Israel-Hamas truce raises hopes for hostage release

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A tentative four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has begun in Gaza, setting the ground for the staggered release of 50 hostages held by Hamas and 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

The Qatari-brokered pause in hostilities, which commenced at 7am local time, appeared to be holding, raising hopes that the two sides would later in the day begin exchanging hostages, and that substantial humanitarian aid would be allowed into the besieged enclave.

In a sign that the tenuous agreement was progressing, four tankers of fuel and cooking gas entered Gaza this morning. This was done “within the framework of the truce and the schedule for the release of the hostages”, the Israeli defence ministry said.

Qatar, which announced the ceasefire yesterday, said the first 13 hostages would be handed over to Israeli authorities at about 4pm local time today. The families of the women and children have been informed that their names are on a list for release after 48 days of captivity.

They are expected to be exchanged for 39 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli prisons — some of whom have yet to be tried or convicted — a ratio of roughly three Palestinians for every hostage from Israel. Here’s the latest on the ceasefire as we approach the planned hostage release.

Here’s what else I’m watching today and at the weekend:

• Black Friday: US markets close early on the day after Thanksgiving.

• Formula One: The final race of the F1 season takes place in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. Read more on the sport in our special report.

• Booker Prize: The winner of the literary award for fiction will be announced at a ceremony in London on Sunday.

Join us on November 27-29 in London for the Global Banking Summit — the only strategy-focused banking conference that brings all the top chief executives in one place. Hear from Goldman Sachs, NatWest, UBS, Barclays, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase, Santander, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Bank and more. Register here.

Five more top stories

1. Exclusive: Jeff Zucker has hit out at rival bidders for the Telegraph, a rightwing British newspaper. “There’s a reason that people are slinging mud and throwing darts — [it’s] because they want to own these assets,” the former CNN boss told the Financial Times. Zucker’s Abu Dhabi-backed RedBird IMI company emerged in pole position to acquire the media group this month. Read the full interview.

2. Investors are selling dollars at the fastest rate in a year as they raise their bets that the US Federal Reserve has finished its tightening campaign. Asset managers are on track to sell 1.6 per cent of their open dollar positions this month, according to State Street, which is custodian to $40tn of assets. Analysts warn that the sales could be the start of a longer-term trend among investors to reduce exposure to US assets.

3. An escalating strike against Tesla by a group of Swedish unions has been branded “insane” by Elon Musk as the industrial action threatens to disrupt the US carmaker’s operations in other parts of Europe. Unions in Norway, one of Europe’s biggest markets for electric vehicle sales, said they would stop Tesla vehicles destined for Sweden being unloaded in the neighbouring Scandinavian country. The risk for Tesla is that unions in other countries, especially Germany, join the industrial action.

4. Sir Christopher Hohn’s activist hedge fund TCI has opened an office in Abu Dhabi, joining a wave of groups betting that the United Arab Emirates will help power the industry’s growth. The fund, which manages $60bn, said it would use the office to forge ties with local investors and expand its assets under management. Bronwyn Owen, the group’s head of investors relations, is relocating from New York to run the office.

5. Oil and gas producers should be spending about half of their annual investment on clean energy projects by 2030 to be aligned with global climate goals, the International Energy Agency has said. The west’s energy watchdog also warned oil and gas companies investing in new carbon capture projects that the technology would be no substitute for cutting emissions and “cannot be used to maintain the status quo”.

Have you stayed on top of the news this week? Take the FirstFT quiz and find out.

Deep dive

Ohio this month became the latest conservative state to vote for the legalisation of cannabis. The issue is driving a wedge between Republican lawmakers and their voters and creating an opportunity for Democrats. Sam Learner explains how attitudes to pot are helping to redraw the US’s electoral map ahead of next year’s presidential election.

What we’re also reading . . . 

• Mutual dependence: Microsoft’s tie-up with OpenAI has become one of the tech industry’s most successful partnerships, but it has not been without risk.

• Cryptocurrencies: Central authorities struck a blow against libertarian entrepreneurs this week but a core of the crypto dream remains an interesting idea, argues Gillian Tett.

• A changing Europe: Increasingly harsh measures and lurid rhetoric on migration make the continent look as if it is betraying its values, writes Timothy Garton Ash.

Chart of the day

The rise of foreign influencers in China — whom the country appears to be “cultivating” to speak up for the governing Communist party — has coincided over the past three years with Beijing’s move to expel some foreign journalists from the mainstream international media. Today, more than 120 foreign influencers with millions of followers defend the country online against critical overseas narratives. A substantial contingent hails from the UK, the US and other democratic nations.

Take a break from the news

Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, and the Disney fairy tale Wish — which marks the studio’s centenary — are among this week’s film releases.

Additional contributions from Gary Jones and Euan Healy