6am AEDT, Sunday 26 November
What’s happening?
The first 13 Israeli hostages, plus 11 foreign nationals were released by Hamas on Friday afternoon, local time.
Hamas reportedly ‘delayed‘ the return of the next tranche of hostages. After Israel threatened to resume military operations if they weren’t released by midnight (9am AEDT) (plus ‘unspecified threats’ from Qatar), Hamas has now said they will release the hostages by midnight.
Background
The Israel Democracy Institute (which we featured in a ZFA Conversation) has released a poll, showing over 90 per cent of Jewish Israelis back the IDF’s operational goals of removing Hamas from power and returning the hostages.
Israel says it will remain in Gaza until all the hostages are returned.
