Live: Israeli forces detonate 20 homes in Jenin
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Good evening Middle East Eye readers,
The blog will soon be closing. Here is what happened today:
- Hamas’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Thursday night the killing of its military leader, Mohammed Deif, and deputy military commander Marwan Issa in combat
- Hamas has freed three Israeli and five Thai captives in Gaza on Thursday as Israel began releasing 110 Palestinian prisoners after an initial delay
- Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza and the West Bank today to greet the 110 prisoners, including 30 children, that were released from Israeli prisons today
- Israeli drones have dropped leaflets on the Gaza Strip warning Palestinians not to hold flags or banners or celebrate the release of Palestinian prisoners in any way
- UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Thursday demanded that 2,500 children be immediately evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment with the guarantee that they will be able to return to their families and communities
- Itamar Ben Gvir, the former Israeli national security minister who resigned over the ceasefire deal, said Israel did not achieve "a complete victory" in Gaza in response to the scenes of the captives' handover in Khan Younis
- Israeli forces arrested 26 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank early Thursday, according to Wafa news agency
Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza and the West Bank today to greet the 110 prisoners, including 30 children, that were released from Israeli prisons earlier today.
The prisoners were released in exchange for three Israeli and five Thai captives that were held in Gaza by Hamas.
The military wing of Hamas, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Thursday the death of its longtime chief of staff, Mohammed Deif, a man who eluded Israeli capture for decades and was said to move like a ghost, thus earning the moniker "The Guest" or "Deif" in Arabic.
Israel declared it had killed the 59-year-old Deif in an air strike in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza in July, but there had been no confirmation from Hamas.
Given the uncertainty, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest in November anyway, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, alongside warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the now former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
Israel killed two other Hamas leaders, Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, before their warrants could materialise.
Deif, whose real name is Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, is believed by many to have been one of the planners of the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel. The attacks killed at least 1,139 people, and 250 others were taken as captives back to Gaza.
Read more: Hamas confirms death of military chief Mohammed Deif
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the occupied West Bank has said two Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire in the Jenin refugee camp.
Their identities have reportedly not yet been confirmed.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Thursday demanded that 2,500 children be immediately evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment with the guarantee that they will be able to return to their families and communities.
"I was deeply moved by the testimonies and impressed by the dedication of 4American doctors that have worked in Gaza. 2,500 children must be immediately evacuated with the guarantee that they will be able to return to their families and communities", he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
There is “almost nothing left” of Gaza and rebuilding the enclave could take 10 to 15 years, US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff told Axios in an interview on Thursday.
"People are moving north to get back to their homes and see what happened and turn around and leave ... there is no water and no electricity. It is stunning just how much damage occurred there,” Witkoff told Axios.
Witkoff visited the Netzarim corridor in Gaza on Wednesday before holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the next phase of the deal with Hamas.
The UN Palestinian relief agency, Unrwa, is continuing to deliver assistance and services in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem on Thursday, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, as a ban on the agency in Israel came into effect.
Hamas’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Thursday night the killing of its military leader, Mohammed Deif, and deputy military commander Marwan Issa in combat.
Israel initially announced in August 2024 that Deif had been killed in a July air strike, but his death had not been confirmed since.
According to the Israeli military, Issa was killed in March last year. At the time, senior Hamas officials told Al Jazeera that the group’s political bureau had not received evidence of Issa’s death.
Chief of al-Qassam Brigades Abu Obeida also confirmed the killing of several other Hamas military commanders, including Ghazi Abu Tamaa, the commander of weapons and combat services, Raed Thabet, commander of manpower and head of supplies unit, and Rafei Salama, the commander of the Khan Younis Brigade.
Freed Palestinian prisoner and co-leader of the armed group Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Zakaria Zubeidi, has arrived in the occupied West Bank following his release from Israeli prison.
Zubeidi escaped from prison in 2021 by digging a tunnel with a spoon with three other inmates but was later re-captured.
He also co-founded the Palestinian "Freedom Theatre" in Jenin.
Palestinians, for whom Zubeidi has emerged as a symbol of resistance, have gathered to greet him upon his arrival in Ramallah.
Hamas has freed three Israeli and five Thai captives in Gaza on Thursday as Israel began releasing 110 Palestinian prisoners after an initial delay.
German-Israeli captive Arbel Yehud, 29, who was captured from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October 2023, is now en route to the hospital.
Another Israeli captive, Gadi Moses, 80, was also released.
Israel prevented the travel of a number of families of the 70 Palestinian prisoners whom it deported from the West Bank to other countries last week in violation of the exchange deal with Hamas.
The families of these prisoners told MEE that they received assurances that facilitating their travel was one of the terms of the exchange deal, but Israel did not adhere to it, prevented them from doing so, and even insulted them.
Read more: Israel prevents families of deported Palestinians from travelling to meet them
Israeli drones have dropped leaflets on the Gaza Strip warning Palestinians not to hold flags or banners or celebrate the release of Palestinian prisoners in any way, Al Jazeera has reported.
This comes as 110 Palestinian prisoners are released in the occupied West Bank in exchange for the Israeli and Thai captives released earlier on Thursday.
Israel has begun releasing Palestinian prisoners, as Red Cross buses are filmed leaving Ofer prison in Beitunia in the occupied West Bank.
Israel is scheduled to release 110 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 children.
An automated social media profile that typically spread pro-Israel talking points on X has recently gone rogue, turning against the accounts it once promoted.
FactFinderAI, developed to harness the power of artificial intelligence to promote Israel’s talking points during its war on Gaza, started criticising pro-Israel accounts, including the Israeli government.
The account went as far as denying some acts committed by Hamas in its 7 October 2023 attack on Israel and said Israeli soldiers were “white colonizers in apartheid Israel”.
Read more: 'White colonizers': Pro-Israel AI account turns against Zionism
Twelve Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli soldiers in Beitunia, near the prison in the West Bank where Palestinian prisoners are due to be released later on Thursday.
Two Palestinians were wounded by live bullets, two by rubber bullets and eight by tear gas, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.
Israeli soldiers often attack crowds that gather near prisons to celebrate the release of Palestinian prisoners.
