FirstFT: Hamas-Israel truce enters final day as pressure builds for extension

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Benjamin Netanyahu is facing pressure to extend the truce in Gaza, with Hamas expected to release more hostages on Monday, the final day of the temporary pause, while indicating it is ready to free more.

Efforts to extend a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas depend on the militant group locating dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza by civilians and gangs, Qatar’s prime minister has said.

A four-day pause in the war brokered by the Gulf state which began on Friday is due to end after today. As part of the deal the Islamist group agreed to free 50 women and children. In return, Israel agreed to the delivery of increased aid into the besieged strip and the release of 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

But Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the Financial Times that more than 40 other women and children were being kept captive in Gaza who were not believed to be held by Hamas. He said the truce could be extended if Hamas was able to use the pause in the conflict to locate those hostages.

“If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension,” the sheikh said. “We don’t yet have any clear information how many they can find because . . . one of the purposes [of the pause] is they [Hamas] will have time to search for the rest of the missing people.” Read more from the interview with Qatar’s prime minister.

Here’s what else I’m watching today:

• US: Monthly new home sales figures.

• Israel-Hamas: The truce in Gaza enters its final day.

• Cyber Monday: The first Monday after Thanksgiving, when many retailers traditionally hold special promotions and sales online.

Five more top stories

1. Turkey’s exports to Russia of goods vital for Moscow’s war machine have surged this year, heightening concerns among the US and its allies that the country is acting as a conduit for sensitive items from their own manufacturers. The growing trade is fuelling tensions between Ankara and its Nato partners, and reining in the illicit trade has become a priority in Washington.

2. US President Joe Biden is not planning to attend COP28 in Dubai, US officials said on Sunday. He will instead send his top climate advisers to the summit which the United Arab Emirates planned to use for oil and gas deals, the FT revealed today.

3. Novo Nordisk is in talks with healthcare systems about innovative pricing deals for its Wegovy weight loss drug, as it hopes to expand take-up of the obesity treatment by helping health services spread the cost across many years. Chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen told the FT the company needed to treat many more than the millions of patients currently taking the drug to make a “dent” in the obesity epidemic.

4. Julius Baer chief executive Philipp Rickenbacher said it would review its private debt business in the wake of the crisis engulfing Signa. Switzerland’s second-biggest wealth manager is one of the biggest lenders to Signa, the Austrian property group that owns a stake in the Chrysler Building in New York.

5. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of coffee and cocoa stored in EU warehouses risk being destroyed as an unforeseen consequence of a law that aims to ban products grown in areas of deforestation from being sold within the bloc. Two international organisations have warned that coffee and cocoa produced and stored in the EU during a transition period that lasts until December 2024 could be deemed non-compliant.

Visual investigation

Beijing has altered or destroyed thousands of mosques across China as the government broadens its suppression of Islam. While demolitions and modifications have been documented in Xinjiang, the north-western region where hundreds of thousands of Turkic Muslims have been detained, there is evidence that architectural changes have spread to almost every region of the country.

What we’re also reading . . . 

Chart of the day

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, South Korea has emerged as one of the world’s top 10 defence exporters, with artillery producer Hanwha Aerospace, tank maker Hyundai Rotem and fighter jet producer Korea Aerospace Industries leading the charge. Here’s how the Asian nation is riding a defence order wave from the west.

Take a break from the news

Tom Hanks is one of the most successful actors of his generation. So, what is he doing in London at the moment, and why isn’t he eating the food he’s being served when at lunch with Emma Jacobs?

Additional contributions from Emily Goldberg and Gary Jones