'Minor obstacles' remain to Gaza deal

DOHA, Nov 19 (BBC/Reuters/AFP): Prime Minister (PM) of Qatar says only "very minor" obstacles to hostage release deal remain and these are mainly practical and logistical issues.

However, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu says nothing has yet been agreed and ruled out a full ceasefire, the White House says officials are working to agree a deal.

Earlier the Washington Post reported that Israel, Hamas and the US were close to agreeing the release of some hostages in return for a pause in fighting.

The World Health Organization says 291 critically ill patients including 32 babies are still at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, after many Palestinians left the hospital on foot on Saturday.

Heavy fighting in parts

of northern Gaza

Fighting raged on Sunday between Hamas militants and Israeli forces in parts of north Gaza and Israeli air strikes killed dozens of Palestinians in the enclave's centre, witnesses said, as a report of a tentative hostage release deal was denied.

The Washington Post reported that Israel and Hamas had reached a tentative US-brokered agreement to free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a five-day pause in their war, citing people familiar with the matter.

It said the hostage release could begin within the next several days, barring last-minute hitches. All parties would freeze combat operations for at least five days while 50 or more hostages are released in groups every 24 hours, the Post reported. Hamas took about 240 hostages during its deadly cross-border rampage into Israeli communities on Oct 7.

Israel army says 3 soldiers

killed in Gaza fighting

The Israeli army said Sunday three more soldiers had been killed in fighting in the Gaza Strip, raising the number of troop deaths there to 62 since the war began.

All three were reservists and died on Saturday in northern Gaza, the military said in a statement.

Gaza's al-Shifa hospital

a death zone: WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) has described al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City as a "death zone". A joint UN team led by the WHO assessed the hospital for one hour following its occupation by the Israeli military and as some patients and those seeking shelter there began to evacuate it.

The team said they saw evidence of shelling and gunfire and observed a mass grave at the hospital's entrance. They were told it held the remains of 80 people.

The WHO said it was trying to arrange the urgent evacuation of remaining patients and staff to other facilities in Gaza, and repeated calls for a ceasefire.

A journalist at al-Shifa hospital told the BBC that only "patients who could not move and a very small number of doctors" remained behind. "We raised our hands and carried white flags," Khader, a journalist who had been at al-Shifa, told the BBC.