relation times

Israel knew for more than a year of Hamas’s attack plan: New York Times

srael obtained Hamas’s battle plans for its raid on southern Israel more than a year before the attack took place on October 7, the New York Times reports.

The Times reports that Israel’s military and intelligence officials had dismissed the threat despite a 40-page paper that outlined in detail the kind of shock attack carried out by the Palestinian group and was code-named the “Jericho Wall” by Israeli officials.

According to the Times, Israeli officials thought the plot was “too difficult for Hamas to carry out.”

Additionally, last week, Israel’s Haaretz news agency revealed that Israeli “military Intelligence had detailed information” of a potential Hamas attack.

Rocket sirens sound in Israeli areas near Gaza boder: Israeli media

Rocket sirens blared early on Friday in Israeli communities near the border with Gaza, the Israeli military said, around an hour before a seven-day truce between Hamas and Israel was due to expire.

Israel’s Kan public broadcaster described the sirens as the first to sound since the truce, which has been extended twice, began on November 24. Neither side has announced an extension to the truce.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

The truce was set to expire at 7am (0500 GMT).

Israel, Hamas agree to extend truce for eighth day: WSJ

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend a temporary truce for an eighth day, in a deal that will involve the release of more Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing Egyptian officials.

There was no immediate comment from Israel or from Hamas.

Six more Gaza hostages reunite with their families in Israel

Israeli hostages released in the Gaza Strip have returned to Israel, the Israeli prime minister’s office confirmed late on Thursday.

The release of the six — four adults, a 17-old girl and an 18-year-old man — who mediator Qatar said included Uruguayan, Mexican and Russian dual nationals, came after two women, including a French-Israeli dual national, were released earlier in the day.

That brought the total freed on Thursday to eight, while the truce agreement stipulates that a minimum of 10 Israeli hostages should be released alive each day.

The discrepancy came as mediators pursued discussions to extend the truce, which was due to expire at 0500 GMT on Friday.

A source close to Hamas told AFP that it considered two Russian-Israeli women released on Wednesday in addition to the required 10 as part of the seventh group freed, so that “as a result, the number of (hostages) in the seventh group is 10”.

Mediator Qatar appeared to back the calculation, who said Friday that dual nationals from Uruguay, Mexico and Russia were among eight Israeli hostages released by Hamas on the seventh day of the Gaza truce.

“The eight Israeli citizens being released today as part of the agreement include two minors and six women,” Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said.

He said 30 Palestinians would be released from Israeli prisons, in exchange for a total of 10 hostages in Gaza, a tally which included “two Russian citizens who were released yesterday”.