Hamas and Israel agree Gaza ceasefire deal: Qatari PM

This live blog has now wrapped up. The New Arab will be back at 9am with live updates of events in Gaza.

Gaza's civil defence agency said at least 20 people were killed in Israeli strikes after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced on Wednesday.

Agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that several strikes hit the territory, killing at least 20 people, including 18 in Gaza City. The raids "did not stop despite the announcement of the truce", he said.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which in addition to Hamas holds hostages in Gaza, affirmed it will remain alert to guarantee the full implementation of the ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has welcomed the announcement of an agreement between Israel and Hamas to suspend hostilities in Gaza. 

However, while the group "hopes this temporary pause will save Palestinian lives and alleviate some of the suffering the Israeli military has inflicted on Gaza", they say it "marks the beginning, not the end, of efforts to restore health, dignity and freedom to the Palestinian people."

“For 15 months, Palestinians in Gaza have experienced an existential threat to their survival from the Israeli military. Only a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire can allow for the urgent rebuilding of Gaza. This must include the safe return of displaced people to their homes and access to the resources they need to rebuild, the full restoration of Palestinian health and dignity, and an end to the erasure of Gaza," Fikr Shalltoot, MAP’s Gaza Director, said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump Wednesday to thank them for helping to secure a deal for the release of hostages held in Gaza, his office said.

"The prime minister thanked President-elect Trump for his help in advancing the release of the hostages," Netanyahu's office said in a first acknowledgement of a deal, adding that the two agreed to meet "soon" in Washington. The statement said Netanyahu then spoke with Biden to thank him too.

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday that the Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas was "dangerous" for Israel's security.

"The deal that will be presented to the government is a bad and dangerous deal for the security of the State of Israel," he said in a statement.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Egyptian, Palestinian, and Israeli authorities to grant foreign journalists access to Gaza.

The organization also urged the international community "to independently investigate the deliberate targeting of journalists that has been widely documented" since the war began in October 2023.

"Journalists have been paying the highest price – with their lives – to provide the world some insight into the horrors that have been taking place in Gaza during this prolonged war, which has decimated a generation of Palestinian reporters and newsrooms," said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg in a statement.

According to CPJ records, at least 165 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the conflict started.

CPJ welcomes the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in #Gaza and calls on authorities to grant unconditional access to journalists and independent human rights experts to investigate crimes committed against the media during the 15-month long war.https://t.co/9zloRVYhSf

— CPJ MENA (@CPJMENA) January 15, 2025

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in a televised statement on Wednesday that a ceasefire and hostage-release deal announced between Israel and Hamas was the "right move" to bring all the captives home.

"As the president of the state of Israel, I say in the clearest terms: This is the right move. This is an important move. This is a necessary move. There is no greater moral, human, Jewish, or Israeli obligation than to bring our sons and daughters back to us -- whether to recover at home, or to be laid to rest," said Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial.

Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya stated that Palestinians will not forget those responsible for mass killings against them, those who defended these actions in the media, and those who supplied the bombs that destroyed their homes.

“The barbaric war of extermination … that the Israeli occupation and its backers have carried out over 467 days will forever be engraved in the memory of our people and the world as the worst genocide in modern history," al-Hayya said, as reported by Al Jazeera.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday it was "imperative" the newly struck Gaza ceasefire removes obstacles to aid deliveries as he welcomed the deal that includes a prisoner and hostage exchange.

Guterres also called for the "integrity" of Palestinian territory to be respected and for a push to ensure "unified" Palestinian leadership capable of securing peace.

"It is imperative that this ceasefire removes the significant security and political obstacles to delivering aid across Gaza so that we can support a major increase in urgent life-saving humanitarian support," he said.

Guterres has led calls for a ceasefire in the deadly conflict and has advocated for an unhindered flow of aid to the war-torn territory, including that delivered by UN agencies.

US President Joe Biden announced Wednesday a "full and complete" ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the first part of their peace accord, and said he had acted as "one team" with incoming leader Donald Trump.

Speaking at the White House just days before he leaves office, a visibly relieved Biden said the negotiations to halt the Gaza conflict had been some of the "toughest" of his career.

"I'm deeply satisfied this day has come, finally come," Biden said in a televised statement.

A number of Americans would be among the hostages who would be released by Palestinian militants in Gaza, he added.

The first phase of the deal would last six weeks and include a "full and complete ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas," Biden said.

The as yet unfinalized second phase would bring a "permanent end to the war," the 82-year-old Democrat said, adding he was "confident" the deal would hold.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pointed on Wednesday to the "importance of accelerating the entry of urgent humanitarian aid" into Gaza as he welcomed a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Sisi, whose country neighbours Gaza and whose government helped negotiate the truce, said the deal came after "strenuous efforts over more than a year of Egyptian, Qatari and US mediation".

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday welcomed the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal as "the long overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for".

"They have borne the brunt of this conflict -- triggered by the brutal terrorists of Hamas," he said in a statement, adding that attention should now turn to how to secure a "permanently better future... grounded in a two-state solution".

US President Joe Biden said Wednesday the three-step truce agreed between Israel and Hamas includes a "full and complete ceasefire" as part of phase one and a "permanent end to the war" in an unfinalized second phase.

"Phase One will last six weeks. It includes a full and complete cease fire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from all the populated areas of Gaza and the release of a number of hostages held by Hamas," Biden said in a White House speech.

"During the next six weeks, Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements to get phase two, which is a permanent end of the war," he added.

Here are the key points from Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani regarding the newly announced ceasefire agreement in Gaza:

• Mediation efforts by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have successfully secured a ceasefire in Gaza.
• Qatar and Egypt will oversee the implementation of the agreement.
• Progress toward this breakthrough had been steadily building over the past month.
• The ceasefire is set to begin on Sunday, January 19.
• As part of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release 33 Israeli captives during the first phase in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
• The initial phase of the agreement will last 42 days

Sheikh Mohammed stated that the Gaza agreement was the result of extensive diplomatic efforts but emphasised that the ceasefire is only a "start." He urged mediators and the international community to continue working toward a lasting peace.

"I want to tell our brothers in the Gaza Strip that the State of Qatar will always continue to support our Palestinian brothers," the Qatari prime minister affirmed.

Israel will gradually reduce forces in the Philadelphi corridor bordering Egypt during phase 1 of the Gaza ceasefire deal with forces completing their withdrawal no later than day 50, a copy of the deal seen by Reuters.

The corridor was a stumbling block in past efforts to secure a ceasefire deal, with Egypt, a mediator along with Qatar and the U.S. between Israel and Hamas, demanding Israel pulls out after seizing it in May. 

Incoming US president Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to prevent Gaza from becoming a "terrorist safe haven" after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced.

Trump said on his Truth Social network that his White House would "continue to work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven."

Egyptian state media reported Wednesday that coordination was underway to "open the Palestinian Rafah crossing to allow the entry of international aid" into Gaza, citing an Egyptian security source.

Egypt was "preparing to bring in the largest possible amount of aid to the Gaza Strip", the report said, following news of a ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hamas.

Netanyahu's office has stated that a ceasefire deal in Gaza has not been finalised but suggested that the final details could be resolved in the coming hours.

"Several clauses in the framework remain unresolved, and we hope that the details will be finalised tonight," the Israeli prime minister's office said in a statement.

Palestinians celebrated reports that a ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas. People in Khan Younis in southern Gaza took to the streets.

Despite the news of an agreed ceasefire deal, Israel continued its relentless attacks on Gaza. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Israeli forces killed at least four people in Jenin refugee camp. The Israeli military confirmed earlier it had targeted the area.

Donald Trump has claimed credit for the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. 

In another Truth Social post, the republican US president-elect said the deal took place thanks to his "historic" election victory. 

He said: "We will continue promoting PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH throughout the region, as we build upon the momentum of this ceasefire to further expand the Historic Abraham Accords. This is only the beginning of great things to come for America, and indeed, the World!"

The agreement has been brokered by US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators who have spent weeks holding talks with Hamas and Israeli representatives in Doha. 

The Israeli government will vote on a Gaza ceasefire deal on Thursday, a government official told Reuters.

Any truce agreement still needs to be approved by Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.

Breaking | Israeli occupation warplanes bombard two Palestinian homes in Al-Damaj neighborhood of the Jenin refugee camp. pic.twitter.com/AVSa0xg7nW

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 15, 2025

Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani held several meetings with Hamas and Israeli officers. 

According to Israeli reports, the US, Qatar and Egypt will shortly deliver a joint statement officially announcing the deal. 

WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on Wednesday for a Syrian national reconciliation process to ensure justice for crimes committed over the past five decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family.

In the first visit ever by a UN rights commissioner to Damascus, Turk met with the head of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and with victims of crimes the conflict.

"Transitional justice is crucial as Syria moves forward," Turk told reporters in Damascus. "Revenge and vengeance are never the answer. Instead there needs to be a fully nationally-owned, healing, truth-telling and reconciliation process."

He said such a process would address "past wrongs that have been committed by all actors in Syria over the past five decades", the period during which Assad and his father Hafez before him ruled over Syria.

An Israeli air strike hit a military target belonging to Syria's new Islamist-led authorities for the first time on Wednesday, killing three people, a war monitor and a medical source said.

"An Israeli drone launched an attack targeting a military convoy... killing two members of the Military Operations Department" and one civilian, in southern Syria's Quneitra region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A medical source said a local official from the Ghadir al-Bustan area was among the three killed in the strike.

"This is the first Israeli strike targeting the security forces of the new authorities," said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the British-based Observatory with a network of sources inside Syria.

Security forces had been conducting a sweep in the area to search for weapons in civilian homes, the Observatory said.

The death toll of Palestinian media workers killed in the 15-month war has risen to 206 after two more journalists were targeted by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Aqel Saleh was killed in an Israeli air attack on a group of people in the Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City, Al Jazeera reports. 

Journalist Ahmed Abu Alrous and three other people were also killed in Nuseirat in central Gaza when an Israeli air attack hit their vehicle.

The Palestinian Civil Defence has urged residents to avoid areas in Gaza with an Israeli military presence until the details of the possible ceasefire are officially released.

Mahmoud Basal, the rescue agency’s spokesperson, said in a statement: "To our beloved Palestinian people in Gaza, for your own safety – amid talks of a looming ceasefire in the Gaza Strip – we warn you against approaching areas where the Israeli occupation forces are present."

UN chief Antonio Guterres has reiterated his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza amid reports Hamas has agreed to a draft agreement. 

"Nothing can justify the terror attacks by Hamas on October 7, and nothing can justify the dramatic levels of deaths and destruction inflicted on the Palestinian people for months,” Guterres told the UN General Assembly in a speech.

"There has been no ceiling to the suffering and no bottom to the horrors. I strongly appeal to all parties to finalise a ceasefire and hostage release deal sooner rather than later."

Military wind of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Quds Brigades, confirmed that its fighters planted explosive devices in Jabalia in northern Gaza and detonated them against two Israeli tanks, killing and injuring their crews.

The group also released a video showing a mortar attack against an Israeli command centre in the Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza.

📍Deir al-Balah, #Gaza

Yesterday, an attack from Israeli Forces burned tents sheltering displaced people, causing extensive damage.

People in Gaza have been displaced over and over again for 15 months.
They search for safety that does not exist: no place is safe in Gaza, no one… pic.twitter.com/a1ck3jjVXj

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) January 15, 2025

Qatar's Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, will hold a press conference this evening. 

He is expected to address the ongoing Gaza ceasefire agreement talks. According to Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed, he will appear alongside the Foreign Minister to announce that a ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange has been reached. 

Hamas has strongly condemned the Israeli "brutal" strikes on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

"As we mourn the heroic martyrs of Jenin, who were killed in this new brutal massacre, we affirm that this pure blood will not be shed in vain, and will be a flame that burns the occupation and breaks the prestige of its security system," Hamas said in a statement on its website.

The group also criticised the Palestinian Authority for not responding to the calls to "immediately stop" its campaign on Jenin and banning the ambulances to enter the camp after the strikes.

Hamas stressed that the PA is "a partner in the Zionist crime" against Jenin.

Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have approved a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, two Palestinian sources close to negotiations in Doha said on Wednesday.

"The resistance factions reached an agreement among themselves and informed the mediators of their approval of the (prisoner) exchange deal and ceasefire," one source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Another Palestinian source confirmed their approval of the deal.

The international community will have to maintain pressure on Israel after a hoped-for ceasefire in Gaza so it accepts the creation of a Palestinian state, Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa said on Wednesday.

A ceasefire agreement appears close following a recent round of indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, with mediators in Doha making a final push Wednesday to seal a deal.

"The ceasefire we're talking about... came about primarily because of international pressure. So pressure does pay off," Mustafa said before a conference in Oslo.

Israel must "be shown what's right and what's wrong, and that the veto power on peace and statehood for Palestinians will not be accepted and tolerated any longer," he told reporters in the Norwegian capital.

He was speaking at the start of the third meeting of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, gathering representatives from some 80 states and organisations in Oslo.

A ceasefire is "necessary, but not enough", Mustafa later told reporters after a meeting with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

"We need a ceasefire to start doing other things," he said, adding that a truce should lead to greater security, the opening of more border crossings in Gaza and more humanitarian assistance.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has now gone on to deny that Hamas had agreed to the Gaza ceasefire proposal from Qatari mediators, after an Israeli official said the Palestinian militant group had given its approval.

Israeli media channels had reported that, following the green light from Hamas, the deal would be formally announced on Thursday and would come into effect on Sunday with the release of the first of the hostages.

However the prime minister's office said Hamas had not communicated its answer to the proposal.

"Contrary to reports, the Hamas terror organisation has not yet returned its response to the deal," the prime minister's office said. 

The Israeli far-right has slammed a Gaza ceasefire deal that is on the brink of being agreed upon between Israel and Hamas, arguing instead that the war on Gaza must continue, amid fears they could scupper the truce.

Extremist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich again called for Israel to continue its military operations in Gaza on Wednesday, describing the ceasefire deal as a "surrender" to Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is currently trying to persuade Smotrich not to exit the government if a ceasefire deal is reached, according to Israeli media reports.

Smotrich, who is also the head of the Religious Zionism party, said on Sunday that his part "will not be part of" the deal which he dubbed a "catastrophe for Israel’s national security".

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has called on Smotrich to quit the government if an agreement is reached.

You can read the full story here

Hamas has agreed to the Gaza ceasefire and hostage return proposal shared by Qatari negotiators, an Israeli official said.

Mediators from the United States and Qatar said Israel and the Palestinian group were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war.

An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalised. All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks.

An Israeli air raid has killed at least three Palestinians and wounded several others in Al-Shati refugee camp in western Gaza, according to Al Jazeera reporters on the ground.

The attack comes after Israel killed at least 10 people who were waiting in line for water at the camp in another attack in December. 

The Israeli army has issued forced evacuation orders to Palestinians sheltering in Gaza's Jabalia camp. 

In a post written in Arabic on X, formerly Twitter, Israeli spokesperson Avichay Adraee said: "To the residents of the Gaza Strip in the D5 area (Jabalia village), this is a prior warning before the attack!” the post reads.

"Terrorist organisations are again launching rockets from this specific area that has been warned several times in the past. For your safety, move immediately to the shelters in the centre of Gaza City."

Israel has issued multiple evacuation orders throughout its war on Gaza but has continued to bomb humanitarian zones killing and displacing thousands of Palestinians. 

Controversial Ugandan judge Julia Sebutinde, who defended Israel against accusations of genocide in Gaza, is set to assume the presidency of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after former head Nawaf Salam was appointed as Lebanon's new premier this week. 

Sebutinde garnered attention for her staunch opposition to South Africa's genocide allegations against Israel and is expected to succeed Salam following his resignation, effective Tuesday. 

Salam, a Lebanese jurist, was appointed on Monday by Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun to form a government aimed at rescuing the economically beleaguered nation.  

Sebutinde's abrupt appointment marks only the second time in ICJ history that a vice president has filled a vacancy caused by a sitting president's departure.  

The first occurred in 1981 when Vice President Tamsin Elias succeeded Humphrey Waldock following his passing. 

You can read the full story here

The funeral of six Palestinians killed in an Israeli airstrike, including a 15-year-old child, took place in Jenin refugee camp.

According to news agency Wafa, a procession set off from the Governmental Hospital, with mourners carrying the bodies of the victims on their shoulders and toured the streets of the city and the camp, arriving at the homes of their families. 

Israeli forces claimed they have seized more than 3,300 military weaponry since its offensive in Syria following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December. 

In a post on its official Telegram channel, Israeli forces said: "The forces have located and confiscated over 3,300 enemy assets, including Syrian armed forces tanks, weapons, anti-tank missiles and RPGs, shells, mortars and mortar shells, observation equipment, and additional weapons."

The statement also claimed that "over 170,000 enemy means have been confiscated by IDF forces and the enemy assets confiscation unit from all combat regions – the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria."

At least five people have been killed in the Israeli attack of Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

At least 33 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids on Gaza since yesterday, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic.

Israel carried out a "bloodbath" of targeted attacks as truce talks continue, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) claimed. 

Doctors from the UK-based non-profit health organisation have claimed they have witnessed Israeli attacks aimed to "destroy or kill".

Sulaiman Qasem, MAP's Staff Medical Coordinator based in northern Gaza, said: "The best thing right now, immediately, without any delay, would be to stop everything and announce a truce or ceasefire. Honestly, what we’re seeing now is a bloodbath and targeted attacks. Just yesterday, there were targeted attacks on groups of people and individuals, aside from homes being destroyed.

"They are targeting anything that they want to destroy or kill.  Last night the shelling and bombing here didn’t stop for a moment. Since I've been sheltering in the red zone and near the restricted zone in the north, right at the border, it’s been constant shooting and bombing all night.

"It’s like when a contractor tells his workers, wrap it up and finish everything quickly. It’s absolute madness. Yesterday was completely out of control. God, let this end already. We just need this to end."

Dr Hussam Abu Safiya reportedly transferred to Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank. 

Abu Safiya was detained by Israeli forces on 27 December and taken to the notorious Israeli Sde Teiman detention prison.

But, according to Al-Mezan, the prominent doctor has now been sent to another Israeli detention facility. Local sources claimed Abu Safiya showed no apparent signs of torture, physical deprivation or malnutrition. 

🚨 UPDATE ON DR. HUSSAM ABU SAFIYA

We confirm that Dr. Abu Safiya was transferred to Ofer Prison on 9 January 2025.

During a video appearance at his hearing in Ashkelon, Dr. Abu Safiya seemed to show no apparent signs of torture, physical deprivation, or malnutrition. However,…

— Al-Mezan الميزان (@AlMezanCenter) January 15, 2025

Israeli forces have detained at least 12 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the last 24 hours.

According to the Commission of Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), the arrests took place in Tulkarem, Bethlehem, Nablus, Qalqilya, and Ramallah. 

The groups said on Telegram: "The occupation forces continue to carry out extensive raids and abuse during arrest campaigns, accompanied by attacks and threats against detainees and their families, in addition to acts of vandalism and destruction in citizens’ homes."

The Health Ministry in Gaza has released its latest daily casualty update from Israel’s war on the besieged Gaza Strip. 

Israeli attacks since the start of the war in October have killed at least 46,707 Palestinians so far. 

The number of people wounded has also risen to at least 110,265. 

Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi met with General Michael Kurilla, head of US Central Command (CENTCOM). 

The US military command is responsible for operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. 

"The commanders held a strategic meeting that focused on the regional situational assessment and examined courses of action to address threats and developments in the Middle East," the Israeli force said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter. 

Kurilla arrived in Israel on Monday as Gaza ceasefire negotiations continued after visits to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon.

The Al-Harazin family was tragically killed in an airstrike on Al-Farabi School, where they had sought refuge from the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza. All that remains are the remnants of their meals. pic.twitter.com/VS2AFfh4v0

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) January 15, 2025

The Media Committee in Jenin Camp has accused the Palestinian Authority of being accountable for the deadly Israeli attack on the camp overnight.

In a statement, they said: "We hold the Authority fully responsible for the Israeli massacre in Jenin camp. The Authority’s siege of the camp made it easier for the occupation forces to carry out the assassination and kill our people."

Over the past month, operations under Israeli military oversight have involved over 300 armed PA staff.

A ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel is imminent, with the coming hours critical in finalising the terms of the truce and putting an end to over 15 months of bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Negotiators are meeting in Doha on Tuesday to finalise the terms after US President Joe Biden said the ceasefire and captive exchange deal was on "the brink" of being agreed.

One of the biggest hurdles in realising a ceasefire deal has been what a post-war Gaza might look like. The deal would see an immediate stop to Israeli aggression in Gaza and result in the biggest release of Israeli captives since the last temporary truce in the early months of the war.

In a speech on Monday, Biden said the deal would "free halt the fighting, provide security to Israel and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started".

An Israeli official said negotiations were in advanced stages for the release of up to 33 out of 98 captives as part of the deal, Reuters reported. The 33 captives released in the first stage of the deal will include children, women, men above 50 and any wounded or sick people.

Israeli occupation forces stormed the towns of Jabal al-Mukaber and Mikhmas in Jerusalem this morning.

According to Palestinian news agency Wafa, the forces stormed Jabal al-Mukaber accompanied by a bulldozer.

Israel also stormed the town of Mikhmas, northeast of Jerusalem, and seized several vehicles.

An Israeli air strike has targeted northern and eastern areas of Raha city in southern Gaza. 

According to Al Jazeera Arabic, the bombardment has killed four Palestinians.

Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide has declared that a ceasefire agreement would "not be a solution" to put an end to the Gaza war. 

During an address in Oslo on a global diplomatic initiative towards Palestinian statehood, he said: “There are very serious signs of a possibly imminent ceasefire in Gaza. We will not celebrate before it’s there, but the messages we are getting from all sides are way more concrete and promising than what we’ve heard before.”

However, “a ceasefire is not a solution”, he added. “A ceasefire means a very welcome release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, an end to hostilities, the withdrawal of troops … This would be very good, but it’s not a solution because there’s no way to turn the clock back to October 6, 2023."

He added: “We need to recognise that it is really the moment to dive into what will happen next.”

An Israeli air strike on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed six people, including a teenager, with the Israeli military confirming it attacked in the area.

"There are six martyrs and several injured as a result of the Israeli bombing of Jenin refugee camp," the Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. 

The Israeli military did not offer details but said it had carried out "an attack in the Jenin area".

The Palestinian ministry said among those killed was 15-year-old Mahmud Ashraf Mustafa Gharbiya.

Palestinian security forces of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA) slammed the raid by the Israeli military.

"The pre-planned intervention thwarts all efforts being made to maintain security and order and restore life to normal," said Anwar Rajab, spokesman for the Palestinian forces, in a statement.

"It reflects the occupation's premeditated intentions to disrupt every national endeavour aimed at protecting our people."

Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and US President Joe Biden have discussed over the phone the latest developments regarding the Gaza ceasefire deal.

"The telephone conversation discussed the intensive mediation efforts being undertaken by Egypt, the US and Qatar to reach a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip and an exchange of prisoners and detainees," the Egyptian presidency's website.

They stressed that all sides should work to remove any obstacles and show the necessary flexibility to reach an agreement, it added.

Sisi underlined the need to reach "an immediate ceasefire" to put an end to the dire humanitarian suffering of citizens in Gaza, to allow humanitarian aid to enter without restrictions, and to spare the region the consequences of an expanding conflict.

A Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) delegation was travelling to Doha to take part in "the final details" of the Gaza ceasefire deal with Israel, the group said in a Telegram statement.

Hamas also said that it had held a "series of contacts and consultations" with the leaders of other Palestinian factions to brief them on the progress made in the talks.

Meanwhile, the spokesman of the Qatari foreign ministry, Majed al-Ansari said in a press conference yesterday that the "Doha talks had reached final stages".

The official Qatar News Agency cited Ansari as saying there were hopes that "the points of disagreement between the two parties be removed", and it would be difficult to set a specific time frame for an announcement.

At least 24 Palestinians have been killed in the central areas of the Strip as Israel escalates its airstrike attacks. 

It comes as another Israeli airstrike on Gaza's Deir al-Balah killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded others, medics said on Tuesday.

In a separate strike on a house in Rafah, five people including a woman were killed, and four others were injured, medics said.

Mediators were making a final push Wednesday to seal a Gaza truce and hostage release deal, after a Qatari official involved in the talks expressed hope an agreement could be reached "very soon".

US President Joe Biden and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in a phone call Tuesday that both sides needed to show "flexibility" to get a deal over the line, according to a statement from Sisi's office.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went into a meeting with top security officials late Tuesday to discuss the deal, his office said, while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the "ball is now in Hamas's court".

"If Hamas accepts, the deal is ready to be concluded and implemented," he said.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday that negotiations were in their "final stages" and mediators were hopeful they would lead "very soon to an agreement".

However, he cautioned that "until there is an announcement... we shouldn't be over-excited".