Report: Israel and Hamas agree to keep truce going for eighth day

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend the truce for an eighth day, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing Egyptian officials.

There has been no official announcement of a truce extension from either side, or from Egypt, Qatar and the US, which have led negotiations for the pause.

The additional day would likely see another 10 Israeli hostages freed, according to the report.

A source close to Palestinian terror group Hamas earlier told AFP it was “willing to extend the truce.”

“The mediators are currently making strong, intense and continuous efforts for an additional day in the truce and then working to extend it again for other days,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

Freed hostages arrive at hospitals to meet relatives

The Health Ministry says all six recently freed hostages have arrived at hospitals in Israel, where they are being reunited with family and checked out medically.

At Soroka Hospital in Be;er Sheba, Aisha Ziyadne, 17, and Bilal Ziyadne, 18, meet relatives, the Walla news site reports.

Another three women have arrived at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, south of Tel Aviv, the ministry says. A fourth woman went to Sheba Hospital at Tel Hashomer east of the city, where another hostage released earlier Thursday is already being treated.

Palestinians freed from Israeli prison arrive in Ramallah

Palestinian inmates released from Israeli prison have arrived in Ramallah from Ofer Prison in the West Bank, Palestinian media outlets report.

A bus carrying 30 former inmates is welcomed with fanfare in the city’s central square, the official Palestinian Wafa news outlet reports.

A video shows one family’s tearful reunion.

تغطية صحفية: أُغمي على والدته خلال استقباله.. لحظات مؤثرة من لقاء الأسـير المـقـدسي أحمد العجلوني بعد الإفراج عنه في الصفقة الأولى. pic.twitter.com/fQXJpt4zki

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) December 1, 2023

The group is released as part of a deal that is supposed to see 10 Israeli hostages released daily for 30 Palestinians, though only 8 Israelis were released Thursday.

An Al Jazeera report claims the bus was hit with tear gas, and some onboard required medical attention.

US House passes measure seeking to block Iran from unfrozen $6 billion

The US House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan measure to block Iran from ever accessing the $6 billion recently unfrozen by the US in a prisoner swap, a step Republicans pushed in response to the nation’s alleged role in the deadly attacks last month by Hamas on Israel.

The measure — titled the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act — passes 307-119 as Republicans sought to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they call their complicity in funding Iranian-backed terrorism in the Middle East.

The US and Iran reached the tentative agreement in August that eventually saw the release of five detained Americans in Tehran and an unknown number of Iranians imprisoned in the U.S. after billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets were transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar. But days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the U.S. and Qatar agreed that Iran would not be able to access the money in the meantime, with officials stopping short of a full refreezing of the funds.

Republican critics say that despite the money being restricted to aid, it is fungible, and could free up other funds for Tehran to provide support to Hamas like they believe it did before it attacked Israel in early October.

The GOP-backed resolution, which now goes to the Senate where it is unlikely to be supported by the Democratic majority, would impose new sanctions on the funds to prevent the transfer of any monies to Iran. It also threatens to sanction any government or individual involved in processing the transfer of the funds.

Several Democrats who opposed the measure defended the Biden administration’s decision to transfer the money in exchange for American hostages, especially in light of the American hostages now being kept by Hamas in Gaza.

“Iran, of course, as Hamas, is a murderous and corrupt regime. They’re not pleasant. And this isn’t easy,” Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says during the floor debate. “But thanks to this agreement, five American families are now home again.”