Israel-Palestine live: Israel and Palestinians agree to truce, hostage deal

“We have been working on getting hostages out for weeks. We’re now very close,” Biden told reporters.

“We could bring some of those hostages home soon, but nothing is done until everything is done,” he added.

The deal being discussed would see around 50 Hamas-held captives, mostly women and children, in exchange for 150 Palestinian captives, mostly women and children, being held in Israeli prisons. 

The celebrated Palestinian essayist and poet, Mosab Abu Toha, held by Israeli forces on Sunday, was released today and re-joined his family in Gaza.

Toha was fleeing towards the south of Gaza with his family when the Israeli military detained him.

“Israeli soldiers beat him and he [is] getting medical treatment now and with his family,” said friends of Toha on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Jordan said on Tuesday that Israel had ordered the evacuation of a Jordanian field hospital in Gaza, but added that it would not heed the order.

Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh also said Jordan's army was increasing its presence along the border in view of the developments in Gaza, according to comments in state media.
 

The European Commission said on Tuesday a review of its development aid to Palestinians had found no evidence of funds going to Hamas and its programme would continue without delay.

"The review found no indications of EU money having directly or indirectly benefited the terrorist organisation Hamas," said Valdis Dombrovskis, commission executive vice president.

Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said on Tuesday that all countries should stop exporting arms to Israel during the Brics summit. 

Mohammed bin Salman made the comments at the virtual summit, where he said “The kingdom’s position is constant and firm; there is no way to achieve security and stability in Palestine except through the implementation of international decisions related to the two-state solution.”

He added that Saudi Arabia “rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians,” and that they demand “a serious and comprehensive peace process to solve the Palestinian issue”.
 

The Palestinian Red Crescent announced on Tuesday that Israeli bombing has killed at least four doctors in the al-Awda Hospital in north Gaza. 

Dozens of others were wounded in the bombing.

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf wrote to the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, on Tuesday, calling for the UK to officially recognise the State of Palestine to break the political impasse that has condemned Israelis and the Palestinians to successive cycles of violence.

The letter has also been sent to the leader of the opposition, Labour's Keir Starmer. 

The first minister will open the debate on a government motion that condemns the Hamas atrocities on 7 October, calls for the release of the hostages, and for all parties to agree to an immediate ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday progress was being made on the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

"We are making progress. I don't think it's worth saying too much, not at even this moment, but I hope there will be good news soon," he told reservists according to a statement from his office.

Netanyahu did not provide further details.
 

Egypt’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that continued Israeli bombing targeting displaced people in southern Gaza is to force them to leave the Strip. 

“Continued bombing targeting displaced people in the south has a clear objective, and that's to force Gaza’s residents to leave the Strip. Egypt has clearly declared its utter rejection of any enforced displacement attempt of Palestinians,” the statement read.

The Palestinian Red Crescent announced on Tuesday that two of its staff members were detained on Monday by Israeli forces.

The staff, identified as Ramadan Hossu and Fayez al-Ajrami, were passing through the checkpoint separating northern and southern Gaza when they were detained. 
 

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday that a Palestinian has succumbed to their wounds after being shot in the Balata refugee camp, near Nablus this morning. 

Israeli armed vehicles have been in the camp since the early morning, and Israeli forces have blocked off roads.
 

An open letter penned to US President Joe Biden from the head of Indonesia’s Medical Emergency Rescue Committee, the volunteer organisation that funds the besieged Indonesia Hospital in Gaza, has called out the US’s "double standards" and support of Israel. 

The letter, published on Monday, states: “What is happening in Palestine is closely related to issues of colonialism, humanity, apart from religion.

“It is very unfortunate that your siding with Israel by facilitating weapons of mass destruction has actually made the conflict even wider. Your action clearly contradicts various international treaties and agreements that apply to the existence of Palestine,” the letter adds.

“You have destroyed the international rules of the game, insulted the authority of the UN, torn apart the sense of justice, and hurt human values, and tarnished the face of human civilisation.”

Indonesia Hospital has been surrounded by Israeli tanks and besieged for four days, with conditions inside described as horrific, as anyone who moves is targeted by Israeli forces.

An Israeli strike on a car in southern Lebanon has killed four people near the southern city of Tyre in the second deadly attack on Tuesday, according to Lebanon’s state news agency. 

The strike took place around five miles south of Tyre and seven miles north of the border with Israel.

Earlier on Tuesday, two journalists and a civilian were killed in an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon. 
 

Palantir, a US spy-tech firm which has openly supported Israel's bombardment of Gaza, was awarded a contract worth £400 million by Britain's National Health Service to handle patient data. 

Last month, Palantir posted its support for Israel on social media and told shareholders in November that it was "one of a few companies in the world to stand up and announce our support for Israel, which remains steadfast." 

Announcing the company’s third-quarter profits on the same day, Alex Karp, Palantir’s chief executive and a co-founder of the company, said: “I am proud that we are supporting Israel in every way we can.”

A spokesperson for Health Workers for a Free Palestine, which has campaigned for Palestine over the last five weeks, said it was alarmed by the NHS's decision to award Palantir a contract to handle patient data. 

“Many would be rightly concerned that a third-party company is managing their medical data, let alone Palantir, whose interests are at odds with the British public, Palestinian people and our collective humanity,” said the spokesperson. 

"Palantir has come out in full support for Israel's bombardment of Gaza, received funding from the CIA, helped the NSA with their worldwide surveillance programme, and worked on artificial intelligence for US military drones.

"Businesses that trade in death should have no place in our healthcare system."

READ MORE: Military tech firm backing war in Gaza awarded NHS data contract

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati says that Israel is attempting “to silence the media” after two journalists and a civilian were killed in an air strike in south Lebanon earlier today. 

“This attack proves once again that there are no limits to Israeli crimes, and that its goal is to silence the media that exposes its crimes and attacks,” he said.