22:00 Israel's prison authority said Tuesday that 30 Palestinian prisoners, 15 women and 15 minors, had been released on the fifth day of the truce pausing fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The announcement came after 10 Israeli captives returned to Israel under the terms of the deal following their release by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, along with two additional Thai captives.

21:00 Israel's army confirmed on Tuesday that Hamas handed over 12 captives, including 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals, to the Red Cross in Gaza, part of an exchange under the terms of an extended truce agreement between the two sides.

The captives, were handed over by masked Hamas fighters to the International Red Cross in the city of Rafah in Southern Gaza near the border with Egypt.

A source close to Hamas told AFP that the 10 captives would be freed in return for 30 Palestinian prisoners who will be released from Israeli jails later this evening.

17:30 Citing Egyptian sources, Al-Qahera News reported that Head of the General Intelligence Service Abbas Kamel is taking part in the talks underway in Doha with Qatari, US, and Israeli officials to discuss an extension in the truce between Israel and Hamas.

On Monday evening, Israel and Hamas agreed to extend a four-day truce deal reached on Wednesday for two more days.

The truce deal, which was reached through Qatari-Egyptian-American mediation, has allowed for the exchange of captives and prisoners as well as the entry of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

16:00 Israeli restrictions on fuel supplies to Gaza are hampering aid deliveries and humanitarian access required under a UN resolution, an EU commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, said Tuesday.

Lenarcic -- who is in charge of crisis management -- was speaking as the EU countries and aid organizations scrambled to provide relief to Gaza's population of 2.3 million under a truce agreed by Israel and Hamas.

"We are calling for the increase of fuel supplies to the (Gaza) strip," Lenarcic told journalists in Brussels.

"The humanitarian access should be based on the needs and not on some restrictions," he said.

An Egyptian truck delivering fuel to the Gaza Strip crosses from Gaza to Egypt at Rafah, Egypt, as a temporary ceasefire went into effect, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. AP

14:30 Citing Israeli sources, Sky News Arabia reported that the head of the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, has arrived in Qatar to discuss a deal with Hamas that would include the release of Israeli soldiers captured by Hamas on 7 October.

Also, citing Egyptian sources, Sky News Arabia reported that Egyptian-Qatari-Israeli-US talks are underway in Doha to extend the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

So far, under a four-day truce that was reached on Wednesday, Israel has released 150 Palestinian political prisoners - all minors and women - and Hamas released 50 Israeli civilians captured by the group on 7 October - all women and minors.

13:30 Israel's war on the Gaza Strip has led to the collapse of the health care system in the strip and more Gazans could soon be dying of disease than from bombing, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Tuesday.

"Eventually we will see more people dying from disease than we are even seeing from the bombardment if we are not able to put back (together) this health system," said the WHO's Margaret Harris at a UN briefing in Geneva.

With no hospitals functioning in the northern strip, Harris repeated concerns about a rise in outbreaks of infectious diseases, particularly diarrhoeal diseases.

Citing a UN report, Harris said there was already a very high number of infants suffering from diarrhea, among families displaced from the north with "no medicines, no vaccination activities, no access to safe water and hygiene and no food," an indicator of the poor living conditions they face in the overcrowded south.

A Palestinian man surrounded by children cooks at a UNWRA school used as shelter in Gaza City on Monday - the fourth day of a truce between Israel and Hamas. AFP 

12:30 A 17-year-old teenager and a 26-year-old man were killed during an overnight raid by the Israeli army fire near the West Bank town of Beitunia, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

This raised the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army since the beginning of an intensive crackdown in the occupied territory after the start of Israel's war on Gaza on 7 October to 242.

Israel has also arrested more than 3,200 Palestinians in the West Bank since 7 October.

Protesters stand near burning tires in the occupied West Bank on Monday ahead of an expected release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli captives held by Hamas. AFP

11:30 Head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan said Tuesday that Egypt has facilitated the delivery of 25,240 tons of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, including water, food, medical supplies, and food, in addition to tents and tarpaulins.

According to the terms of the truce deal between Israel and Hamas, 200 humanitarian aid trucks in addition to 130,000 liters of fuel are allowed to enter the Gaza Strip every day.

Rashwan noted that Egypt has received 566 injured Palestinians - and 300 companions - from Gaza for treatment in Egyptian hospitals since the start of the war on 7 October.

He also noted that 8,691 foreign and dual nationals and 1,256 Egyptians crossed from Gaza to Egypt through the Rafah border crossing since the start of the war.

A Palestinian passenger going back to the Gaza Strip walks with belongings at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing on November 27, 2023. AP

10:30 Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi makes his first official visit to Turkey on Tuesday, hoping to paper over past differences and forge a forceful joint response to Israel's war on Gaza.

9:30 On the eve of the start of the two-day extension in the truce between Israel and Hamas on Tuesday, the US State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East as the US hopes to find a way to extend a ceasefire in Gaza and get more captives released,  

It will be his third trip to the region since the Israeli war on Gaza began last month.

9:00 On Monday evening, the last day in the 4-day truce between Israel and Hamas, 33 Palestinian political prisoners were released from Israeli jails, and 11 Israeli captured on 7 October were released by Hamas.

The Palestinians released from Israeli prisons include 30 minors and 3 women.

The Israelis released from Gaza include 11 Israelis with dual nationality -  3 French citizens, 2 German citizens, and 6 Argentinian citizens.