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   Day Three information - 

Israel's top general has resigned, citing the security failures that allowed Hamas' 7 October 2023 attack as at least six Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli raid in the West Bank. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi has become the most prominent Israeli official to resign over the militant group’s attack when he announced his resignation today.

Meanwhile, the major operation launched by Israeli forces on the city of Jenin left at least six dead and dozens more wounded, Palestinian health officials said, just days into a fragile ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza. It comes as Donald Trump said he is “not confident” that the temporary truce will hold.

The newly-inaugurated US President also rescinded Biden-era executive orders that sanctioned far-right Israeli settlers for undermining peace in the territory.

Meanwhile, Hamas official Taher al-Nunu has said four female Israeli hostages will be released on Saturday in return for Palestinian prisoners in the second such exchange under the truce, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Guardian reported.

The devastated Strip continued to receive an influx of aid and goods on the second day of the ceasefire, with 915 trucks crossing into the coastal enclave, according to the UN, as shocked Palestinians began returning to what is left of their homes.

Yesterday, the relative of the first three Israeli women freed from captivity in the Strip issued public statements thanking those who made their release possible and pleading with the Israeli government to keep up the phased agreement that led to their loved ones’ release.

Key Points

• Israel’s top general resigns citing failures over Hamas attack that ignited war in Gaza
• Death toll from Israeli attack on Jenin rises to eight Palestinians
• Trump ‘not confident' ceasefire in Gaza will hold
• Trump rescinds sanctions on far-right Israeli settlers
• Hamas says four female Israeli hostages to be released on Saturday, according to      reports
• Palestinians      begin search for those buried under rubble as they return home
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UN welcomes ‘surge’ in aid into Gaza on day three of ceasefire – but warns massive needs remain

The UN has welcomed the “surge” in lifesaving humanitarian aid into Gaza on day three of the ceasefire – but warned that massive needs remain across the devastated enclave.

The UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Tuesday that aid is entering the terriroty “at scale” in line with the ceasefire agreement.

Aid trucks began entering Gaza “a few minutes after the deal entered into force on Sunday,” said OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke. “Up to now – these two first days of entry - there [have] been no reports of looting or attacks against aid workers.”

Islamic Jihad also condemns Israeli operation in Jenin

Islamic Jihad has also condemned the Israeli operation in Jenin.

The militant group, which is smaller and more radical than Hamas, said it reflected Israel's "failure to achieve its goals in Gaza". It said it was also a "desperate attempt" by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to save his governing coalition.

Full story: Israel’s top general resigns over 7 October Hamas attack – as military launches major West Bank offensive

16:30 , Tara Cobham

Israel's top general announced his resignation over the security failures that allowed Hamas to attack southern Israel on 7 October 2023 – saying he will stand down in March.

Lt General Herzi Halevi, the Israeli armed forces chief of staff, is the most prominent Israeli official to resign over the attack. The move comes just days into a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that was triggered by the attack, during which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 people taken hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed 47,000 Palestinians according to the enclave’s health ministry and forced 90 per cent of its 2.3 million residents from their homes. 

As part of a the first, six-week, phase of the Gaza ceasefire, 33 of the hostages still held in the territory are due to be released, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians held in Israeli jails. The first three hostages were released over the weekend, alongside 90 prisoners. A Hamas official told AFP that four women will be released this coming weekend, without naming them.

Chief international correspondent Bel Trew, in Jerusalem, and international editor Chris Stevenson report:

Starmer speaks with Netanyahu on third day of Israel-Hamas ceasefire

16:00 , Tara Cobham

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has spoken with Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as a ceasefire between his country and Hamas enters its third day.

Giving a readout of their phone call, a Downing Street spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister spoke to Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu today.

"The Prime Minister began by offering the UK's support for the hard-fought and long-awaited ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which has now entered its third day.

"He offered his personal thanks for the work done by the Israeli government to secure the release of the hostages, including British hostage Emily Damari. To see the pictures of Emily finally back in her family's arms was a wonderful moment but a reminder of the human cost of the conflict, he added.

"The leaders moved on to discuss the need to see the next stages of the ceasefire deal implemented in full and on schedule, including the release of the remaining hostages. The Prime Minister reiterated that it was vital to ensure humanitarian aid can now flow uninterrupted into Gaza, to support the Palestinians who desperately need it.

"Both agreed that we must work towards a permanent and peaceful solution that guarantees Israel's security and stability. The Prime Minister added that the UK stands ready to do everything it can to support a political process, which should also lead to a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.

"They agreed to continue their close co-operation on defense and security matters in support of wider stability in the region - particularly in the face of the ongoing threat posed by Iran."

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Ceasefire begins first phase

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect Sunday, halting more than 15 months of devastating war.  Israeli forces escorted three female hostages into Israeli territory. Hamas had released the hostages, the first of 33 set to be released during a six-week break in hostilities, to the International Committee of the Red Cross, who handed them off to the Israeli military.

Ninety Palestinians were to be released from Israeli prisons on Sunday, the first of 734 expected to be released.

The ceasefire was delayed by almost three hours on Sunday when Hamas failed to provide the list of the hostages it would release on the first day. During that delay, Gaza’s Civil Defense said, at least 19 people were killed as Israeli warplanes carried out strikes across the Gaza Strip. The names eventually were provided. The ceasefire has appeared to hold, with no reports of fighting.

David Mencer, a spokesman for Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate, described the mood in Israel on Sunday: “We are a nation collectively holding its breath. … We are a nation consumed by the plight of our hostages. We find ourselves all at once elated and dreading outcomes. For Israelis, this is an emotional roller coaster.”

First three of 33 hostages released

The three women identified by Hamas as the first to be released were taken hostage by the militant group on Oct. 7, 2023.

The three Israeli hostages — Romi Gonen, 24; Emily Damari, 28; and Doron Steinbrecher, 31 — were escorted by members of the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency back home, according to the IDF.

“Their families have been informed by the responsible authorities that they have reunited with our forces,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said.

Here’s what we know about them:

Gonen was attending the Nova music festival in southern Israel when Palestinian militants attacked on Oct. 7 and kidnapped her as she tried to escape, according to Israeli news outlets. Her mother said Gonen told her over the phone that she had been shot. Reuters reported that she was a dancer.

Damari, the only remaining British-Israeli citizen held in Gaza, was kidnapped from her home in Kfar Aza, aged 27, when Hamas militants stormed across the Israeli border on Oct. 7.

Her mother, Mandy, previously said her daughter was “shot in the hand, injured by shrapnel in her leg, blindfolded, bundled into the back of her own car” and driven to Gaza.

Steinbrecher, a veterinary nurse with dual Romanian-Israeli citizenship, was taken from her home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza in southern Israel on Oct. 7, when she was 30 years old. That day, she called her mother, Simona, and said she was hiding under her bed because someone had broken into her room, her mother said in an editorial for the Financial Times.

“Ten minutes later, she sent a voice message to her friends — a message that said only one thing: “They’ve got me, they’ve got me,” her mother wrote.

“I want her so badly to know that we’re all fighting for her,” her mother wrote in October, on the anniversary of her daughter’s kidnapping. “Doron, please, I’m begging you — keep fighting until we can reach you.”

Other Phases of the Ceasefire

This is just the beginning of Phase one of the ceasefire. This phase also includes:

• After a delay lasting nearly three hours, the first stage of the three-phase agreement began after 11:15 a.m. local time on Sunday. According to Qatar's Foreign Minister this stage includes a 42-day ceasefire of hostilities for both sides.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would be ready to fight “if necessary” and that President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump gave Israel “full backing” to do so if further negotiations with Hamas fell apart.
• Three hostages are expected to be released by Hamas on Sunday, with 30 more set to be released throughout the rest of the first phase of the deal. Two Americans — Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen — are slated for release in the first phase, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity under rules set by the White House.
• The hostages are to be transferred by Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which said it was “ready and willing to undertake all required aspects of this operation.” The Red Cross will then hand over the hostages to the IDF within Gaza.
• Thirty Palestinian prisoners will be freed for every civilian hostage released. Palestinians convicted of certain charges, including murder and manufacturing weapons that were used for killing, will be released on the condition that they are transferred to Gaza or abroad and do not return for three years or permanently, depending on their cases, Israel said.
• The first phase will also include a “withdrawal and redeployment of Israeli forces outside densely populated areas,” the Qatari ministry said.Internally displaced people in Gaza will be allowed to return to their homes.
• Israeli forces will maintain “full control” over the Philadelphi Corridor under the terms of the agreement, Netanyahu said, citing the need to prevent potential weapons or hostage smuggling. The corridor — a sticking point in      prior negotiations — is a narrow, nine-mile strip of land that runs along the Egypt-Gaza border that includes the Rafah Crossing.
• A much-needed surge of humanitarian aid is also expected to enter the besieged enclave More than 500 trucks of humanitarian aid will be delivered to Gaza every day under the terms of the deal, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has said. About half of those supplies will be diverted to northern Gaza, he added, where conditions have rapidly deteriorated in recent months amid ntense fighting.

Sixty people remain hostage in Gaza. They are believed to be alive, but Israel has not given the full basis for its estimates. They have been in captivity for 466 days.

One hundred and seventeen have been freed or rescued. A total of 78 hostages were freed in an exchange deal with Israel for Palestinian prisoners; 27 foreign and dual nationals were released outside the deal. Israel has rescued eight hostages in military operations. Hamas militants released four women for “humanitarian reasons.”

The hostage whose death was most recently confirmed by Israel is Hamza Alziadna bring to 74 death toll. There are 34 hostages reported killed whose bodies have not been recovered and remain in Gaza, including children, women, and babies.

Israel has said at least three hostages were killed in its own operations and said that it was “highly likely” that at least three others were killed “as a result of a byproduct of an IDF airstrike” in late 2023. Hamas has said that Israeli strikes have also killed other hostages. 

While Hamas is thought to hold most of the hostages, some are believed to be held by other militant groups, including Palestinian Islamic Jihad, whose fighters also took part in the Oct. 7 attack.

The number of hostages who have died in captivity and the ages, genders and nationalities of those remaining in Gaza are unclear. Israel has indicated that the majority of those remaining have Israeli or dual citizenship and are male.

Three American hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza (two of ;which are scheduled to b e released in phase one), and the bodies of four others are still being held there. Washington is seeking an accounting of their deaths, according to the State Department. There are six Thai citizens and one Nepali citizen still believed to be in captivity.

The only children on Israel’s list of remaining hostages are Kfir Bibas, 1, and his brother Ariel, 5. Israel has said it is assessing Hamas’s claims that the Bibas children and their mother, Shiri, were killed. Yarden Bibas, Shiri’s husband and the father of the two children, is also being held hostage in Gaza and is believed to be alive.

We will be keeping a close watch on the progress of this ceasefire and release of hostages. Stay tuned.