The New Arab's liveblog on Israel's war in Gaza and the ceasefire deal has now come to an end, and will resume at 0900am GMT.
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The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday that a "deal to release the hostages" had been reached and that he had ordered the political-security cabinet to convene later in the day.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal to release the hostages," his office said in a statement.
"The Prime Minister ordered the political-security cabinet to convene tomorrow (Friday). The government will then convene to approve the deal," Netanyahu's office said.
It added that the families of the hostages had been informed and that preparations were being made to receive them upon their return.
If approved by Israel's cabinet, the truce agreement would begin on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalised.
It was announced by mediators Qatar and the United States on Wednesday.
The New Arab's liveblog on Israel's war in Gaza and the ceasefire deal has now come to an end, and will resume at 0900am GMT.
Thank you for following!
Hundreds of Paris police officers were deployed on Thursday for a basketball match classified as "high-risk" due to the participation of an Israeli team.
The game between Paris and Maccabi Tel Aviv attracted around 5,000 spectators, 1,000 of whom were backing the visiting team with 600 police on duty in order to quell potential protests.
Around 400 fans sported T-shirts in the colours of the Tel Aviv side.
Thursday's Euroleague match was held just a day after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire and hostage-release deal aimed at ending the war in Gaza.
Despite the tight security, there were no reports of trouble at the match played at l'Arena Porte de la Chapelle in the north of the French capital.
On Wednesday, Paris police had indicated that Thursday's match was "likely to constitute a symbolic target for acts of a terrorist nature" in a "current context of very high threat".
"We felt the atmosphere," said Paris player Yakuba Ouattara. "But we are professionals so we manage to focus on the objective."
The game came two months after 40 arrests were made at a tense Nations League football match between France and Israel at the city's Stade de France when 4,000 police were on duty.
Security for that match had been intensified after fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv's football team were attacked in Amsterdam the previous week.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that a "deal to release the hostages" had been reached and that he had ordered the political-security cabinet to convene later in the day.
"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached on a deal to release the hostages," his office said in a statement a day after accusing Hamas of attempting to extort last-minute concessions. It added that after the meeting of the political-security cabinet on Friday the government would "convene to approve the deal".
Israeli forces arrested five Palestinians from the village of Haris, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.
Local sources reported that the army stormed the village, raided the Palestinians' homes located near its main entrance, and arrested Hamza Mohammad, Tariq, and Qais and Raed Ali Aql and Majd Ibdah.
US President-elect Donald Trump says the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas "better be done" before his inauguration on Monday.
"We changed the course of it, and we changed it fast, and frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office," Trump said n a podcast interview with Dan Bongino.
Trump also added that "we shook hands, and we signed certain documents, but it better be done."
The President-elect also claimed that President Joe Biden hadn’t done anything. "I’m not looking for credit. I want to get these people out," he said, referring to the captives being held by Hamas. "We’ve got to get them out."
Three Israeli protesters were arrested for disturbing the peace and damaging vehicles during an anti-ceasefire deal protest in Jerusalem, according to a police statement, as cited by The Times of Israel.
One of the suspects was arrested for spraying pepper spray at the protesters, police said.
The protesters also blocked traffic, including emergency vehicles, and set a fire in the middle of the road, the statement added.
Itamar Ben=Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party defends being against the Gaza ceasefire deal, which it says "endangers Israel’s security, undermines the achievements of the war, and constitutes a complete victory for Hamas."
The far-right party reiterates that it will continue to support the coalition, "but we will not sit in a government that makes such immoral agreements".
US defence secreatry Lloyd Austin has said the ceasefire deal in Gaza "can open a new window of hope for Israelis and Palestinians after the months of bloodshed" and "must be implemented rigorously".
Austin said he was "pleased" to have secured the agreement after months of having "worked tirelessly" alongside Egypt and Qatar.
I am pleased that Israel and Hamas have secured a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, after months of determined diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar. From @POTUS on down, we have worked tirelessly as one administration to reach this deal and this day. This… pic.twitter.com/EaJJuVY86I
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) January 16, 2025
The UN Security Council called Thursday for Lebanese leaders to rapidly form a new government, describing it as a "critical" step for stability in the war-battered country and region.
In a statement adopted unanimously, the Council welcomed the January 9 election of President Joseph Aoun, who filled a role that was vacant for over two years, and the nomination of Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, urging the new Lebanese leaders to continue to "work constructively to promote the country's stability" and "swiftly" form a government.
"The Security Council stresses that the formation of a government is critical for Lebanon's stability and resilience to withstand regional and domestic challenges and encourages all parties in Lebanon to demonstrate renewed unity to that end," the Council said.
It reaffirmed its "strong support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and political independence of Lebanon," and called on all parties to respect a ceasefire deal with Israel.
Several journalists who are outspoken critics of U.S. support for Israel loudly lambasted US Secretary of State Antony Blinken over the war in Gaza on Thursday, repeatedly interrupting his final press conference as he sought to defend his handling of the 15-month-old conflict.
Israel's assault on Gaza is likely to define the foreign policy legacy of the outgoing Biden administration, despite a deal reached with Hamas on Wednesday on a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages.
"Criminal! You belong in The Hague," shouted Sam Husseini, an independent journalist and longtime critic of Washington's approach to the world. The Hague is where the International Criminal Court is located.
The unusually confrontational scene in the State Department briefing room only ended when security personnel forcibly picked up Husseini and carried him out of the room as he continued to heckle Blinken.
Blinken has faced criticism for providing Israel with weapons and diplomatic support since the latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict began on 7 October, 2023.
Police closed off the Adidas Arena ahead of a Euroleague basketball game between Paris and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday because of a suspicious package outside the stadium.
A police officer told Reuters that no one was allowed inside the security perimeter while a dog was sent in to sniff a food delivery package that had been left on a bike.
The package was destroyed on site and spectators were allowed inside the security perimeter after half an hour.
“There was nothing in there,” a police officer told Reuters. "It was a preventive measure."
The Euroleague Round 22 match was already classified as high-risk by the French National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism (DNLH), part of the Ministry of the Interior, due to security concerns linked to ongoing war in Gaza.
Israel and Hamas on Wednesday agreed to a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, opening the way to a possible end to a 15-month war that has upended the Middle East.
On the Place Stalingrad south of the Arena, dozens gathered to protest against the game being held, while several others celebrated the ceasefire.
"I am here to celebrate the ceasefire, which for me is a victory for the Palestinian people, and the end of the massacre," Houssam Mahjoubi, a 35-year-old engineer in Paris, told Reuters.
He said the ceasefire, however, did not change his opposition to the match taking place.
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he will resign from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if it passes the ceasefire deal in Gaza.
"If the war against Hamas resumes with full force toward achieving its decisive goals and objectives that remain unmet, we will return to the government," Ben-Gvir said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said that Israel has come in second place after China for jailing journalists, saying more than 60 media workers were behind bars in the final month of 2024 globally.
Israel, which has not appeared on the list much in the past, was "catapulted to second-place last year as it tried to silence coverage from the occupied Palestinian territories," CPJ said, noting all journalists detained by Israel were Palestinians.
China, Israel, and Myanmar – with 50, 43 and 35 journalists detained, respectively – "emerged as the world’s three worst offenders in another record-setting year for journalists jailed because of their work", the CPJ said.
Egypt's foreign ministry said on Thursday the implementation of a ceasefire in Gaza must "start without delay", a day after mediators announced that Israel and Hamas had reached a truce.
The agreement, announced by mediators Qatar, the United States and Egypt, is set to take effect on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalised.
Since the deal was announced, the Gaza civil defence agency said at least 80 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in strikes by Israel's military, which said on Thursday it had hit about 50 targets over the past day.
In a call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty called for an immediate start to the truce and stressed "the need for the parties to adhere to its provisions and work to implement its stages on the specified dates".
In a separate statement, the ministry said Egypt was ready to host an international conference on reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations has said it would take more than a decade to rebuild civilian infrastructure.
Cairo on Thursday called for the rapid, safe and effective distribution of humanitarian aid, as well as "early recovery projects in preparation for reconstruction".
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Lebanon Thursday on a "solidarity visit", his deputy spokesman said, after a long-stalled presidential election and a devastating war between armed group Hezbollah and Israel.
"The Secretary-General has just arrived in Beirut for a solidarity visit to Lebanon," Farhan Haq told a press briefing.
Guterres would meet political officials and visit UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during his trip which will last until Saturday, Haq said.
Lebanon's deeply divided political class last week finally elected a new president, Joseph Aoun, after two years of deadlock.
Aoun on Monday named Nawal Salam, until recently the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, to form a government.
Since Wednesday Salam has been consulting political parties ahead of drawing up a list of cabinet members.
Guterres is visiting as the deadline approaches for full implementation of a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels threatened on Thursday to keep up their attacks if Israel did not respect the recently announced ceasefire in its war against Hamas.
"We will watch the implementation of the agreement, and if there is any Israeli breach, massacres or attacks, we will be ready to provide military support to the Palestinian people," Houthi leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi said in a televised address.
Antony Blinken's final press conference as US secretary of state was interrupted multiple times by attendees shouting questions about the Biden administration's support for Israel's destruction of Gaza
"How does it feel to have your legacy be genocide?" one reporter shouted at Blinken.
"Three-hundred reporters were on the receiving end of your bombs. Why did you keep the bombs flowing when we had a deal?" he asked before escorted from the room.
Minutes later journalist Sam Husseini was dragged out of the room by security guards after interrupting Blinken's statement.
"Why aren't you in The Hague," he shouted.
Sam Husseini forcibly removed from the briefing room after interrupting Blinken’s final press conference. @TheNationalNews pic.twitter.com/xw5ulrYhPA
— Willy Lowry (@willy_lowry) January 16, 2025
Amichai Chikli, a cabinet minister and member of Netanyahu's Likud party, has threatened to resign if the government negotiates a permanent end to the war or withdraws from the Gaza-Egypt border.
"If there is, God forbid, a withdrawal from the Philadelphi Axis, or if we do not return to fighting in order to complete the goals of the war, I will resign from my position," he wrote in a post on X.
The Israeli cabinet will meet Friday morning to vote on the ceasefire and prisoner-exchange deal, according to reports in Israeli and US media.
The remaining disputes have been resolved and a final agreement is now in place, paving the way for a cabinet vote, US outlet Axios and Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported this afternoon, citing Israeli officials.
The cabinet was initially expected to vote on the truce on Thursday before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the meeting, accusing Hamas of backtracking on some elements of the deal.
Unconfirmed reports have claimed that Hamas has sought to add new names to the list of Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel during the first six-week phase of the ceasefire.
Israel's negotiating team under Mossad chief David Barnea were reportedly still in Doha today finalising details of the agreement with mediators.
Following Netanyahu's statement, Hamas said that it is committed to respecting the ceasefire and accused the Israeli prime minister of trying to sabotage the deal.
Netanyahu has faced internal pressure from the far-right parties in his coalition as negotiations intensified in recent days. Jewish Power leader and national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has been trying to persuade the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to quit the government and trigger fresh elections if the government approves the ceasefire.
Smotrich's Religious Zionist Party indicated today that it would resign if fighting does not resume after the end of the 42-day ceasefire.
Egypt's foreign ministry said Thursday it was "ready to host an international conference" on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, a day after mediators announced a deal for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
In a statement, Cairo called for the rapid, safe and effective distribution of humanitarian aid, as well as "early recovery projects in preparation for the reconstruction" of the Palestinian territory, which has been devastated by 15 months of war.
Hamas is making a last-minute push to secure the release of a few more Palestinian detainees held in Israeli prisons during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement announced yesterday, the BBC reported this morning, citing a Hamas source.
Following the deal's official announcement yesterday, it was thought that both sides had agreed on the final list of prisoners that would be exchanged during the first phase of the ceasefire, which will come into force on Sunday.
But according to the broadcaster's Gaza correspondent, Rushdi Abualouf, the Palestinian group is now trying to add the names of two former Hamas military commanders to the list.
Hamas said this morning it was committed to respecting the ceasefire agreement after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused it of backtracking on some of its terms.
Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri said Netanyahu was attempting to sabotage the accord and called on the Biden and Trump teams to pressure him to abide by its terms.
Under the agreement, Hamas will release 33 of the 94 captives remaining in Gaza while Israel will free hundreds of prisoners arrested since 7 October 2023.
The Israeli Air Force has bombed 50 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours, a military spokesperson said Thursday afternoon.
The US is confident that the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel will hold despite accusations from Israel that the Palestinian group is reneging on parts of the deal, White House spokesperson John Kirby said today.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today cancelled a planned cabinet vote on the ceasefire and claimed that Hamas was seeking to make last-minute changes to the agreement.
"We're going to get there. We're aware of these issues that the prime minister has raised and we're working through that," Kirby told NBC.
""We're confident we'll be able to solve these last-minute issues and get it moving."
The Qatari prime minister demanded Israel "immediately withdraw" from its buffer zone with Syria during a visit to Damascus on Thursday after Israeli troops had entered the area following Bashar al-Assad's fall.
"The Israeli occupation's seizure of the buffer zone is a reckless... act and it must immediately withdraw," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani said at a press conference with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Israeli human rights monitor B'Tselem has welcomed yesterday's ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel but warned of the risks of renewed conflict when the six-week truce comes to an end.
"A ceasefire is only the first step, and one that should have happened long ago. There is a real concern that Israel will resume fighting after the first phase of the deal is complete," it said in a statement today.
"The international community must do everything in its power to demand Israel stop the war completely and permanently."
Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Thursday his country is ready to welcome UN forces into the UN established buffer zone with Israel.
"Israel's advance in the region was due to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they have no presence at all. There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into the Syrian regions, into the buffer zone," he said, answering a Reuters question.
Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani on Thursday arrived at Damascus' International Airport, footage run by Al Jazeera Live showed.
Earlier, Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson said on X the country's PM would hold extensive talks with Syria's de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa in the Syrian capital.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has welcomed the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, alongside the release of captives, which is scheduled to commence on Sunday.
"NATO welcomes the ceasefire; hostage release agreement in Gaza. We commend Egypt, Qatar; USA for their efforts in brokering this deal that brings hope to the region," NATO official Javier Colomina posted on X.
He added, "Full implementation of the agreement will be crucial as a first step to greater stability in the Middle East."
China and Russia welcomed the ceasefire agreement on Thursday, expressing hope that it would lead to a permanent end to the 15-month conflict.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said it hoped the truce would lead to "long-term stabilisation" and pave the way to a "comprehensive political settlement" between Palestinians and Israelis.
A spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry said Beijing hopes that "all parties will take the Gaza ceasefire as an opportunity to ease regional tensions" and pledged to help in the post-war reconstruction effort in Gaza.
The Gaza death toll has reached 46,788, according to figures published by the Gaza Health Ministry this morning.
The number of people wounded in Israel's 15-month onslaught rose to 110,453.
Israel is still negotiating details of the prisoner-exchange deal in Doha, hours after Qatar, the US and Hamas announced that the two sides had reached an agreement.
The negotiating team, led by Mossad chief David Barnea, continued discussions with mediators in the Qatari capital today to finalise the agreement, according to The Times of Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning accused Hamas of reneging on some aspects of the agreement and shelved a cabinet vote to approve the ceasefire.
The EU will provide 120 million euros in humanitarian aid to Gaza, an EU spokesperson said Thursday.
The funds will be allocated to providing food and water, medical care, sanitation, and shelter to the thousands of Palestinians displaced by Israel's 15-month bombardment of the strip.
The far-right Israeli party led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has rejected any ceasefire agreement that brings a permanent end to the war and demanded the government resume its attacks on Gaza after the end of the six-week truce announced yesterday.
Following an internal meeting this morning, the Religious Zionist Party said it would resign from the government if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to extend the ceasefire beyond the first, 42-day phase - a step that would bring down the ruling coalition and trigger fresh elections.
"As far as we are concerned, the next stages of the deal will not happen," Israeli public broadcaster Kan quoted Religious Zionist MK Zvi Sukkot as saying.
Hamas and Israel are expected to begin negotiating a permanent end to the war after the initial truce comes into effect on Sunday.
Extremist national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called on Smotrich to join his Jewish Power party in resigning from the government should the ceasefire go into effect.
A senior Israeli official has denied that the government agreed to start drawing down Israeli troops from the Gaza-Egypt border - known as the Philadelphi Corridor - under the first six-week phase of the ceasefire.
A version of the agreement leaked on Wednesday said that Israel "will gradually reduce the forces in the corridor area during stage 1" before fully withdrawing between days 42 and 50 of the truce.
However, the Israeli official said on Thursday that the number of soldiers deployed at the border will stay the same for the duration of the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire but will be "distributed in a different manner".
The international community needs to put pressure on Israel to stick to the terms of the ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese presidency has said.
"Serious commitment by Israel needs to be followed up, as it has accustomed us to evading its obligations and disavowing international resolutions," it wrote in a post on X.
Ten Israeli soldiers were wounded in an incident at an Israeli training base on Wednesday.
The incident occurred when a weapon exploded on an army base in south Israel, according the military's spokesperson.
A senior Hamas official has rejected accusations made by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Palestinian group is reneging on the terms of the ceasefire agreed on Wednesday.
The Israeli leader this morning postponed a planned cabinet vote on the ceasefire, saying that Hamas was trying to backtrack on the deal.
Appearing on Al Araby TV, Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri rejected Netanyahu's claims and accused him of attempting to provoke a crisis.
"The occupation wants to create a state of tension at a critical time, and we demand it be obliged to implement the agreement," he said, calling on the Biden administration and incoming Trump team to pressure Israel.
He also said Israel's escalating bombardment of Gaza is an attempt to sabotage the deal.
Israeli attacks have killed dozens of people and injured hundreds in the hours since the ceasefire was announced in Doha.
An Israeli attack on a school in northern Gaza has killed at least two children and injured 20 people, according to local reports.
The strike targeted a school housing displaced people in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood, Al Jazeera reported.
Israel has killed at least 73 people and wounded hundreds in Gaza after pounding several areas of the Palestinian territory since the announcement of a ceasefire deal, Gaza's civil defence agency said Thursday.
"Since the ceasefire agreement was announced, Israeli occupation forces have killed 73 people, including 20 children and 25 women," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding that another 230 people were wounded in the "bombardments that are continuing", a day after the truce announcement.
Iran on Thursday welcomed a ceasefire and prisoner-exchange deal between Hamas and Israel as a "victory" for Palestinians and a "defeat" for Israel.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed Palestinian "resistance" after the truce announcement to halt more than 15 months of fighting, saying "the patience of the people of Gaza and the steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance forced the Zionist regime to retreat."
Iran's foreign ministry called for the "full implementation of the agreed arrangements including the complete cessation of genocide and killings in Gaza, the complete withdrawal of the occupiers, the immediate and extended aid delivery to the Gaza Strip."
The bodies of 48 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza were brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Around half of the dead were women and children, Zaher al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told The Associated Press.
Hamas is committed to the ceasefire agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday, senior group official Izzat el-Reshiq said on Thursday.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier on Thursday accused the Palestinian group of reneging on parts of the truce, and postponed a planned cabinet meeting to approve the agreement.
The incoming Trump administration will support renewed Israeli attacks on Gaza if the ceasefire breaks down, incoming White House national security advisor Mike Waltz has said.
“We’ve made it very clear to the Israelis, and I want the people of Israel to hear me on this - if they need to go back in, we’re with them," he said in a Fox News interview Wednesday.
"If Hamas doesn’t live up to the terms of this agreement, we are with them."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of reneging on parts of the ceasefire agreement and said that the cabinet will not hold a vote to approve it until all points have been agreed upon.
Israeli ministers had been expected to vote on whether to approve the ceasefire at 13:00 GMT.
“Hamas reneges on parts of the agreement reached with the mediators and Israel in an effort to extort last minute concessions,” a statement from the prime minister's office claimed.
“The Israeli cabinet will not convene until the mediators notify Israel that Hamas has accepted all elements of the agreement.”
Netanyahu yesterday said he would not follow Hamas, Qatari and US leaders in making a public statement on the ceasefire until a final agreement has been reached.
Hamas and Israel have agreed to stop fighting for an initial six-week period during which negotiations for a permanent end to the war will take place.
Israel killed dozens of Palestinians in fresh attacks on the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning, hours after reaching a ceasefire pact with Hamas due to come into force on Sunday.
At least 25 people were killed in shelling in northern and central Gaza, according to local reports.
The intense bombardment came after Hamas and Israel agreed to a six-week ceasefire during which hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli prisoners will be released and Israeli troops will partially withdraw from Gaza.
Israel has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians since launching its offensive on Gaza on 7 October 2023.