The interim truce between Israel and Palestinian Hamas terrorists will not result in the release of hostages till Friday, said a statement made by Israel's national security adviser on Wednesday. Early on Wednesday, Israel and Hamas reached an agreement to end hostilities in Gaza for a minimum of four days. Top five updates for this story are listed below.
1) On Wednesday, the Israeli military gave a group of foreign journalists a rare look inside the beleaguered enclave by revealing what it claimed to be a Hamas military base beneath Gaza's largest hospital. The complex looked like an underground dormitory.
2) The AP claimed that dozens of troops brought journalists to a labyrinth of underground bunkers beneath Shifa Hospital in a destroyed Gaza City through a tiny stone tunnel that, according to the IDF, stretched 150 meters (164 yards).
3) Israel has charged that Hamas is using Gaza's hospitals as a front for military use ever since it launched war on the Islamic militant group on October 7. It has given Shifa particular attention, claiming that beneath the hospital's expansive grounds are concealed Hamas command centers and bunkers.
4) The cross-border attack by Hamas on October 7, which resulted in at least 1,200 deaths and the kidnapping of 240 more people, set off the war. Many neighborhoods have been destroyed by Israel's fierce air campaign and catastrophic ground invasion, and more than 11,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict, according to health officials.
5) In an attempt to bomb Hamas' tunnel network and other targets, the Israeli force has trampled through northern Gaza over the past month, leaving a path of devastation in its wake.
Israel and Hamas Agree Deal to Pause Fighting, Set to Free at Least 50 Hostages
Hamas' Disturbing October 7th Attack Footage Released by Israel
