Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 09:58am on 23 Nov 2023,Thursday International
Qatar said it will announce the start time for the Israel-Hamas truce "in the next few hours". Though the ceasefire was slated to start at 8am Israeli time on Thursday, in a surprise move Israel's National Security Council confirmed "No hostages will be released before Friday", delaying expectations of earlier prisoner swaps and ceasefire. The Qatari Foreign Ministry stated talks are "progressing positively" on implementing the hostage deal with the involvement of Egypt and the US. An Israeli official downplayed seriousness, citing “fairly minor implementation details.” PM Netanyahu disclosed the deal excludes "release of murderers" after Israel's Supreme Court greenlit it. As part of the deal, the United States and Israel will pause drone flights over Gaza for six hours each day, Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer told CNN.
