Israel-Palestine live: Israel says 39 more Palestinians freed under truce deal

The Swiss government has announced a draft law to ban Hamas by the end of February 2024.

"The Federal Council decided to draft a federal act banning Hamas, considering this to be the most appropriate response to the situation that has prevailed in the Middle East since October 7," the government said in a statement.

"The act will provide the federal authorities with the necessary tools to counter any Hamas activities or support for the organisation in Switzerland."

Activists from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) are holding a sit-in at the British parliament in London, demanding a "full ceasefire" in Gaza:

Sweden's prime minister has faced ridicule after appearing to just stop himself saying "Israel has the right to genocide" during a speech.

Ulf Kristersson was speaking to an audience in Gothenburg on Tuesday when he addressed the subject of Sweden's attitude to the war in Gaza.

"Sweden and the EU stand united in that Israel has a right to geno...self-defence," he said.

A number of audience members laughed at his mistake, while others started calling out "Has Israel the right to commit genocide?"

A doctor at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza said he and his colleagues were being ordered to evacuate by Israel without any clear plan for where to move staff and patients.

Speaking to Middle East Eye, Ahmed Mokhallalati, head of the hospital's plastic surgery department, said that the evacuation of the hospital was "totally unsafe" but they had no choice.

"The [Israeli army] told us that if you don't evacuate you put your life at risk, so we had to evacuate in this way," he said via WhatsApp, through a hacking cough.

He said the UN and WHO had arrived at the hospital on Wednesday, as an agreed truce began, with a "very minimum" number of vehicles.

"We have in the hospital around 269 patients, at least 150 of them need a wheelchair or they need to be sitting," he said.

He said the situation was "totally unplanned" and they had no real idea of where to take patients once they left the hospital.

"As everyone knows, the hospitals in the south of Gaza are full of patients, so there is no space to get any new patients," he said.

"There is nothing guaranteed about the safety of the people in the safety corridor, it's just like 'evacuate, evacuate' so they can make sure there is a command centre here for the [Israeli army]."

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said earlier that 14 of its ambulances had arrived at the hospital, accompanied by the UN and Doctors Without Borders (RSFG), to evacuate the wounded and patients from the hospital:

Hezbollah will adhere to the truce called between Israel and Hamas, a source from the organisation told Al-Jazeera on Wednesday.

"Hezbollah will adhere to the truce announced if the Israeli occupation forces adhere to it," the source told the outlet.

One of the last operating hospitals in Gaza received more than 60 dead bodies overnight, as Israeli air strikes continue to bombard the neighbourhood.

The director of Kamal Adwan hospital, Ahmed al-Kahlout, told Al Jazeera that the hospital did not have a "single drop of fuel" and staff worked using handheld searchlights.

“A lot of buildings have been badly affected. We need to keep in mind this hospital is now [the] only one operating hospital from Wadi Gaza till northern Gaza,” he said.

Oxfam has welcomed the news of a truce between Hamas and Israel but has warned that it is only a "band aid" that will not resolve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

Oxfam GB’s head of policy and advocacy, Katy Chakrabortty, said she hoped that the agreement could be the beginning of " a road toward a permanent ceasefire" but said that currently looked "distant".

“This pause of the relentless bombing and destruction that is causing such suffering to more than two million Palestinians is a welcome respite for the delivery of some humanitarian aid – but no more than that," she said in a statement.

"The next four days will be eaten up by a desperate emergency effort that can offer only very limited relief, not equal to the size of suffering and destruction and ultimately with no sustainability. This is a band-aid that will be ripped off a bleeding wound after four days."

A former Israeli interior minister has said that the "solution" for the situation in the Gaza Strip is for two million people to be removed from the enclave.

Speaking to Israeli TV, Ayalet Shaked said that other countries should be told to absorb refugees from Gaza.

"We need to take advantage of the destruction [to tell] the countries that each of them should take a quota, it can be 20,000 or 50,000," she told Channel 13.

"We need two million to leave. That's the solution for Gaza."

Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah said five of its members were killed in US air strikes on Wednesday.

The Iran-backed group said an attack struck its headquarters in Jurf al-Sakhr, southwest of Baghdad.

The US said it launched the strikes in response to attacks on American forces in Iraq.

"On the morning of November 22 in Iraq, US Central Command forces conducted discrete, precision strikes against two facilities in Iraq," said US Central Command in a statement.

"The strikes were in direct response to the attacks against US and Coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups, including the one in Iraq on November 21, which involved use of close-range ballistic missiles."

There have been regular attacks on US assets in Iraq since the outbreak of violence in Gaza, with Iraqi armed groups citing American support for Israel's bombardment of the enclave.

The Palestinian Authority has welcomed the announcement of an agreement between Hamas and Israel to swap detainees and pause fighting in Gaza.

"President Mahmoud Abbas and the leadership welcome the humanitarian truce agreement, value the Qatari-Egyptian effort made and reaffirm the call for a comprehensive cessation of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and the entry of humanitarian aid," senior official Hussein al-Sheikh wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

A temporary pause in fighting has been agreed between Hamas and Israel which will see 50 Israeli hostages released from Gaza in exchange for at least 150 Palestinians held in Israeli detention.

Hundreds of aid trucks are also set to enter the Gaza Strip as residents get a respite to the violence, which has seen the number of Palestinians killed cross 14,000, including at least 5,840 children.

The deal is widely expected to be approved despite opposition from far-right government officials, including Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir the Minister of National Security.

In other news:

• 'State of panic' as Israel orders evacuation of besieged Indonesian Hospital

• Another Israeli soldier killed in Gaza, bringing death toll to 69

• China, US and UK among those welcoming hostage deal and calling for further progress

• US launches airstrikes against Iran-backed groups in Iraq

• US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken set to visit Israel next week

A number of foreign governments have praised the hostage deal and truce agreed between Israel and Hamas, and called for further progress.

“We welcome the temporary ceasefire agreement between the parties concerned and hope that it will help ease the humanitarian crisis, contribute to de-escalation and reduce tensions," a Chinese government spokesperson, Mao Ning, told media on Wednesday.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron also welcomed the agreement.

"This agreement is a crucial step towards providing relief to the families of the hostages and addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza," Cameron said in a statement.

"I urge all parties to ensure the agreement is delivered in full."