Militant group Hamas released two more Israeli women hostages on Thursday, November 30, with more Palestinian prisoners to be freed under an extended truce that has paused weeks of deadly conflict. With the current truce set to expire early Friday, international bodies have called for a lasting halt to the violence, sparked by deadly Hamas attacks on Israel that prompted it to mount a devastating assault on the Gaza Strip. The delicate truce held through its seventh day after a 24-hour extension despite a shooting claimed by Hamas militants that killed three people in Jerusalem.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to seek a longer pause that would allow further prisoner-hostage exchanges and more aid for displaced civilians in Gaza.
The Israeli military said on Thursday that at least two women hostages had been returned from Gaza after being released to the Red Cross by Hamas. More were expected to be transferred "in the next few hours," it said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office named the two as French-Israeli dual national Mia Shem, 21, and Amit Soussana, 40. Israel is due to release more Palestinian prisoners in turn, after the sides agreed to extend the pause in combat operations until Friday morning.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday welcomed Shem's release, while saying his country was working toward the liberation of all remaining hostages in Gaza. The release of Shem, 21, was "a great joy that I share with her family and all French people," Macron said on X, formerly Twitter. "I also express my solidarity with all those who are still being held hostage by Hamas. France is working with its partners to obtain their release as soon as possible," he said. Shem had been taken by Hamas at a music festival she attended on October 7, and later appeared in a hostage video released by the militant group.
Only hours after the truce extension, the Islamist militants claimed responsibility for a shooting in Jerusalem that killed three people and called for an "escalation of the resistance." The morning attack saw two gunmen from annexed east Jerusalem kill three people and wound eight others at a bus stop in the western part of the city, before two off-duty soldiers and civilians fired at them and "neutralized" them, police said.
Ten hostages per day
Separately, two Israeli soldiers were slightly injured in a ramming attack on a checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the army said, adding the assailant had also been "shot and neutralized."
International bodies have called for more time to allow medical supplies, food and fuel into the besieged Gaza Strip after fierce combat and bombardments sparked by Hamas's bloody October 7 attacks on Israel.
"We have seen over the last week the very positive development of hostages coming home, being reunited with their families," Blinken said at a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Tel Aviv. "It's also enabled an increase in humanitarian assistance to go to innocent civilians in Gaza who need it desperately. So this process is producing results. It's important, and we hope that it can continue." Blinken later told Netanyahu it was "imperative" to protect civilians in southern Gaza "before any military operations there."
The latest extended truce had been due to end at 7 am local time on Thursday, but the Israeli army said the "operational pause" would continue as international mediators negotiate the release of hostages held by Hamas. Qatar, which has led the truce negotiations supported by Egypt and the United States, confirmed the pause had been extended for one day "under the same previous conditions."