WORLD BRIEFING: November 27, 2023
Israel - Hamas War
According to an Arab official cited by MSNBC, a truce extension has been agreed to between Israel and Hamas
Fourteen Israeli hostages and three foreign nationals have been released by Hamas. Among those freed is four-year-old Abigail Idan, who has dual Israeli and US nationality. In exchange, Israel has released 39 Palestinian prisoners, its prison service says. Hamas says it is seeking to extend the current four-day truce with Israel and increase the number of hostages released. Gazans have been using the pause in fighting to get desperately-needed supplies of fuel, food and medicine - BBC
The three Thai hostages released in Gaza were in good health, Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin posted on the social media platform X on Monday. “I'm happy," Srettha said, adding that the three were healthy and not in need of urgent medical attention - Reuters
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Sunday he hopes a meeting of Mediterranean officials will help bridge a gap between Arab and European countries in calling for a humanitarian pause in Gaza to become a permanent cease-fire. Safadi said the truce was holding up but that more effort was needed to reach at least 200 daily trucks bringing aid into the Gaza Strip, and for the pause in the fighting “to immediately develop into a permanent cease-fire.” Safadi noted that while Arab nations have demanded the end of what he called Israel’s “aggression” in Gaza, most European nations have not gone that far, instead calling for a “humanitarian pause.” “What is this war achieving other than killing people, destroying their livelihoods, and again, creating an environment of hate and dehumanization that will define generations and will take us a very, very long time to navigate through toward the future that we want,” he said - AP
Ukraine War
Ukrainian marines and special forces have been able to advance against an enemy entrenched on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River. Despite all the adversities, several thousand of Ukraine’s crack troops have managed to establish a foothold along 12 miles of the river’s eastern bank, in the Russian-held part of Kherson province, on the war’s southern front. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have opened a new flank against the invader where it seemed most difficult to achieve. It is their greatest success on the front in the year since the liberation of the western half of Kherson province, on the right bank of the Dnipro - El Pais
Russia should immediately withdraw its troops, equipment, machinery and other personnel from the illegally seized Zaporizhzhya NPP, and complete control over the plant should be returned to competent Ukrainian personnel, says the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors. “We will never recognise Russia’s illegal attempts to take ownership of a nuclear power plant of another country. Russia must withdraw all its troops, military vehicles, equipment and other personnel from the ZNPP and fully respect Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.”
MP from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's party slams commander-in-chief, calls for his dismissal. Mariana Bezuhla, a member of parliament from President Volodymyr Zelensky's Servant of the People party, on Nov. 26 called for the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's armed forces. The statement comes amid speculation in Western and Ukrainian media about alleged disagreements between Zelensky and Zaluzhnyi. The party's spokesperson Yulia Paliychuk told Ukrainska Pravda that Bezuhla "is responsible for her own words." - Kyiv Independent
Polish truckers and farmers on Monday started a round-the-clock blockade of access to one of the busiest border crossings with Ukraine, extending a protest that has left over a thousand lorries stranded for days in queues that stretch for miles. The truckers, now blocking the Medyka crossing as well as three other border crossings, complain they are losing out to Ukrainian companies which offer cheaper prices for their services and which are transporting goods within the European Union, rather than just between the bloc and Ukraine.
Odesa Oblast to be protected by additional air defense systems. This was announced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Grain from Ukraine conference in Kyiv. He also added that Western partners will provide Ukraine with boats to escort ships through the "grain corridor" in the Black Sea.
Elsewhere
Sierra Leone's president declared a nationwide curfew Sunday after gunmen attacked the military's main and largest barracks in the West African nation's capital and then overran detention centers, including a major prison. The attack raised fears of a breakdown of order amid a surge of coups in the region. In recent years, a string of west and central African countries have experienced military coups. This year alone, the governments of Niger and Gabon were overthrown by military factions, and there were attempts in Burkina Faso and Sudan, the latter of which has descended into civil war - NPR