what to remember from Thursday, November 30

Despite pressure from American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the truce has still not been extended, although it expires on Friday at 7 a.m.

A day marked by the release of hostages and an ever-precarious truce. Eight Israeli hostages were released on Thursday November 30 by Hamas, including a Franco-Israeli woman, Mia Schem. But despite pressure from the American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, the truce had still not been extended at the end of the day, although it expires on Friday at 7 a.m. Here’s what to remember from the day.

A seventh group of hostages released, including a French woman

Two young Bedouins and six women aged 21 to 41, including a Franco-Israeli, Mia Shem. Eight Israeli hostages were released Thursday, November 30 by Hamas. To these eight hostages, we must add two Russian-Israeli women released on Wednesday, bringing the total of hostages counted in Thursday’s exchange to ten, in accordance with the terms of the exchanges agreed between the belligerents.

These releases bring to 110 the number of hostages released, Israelis and foreigners, or more than 45% of the approximately 240 people sequestered in Gaza since their kidnapping on October 7. Among them, 80 women, children and young people under 19 have been released since Friday, in exchange for the release of 210 Palestinian prisoners, as part of the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas. Thirty other Palestinian detainees are to be released overnight from Thursday to Friday.

Also released, outside the framework of the agreement, were 23 Thais, a Filipino and a Russian-Israeli. Five hostages had previously been released in October, before the truce.

A truce still not extended

The American Secretary, Antony Blinken, called, Thursday, November 30, for the extension of the truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip to “an eighth day and beyond“. “Clearly we want to see this process continue to move forward,” he told the press in Tel Aviv after a visit to Israel and the West Bank. “We want an eighth day and beyond,” he said while the truce renewed since November 24 should theoretically end Friday at 7 a.m. and that negotiations continue.

An attack claimed by Hamas in Jerusalem

The Islamist movement Hamas claimed responsibility for an attack in Jerusalem which left three dead on Thursday, November 30. Three Israelis, including two women, were killed at a bus stop in West Jerusalem in an attack carried out by two Palestinians affiliated with the terrorist group. In a statement, Hamas announced that the two attackers were members of its armed wing and originally from Sour Baher, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel. Israeli police confirmed that the attackers, two brothers, had been shot dead.