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

On the morning of the second day of the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli forces continued their weeks-long campaign of arresting Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

In several areas of the West Bank, including Qalqilya, Hebron, and near Jenin, Israel arrested several Palestinians, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

This comes after Israel released at least 39 Palestinian women prisoners on Friday. Since 7 October, Israel has arrested around 3,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian prisoners' rights NGO Addameer.

Israel’s military said in a Telegram post on Saturday that it shot down a surface-to-air missile fired from Lebanese territory.

According to Israel, the missile was launched at an Israeli remotely manned aircraft, which was not damaged and continued its mission. The missile did not cross into Israeli territory.

Around two hundred pro-Palestine protesters gathered outside the Tyson's Corner Center shopping mall in northern Virginia on the Friday after Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday and one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The demonstration included a crowd on foot outside the mall as well as a line of cars driving in loops on the street in front of the shopping centre. Protesters said the march was meant to remind shoppers about the Palestinian lives that have been lost during Israel's bombardment of Gaza, which the US has supported.

It wasn't the largest demonstration that has taken place in the area over the past few weeks, but the demonstrators ended up causing a traffic pileup for people trying to enter the mall, forcing police to come in to disperse the protesters in vehicles.

Here are some photos from the rally:

The United Nations said that the temporary truce between Hamas and Israel has allowed it to scale up its humanitarian assistance going into Gaza.

The UN humanitarian office provided the latest update on the aid going into Gaza:

• Two hundred trucks were dispatched from Nitzana to the Rafah crossing and 137 trucks of goods were offloaded by the Unrwa reception point in Gaza

• Nearly 130,000 litres of fuel and four trucks carrying cooking gas crossed into Gaza

Thailand's foreign ministry said on Saturday that 20 Thai nationals were still being held by Hamas.

This comes after 10 Thai nationals were freed during Friday's exchange of captives held by Hamas and Palestinians from Israeli jails.

Those released included one woman, according to photos released by the ministry.

Earlier reports said around 12 Thais had been released. A source briefed on the negotiations told Reuters that their release was unrelated to a truce deal with Israel and followed a separate track of talks with Hamas mediated by Egypt and Qatar.

At Hanan Barghouti’s home, her three daughters come to see their father every day to ease his loneliness.

Barghouti has been in Israeli custody for over two months.

And since 7 October, her family have not been allowed to contact her as Israeli prison authorities launched a brutal crackdown on Palestinian detainees. 

But as news of a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Palestinians started to emerge, the mood shifted at the Barghouti household.

Though the family has not officially been notified of Hanan’s release by Thursday night, the mother of seven and grandmother of 16 is set to walk free on Friday evening.

“When I saw her name on the list of those scheduled to be released, I felt great relief,” Muhammad Barghouti, Hanan’s husband, told Middle East Eye.

To read the full story from Fayha Shalash, one of our correspondents in the West Bank, click here.

US President Joe Biden has said that he expects Americans to be released as a part of the agreement struck between Israel and Hamas.

"13 Israeli hostages have been released along with several Thai nationals. And we expect that dozens more, including Americans, will be returned to their families," Biden said on X.

In his first full interview since becoming UK foreign secretary, David Cameron told the BBC that Israel will not be secure until there is "long-term safety, security and stability" for Palestinians.

Cameron, who was speaking from Ramallah, said that Israel needs to realise "it must act in a way that delivers its long-term security", which depends on "Palestinians living in peace and stability and security in this land at the same time".

He added that Israeli forces must abide by international humanitarian law, and Israel must crack down on the rising settler violence in the occupied West Bank.

"People are actually targeting and on occasion killing Palestinian civilians, it's completely unacceptable and those people responsible for that, it's not good enough just to arrest them, they need to be arrested, prosecuted and imprisoned. These are crimes."

You can watch the full interview on BBC here.

It's approaching 1 am in Gaza and the end of the first day of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas. 

Palestinians in Gaza were able to take a brief respite for the first time in seven weeks from Israel’s bombardment of the besieged enclave. 

Some went to the beach, while others returned to their homes to salvage what they could after nearly fifty days of fighting. 

Here’s what you need to know about this evening’s developments:

• Israel released at least 39 Palestinian women and children from Ofer prison as part of the truce deal. The figure includes 24 women and 15 teenagers imprisoned for offences such as throwing stones. 
• Hamas, in return, released the first group of hostages taken on 7 October. The hostages returned include 13 Israelis and 10 Thai nationals. 
• Hamas is expected to release 50 of its 240 hostages, mainly Israeli nationals, as part of the four-day truce deal. 
• Israel said it airlifted the 13 Israeli nationals from Egypt, where they will receive medical and psychological treatment. 
• Palestinians in the occupied West Bank flocked to the streets to celebrate the release of the women and children. Pictures showed some of the boys freed from Israeli prisons hoisted onto pickup trucks and given flags as crowds celebrated their release; while celebrations in occupied East Jerusalem were more lowkey due to Israeli restrictions on Palestinians celebrating the release of prisoners.
• US President Joe Biden welcomed the exchanges but noted that he didn't trust Hamas and said the swap was just the start.
• The UN Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday’s 137 trucks of goods was the “biggest humanitarian convey” received in Gaza since 7 October. The trucks included 129,000 litres of fuel and four trucks of gas.