Gaza ceasefire talks continue as Israel sends Mossad chief to Doha

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Thousands marched in Israel's commercial hub of Tel Aviv in the early hours of Sunday calling for a deal with Hamas in Gaza that would see the release of captives in return for Palestinian prisoners.

Breaking: Thousands in Tel Aviv 2nite calling for an immediate hostage release deal, and for Netanyahu to stop playing cynical political games which are endangering the lives of the hostages still being held in Gaza #DealNOW #BringThemHomeAliveNOW pic.twitter.com/OtTjI3am7b

— Dan Arbell (@DanArbell) January 11, 2025

Four Israeli troops were killed during combat in northern Gaza, the Israeli army said on Saturday, bringing the total number of soldiers killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel launched its ground offensive there to 403.

The Israeli army has carried out a crushing offensive in northern Gaza since October last year, killing hundreds of civilians, driving out much of the area's residents, and flattening entire towns.

Four members of the Islamic State (IS) group, including two senior leaders, were killed in an airstrike carried out by Iraqi aircraft in the Hamrin Mountains in eastern Iraq, security officials said on Saturday.

The Iraqi Security Media Cell, an official body responsible for disseminating security information, said in a statement four bodies of IS militants were found in the area where Iraqi F-16 fighter jets carried out the strike on Friday.

Talib Al-Mousawi, an official at Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) - a grouping of armed factions originally set up to fight IS in 2014 that was subsequently recognised as an official security force, told Reuters the dead included two top IS leaders in the Diyala province in eastern Iraq.

The identity of another militant will be determined following an examination, the Security Media Cell said.

Saudi Arabia is hosting foreign ministers from the Middle East and Europe on Sunday for talks on Syria's transition after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, a Saudi official told AFP.

"Tomorrow there will be two meetings. The first one is amongst the Arab states. The second one will include Arab states and other countries," including France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Turkey and Spain, the official said on Saturday.

The talks will focus "on Syria in general" including support for the new administration and the possible lifting of sanctions, the official said on condition of anonymity.

US Under Secretary of State John Bass is also set to attend what the State Department described in a statement as "a Saudi-hosted multilateral meeting of senior government officials from the region and global partners to coordinate international support for the Syrian people".

Bass is coming from Turkey where he held talks on Syria with senior officials, the statement said. The Turkish and German foreign ministers are among the other officials who had confirmed their attendance as of Saturday evening.

UAE leader Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan congratulated Lebanon's new president, Joseph Aoun, on his election and expressed hopes for reopening the country's embassy in Beirut, state media said Saturday.

In a phone call, the United Arab Emirates' Sheikh Mohamed said he hoped "to work together for the mutual benefit and prosperity of both nations and their peoples, thereby enhancing regional security and stability", state news agency WAM reported.

WAM added that the two leaders "agreed to take the necessary steps to reopen the UAE Embassy in Beirut." The UAE, alongside several other Gulf states, recalled its diplomats from Lebanon in October 2021 in "solidarity" with Riyadh over a Lebanese minister's criticism of the Saudi-led military intervention in Yemen.

Aoun expressed his "commitment to strengthening bilateral relations in the coming phase and commended the UAE's support for Lebanon at all levels".

Anti-government protests are expected across Israel on Saturday against the government and for a Gaza ceasefire and release of Israeli captives held in the enclave.

Protests will take place outside the Israeli military HQ in Tel Aviv at 8pm local time, as well as at Tel Aviv's 'Hostage Square', which Haaretz reports is being organised by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Israel will send a delegation headed by the chief of its Mossad intelligence agency to Qatar to continue talks over a possible hostage deal in Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement on Saturday.

(Reuters)

Palestinian political party Fatah has issued a statement saying "it will not allow Hamas, which sacrificed the interests of the Palestinian people for Iran and caused the destruction in the Gaza Strip, to replicate its actions in the West Bank."

The statement, carried by Palestinian news agency Wafa, blamed Hamas for causing "the largest war against the Palestinians, leading to the death and destruction of over 200,000 people." 

It further accused Hamas of "attempting to stir security chaos in the West Bank, thereby continuing its policy that brought disaster upon the Palestinian people." 

US President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg was in Paris on Saturday, attending an event at Paris-based Iranian opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), according to TV footage carried by the group.

Retired Lieutenant-General Kellogg, who is set to serve as Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, postponed a trip to European capitals earlier this month until after Trump's inauguration on 20 January.

He has previously spoken at NCRI events, most recently in November, but his presence in Paris, even if in a personal capacity, suggests the group has the ear of the new US administration.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Saturday during his first visit to Syria since president Bashar al-Assad's fall that demarcating the countries' shared land and sea borders was a key concern.

"It is among the priorities to draw up the land and sea borders between Lebanon and Syria," Mikati said at a joint press conference with the country's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli air strike on a school-turned-shelter on Saturday killed eight people, including two children, while the Israeli military claimed it targeted Hamas members.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal confirmed eight people, including two children and two women, were killed by Israeli shelling on the Halwa school in the northern Gaza city of Jabalia.

Bassal said the strike would 30 people, including 19 children, and that the Halwa school housed "thousands of displaced people".

The Israeli military, in a statement, acknowledged it conducted a strike on the facility.

75 percent of Gaza's water wells have been damaged in Israeli attacks, according to Gaza's municipality speaking to Al Jazeera.

The municipality said that it was facing difficulties delivering water to displaced persons due to the destruction of the water and sewage network in the enclave.

In December, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza on the basis of its obstruction of of water access in the enclave.

US President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, an Israeli official told Reuters.

(Reuters)

An Israeli airstrike on a house on the al-Beltaji Street in Gaza City has killed two people, Al Jazeera reported citing its Arabic language service.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Mikati on Saturday told a news conference with Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus that Lebanon and Syria would work together to secure the land borders and address the delineation of land and sea borders.

(Reuters)

Lebanon's newly-elected president, Joseph Aoun, will visit Saudi Arabia following an invitation from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a statement posted on X on Saturday.

The statement said Saudi Arabia would be Aoun's first foreign trip in his new role but did not specify a date for the visit. 

(Reuters)

Gaza's Ministry of Health has announced that in the last 48 hours, 32 people have been killed and 193 wounded by Israeli attacks on the enclave.

As a result, the death toll from Israel's war on Gaza has reached 46,537 killed and a further 109,571 wounded.

Syria's Intelligence Directorate foiled an attempt by the Islamic State to target the Sayeda Zeinab shrine in the capital Damascus, state news agency Sana reported on Saturday.

It said members of the cell were arrested before carrying out an attack. 

(Reuters)

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati arrived in Damascus Saturday in the first such visit since before civil war broke out in Syria in 2011, an AFP journalist reported.

Mikati's visit comes as the neighbouring countries seek better relations after Islamist-led rebels toppled longtime strongman Bashar al-Assad last month.

The Israeli army has said that it has intercepted a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip at the Karam Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing which prompted sirens to go off in the area. According to Israeli press, no injuries have been reported.

A delegation from Oman, headed by the Special Envoy to the Sultan of Oman Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Hinai, arrived in Damascus on Saturday meeting Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

The chief of Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency, Ronen Bar, has urged the Israeli government to conduct a major operation against Palestinian militants in the Israeli occupied West Bank following an attack that killed three Israeli's on Monday.

The chief of the UN's agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) has said that the organisation "is the custodian of the Palestine Refugees' identity and history". 

Philippe Lazzarini said that thousands of archived files have been brought to safety from Gaza and the West Bank and digitized in what he said is "essential to protet the rights of Palestine Refugees under international law." 

"It is time for a peaceful diplomatic solution that will end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict including addressing the plight of Palestine Refugees once and for all."

.@UNRWA, the custodian of identify and history of #Palestine Refugees
👇 pic.twitter.com/DEdpE6f53v

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) January 10, 2025