Editor's Note: For the latest news on the Israel-Hamas conflict, please see our live updates file here.
Eleven more hostages were released and reached Israel late Monday, according to the Israeli military, and the truce that gained freedom for them and dozens of other captives was extended by two days, bringing relative calm to the war-devastated Gaza Strip.
"After they undergo an initial medical assessment, our forces will accompany them until they are reunited with their families,'' the Israel Defense Forces said of the newly freed hostages.
As part of the deal, Israel released 33 Palestinian prisoners who were driven early Tuesday to the West Bank city of Ramallah, where they were greeted by cheering crowds.
The truce had been scheduled to end Monday, but Israeli and Palestinian leaders had expressed support for extending it and freeing more militant-held hostages and Israeli-held prisoners. Israel had previously offered to extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.
Hamas said in a social media post it had "agreed with Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce for an additional two days."
Almost 70 women and children hostages have been released since Friday, 50 of them Israelis, along with 150 women and teen Palestinians from Israeli prisons.
"The humanitarian pause has also enabled a significant surge in additional humanitarian assistance to the innocent civilians who are suffering across the Gaza Strip," President Joe Biden said in a statement, adding: "We will not stop until all of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists are released.''
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the administration believes eight or nine Americans are still being held captive, but the U.S. doesn't have firm information on all of them. He said he was hopeful some of them would be released during the extended truce.
An estimated 240 people were taken hostage by militants in the Oct. 7 raid into Israel, and more than 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli authorities. Another 77 Israeli soldiers have died in the subsequent military operation in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting.
Biden is sending $100M in aid into Gaza:Is any of it ending up in the hands of Hamas?
Developments:
∎ The IDF said 200 trucks brought humanitarian aid into Gaza on Monday, including eight carrying fuel. The rest transported food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment, to be given for distribution to aid organizations.
∎ Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make his third trip to the Middle East since the war started, traveling to Israel and the West Bank later this week, the Associated Press reported.
∎ Representatives of European Union members and Middle Eastern and north African countries gathered Monday in Barcelona to discuss diplomatic efforts to stop the Israel-Hamas war.
∎ U.N. experts on arbitrary executions, torture, and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment called for a "thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed" by Hamas and Israel in the war.
∎ A Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah early Tuesday, the Associated Press reported. The Israeli military said the 11 hostages released late Monday included two women and nine children, who will "undergo an initial medical assessment" in Israeli territory.
American freed:Avigail Edan, 4, among hostages released Sunday; Hamas seeks truce extension
Israeli government approves potential release of 50 Palestinians
Following the extension of the temporary truce, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the Israeli government has approved the potential release of 50 additional Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
According to Netanyahu's office, the Palestinians in Israeli detention would be eligible for release "in the event that a release of additional Israeli hostages is carried out."
Netanyahu's office described the 50 Palestinians as "female" prisoners. All Palestinians that have been released from Israeli detention as part of the temporary truce have been women and children.
Three relatives of New York family released
Among the 11 hostages released are Sharon Alony Cunio, 34, and her 3-year-old twin daughters, Emma and Yuli. The Cunio family has relatives in New York who have worked desperately for their release.
One of Sharon Cunio’s American cousins, Alana Zeitchik of Brooklyn, launched a campaign called Bring Our Family Home to tell the stories of several Israeli relatives held hostage since the Oct. 7 Hamas rampage.
Cunio's sister, 44-year-old Danielle Alony, and her 5-year-old daughter Amelia were among the first group of hostages freed last week. Sharon’s husband, David Cunio, remains in Hamas captivity in Gaza. All six family members were together in Kibbutz Nir Oz near the Israel-Gaza border when Hamas militants attacked.
“Our second miracle!” Zeitchik wrote on Instagram Monday. “Sharon and our babies Emma and Yuli are on their way home. To see them being carried out of there is an indescribable feeling. Slowly our hearts are mending. However, David and his brother Ariel remain in captivity, so we still need our third miracle.”
− Joey Garrison
Musk tours ravaged kibbutz with Netanyahu
Elon Musk joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Isaac Herzog for a tour of Kfar Aza kibbutz, where dozens of residents were killed in the militant attack Oct. 7. Video released from Netanyahu's office showed Musk, in a protective vest escorted by a security team, taking video and photos with his phone.
Musk has drawn fire in recent weeks amid claims that social media platform he owns − formerly Twitter, now X − is awash in antisemitism. Herzog told Musk the world is "inundated" with antisemitism.
"I think we need to fight it together because on the platforms which you lead, unfortunately, there's a harboring of a lot of all the hate, which is Jew hatred, of antisemitism," Herzog said.
The billionaire Tesla CEO said he was troubled by video and photos Netanyahu showed him of children being killed by the militants.
"It was jarring to see the scene of the massacre," Musk later said in an X Spaces conversation with Netanyahu.
Avigail Edan 'safe,' getting evaluated, family says
Avigail Edan, the Israeli-American girl taken hostage by Hamas after her parents were murdered in the militant group's Oct. 7 rampage, is being cared for by family members who provided an update Monday.
Avigail was "still being evaluated at Schneider Children’s Medical Center, where she was taken immediately upon her release," the family said in a statement. "She is safe and in the care of her Aunt Liron, Uncle Zuli, and Grandparents Shlomit and Eitan."
Avigail turned 4 on Friday, two days before becoming the only American so far to be freed by Hamas under the current truce. U.S. authorities say another eight or nine remain in captivity.
"I spoke with Abigail’s family following her release, and we are working closely with our Israeli partners to ensure she gets the care and support she needs as she begins to recover from this unspeakable trauma," Biden said in a statement.
Bidens 'horrified' by shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent in Vermont
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden were "horrified" to learn about the three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot in a Burlington, Vermont, street, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday. She said Biden is receiving updates about the ongoing investigation.
"These students were taking part in a uniquely American tradition: gathering with family and loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving," Jean-Pierre said. "They should be back in school with their classmates, not in a hospital."
Jason Eaton, 48, of Burlington was taken into custody Sunday afternoon after investigators encountered him during a canvass of the shooting location, police said. He pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder at a court hearing Monday and is being held without bail.
The victims, all age 20, were identified in a tweet from the Institute for Middle East Understanding as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad. Police said two of them were in stable condition and the third one suffered serious injuries.
They have been friends since first grade at Ramallah Friends School, a private school in the West Bank, and all are "remarkable, distinguished students," said Rania Ma’ayeh, head of the school.
The victims wore keffiyahs, traditional Palestinian neck scarves, and were speaking Arabic at the time of the attack, leading authorities to investigate the incident as a possible hate crime. Two of the victims are U.S. citizens and one is a legal resident, police said.
Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad urged the public not to jump to conclusions but said that "in this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime."
− Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Joey Garrison
Will US humanitarian aid for Gaza help fund Hamas?
The Biden administration has pledged $100 million in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians amid the crisis triggered by the Israel-Hamas war. But the administration’s desire to send much-needed aid has run up against fears that some of it could end up in the hands of Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza and whose surprise, deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 touched off the latest conflict. The U.S. has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
“Why would we spend a minute of our time … to figure out how to get more aid to Gaza to help terrorists? This makes no sense,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.
− Michael Collins, Kim Hjelmgaard and Josh Meyer
Details emerge on conditions faced by hostages in Gaza
The families of the hostages released by Hamas say their loved ones survived difficult conditions for the seven weeks in captivity. Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released by Hamas on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and had eaten mainly rice and bread. She said her cousin and aunt, Keren and Ruth Munder, had each lost around 15 pounds.
Raviv said she’d heard from her freed family members that they had slept on rows of chairs pushed together in a room, and they sometimes had to wait hours before using the bathroom.
Yocheved Lipschitz, 85, who was freed on Oct. 24 along with another elderly woman, said she was held in a web of tunnels by captors who told her they "believe in the Quran and wouldn’t hurt us." She said she and other hostages received medical care and were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita − the same meal her captors ate.
Biden is sending $100M in aid into Gaza:Is any of it ending up in the hands of Hamas?
Contributing: The Associated Press