Senior officials from the US and Israeli intelligence services are in Qatar to discuss possible next steps in the truce, both Reuters and AFP news agencies are reporting.

The director of the CIA and Mossad are meeting with Qatar's prime minister in Doha to "build on progress" of the recent 48-hour extension to the temporary ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reports.

Egyptian officials were also present, according to AFP's reporting on the meeting. Both agencies are citing a source briefed on the visit.

Qatar has taken a leading role in mediating negotiations between Hamas and Israel since the war broke out on 7 October.

Hugo Bachega
BBC Middle East correspondent

As the Israel-Hamas truce seems to hold for a fifth day, more desperately needed aid is finding its way into Gaza. But the humanitarian crisis continues.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that more people could die from disease than from bombings in the territory if the health system is not repaired quickly.

"[There are] no medicines, no vaccination activities, no access to safe water and hygiene and no food. We saw a very high number of cases of diarrhoea among infants,” Margaret Harris, a WHO spokeswoman, said.

Aid groups are calling for additional crossing points to be opened, and for the temporary ceasefire truce to be extended. Over the first days of the truce, 800 aid trucks entered Gaza from Egypt, according to US officials. This is an increase in comparison with previous days, when the territory was under intense Israeli bombardment, but still just a fraction of the number of trucks that would be allowed in before the war.

Meanwhile, the pause in hostilities will also see the release of more Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli authorities have notified the families of 10 hostages due to be freed later. In return, 30 Palestinians are expected to be released from Israeli jails.

Around 170 people remain captive in Gaza, including women and children, more than 50 days after their abduction. The Biden administration, which was involved in negotiating the truce, says it will work for more extensions to the deal, until all hostages are freed.

But one of the possible obstacles is that Hamas says it is not holding all of them, and that some are with other factions and groups, their whereabouts apparently unknown.

Image source, Handout

In the last hour we've had confirmation that one of the men believed to have been taken hostage by Hamas on 7 October was in fact killed in the attack.

Ravid Katz, 51, had been missing from Kibbutz Nir Oz after going to fight Hamas with the kibbutz security team, the Times of Israel previously said.

Yoni Asher - his brother-in-law - has now released a statement on social media saying he has been informed that Katz was killed 7 October. Asher's wife and two daughters were taken hostage and released by Hamas released on Friday under the Gaza truce deal.

In a statement, Asher says: "Ravid lived in Kibbutz Nir Oz, was a man of education, of the beautiful land of Israel, a wonderful father to Shahar, Shira, and little Alma who is six-months-old, and a partner to Revital. We will always remember him."

Image source, Reuters

The ongoing ceasefire truce has meant about 200 lorries carrying humanitarian aid a day have been able to get into Gaza, the Palestine Red Crescent has told the BBC - up from an average of about 45 a day in the weeks following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.

Red Crescent spokeswoman Nebal Farsakh tells the BBC News Channel that supplies have also been able to get to northern Gaza which had been "completely denied access to humanitarian aid" and is where fighting has been heaviest.

Farkash says the aid amounts to only minimal humanitarian support but much more is needed, but that it should make a difference to the hundreds of thousands of people still in northern Gaza.

While we wait for more news of today's expected hostage release, we've got some video footage to share from one of last night's reunions.

French-Israeli dual national Eitan Yahalomi, 12, was freed on Monday and hugged his mum as they saw each other for the first time in months.

His mother, Batsheva, told the BBC earlier this month that Eitan and his father - who is still missing - were taken to Gaza by Hamas on the back of motorbikes during the 7 October attack.

Image source, EPA

Relatives of a 10-month old baby and a four-year-old being held captive in Gaza with their parents urged negotiators to "do whatever they can" to get them home.

Yarden Bibas, his wife Shiri - a kindergarten teacher - and their two young sons, Ariel and Kfir, were among those kidnapped during Hamas's 7 October attack on Israel.

Yarden's sister, Ofri, called on the Israeli government, Qatar and Egypt to get her family on the list of hostages due to be released today.

At a news conference earlier she said the family "can't stay there anymore" and that every day is a risk for their mental and physical condition.

"Everyday there is a danger to their life. They must be released as soon as possible," she told reporters.

Ofri said they already know "today they are not included" on the list - and it's her belief that they're having problems reaching them to organise the release.

Qatar is focused on further extending Hamas’s temporary ceasefire deal with Israel, based on the militant group’s ability to continue releasing 10 hostages per day, an official has said.

The temporary ceasefire – which Qatar is mediating through talks with Israel and Hamas - was extended by 48 hours yesterday afternoon, and is now on its fifth day.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari also said Qatar “cannot validate” the number of remaining hostages beyond the 20 set to be released by Hamas on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hamas has previously said some hostages are being held by smaller groups and they need to locate them.

Al-Ansari also said there have been “minimal breaches” of the truce, but that these have not threatened the overall agreement.

Image source, Family Handout

One of the hostages released early in the exchange deal was Yafa Adar, who was kidnapped from Nir Oz kibbutz. A video of her being driven to Gaza in a golf kart by armed men later went viral on social media.

Her granddaughter, Adva Ardar, says the 85-year-old returning home was a "dream coming true".

"We were waiting for this moment for the last 50 days, just to be able to hug her and smell her," she tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Adva says her "superhuman" grandmother is healthy and has been talking and asking about what happened in her community.

She explains Yafa believed all her relatives had been killed in Nir Oz, describing an emotional moment her grandmother "saw them and realised they were alive" after being released. Among those still being held hostage is Yafa's eldest grandson, 38-year-old Tamir, a farmer who has two young daughters.

Imogen Foulkes
Reporting from Geneva

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that deaths from untreated illnesses could exceed deaths from bombardment in Gaza.

A WHO assessment of UNRWA shelters found widespread diarrhoea and respiratory infections among children and infants, and no treatment whatsoever.

Patients with chronic illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes are also getting no treatment.

Meanwhile, the Unicef team in northern Gaza is also warning of catastrophic war injuries, seeing children with "horrendous wounds" lying in car parks and gardens.

Aid agencies repeating that a resumption of fighting should be unthinkable, calling again for a permanent ceasefire.

We've just received some new pictures of the 11 hostages released last night by Hamas being reunited with their families in Israel.

Eight children, an 18-year-old woman and two mothers were returned to Israel. They were all from the same kibbutz - Nir Oz, which was the site of one of the worst massacres during the 7 October Hamas attacks.

All the fathers of the children released overnight are still being held hostage in Gaza.

So far there have been 74 people released from Gaza, out of around 240 people believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

Image source, Israel Defense Forces

Image source, AFP TV

We've seen footage from AFP TV showing plumes of smoke rising above Gaza, even though the warring parties have agreed to extend their truce by 48-hours.

As we had reported earlier, reports suggest that some Palestinian groups may have continued shooting at Israeli soldiers unaware that the truce had been extended.

We're attempting to verify the cause and location of the smoke seen over Gaza this morning.

What we know about the armed Palestinian groups in Gazapublished at 09:56 Greenwich Mean Time 28 November 2023

09:56 GMT 28 November 2023

The BBC has identified the five armed Palestinian groups which joined Hamas to mount the deadly 7 October incursion into southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and about 240 taken hostage.

We now know that it wasn't just Hamas which took hostages on the day.

Three groups - Palestinian Islamic Jihad - which along with Hamas has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Western governments - the Mujahideen Brigades and al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades - claim to have seized Israeli hostages.

You can read more about the various Palestinian factions which took part in the 7 October raid that triggered the current war with Israel here.

Image source, .

Rushdi Abu Alouf
Gaza correspondent, reporting from Istanbul

Hamas told me that they wanted a four-day extension of the truce, but the Israelis were insisting that it be extended on a day-by-day basis.

We understand from a senior Hamas source in Qatar that not all of the civilian hostages are in Hamas hands.

Some of them are with smaller groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad. So far, they have managed to locate 20 people. Ten will be released today and 10 tomorrow.

If they manage to locate more hostages, we might see the ceasefire extended for another two days.

Hamas says it needs more time to work on the ground to collect information and contact people.

But communication is very difficult because of the damage to the telecoms infrastructure in Gaza.

They also need fuel.

We've heard from a doctor in the south of Gaza about the impact the temporary ceasefire is having there.

Dr Ahmad Maghrabi, a plastic surgeon, told Radio 4’s Today programme that people "are more relaxed" since the fighting paused.

"They can walk freely, unlike before the ceasefire," he said.

Maghrabi says his hospital has received more medical supplies since the ceasefire came into effect.

"I'm spending all my time inside the operative rooms. Every day I have 15 to 20 cases I'm doing. But I have seen some drugs arrive.

"We were lacking everything, but now they have brought surgical supplies, disposables, everything."

He added that the two-day extension of the truce is "hope inside the dark".

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

The extension of the deal between Israel and Hamas means that more hostages will be freed from Gaza, and that more desperately needed aid will be delivered to the territory as the humanitarian crisis continues.

The truce has allowed more lorries with medicine, food and water to get into the territory, but this is just a fraction of the amount of aid that would be delivered daily before the war.

Crucially, aid is getting into northern Gaza, an area that, for weeks, was the focus of Israel’s offensive against Hamas, which has led to widespread destruction.

Still, residents who have been displaced say they need more help.

“My kids are sick, and they have no clothes. We came in summer clothes without mattresses, without food, without anything. Every day, we search for food, but there is none. Every day, we look for clothes, but there are none,” a man named Mahmoud in Gaza said. “My situation is horrible. “My situation is horrible. my kids are slowly dying every day”.

The hope is that the ceasefire, now stretching into a fifth day, can be extended again.

The Israeli prime minister's office says its received the list of hostages to be freed today, and that their families are being notified.

About 170 Israelis remain in captivity in Gaza. But as Hamas says it is not holding all of them, efforts to free some of the most vulnerable will be complicated.

The UN has used the pause in fighting to increase urgent aid deliveries to Gaza, but says much more is needed.

Smoke has been seen rising above Gaza City this morning.

Reports suggest some Palestinian groups might have fired at Israeli troops – unaware that the truce had been extended.

A 48-hour extension to the original truce was agreed yesterday. Three Palestinian prisoners are being released in exchange for every one Israeli hostage held in Gaza.

The 33 Palestinian prisoners released last night were taken to an Israeli checkpoint near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. They were greeted by cheering crowds.

Their release means 150 Palestinians - mostly women and teenage boys - have been released from Israeli jails since Friday as part of the truce. They were chosen from an original list of 300 Palestinians compiled by Israel - accused of a range of offences, from throwing stones to incitement to attempted murder.

Less than a quarter of those on the list had been convicted – the vast majority were being held on remand while awaiting trial.

Almost every Palestinian family in the West Bank is thought to have had a member detained in an Israeli jail at some point – often inside Israel which makes it difficult or impossible for their relatives to visit.

Human rights organisations say the number of Palestinians held without charge in Israeli jails has shot up since the 7 October attacks.

As of 1 November, Israel was holding 6,704 Palestinians in detention, including 2,070 held without charge or trial in what's known as administrative detention, according to HaMoked, an Israeli human rights group.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Getty Images

More Palestinians were freed from Israeli prisons on the fourth day of a truce between Israel and Hamas.

The release of 33 people means 150 Palestinians have been released since Friday - the day both sides began swapping hostages and prisoners.

Little information has been released about the latest group of Palestinians to be freed.

On Monday, Hamas and Qatar - which has played a major role in the talks between the warring sides - said 30 Palestinian children and three women were due to be freed.

The Israel Prison Service later said 33 people had been freed from Ofer prison in the West Bank, and a detention centre in Jerusalem, but did not specify their genders or ages.

Read more here.

Hugo Bachega
Reporting from Jerusalem

The extended truce will, again, see three Palestinians being released from Israeli jails for each Israeli hostage returned from Gaza.

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had received the list of captives to be freed later today, and that their families were being notified.

Those released last night included two women and nine children and teenagers, who were all abducted from the same kibbutz.

Around 170 people remain in captivity in Gaza but Hamas says it is not holding all of them, which could complicate efforts to free the most vulnerable.

The youngest hostage is a ten-month-old baby.

US officials say they will continue to work for extensions to the deal, until everybody is released.

In Gaza, the temporary pause in hostilities has allowed the delivery of humanitarian aid, but UN officials say much more is needed.