying the Israeli flag, managed by Israeli companies or owned by Israelis.

The group declared its intent to persist in military operations against Israeli ships and interests until Israel’s “aggression against Gaza stops.”

The statement warned any military units providing protection to Israeli ships, stating that they would be considered legitimate targets for Houthi operations.

Furthermore, the naval forces cautioned all companies and merchants against engaging in shipping their goods or interests with Israeli vessels, emphasizing potential repercussions.

According to the statement, the Houthi naval forces called upon all ships traversing the Red Sea to steer clear of Israeli vessels and explicitly advised against disabling identification devices.

Cargo ship seized: On Sunday, the Israeli military said a cargo ship had been hijacked in the southern Red Sea.

The Galaxy Leader cargo ship was hijacked by the Houthis in the Red Sea on Sunday with about 25 crew members on board. It is operated by the Japanese shipping and logistics company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK) Line, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Monday.

Japan is currently working with Israel and has requested Saudi Arabia, Oman and Iran to urge the Houthis to release the ship and crew as soon as possible.

The United States demands “the immediate release” of the cargo ship and crew seized by the Houthis in the Red Sea, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said Monday.

More background: The Israeli military said late last month that it had thwarted an aerial attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

On October 19, a US warship near the coast of Yemen also shot down four cruise missiles and 15 drones over a period of nine hours as they were heading north along the Red Sea, according to a US official familiar with the situation. Their trajectory left little doubt that the projectiles were headed for Israel, the official said.

Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the missiles were fired by the Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen and were launched “potentially toward targets in Israel.” US interceptions of Houthi launches are exceedingly rare.

Iran, despite decades of draconian US-inspired sanctions, has continued to provide training and arms to the Houthis in Yemen, as well as the Syrian regime, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza.

Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Qatari minister of state for foreign affairs, speaks with CNN's Becky Anderson on November 22.

Qatar’s lead negotiator said that “intensive” work was needed to broker the Israel-Hamas hostage deal, which was approved by Israel’s cabinet in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, who is also the Qatari minister of state for foreign affairs, told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an exclusive interview Wednesday that the deal reached was what “the parties want.” 

“Our work was extremely intensive as you can imagine; it’s a period of high escalation, military clashes, humanitarian escalation, ground invasion,” Al-Khulaifi said from Doha. 

During the past few weeks, Al-Khulaifi observed the talks go into “fits and starts.” For example, he said that mediators needed a “period of calm” when Israel announced the second phase its war with Hamas in late October. 

Israel launching a “targeted operation” on Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City also put pressure on negotiations, Al-Khulaifi said, adding that Qatar had to ask the parties not to “target vital humanitarian infrastructures.” 

“These are not going to help anyone reach an agreement and definitely is not going to help the mediator,” he added. 

But Al-Khulaifi hailed it “significant” that the parties managed to secure a deal.

He stressed that Qatar’s “work is not done,” telling CNN that the country will continue to push for a complete ceasefire in the war. 

He said Qatar hopes that the breakthrough deal will “invite the parties to think more about the current situations and come up with better agreements.” 

“Our, of course, main objective here is really to seek a permanent ceasefire and stopping the bloodshed of the people and improving the lives of the Palestinian people,” Al-Khulaifi said. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that was formed in response to the Hamas attack on Israel, has listed 201 Israelis believed to be alive and held hostage in Gaza since October 7. 

That list includes:

The youngest hostage is Kfir Bibas, who is 10 months old; the oldest are Yaffa Adar, Shlomo Mansour and Arye Zalmanovich, who are all 85.

Eleven of the adult women are mothers of presumed hostages, while five of the men are fathers of presumed hostages. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum list does not include foreigners who may have been taken into Gaza on October 7.

Remember: Not all of the hostages taken on October 7 are being held by Hamas. Some are held by another militant group, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and some may be held by other groups or individuals.

In addition to the 201 people taken captive on October 7, the forum’s list also includes two dead Israeli soldiers whose remains have been held in Gaza for years — Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul — and Israeli citizen Avera Mengistu, who has been held captive in Gaza since 2014.

The list also includes Shani Gabay, 26, whose death was announced by the Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday.

The IDF considered Gabay “missing” and not a potential hostage before her death was announced, so the announcement of her death does not change the current IDF estimate of the number of hostages, the IDF told CNN Wednesday.

Tamar Michaelis in Tel Aviv contributed to this report.

An Israeli drone is seen flying over the border area between Gaza and southern Israel on November 17.

The United States and Israel will both pause drone flights over Gaza for six hours each day as part of the deal to secure the release of 50 women and children hostages from Gaza, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told CNN. 

The US military currently flies surveillance drones over Gaza to support Israel in its efforts to find the hostages. US officials have previously said that the American intelligence being gathered is not used for lethal operations. While the pause in Israeli drone flights had been previously reported, Finer’s comments are the first official confirmation that the US will also be taking part in the pause.

CNN was first to report earlier last week that Hamas demanded that Israel stop flying surveillance drones over Gaza as part of any hostage deal. CNN also reported yesterday that a six-hour pause in drone surveillance was in the deal agreed to between Israel and Hamas.

A defense official confirmed the pause and said the US “will adjust our activities in support of hostage recovery efforts in light of the operational pause agreed to by Israel and Hamas.”

Finer also leaned into the expectation that three Americans could be included in the 50 hostages that are expected to be released as part of the deal, but cautioned that “until we actually see people coming out of Gaza we will not know exactly who is going to be released.”

Looking forward, Finer said that this is “not the end of the war” and that the US will remain “intensively” engaged as he pledged they will not rest until they can secure the release of the other Americans being held hostage.

CNN’s MJ Lee and Natasha Bertrand contributed to reporting in this post.

Israel's Mossad Director David Barnea is pictured during an event in Herzliya, Israel, on September 10.

David Barnea, head of Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, is in Doha today, says a source familiar with his meetings.

CNN has previously reported that Barnea and CIA Director Bill Burns met in Doha with the Qataris to discuss the hostage negotiations.

Remember: The complex agreement between Israel and Hamas was brokered by Qatar, which served as an intermediary in exhaustive negotiations with the close involvement of the United States.

Posters of hostages are seen during a protest in Tel Aviv to show support for the families of hostages, on November 18.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has applauded the agreement to release some of the hostages held by Hamas, but called for continued efforts to free those who remain in captivity.

The forum also demanded the terms of the agreement ensure the security and welfare for remaining hostages held by Hamas, including promised visits from the Red Cross.

“We urge leaders’ utmost efforts to meet their moral charge, with people’s lives in the balance. We are grateful for (US) President (Joe) Biden’s support this agreement, and his unwavering call for all hostages’ release,” the statement said. 

Remember: Israel and Hamas have agreed to a four-day humanitarian pause to allow the release of at least 50 hostages – women and children – held in Gaza. The deal will also involve the release of 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The vast majority of the prisoners listed as eligible for release are male teenagers aged 16 to 18 – children under the United Nations definition – although a handful are as young as 14. Some 33 are women, according to a CNN count.

An undated photo of Shani Gabay, 26, who has been confirmed dead.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed Wednesday the death of 26-year-old Shani Gabay who had been missing since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that was formed to provide support to those affected by the crisis, has been listing Gabay among the presumed hostages.

It was not immediately clear whether her remains were identified in Gaza or in Israel.

Ambulances used to transport patients from Gaza via the Rafah crossing are seen in Arish, Egypt, on November 22.

A total of 284 injured patients have been evacuated into Egypt since Israel launched attacks on Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack, according to Egyptian government press office director Ayman Walash.

He said a total of 2,222 tons of medical aid had been delivered via the Rafah crossing, in addition to 6,063 tons of food, 4,625 tons of water, and 1,407 tons of other aid. Also, 378 tons of fuel had been delivered since November 21, he said.

The number of foreign nationals and dual nationals who have crossed the border through the Rafah crossing has reached 7,730, he said. This is in addition to 1,102 Egyptians. 

International leaders have welcomed an agreement between Israel and Hamas for a truce, which is slated to come into effect on Thursday morning.

The agreement would see the release of at least 50 hostages seized by Hamas, including women and children, in exchange for a four-day pause in Israel’s air and ground campaign. 150 Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli jails as part of the agreement, Hamas said in a statement.

Qatar and Egypt were key negotiators in the agreement, with both countries saying they hope it’s a step toward a ceasefire and a longer-term solution. The US was another main negotiator, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying the deal marked “significant progress,” but vowing the US “will not rest as long as Hamas continues to hold hostages in Gaza.”

Here are other headlines from this morning:

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivers remarks at UN headquarters in New York on November 20.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says the UN will “mobilize all its capabilities” to support the implementation of the Israel-Hamas truce.

“I welcome the agreement reached by Israel & Hamas. It‘s an important step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done. The UN will mobilize all its capacities to support the implementation & maximize positive impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Guterres said in a statement.

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland also welcomed news of the four-day pause.

He also called for a continuous stream of humanitarian aid and thanked Egypt, Qatar and the US for their efforts in facilitating the agreement.

“All parties must live up to their responsibilities to uphold this important agreement. This is an important step, but more must be done and I will continue all efforts to bring the suffering to an end,” he said.

Abigail Edan, a 3-year-old Israeli American who was orphaned when her parents were killed by Hamas, is one of the hostages held by the militant group, according to Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali, the child’s great-aunt. Her 4th birthday is on Friday, her great-aunt said.

After enduring nearly seven weeks of uncertainty about the fate of family members kidnapped by Hamas, relatives of hostages were left with hope and a new set of anxieties after Israel and the militant group reached a breakthrough deal on Tuesday that will see a four-day humanitarian pause to allow the release of at least 50 Israeli women and children.

One family told CNN they face a “terrible week” ahead as they wait to learn whether their loved ones will be among the hostages released. “My family, like all the other families, is going to go through a terrible week. We don’t know if my cousin is going to be amongst those released in this round,” Maya Roman, the cousin of a female hostage, told CNN.

On October 7, Roman’s cousin, Yarden Roman-Gat, 36, handed her 3-year-old daughter to her husband, hoping he could run faster as they tried to flee Hamas gunmen. Her husband and child were able to escape, but Yarden has been missing ever since.

While the exact names of the hostages to be released has yet to be publicized by the government, officials say those freed will be Israeli, some of whom have dual nationality. The Israeli military says Hamas is holding roughly 240 hostages in Gaza, including foreign nationals from dozens of countries, who were taken during the October 7 attack.

Among the dual nationals is Abigail Edan, a 3-year-old Israeli American who was orphaned when her parents were killed by Hamas. Liz Hirsh Naftali, Edan’s great-aunt, told CNN about the “excruciating” wait to hear if her great-niece is coming home.

“For our family we have spent the last seven weeks worrying, wondering, praying, hoping,” she said. The family is holding on to hope that Abigail will be one of the first to be released.

Abigail is the youngest American hostage. She has a 6-year-old sister and 10-year-old brother, who saw their parents being murdered on October 7, Naftali said. They hid in a closet for 14 hours, she said.

Read more about the families who are awaiting the release of their loved ones.

A billboard in Jerusalem displays the portraits of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas militants in the October 7 attack, on November 22.

The Israel-Hamas truce is slated to begin at 10 a.m. local time (3 a.m. ET) on Thursday, an Israeli official told CNN Wednesday.

There is an option for the pause to last as long as 10 days, but Israeli officials believe it is unlikely to last that long.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said when the deal was approved that for every additional 10 hostages who are released, there will be an additional day of a pause in the fighting.

The Gaza hostage deal represents a rare moment of humanity in a conflict that has inflicted unfathomable violence on both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.

For the child and female hostages expected to be released during a pause in the fighting and their families, it represents everything — a chance of life seven weeks after a Hamas terror attack on Israeli soil slaughtered 1,200 people.

There were growing hopes, for example, on Tuesday night that American Avigail Idan, who turns four on Friday and whose mother and father were murdered in the attacks on October 7, could be among the first released.

“Our family is hopeful, it’s been 45 days since (Avigail) was abducted and taken to Gaza,” her great aunt Elizabeth Hirsh Naftali told CNN. “It’s excruciating. For our family, we have spent the last seven weeks – seven weeks – worrying, wondering, praying, hoping.”

Hamas said in a statement that 150 Palestinian prisoners would be released from Israeli jails.

The complex agreement was brokered by Qatar, which served as an intermediary between Hamas and Israel in exhaustive negotiations with the close involvement of the United States, and was endorsed by the Israeli cabinet early Wednesday local time.

Nothing is certain until the hostages start coming out. And the sequencing of the agreement means there will be a constant risk of incidents that could disrupt it.

But the weeks of negotiations at least proved that intense diplomatic efforts can accomplish something concrete, even if the agreement is far from the ceasefire that Israel’s critics are demanding internationally after a conflict that produced harrowing scenes of Israeli kids killed in their beds and Palestinian hospitals under Israeli fire.

Read Collinson’s full analysis of the Israel-Hamas hostage deal.

Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Association, speaks during an interview at his office in Ramallah, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on November 15.

The vast majority of the Palestinian prisoners listed as eligible for release in exchange for Israeli hostages are male teenagers aged 16 to 18 – children under the United Nations definition – although a handful are as young as 14. Some 33 are women, according to a CNN count.

The list of 300 names published by Israel also lists the charges under which the prisoners are being held.

Throwing stones and “harming regional security” are among the most common charges, but others include support for illegal terror organizations, illegal weapons charges, incitement, and at least two accusations of attempted murder.

Some of the people are listed as members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, but many of the prisoners are not listed as belonging to any organization.

On Tuesday, Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs, said 350 children and 85 women were being held in Israeli jails, out of a total of about 8,300 prisoners.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza as seen from southern Israel, on November 22.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are continuing their offensive in the Gaza Strip ahead of the agreed truce.

An IDF spokesperson said on Wednesday that about 400 tunnel shafts have been uncovered and destroyed since October 7.

The spokesperson said it has carried out further attacks on Hamas infrastructure and continues to target fighters.

It also says ground troops have carried out raids in Sheikh Za’id in northwest Jabalya.

Many leaders around the globe have been calling for a pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas in recent weeks. Following the news that Israel’s government agreed to a hostage deal on Wednesday morning, there was one word on many politicians’ tongues: progress.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday night that the talks marked “significant progress” but said the country would not “rest as long as Hamas continues to hold hostages in Gaza.”

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken talks to the media at Ankara Esenboga Airport in Ankara, Turkey, after his meetings with his Turkish counterparts on November 6.

The United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron described the agreement between Israel and Hamas as a “crucial step towards providing relief to the families of the hostages and addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.” 

Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong has also hailed the deal as a sign of progress.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong speaks during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Post Ministerial conference with Australia in Jakarta on July 13, 2023. (Photo by

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel said they welcomed the breakthrough deal between Israel and Hamas on the release of hostages, Michel adding that he was “grateful to Qatar and Egypt who helped broker it.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the deal as “the first good news from Gaza in a very long time,” and added that Russia has consistently advocated for a truce and humanitarian pauses.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said they hoped the deal “will help to alleviate the difficult humanitarian crisis, de-escalate the conflict and ease tensions.”

Qatar — a key negotiator — said it hoped the pause in fighting could help pave the way towards a long-term solution.

Mohammed Al-Khulaifi, Minister of State at Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that the country’s priority was now working on efforts to secure a “long-term ceasefire, end the war and work towards lasting peace.”

That sentiment was echoed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who “welcomed the success” of the Egyptian-Qatari-American mediation in implementing a humanitarian truce, but renewed his commitment to finding a “final and sustainable” solution.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi speaks while meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at Al-Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo, Egypt, on October 15.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also welcomed the hostage deal – but renewed his calls for a full ceasefire, according to state-run Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Remember: Israel and Hamas have agreed to a four-day humanitarian pause to allow the release of at least 50 hostages – women and children – held in Gaza. The deal will also involve the release of 150 Palestinians, including women and children, held in Israeli prisons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu grabbed Brett McGurk’s arm as he walked out of a tense meeting of the Israeli Cabinet over securing the release of hostages Hamas was holding in Gaza.

“We need this deal,” Netanyahu told the White House Middle East coordinator a week ago in Tel Aviv, according to sources familiar with the exchange.

Earlier that day, Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden had agreed over the phone that they were ready to accept the broad contours of a deal for Hamas to release 50 women and children who were being held hostage.

A major breakthrough had come two days earlier on November 12. Hamas – after refusing for days – had relented in offering identifying information about several dozen hostages, such as their age, gender and nationalities. The information confirmed that numerous children and toddlers had been taken captive on October 7.

Even though Israel and the US believed there were more than 50 women and children hostages, both sides agreed that they needed to move ahead with securing the release of those 50 – and hope that the deal might incentivize Hamas to release more after the initial group.

But hours after McGurk’s meeting with Netanyahu, everything went dark.

Read the full story behind the painstaking negotiations here.

Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, in Amman, Jordan, on October 17.

The Palestinian president welcomed the hostage deal reached by Israel and Hamas under foreign mediation, which includes a four-day pause in hostilities, but called for a full ceasefire, according to state-run Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

Abbas called for a wider “implementation of a political solution based on legitimacy and international law, which leads to an end to the occupation and the Palestinian people’s attainment of their freedom, independence, and sovereignty,” Al-Sheikh said, according to Wafa.

A Palestine TV correspondent and 11 members of his family were killed in an airstrike on his home in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on November 3.

The number of journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict since October 7 has increased to at least 53, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). 

The death toll is comprised of 46 Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese, the CPJ said in a statement Tuesday.

The latest journalists to lose their lives were a reporter and a photojournalist both working for Lebanese media outlet Al Mayadeen. They were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Tuesday, Al Mayadeen said in a statement.

The Israeli military said it is reviewing the incident.

The journalism advocacy group says the conflict since October 7 has been the deadliest period for journalists since it started tracking data in 1992.

“CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened,” the statement added.

Previous reporting from CNN’s Richard Allen Greene and Eve Brennan 

A woman stands at a bus stop near a sign calling for the release of hostages by Hamas in Gaza, on November 21, in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli government published the names of 300 Palestinian prisoners set for possible release as part of a wider agreement to release hostages held in Gaza. 

The list included further details, including their ages and reason for arrest. 

Under the terms of the recently negotiated deal, the Israeli Cabinet Secretariat said 150 Palestinian prisoners would be released in four stages over four days, subject to at least 10 Israeli abductees being handed over to Israeli security forces each day. Israel said there would be a lull in the fighting during those four days. 

While the initial agreement said the hostages in Gaza will be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails, the list published Wednesday by the Israeli government includes 300 names because Israel is offering the possibility that there will be a second phase of exchanges of prisoners for hostages.

In a statement, the Israeli Cabinet Secretariat said that phase two would work the same way as the initial exchange, including the release of Palestinians in groups subject to the freeing of at least 10 Israelis per day and a lull in the fighting. 

The publication of the Israeli list of names on Wednesday morning (shortly before 1 a.m. ET) starts a 24-hour clock during which legal petitions against the release of Palestinian prisoners can be filed to Israel’s Supreme Court. It is not clear whether any legal objections will be filed or whether the Supreme Court would agree to hear them if so. 

Maria Zakharova attends an event in Saint Petersburg on June 16, 2022.

Russia “welcomes” the agreement between Israel and Hamas on a four-day humanitarian pause, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Russian media.

“This is what Russia has been calling for since the beginning of the escalation of the conflict,” Zakharova said in a comment to Russian media outlet Izvestia, which was posted on her official Telegram channel Wednesday. 

What the deal entails: Israel and Hamas have reached a breakthrough deal in their ongoing conflict for a four-day humanitarian pause to allow the release of at least 50 hostages – women and children – held in Gaza, key negotiator Qatar said Wednesday.

The deal, which hinged on approval from Israel’s cabinet and follows weeks of negotiations that included the United States and Egypt, marks a breakthrough nearly seven weeks since Israel declared war on Hamas.

Penny Wong speaks in New York on September 19.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong hailed the breakthrough deal between Israel and Hamas on Wednesday, calling it a sign of “progress.”

“Details are still emerging but if the deal holds, it will see progress, as I said, on the calls we have made and alongside many in the international community with the release of 50 hostages and 300 aid trucks entering Gaza per day as well as a pause in fighting,” she added.

Wong also acknowledged the “persistent brokering efforts” of the United States, Qatar and Egypt in helping achieve the deal.

What the deal entails: The agreement would see the release of at least 50 hostages in Gaza — women and children — and a four-day pause in Israel’s air and ground assault on the enclave, according to the Israeli government.

The hostages will be released in exchange for a number of Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails, key negotiator Qatar said in a statement.

Qatar said the pause also will allow for a “larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid including fuel designated for humanitarian needs.”

Antony Blinken attends an event in San Francisco, California, on November 17. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday night that the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas “marks significant progress” but vowed, “we will not rest as long as Hamas continues to hold hostages in Gaza.” 

“My highest priority is the safety and security of Americans overseas, and we will continue our efforts to secure the release of every hostage and their swift reunification with their families,” Blinken said.

The agreement includes a four-day pause in Israel’s assault on Gaza, in exchange for the release of 50 hostages — women and children. A number of Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails will also be released, Qatar said in a statement.

No details have been shared on which hostages will be released in the initial batch. An estimated 239 hostages are being held in Gaza, abducted during Hamas’ bloody October 7 attacks on Israel.

Israel and Hamas have reached a breakthrough deal in their ongoing conflict for a four-day humanitarian pause to allow the release of at least 50 hostages – women and children – held in Gaza, key negotiator Qatar said Wednesday.

The deal, which hinged on approval from Israel’s cabinet and follows weeks of negotiations that included the United States and Egypt, marks a breakthrough nearly seven weeks since Israel declared war on Hamas.

The hostages will be released in exchange for a number of Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails, Qatar said in a statement. The start of the pause will be announced within the next 24 hours.

According to a Hamas statement, the deal will include the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners and allow the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to Gaza.

While the exact names of the hostages to be released has yet to be publicized, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said they are all Israelis, though some have dual nationalities. After the deal was announced, US President Joe Biden said it “should bring home additional American hostages.”

Here are other headlines from the war:

Family and friends of Israelis being held in Gaza at a demonstration in Tel Aviv, Israel on November 21.

Families of hostages held by Hamas will face a “terrible week” ahead of knowing whether their loved ones will be among the hostages released, one relative told CNN after Israel and Hamas reached a breakthrough deal early Wednesday.

“My family, like all the other families, is going to go through a terrible week. We don’t know if my cousin is going to be amongst those released in this round,” said Maya Roman, the cousin of a female hostage.

“As it seems, we’re going to have to wait and see every day who are going to be released the following day and that’s going to be extremely hard,” Roman said, adding that it was causing tensions among the different families.

Despite this, Roman said she is “proud” of her government, telling CNN: “I think this is a good deal.”

The deal: In a statement, Qatar — which played a key mediation role in negotiations between Israel and Hamas — confirmed the deal would see the release of 50 civilian women and children currently held in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons.

Qatar, which played a key mediation role in negotiations between Israel and Hamas, has issued its own statement announcing what it called “an agreement for a humanitarian pause.”

In line with earlier announcements from both Hamas and the Israeli government, the statement from Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the pause in fighting would last four days, with the possibility of being extended longer.

It said the start of the pause would be announced within 24 hours.

What’s in the deal: The statement confirmed the deal sees the release of 50 civilian women and children currently held in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinian women and children detained in Israeli prisons. 

The statement did not put a number on how many Palestinians would be released, but appeared to indicate the number would increase the longer the truce agreement is in place.

It also said the pause will allow for a “larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid including fuel designated for humanitarian needs.” 

Israel has been highly reluctant to allow fuel into Gaza since October 7, and only agreed at the weekend to allow minimal deliveries to power sewage facilities and water supply systems.

The statement said Qatar was committed “to ongoing diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions, stop the bloodshed, and protect civilians,” and paid tribute to Egypt and the United States for helping get the deal over the line.

A sign illuminates a square calling for the release of Israelis being held in Gaza on November 21, in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli cabinet meeting to discuss the hostage release deal lasted about six hours – and topics ranged from the morality of the proposed deal to its battlefield implications, an Israeli official told CNN’s Jeremy Diamond.

Another government official, Gal Hirsch, told CNN that far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who had previously voiced concerns about the deal, ended up supporting it.

Only two people voted against the agreement, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Hirsch, who acts as a hostage coordinator for Israel, said he had told the hostages’ families early Wednesday the government “will do everything to bring all the hostages back home.”

The timeline for the first hostages to cross into Israel was still unclear, he added.

What the deal entails: The agreement would see the release of at least 50 hostages in Gaza, women and children, in exchange for a four-day pause in Israel’s air and ground assault on the enclave, according to the Israeli government.

The deal will also include the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners — women and children — held in Israeli jails, according to a Hamas statement. It would also allow the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to Gaza.

One hundred and fifty Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails will be released as part of a deal reached with Israel over hostages held in Gaza, according to a Hamas statement early Wednesday.

The prisoners are women and children, the statement said.

Hamas confirmed the deal, brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediation, which will see the release of 50 hostages, also women and children, held in Gaza since October 7. It also said the agreement involves the entry of hundreds of trucks carrying aid relief, medical supplies and fuel to all parts of Gaza.

IDF spokesperson Lt. Jonathan Conricus said the full list of relevant prisoners has yet to be released, but unlike the last hostage deal, this group does not include anyone who was involved in the October 7 attacks. 

“The mastermind behind many of the horrible things that are unfolding since October 7th, was indeed released in the latest hostage deal,” Conricus told CNN. “What I know is that the Palestinians that are being freed from prisons are not at all that caliber of terrorists that we were talking about before, not serious offenders.”

Conricus suggested the list of prisoners included in the deal will be released soon, following a short window for appeals. 

Though Israel’s cabinet early Wednesday approved an agreement for the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a four-day truce in fighting, the “details on when the pause starts are still unclear,” a diplomatic source familiar with the talks told CNN.

The Israeli government statement confirming the deal held out the potential for the truce to extend beyond the four-day period, in exchange for more hostages released.

The Israeli government held out the potential for a truce to extend beyond the original four-day period, saying in a statement that an extra day would be added to the truce for each 10 additional hostages available for release.

The statement also made clear that Israel plans to resume its air and ground campaign “to complete the eradication of Hamas” once this round of hostage releases concludes.

Israel’s cabinet approved a deal that would see the release of some hostages from Gaza on Tuesday in exchange for a four-day truce in Israel’s air and ground campaign in the enclave. The deal was approved by a significant majority of the cabinet, a government source told CNN.

Israel’s cabinet has approved a deal that would see the release of at least 50 hostages — women and children — held in Gaza by Hamas, in exchange for a four-day truce in Israel’s air and ground campaign in the enclave, according to an Israeli government statement.

The statement held out the potential for the truce to extend beyond the original four-day period, saying that an extra day would be added to the truce for each 10 additional hostages available for release.

The statement also made clear that Israel plans to resume its air and ground campaign “to complete the eradication of Hamas” once this round of hostage releases concludes.

The statement made no mention of the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, though it is understood this is also a key part of the deal. Earlier reports Tuesday suggested about 150 Palestinian prisoners — also predominantly women and children — would be released.

The deal was approved by the Israeli cabinet by a significant majority, a government source told CNN. 

A more detailed statement will be sent to families of the hostages later today, the statement read.

This post was updated with additional details from the Israeli government statement.

A UN-provided tent camp for Palestinians displaced by Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis, on November 19.

In its latest update on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the main United Nations agency in the Gaza Strip said that almost 1.7 million people have been displaced since October 7.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East said that 930,000 internally displaced people were sheltering in its premises across Gaza as of November 19. The shelters are already severely overcrowded and have no more room for new arrivals, it said.

The organization said the displacement of so many people was resulting in significant spread of diseases, including acute respiratory illness and diarrhea, instances of which have increased by 40% in the last two weeks.

Heavy rain and limited access to water and sanitation in Gaza are also posing a “serious threat of a mass disease outbreak” among children, the United Nations Children’s Fund warned Tuesday.   

On average, there is one shower unit for every 700 people and 160 people share a single toilet, according to UNRWA.

UNRWA also said it was told 120 liters of fuel would be allowed into Gaza every second day — but even that would only cover half of the critical daily requirement.

Without more fuel, the agency said it would be forced to handle a reduced number of aid trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossing daily into Rafah, and large parts of Gaza would continue to be flooded with sewage, further increasing risks of disease.

The agency also provided some other updates on its operations in Gaza. According to UNRWA, as of November 19:

CNN’s Niamh Kennedy in London contributed to this reporting.

Palestinians receive bags of flour at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) distribution center in the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza on November 21.

The United Nations has called for an immediate ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war but said it would welcome a pause in fighting for the organization to be able to get more aid into Gaza, according to to UN relief chief Martin Griffiths.

Griffiths comment comes after sources told CNN a deal to release hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for a pause in fighting in Gaza could be announced as soon as today.  

“It does seem this time that it’s much more likely than it has been in the past weeks. It does seem to be more confirmation from across the landscape that there’s going to be this release and an associated stoppage of fighting for a certain number of days,” the UN official said.  

Griffiths has described the humanitarian crisis in Gaza “the worst ever” he has seen during his long career at the UN working in many war zones.   

He went on to describe the scenes in Gaza a “complete and utter carnage.”   

“Nobody goes to school in Gaza, nobody knows what their future is. Hospitals have become places of war, not of curing. No, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this before,” Griffiths said.

Up to 50% of the buildings in northern Gaza and Gaza governorates have been damaged since October 7 in the Israel-Hamas war, according to an analysis of radar satellite data, called SAR, carried out by researchers at the City University of New York Graduate Center and Oregon State University.  

Here’s what researchers found about different regions in Gaza from October 7 to November 18:

Researchers also told CNN that since November 10, there has been a marked increase in the damage to buildings in the governorates of Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, where Israel has repeatedly told civilians from the north to flee to.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week that the country’s forces were in control of northern Gaza.  

The Israel Defense Forces have dropped leaflets on parts of southern Gaza, warning communities east of Khan Younis to “head towards known shelters,” indicating a potential expansion of the Israeli ground offensive south. 

About the satellite data: A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery is unlike normal satellite imagery. It is created by transmitting radar beams that are able to pass through clouds. The beams bounce off objects on the ground and echo back to the satellite; what they bounce off of is then mapped out by the satellite and the SAR image is created.