Israel Reviews List of Hostages Set to be Freed by Hamas on Saturday

An image grab from a handout video released by the Hamas Media Office shows a member of its Al-Qassam Brigades handing carrying a hostage over to officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza on November 24, 2023, ahead of their transfer to Israel. (Photo by HAMAS MEDIA OFFICE / AFP) /
An image grab from a handout video released by the Hamas Media Office shows a member of its Al-Qassam Brigades handing carrying a hostage over to officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza on November 24, 2023, ahead of their transfer to Israel. (Photo by HAMAS MEDIA OFFICE / AFP) /
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Israel Reviews List of Hostages Set to be Freed by Hamas on Saturday

An image grab from a handout video released by the Hamas Media Office shows a member of its Al-Qassam Brigades handing carrying a hostage over to officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza on November 24, 2023, ahead of their transfer to Israel. (Photo by HAMAS MEDIA OFFICE / AFP) /
An image grab from a handout video released by the Hamas Media Office shows a member of its Al-Qassam Brigades handing carrying a hostage over to officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza on November 24, 2023, ahead of their transfer to Israel. (Photo by HAMAS MEDIA OFFICE / AFP) /

Israel has received a list of hostages to be freed from Gaza on Saturday by Hamas, officials said, following the release of 24 hostages the previous day, the first of a planned four-day truce.
Israeli security officials were reviewing the list, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, after his government's vow to work for the release of all hostages taken by Hamas in an attack on Israel on Oct. 7.
The pause in the fighting was the first such break, with both sides saying hostilities would resume as soon as the truce ends.

The released hostages, including Israeli women and children and Thai farm workers, were transferred from Gaza and handed to Egyptian authorities at the Rafah border crossing, along with eight staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross in a four-car convoy, the organization said.

They were then taken to Israel for medical checks and re-unions with relatives.
Qatar, which acted as mediator for the truce deal, said 13 Israelis had been released, some with dual nationality, as well as 10 Thais and a Philippine national - farm workers employed in southern Israel when they were seized.

Thirty-nine Palestinian women and children were released from Israeli jails.

The freed Israeli hostages included four children accompanied by four family members, and five elderly women.



Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 11 Dead

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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Series of Israeli Airstrikes Hit Central Beirut, At Least 11 Dead

Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Rescue workers and people search for victims at the site of an Israeli airstrike that hit central Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Powerful Israeli airstrikes targeted central Beirut on Saturday, resulting in a large number of fatalities and injuries and destroying an eight-story building, Lebanon's National News Agency reported.

Footage broadcast by TV stations showed at least one destroyed building and several others badly damaged around it in the Basta neighborhood.

At least 11 people were killed and dozens injured. Lebanon's civil defense said the death toll was provisional as emergency responders were still digging through the rubble looking for survivors. 

Israel used bunker buster bombs in the strike, leaving a deep crater, said NNA. Beirut smelled strongly of explosives hours after the attack.
The blasts shook the capital around 4 a.m.

NNA said at least five bombs were dropped in the attack.
It marked the fourth Israeli airstrike this week targeting a central area of Beirut, where the bulk of Israel's attacks have targeted the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs.

On Sunday an Israeli airstrike killed Hezbollah's media relations chief Mohammad Afif in the Ras al-Nabaa district of central Beirut.

The Israeli military did not issue a warning for Basta's residents to evacuate prior to the strike and did not immediately issue a statement on it.

Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, heavy ground fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants was ongoing in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops have pushed farther from the border.