This live blog has wrapped up. The New Arab will be back at 9am with all updates from Gaza and the West Bank.
Breadcrumb
At least 25 Palestinians were arrested in a major assault on the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin, besieging hospitals and storming the area in a large-scale operation that began Tuesday.
At least ten Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded, according to the Palestinian health ministry. The bombing campaign, accompanied by a ground invasion, is expected to last several days.
Former prisoners were among the detainees in the raids that targeted Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarem, and Ramallah. Jenin Hospital is currently under siege with medical staff and patients not allowed to leave and no supplies are permitted to enter.
Israel’s violence comes despite a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Doha is ready to start talks on the second stage of the deal and Israeli officials claimed they could take place before day 16.
Gazan civil defence teams have recovered 120 decomposed bodies from under the rubble of destroyed buildings over the past two days, raising the death toll to at least 47,107 Palestinians, with over 111,000 wounded since the war began in October 2023.
This live blog has wrapped up. The New Arab will be back at 9am with all updates from Gaza and the West Bank.
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to once again designate Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels a "foreign terrorist organization," the White House announced Wednesday.
Former president Joe Biden had lifted that label when he took over the White House from Trump in 2021, before later calling them a "specially designated global terrorist" entity, a slightly less severe classification which still allowed for humanitarian aid to reach the war-torn country.
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it had killed an Islamic Jihad militant in Gaza, the first such reported death since the start of a ceasefire with Hamas in the Palestinian territory.
In a statement, the military said Israeli troops in southern Gaza "identified several armed suspects who posed a threat" and "operated to thwart the threat and eliminate" a militant from Hamas's ally Islamic Jihad.
The health ministry confirmed that one person was killed and said four other people were wounded.
The military also said that in several areas of the Gaza Strip, its soldiers "fired warning shots" towards "masked suspects" approaching Israeli troops.
The military added it was abiding by the terms of the ceasefire that began on Sunday.
"The (Israeli military) is determined to fully maintain the terms of the agreement in order to return the hostages," it said.
As part of the first phase of the ceasefire, which is intended to last 42 days, Israeli forces are withdrawing from densely populated areas in the Gaza Strip.
The military warned Palestinians to "avoid approaching the troops".
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has criticised former US President Donald Trump for claiming that Tehran has been “weakened” by the regional violence stemming from the war in Gaza.
“That delusional dreamer announced that Iran has become weak,” Khamenei wrote on X. “The future will show who has become weak.”
Trump had told reporters on Monday that Israel’s attack on Iranian military facilities in October “really set them back.”
Khamenei dismissed this notion, comparing it to the start of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980 when Saddam Hussein invaded Iran with significant support from the administration of then-US President Ronald Reagan.
“Saddam began his attack & Reagan gave him a huge amount of aid based on the illusion that Iran had become weak,” Khamenei said. “They & tens of other delusional people have gone to Hell, while the Islamic Republic has grown stronger every day. It will be the same this time too, by God’s grace.”
In addition to Israel’s October attack, Iran’s regional influence has faced challenges over the past year, including the fall of the Bashar al-Assad government in Syria and the assassination of Hezbollah’s top political and military leaders by the Israeli military in Lebanon.
The Israeli military has arrested two Palestinian men in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Wafa news agency.
The Jerusalem municipality has intensified home demolitions in the eastern part of the city, which Israel annexed from the occupied West Bank in 1967. This area is home to the majority of Jerusalem’s 362,000 Palestinians.
Wafa also reported that Israeli forces stormed the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, and disrupted Palestinian movement by imposing restrictions at military checkpoints at the entrance to Qalqilya.
Lebanon’s National News Agency has reported that Israeli attacks triggered two large explosions on the outskirts of the border town of Meiss el-Jabal.
Earlier, the agency stated that the Israeli army set fire to homes in the neighbouring town of Taybeh.
The Jenin Battalion, part of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades, has announced that its fighters are engaging Israeli forces in the neighboring town of Burqin.
Earlier reports indicated that the Israeli military was surrounding and attacking a house in Burqin where armed Palestinians had taken shelter.
In a statement, the Jenin Battalion claimed its fighters had drawn the Israeli soldiers into a "field of fire," targeting them with bullets and explosive devices near the besieged home, resulting in "confirmed casualties".
The Education Ministry in Gaza said at least 15,000 school-aged children and 800 people who worked in the education sector were killed in the war.
In a statement, the ministry said that the world allowed Israel to "kill, destroy and bur" and commit atrocities not seen since World War II for 15 months, leaving "disastrous effects" on the Strip.
Israel's continued bombardment also damaged 95 percent of educational institutions in Gaza and put 85 percent of them out of commission.
Israeli forces targeted several towns around Ramallah and el-Bireh, as part of a major military operation in the occupied West Bank.
The towns of Kafr Ein, Qarawat Bani Zeid and Beit Rima were targeted. No arrests or clashes were reported, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
Israel closed the Ein Siniya and Atara checkpoints and blocked Palestinians from entering the town of Nabi Saleh.
Gaza's media office (GMO) has updated the death toll from Israel's war on the battered Palestinian territory to include those whose bodies have been recovered since a ceasefire took effect on Sunday.
The enclave’s officials have now set the toll at 61,182 Palestinians killed or missing after thousands of bodies were recovered and later brought to hospitals, and after several remains were uncovered.
The media office said in a statement on Tuesday that in "470 days of genocide, the Israeli army committed 10,100 massacres, resulting in 61,182 martyrs and missing persons".
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has told the visiting UN envoy for Lebanon that Israel is committed to comply with the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah as long as its security is maintained.
Following a meeting with the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis, he told The Times of Israel: "I emphasised that Israel is committed to implementing the ceasefire agreement, but will not compromise on its security.
"There is an opportunity for Lebanon to break free from the Iranian occupation and build a better future!"
"The release of the Galaxy Leader crew is heartwarming news that puts an end to the arbitrary detention and separation that they and their families endured for more than a year. This is a step in the right direction, and I urge Ansar Allah to continue these positive steps on all…
— @OSE_Yemen (@OSE_Yemen) January 22, 2025
Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani is ready to start talks as soon as possible on the second stage of the Gaza ceasefire.
Doha is considering to discuss the next phase of the truce even ahead of the deadline date for the discussions to begin.
The Qatari prime minister told Walla news he plans to speak to Mossad head David Barnea this week to begin negotiations. "We are pushing for this," he said.
An unnamed senior Israeli official added that they have "no problem" beginning the talks before day 16, despite Israel's deadly raids on the West Bank since Tuesday.
At least 25 Palestinians were detained during Israel's military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Wednesday.
Former prisoners were among the detainees in the raids that targeted Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarem, and Ramallah, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
Israeli soldiers interrogated dozens of Palestinians in several towns during the raids before releasing them, it added.
US President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy said on Wednesday he would travel to the Middle East to be part of what he described as an inspection team deployed in and along the Gaza Strip to ensure ceasefire compliance.
In an interview with Fox News, the envoy, Steve Witkoff, also said he believed all countries in the region could get "on board" to normalize ties with Israel.
Asked to identify specific countries, he singled out Qatar, saying the Gulf country was a critical player in reaching the Gaza ceasefire deal.
Palestinian civil defence agency and medical staff have recovered about 200 bodies since the ceasefire agreement came into effect on Sunday.
Head of the service Mahmoud Basal said the recovery operations have been challenged by the lack of machinery, adding Israel has destroyed several of their vehicles and killed at least 100 of their staff.
Basal claimed the bodies of about 10,000 Palestinians killed in the war are still hidden under the debris waiting to be buried.
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) has written to the Foreign Minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer, regarding the continued arbitrary detention of Dr Hussam Abu Safiya.
In a letter, the ICJP has urged the minister to push for the release of the 51-year-old Palestinian paediatrician, and the Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital. Dr Abu Safiya was arrested by Israel on 27 December 2024 when Israeli forces raided the hospital and his fate remains unknown.
In the letter, ICJP called on the government to "disclose what steps it has taken to enquire about Dr Abu Safiya and the destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza more broadly, and what correspondence he has had with Israeli authorities".
The group added: "Dr Abu Safiya must be allowed immediate access to his legal counsel and to his fundamental legal rights, and it is essential that the UK government puts this case forcefully to the Israelis."
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on Wednesday they had released the detained crew of the ship Galaxy Leader, held since November 2023, after the Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect.
The Houthi supreme council "has announced the freeing of the crew of the Galaxy Leader, who were arrested on November 19, 2023 during the campaign in solidarity with Gaza", the rebel Saba news agency said.
It added that the release came "in support of the ceasefire" in Gaza which began on Sunday.
Israel is reportedly constructing military bases on occupied Syrian land as it consolidates its grip on territory seized from its northern neighbour in December.
Swathes of Syrian territory fell under Israeli control in December after it invaded the south of the country following the ouster of the Assad regime.
In the week after Assad fled Syria, Israeli troops took control of the UN buffer zone in the Golan Heights, Mount Hermon on the Lebanese border, and other parts of Quneitra and Deraa provinces.
Local media reports indicate that Israel was establishing a permanent presence in the newly-occupied territory with the building of six military bases in Quneitra.
Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians in Shaboura camp, Rafah city despite the ceasefire agreement.
According to Al Jazeera Arabic, the attack has left at least one person killed and wounded others.
It comes after Israeli gunfire also wounded a fisherman off the coast of Gaza City and an Israeli drone injured another civilian on Tuesday.
Israel's health ministry has chosen the Palestinian Red Crescent to replace the UNRWA in East Jerusalem when legislation kicks in later this month banning the UN agency, Israel media are reporting.
According to Israel Hayom, the charity won a public tender issued by the ministry to provide the health services in the area after UNRWA is forced to end its operations in the occupied territories.
Both Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) have praised a stabbing incident carried out by a Moroccan national in Tel Aviv, in which four people were injured, describing it as a "heroic operation".
In a statement posted on Telegram, Hamas said the incident "proves once again that the tide of resistance continues and escalates as long as the [Israeli] occupation and its crimes and aggression continue".
Hamas mourned "the heroic Moroccan martyr", emphasising that the assault "comes as a natural response to the occupation's aggression on Jenin that left dozens of martyrs and wounded".
It added that the operation was a "significant message that blood is blood and that the hand of resistance will strike with full force deep into this usurping entity".
"We call on our people in the West Bank to intensify resistance action against the occupation forces and settler militias and to support Jenin and all governorates that are subjected to occupation aggression by all possible means of resistance," Hamas said.
PIJ also hailed "the heroic operation", calling it "an affirmation of the solidarity of the Arab and Muslim peoples on their central cause in Palestine".
"The free people of our ummah [Muslim communities] will not let the crimes of the [Israeli] occupation go unpunished," PIJ said in a statement posted on Telegram.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has hailed Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts to help secure a truce in the Gaza Strip following 15 months of war.
"I will praise the United States, Qatar and Turkey for their efforts for months and months and months to obtain the release of hostages, also to obtain the ceasefire," Guterres said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"There was a large contribution of the robust diplomacy of the at-the-time president-elect of the United States," he added.
"I feel that when we had the position of Israel still reluctant to the ceasefire just two days before it happened, and then all of a sudden there was an acceptance," he added.
But Guterres said it was not clear yet what the future relationship would look like between Israelis and Palestinians.
"One possibility is to move into annexation of the West Bank, probably a kind of a limbo situation in Gaza, which of course is against its national law and would mean there will never be peace in the Middle East," he warned.
Irish screenwriter Alan O'Gorman announced on Monday that he would boycott the prestigious Berlin Film Festival, scheduled to take place from 13 to 23 February.
In a statement posted on X, O'Gorman, who now lives in Manchester, announced his withdrawal from the festival in solidarity with Film Workers for Palestine and Strike Germany, with whom he signed a pledge last year.
He said Strike Germany "calls for a boycott of German cultural institutions that have supported the genocide of Palestinians, as well as the many activists within Germany, including Irish Bloc Berlin, who are silenced and criminalised for speaking up about Palestine".
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in Jenin as he was driving his car with his wife and three children with him.
A video shared online shows Israeli soldiers shooting at the vehicle several times, prompting the panic-stricken family inside to scream and plead for help.
Another video showed the driver losing control of the car before crashing into the pavement as Israeli soldiers continuously fired at it.
The victim was identified as Ahmed Shaib, who, according to the director of public relations in the Jenin municipality, "was returning from a kindergarten with his children".
According to local media, Shaib was "on the outskirts of the Jenin camp, heading to the commercial square in the city of Jenin, when he was shot by a sniper stationed at a military point in the area".
Turkey's Humanitarian Relief Foundation (IHH) set up tents for Palestinian families whose houses were destroyed in Gaza.
Palestinians whose houses were demolished in Gaza's Shejaiya neighbourhood are sheltering in tents distributed by IHH.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday praised Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts that helped to secure a truce in the Gaza Strip following 15 months of war.
"There was a large contribution of the robust diplomacy of the at-the-time president-elect of the United States," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The Qatari and Egyptian prime ministers held a bilateral meeting during the World Economic Forum in Davos to discuss the Gaza ceasefire deal.
During the meeting, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and his Egyptian counterpart, Mostafa Madbouly, discussed the implementation of the truce agreement and the exchange of prisoners.
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Meets Egyptian Prime Minister#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/5ge5RuDueU
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) January 22, 2025
Israel will allow around 50 wounded Hamas members from Gaza to enter Egypt for medical treatment as part of the truce agreement.
According to Haaretz, they will be given a travel permit with up to three companions each starting on the 14th day of the ceasefire until the first phase of the deal ends on the 42nd day.
Under the deal, 200 Palestinians will also be allowed to travel to Egypt during the same period.
However, Israel's Shin Bet internal intelligence agency will have the final say to approve the identities of Hamas members and their companions.
The process and the Rafah crossing will be organised by Gaza residents.
Israeli forces arrested at least 25 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since its ongoing raid started on Tuesday.
According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the arrests took place in Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jenin and Tulkarm.
In a joint statement, they said: "The occupation forces continue to carry out field investigations in several towns in addition to the widespread abuse, attacks and threats against citizens, as well as acts of vandalism and destruction in citizens’ homes."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) denounced the Israeli government for its “ongoing attempts to spread death and destruction” in Palestine.
In a statement, the CAIR said: "Shooting a child in Gaza and his rescuer, letting Israeli settlers rampage through the West Bank, and attempting to turn Jenin into the next Gaza are just the Netanyahu government’s latest war crimes.
"If President Trump is serious about securing peace in the Middle East, he should start by ordering the self-serving Netanyahu to stop using American taxpayer dollars to spread death and destruction."
Israeli forces have ordered Palestinians inside Jenin camp to evacuate their homes to Wadi Burqin on the western outskirts of the city.
Jenin Mayor Muhammad Jarar told the Wafa news agency that the mass displacement order targeted the neighbourhoods of Mahyoub Street, Jabal Abu Dhahir, and other areas.
He added that 600 citizens have been trapped inside Jenin Hospital, which is currently under siege, since the aggression began yesterday and that soldiers opened one passage out of the camp for the displaced.
Jarar also confirmed that forces pushed two bulldozers to the entrances to the camp, while evacuation calls continued via loudspeakers.
Israeli forces have confirmed they are planning to continue a raid in Jenin.
In an update, forces claimed to have hit over 10 Palestinians whom they have accused of being "terrorists" in the occupied West Bank and admitted to struck infrastructure sites and dismantled explosives.
Israeli forces have also wounded dozens of people in the Jenin camp during their deadly raid, while blocking medical staff from reaching the wounded, according to local hospital director Fawwaz Hamma.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the Israeli deadly military operations in the occupied West Bank, on his country’s borders, are dangerous.
The top diplomat warned the ongoing raids could destabilise the security of the whole region.
Hundreds of trucks carrying humanitarian aid crossed into Gaza on Sunday, marking the first substantial relief after months of Israel’s brutal attacks that have decimated the enclave.
The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas had brought an initial sense of hope, but humanitarian groups warned that the small influx of supplies is far from sufficient to address the scale of destruction and suffering in the besieged enclave.
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said that while the arrival of 950 trucks since the ceasefire started on Sunday is an encouraging sign, it represents only a small portion of the urgent needs Palestinians are facing.
According to Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP), Jenin Hospital is still currently under siege.
Medics claimed that "minimal staff are inside and they are not allowed to leave". A hospital staff member told MAP: "No supplies, not even basic items like bread, are permitted to enter. Meanwhile, the rest of the hospital staff outside are being prevented from reaching the facility."
The siege comes as Israel killed at least 10 Palestinians and left many wounded in a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
Israeli security chiefs and the head of Egyptian intelligence have agreed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will control the Rafah border crossing.
Under the agreement, the PA will run the Gazan side of the border with Egypt under "international supervision and monitoring by the UN," according to reports.
There is still no agreement on the Philadelphi Corridor, the 14km-long demilitarised buffer zone running along the entire boundary between Egypt and Gaza.
However, “the differences of opinion are technical, and they will be resolved,” a source said. “Israel proposed partial withdrawals from the corridor, but Egypt did not accept the idea and insists on a complete withdrawal and a return to the situation as it was before the war."
الاحتلال يستقدم جرافتين (D10) إلى مدينة جنين خلال العملية العدوانية المستمرة منذ يوم أمس. pic.twitter.com/s70drUuVD9
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) January 22, 2025
Israeli gunboats have fired towards the coast of Gaza City, violating the terms of the ceasefire, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.
There have been no casualties reported.
Today marks the fourth day of the temporary ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.
The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN welcomes a ceasefire in Gaza and calls for its full implementation and release of all hostages and detainees, its chair Malaysia said.
"We also call for a full, safe, rapid, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians," it said in a statement released on Wednesday.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres called on Israel's security forces to exercise "maximum restraint" after they launched a major operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Guterres "remains deeply concerned" about the violence which has reportedly resulted in Palestinian casualties, and "the secretary general urges security forces to exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly unavoidable to protect life," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN chief.
As part of their deadly military raid in the West Bank, Israeli forces besieged hospitals and blocked access in and out for medical workers and ambulances.
Dr Wisam Baker, Director of the Jenin Governmental Hospital told Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) that at least three doctors and two nurses were shot by Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Amal and Jenin Hospital facilities.
Another medical worker at Amal Hospital, which is 100m away from Jenin refugee camp, said: "I was called in today due to the surge of injuries, and the moment I stepped out of the car making my way to the emergency entrance a sniper shot me below the knee.
"The injury may have a long-term impact on the nerves, I am still not sure. Another doctor was shot in the same spot. The Israeli army is shooting non-stop, and they decided that the emergency entrance is one of their targets."
As the long awaited ceasefire in Gaza took place, Israel's death machinery escalated its firing in the West Bank, killing 10 people in Jenin today. If it is not forced to stop, Israel's genocide of Palestinians will not be confined to Gaza. Mark my words. https://t.co/M4QcmCcPdL
— Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt (@FranceskAlbs) January 21, 2025
Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said on Tuesday his country was hoping to see the Palestinian Authority back in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.
He spoke during the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Switzerland, two days after a ceasefire in the 15-month-old war between Hamas and Israel took effect.
Outgoing military chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said on Tuesday that Israeli forces had killed "20,000 Hamas operatives" during 15 months of war in Gaza.
"The military wing of Hamas has been severely impacted," Halevi said during a televised address hours after he announced his resignation, saying Israel had killed the group's top leadership and "nearly 20,000 Hamas operatives".
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said 897 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the third day of a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas.
OCHA cited information received from Israeli authorities and the guarantors for the ceasefire agreement - the United States, Egypt and Qatar.
In the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Israeli forces launched a major assault on Tuesday, bombing and storming the area in a large-scale operation that has already claimed the lives of at least 10 Palestinians and wounded many others.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, this assault is expected to last several days. The operation follows a dramatic withdrawal by Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces, who had been clashing with militants in Jenin since December.
Israeli forces have further restricted movement in the West Bank, with settlement expansion continuing despite international condemnation.