Overview
- Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayya in Istanbul to discuss the state of the truce and humanitarian aid flows, according to Turkey’s foreign ministry.
- The Istanbul meeting set for Monday includes foreign ministers from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan and Indonesia, a Turkish ministry source said.
- Fidan is expected to press for Palestinian-led security and administration arrangements for Gaza and to argue that aid remains insufficient and Israel is seeking pretexts to end the ceasefire, a Turkish source said.
- Turkey says it helped persuade Hamas to accept the U.S. plan and is willing to join a ceasefire monitoring task force, while Israel’s foreign minister has rejected any Turkish armed presence in Gaza.
- Israeli authorities said partial remains handed over overnight were not those of any hostages; since Oct. 10 Hamas has freed 20 living captives and returned 17 sets of remains, with 11 hostages’ bodies still believed to be in Gaza.