Summary
We are now closing the live blog. Here is a summary of events today:
The Israeli government has signalled that it intends to stick to the hostage-release schedule agreed in the ceasefire deal with Hamas, but warned that if the anticipated three hostages are not released on Saturday, it would go back to war.
Hamas said on Thursday it will continue implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal, including hostage exchange.
Yemen’s Houthis say they will immediately take military action if the US and Israel attack Gaza, the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech on Thursday, reports Reuters.
Israeli settlers are pushing ahead with a largely unnoticed de facto annexation of large areas of rural land in the occupied West Bank that has already seen the almost total displacement of Bedouin in large areas.
A humanitarian catastrophe continues in the Gaza Strip despite a ceasefire agreement that brought a “much-needed respite”, the head of the United Nation’s infrastructure agency warned on Thursday.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Tehran’s enemies may be able to strike the country’s nuclear centres but they cannot deprive it of its ability to build new ones. He added that US sanctions were depriving his people of basic necessities, vowing his government would find a way to overcome the country’s challenges.
Ohad Ben Ami, an Israeli hostage released by Hamas at the weekend, has left hospital, and was greeted by schoolchildren as he arrived near a home his family have rented in Tel Aviv.
Two British nationals have been arrested in Iran and given access to the UK ambassador, Hugo Shorter, according to reports.
Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, said two people had been taken to hospital after being beaten by Israeli forces at a checkpoint north of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
More than 350 rabbis, alongside additional signatories including Jewish creatives and activists, have signed an ad in the New York Times in which they condemn Donald Trump’s proposal for the effective ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Palestinians from Gaza.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had “identified” a rocket fired from inside Gaza, which fell back to earth within the Palestinian territory, Agence France-Presse reported.
The UK said on Thursday it would adapt its Syria sanctions regions following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule late last year, but will ensure asset freezes and travel bans imposed on members of the former government remain in place, reports Reuters.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France is ready to do more to fight terrorist groups in Syria and that Syria should not see the return of Iran militias.
The Danish government said on Thursday it was pledging an additional 10.2 million kroner ($1.4m/£1.12m) to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa), which has been banned from operating in Israel.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France is ready to do more to fight terrorist groups in Syria and that Syria should not see the return of Iran militias.
“Syria must clearly continue to fight against terrorist organisations that spread chaos in your country and who want to export it. That’s why the fight against Islamic State and all terrorist groups is an absolute priority,” Macron said, adding that the transition should consider working with the Western-led Inherent Resolve operation in neighbouring Iraq.
The Israeli military said on Thursday it had “identified” a rocket fired from inside Gaza, which fell back to earth within the Palestinian territory, Agence France-Presse reports.
“A few minutes ago, a rocket launch was identified in the Gaza Strip. The rocket fell inside the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli military said in a statement before later announcing separately it “struck the launcher from which the rocket launch was identified in the Gaza Strip”.
A humanitarian catastrophe continues in the Gaza Strip despite a ceasefire agreement that brought a “much-needed respite”, the head of the United Nation’s infrastructure agency warned on Thursday.
“In addition to immense human suffering, I also witnessed an unimaginable degree of the destruction of infrastructure and houses, and an overwhelming volume of rubble,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, head of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) said following a visit to Gaza.
In a post on X, he added:
Gaza is in crisis: 70% of infrastructure, 60% of homes, and 65% of roads are gone. Clearing 50M tons of rubble is urgent.
UNOPS is committed to both immediate aid and long-term rebuilding. Restoring power, water, hospitals, schools, shelters and roads for the future.
Here are some images coming to us over the wires.
Israel says Hamas must release three hostages on Saturday under terms of ceasefire deal or war will resume
The Israeli government has signalled that it intends to stick to the hostage-release schedule agreed in the ceasefire deal with Hamas, but warned that if the anticipated three hostages are not released on Saturday, it would go back to war.
The statement on Thursday from the prime minister’s office ends two days of confusion following Donald Trump’s declaration that Israel should demand Hamas release all the remaining 76 hostages by Saturday, and failing that, end the ceasefire.
Since Trump’s remarks on Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu and his government has been vague on how many hostages it wanted released on Saturday, but a spokesperson, David Mencer, has now confirmed that the Israeli demand was for three hostages as laid out in the timetable of the ceasefire agreement.
“There is a framework in place for the release of our hostages,” Mencer said. “That framework makes clear that three live hostages must be released by Hamas terrorists on Saturday.”
Earlier this week, Hamas had suggested there might be a delay in the release of the next three hostages, though reports on Thursday suggested that suggestion had been withdrawn and the agreement remained on track. Mencer said Israel would wait for the three freed hostages to reach Israeli territory before making a judgement.
“If Hamas...violate this agreement and do not release our hostages, the government has made clear that it has instructed our armed forces - and we have already amassed forces inside and surrounding Gaza - if Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon the ceasefire will end and the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] will resume intense fighting until the final defeat of Hamas.”
Tens of thousands of Jordanians gathered at Amman’s Marka airport on Thursday to express support for King Abdullah II’s position on Gaza on his return from Washington where he met US president Donald Trump.
King Abdullah met Trump at the White House on Tuesday in a seemingly tense exchange in which the US president doubled down on a plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip and send its more than two million Palestinian residents to Jordan and Egypt.
The king later released a statement in which he “reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank”.
Despite the cold and rain, crowds of men, women and children gathered on the airport road all the way to Raghadan Palace stretching for seven kilometres (four miles), with police and royal guards deployed heavily, Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographers said.
Many raised placards with messages expressing support for the monarch, including one reading “We are with you”, alongside pictures of Crown Prince Hussein, who had accompanied his father on the trip, in military uniform. Both the king and the crown prince could be seen waving at the crowds from inside their car, according to AFP.
Trump’s proposed plan for Gaza has sparked widespread backlash across the region and beyond, with several Arab countries strongly condemning the prospect of displacing Gaza’s Palestinian residents.
In Amman on Thursday, Jordanians echoed their sovereign’s position, raising signs reading “Jordan is for the Jordanians and Palestine is for the Palestinians” and “No to the displacement of our brothers”.
About half of Jordan’s population of 11 million people is of Palestinian origin, reports AFP
Majed al-Faoury, who was standing in the crowd, told AFP “we came from across Jordan to stand behind” the king’s position, “which is non-negotiable”. He added: “No to settlement, no to displacement, no to an alternative homeland.”
Yemen’s Houthis say they will carry out attacks if US and Israel attack Gaza
Yemen’s Houthis say they will immediately take military action if the US and Israel attack Gaza, the group’s leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech on Thursday, reports Reuters.
Trump has said he would cancel the Gaza ceasefire deal and “let all hell break loose” if all Israeli hostages were not released by Hamas on Saturday.
During the first Trump administration, Mike Pence, the vice-president, pledged hundreds of millions of dollars, mostly through USAid and the state department, to help Christians and other religious minorities who were persecuted by Islamic State and – in the case of the Yazidis – suffered a genocide.
But under the second Trump administration, the same figures who championed the rights of religious minorities have fallen silent or actively participated in the destruction of USAid, cutting crucial aid to support the same communities they once helped – who now feel abandoned by the US.
That has had an immediate effect on the ground, according to activists and current and former USAid employees, who said the cutoff in aid had paused work among still traumatised communities and sown a feeling of betrayal 10 years after the genocide.
In Sinjar, the Iraqi town where thousands were massacred by IS, the freeze has halted operations to provide water and electricity, primary healthcare centres, the construction of schools, community centres and other basic infrastructure at a time when thousands of Yazidis are returning home after more than a decade in Syrian refugee camps. In one case, electricity transformers already delivered had to be put into storage because of the stop-work order, leaving a community without reliable electricity.
“It was a shock that USAid was frozen for helping those communities that the US had helped to survive. [Before], US help was omnipresent,” said Mirza Dinnayi, a prominent Yazidi human rights activists who runs the House of Co-Existence (HOC) multicultural community centre in Sinjar.
He said that USAid, which provided the vast majority of humanitarian funding to the area, had been was a “pillar of stabilisation and normalisation”.
Here are some more images coming in today via the newswires:
We reported earlier that, according to state-linked Egyptian media, dozens of pieces of heavy machinery, including bulldozers and construction equipment, were lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing ahead of their entry into Gaza.
An Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer has also confirmed seeing the vehicles, including trucks carrying caravans, waiting at the border.
However, an Israeli government spokesperson said heavy machinery would not be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing with Egypt.
“There is no entry of caravans (mobile homes) or heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip, and there is no coordination for this,” Omer Dostri, a spokesperson for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wrote on X. “According to the agreement, no goods are allowed to enter the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing,” he added, reports AFP.
Under an ongoing truce agreement, Rafah has been opened for evacuation of the injured and sick. Other aid is also allowed to enter the territory via the Kerem Shalom crossing.
“We stand behind them (Palestinians) and hopefully better days are ahead,” Ahmed Abdel Dayem, a driver at the border, told an AFP reporter.
Egypt will host a summit of Arab nations later this month and announced this week that it would present a “comprehensive vision” for Gaza’s reconstruction in a way that ensures Palestinians remain on their land.
Ohad Ben Ami, an Israeli hostage released by Hamas at the weekend, has left hospital, and was greeted by schoolchildren as he arrived near a home his family have rented in Tel Aviv.
Hebrew media outlet Ynet quotes the 55-year-old saying to the children “Keep fighting, until everyone returns home, well done to you.”
His wife, who was also kidnapped during the 7 October attack and released during the brief 2023 ceasefire, said “We are happy.”
Ynet also quotes the couple’s daughter, Ella, who said “We see the people of Israel, and that’s what’s important. It’s a little hard not to return to the kibbutz yet, but we will continue the struggle until all the abductees return.”
Or Levy, 34, and Eli Sharabi, 55, who were also released at the weekend, remain in hospital.
Earlier on Thursday, also in Tel Aviv, protesters calling for the return of hostages blocked a road.
Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, said two people had been taken to hospital after being beaten by Israeli forces at a checkpoint north of Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that Tehran’s enemies may be able to strike the country’s nuclear centres but they cannot deprive it of its ability to build new ones.
“They threaten us that they will hit nuclear facilities. If you strike a hundred of those we will build a thousand other ones. You can hit the buildings and the places but you cannot hit those who build it,” Pezeshkian said, Reuters reports, citing state media.
Earlier on Thursday the Washington Post reported that according to US intelligence sources that had briefed the paper, Israel has been preparing strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme.
In a separate development Iran’s Tasnim news agency carried a document the Iranian foreign ministry has issued and described as a “fact sheet” about “the hostile actions of the administration of US president Donald Trump” in which it said “Tehran will respond to maximum pressure with maximum resistance.”
It continued:
While the US accuses the Islamic Republic of Iran of human rights violations, it has not only turned a blind eye to the genocide and war crimes of the Zionist regime in Gaza but has fully supported these atrocities. Now, it is using the destruction caused by the criminal attacks of the Zionist regime as a pretext for the forced displacement of the Palestinians from the Strip and the seizure of their lands. The US cannot position itself to criticize or raise claims in the field of human rights.
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor
Two British nationals have been arrested in Iran and given access to the UK ambassador, Hugo Shorter, according to reports.
State media published photographs of what it said showed Shorter meeting two British “national security” suspects at the general and revolutionary prosecutor’s office in Kerman province, about 500 miles south-east of Tehran.
The published photo shows that the meeting on Wednesday was held in the presence of Kerman prosecutor Mehdi Bakhshi and Kerman governor’s deputy for security and law enforcement, Rahman Jalal.
The faces of the two individuals sitting across a table from Shorter were blurred so they could not be identified.
Read more from Patrick Wintour here: Two British nationals arrested in Iran on ‘security’ allegations, says state media
Israeli settlers push on with fresh West Bank land grab
Israeli settlers are pushing ahead with a largely unnoticed de facto annexation of large areas of rural land in the occupied West Bank that has already seen the almost total displacement of Bedouin in large areas.
While settler activity, including violence, has long been well-documented in the section of the West Bank designated by the 1993 Oslo accords as under Israeli security and administrative control – the so-called Area C of the occupied territory, including the south Hebron Hills – settlers have switched their focus to mostly rural Area B, which was designated to be under Palestinian civil control initially.
All three of the Oslo areas – Area A being the major Palestinian cities – were intended under the accords to be transferred to a future Palestinian state.
At a time when the US president, Donald Trump, has talked about the relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, effectively endorsing its ethnic cleansing, a process of displacement is already advancing in Area B as West Bank Palestinians come under pressure from settlers and their far-right political backers in Israel.
In one section of Area B in the arid desert hills between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea near the Israeli settlement of Tko’a all evidence of Bedouin who once lived there appears to have been erased, while in a second area those that remain are being harassed by settler violence.
You can read the full report by Peter Beaumont and Quique Kierszenbaum in Tko’a here:
Hamas says it will continue implementing Gaza deal, including hostage exchange
Hamas said on Thursday it would release the next group of Israeli hostages as planned, paving the way toward resolving a major dispute that threatened the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
According to various newswires, the militant group said Egyptian and Qatari mediators have affirmed that they will work to “remove all hurdles,” and that it would implement the truce deal.
The statement indicated three more Israeli hostages would be freed on Saturday. There was no immediate comment from Israel on Hamas’s announcement, reports the Associated Press (AP).
Hamas’s move should allow the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip to continue for now, but its future remains in doubt.
Hamas had threatened to delay the next release of Israeli hostages, accusing Israel of failing to meet its obligations to allow in tents and shelters, among other alleged violations of the truce. Israel, with the support of US president Donald Trump, had threatened to renew its offensive if hostages were not freed.
According to the AP, Hamas said its delegation held talks in Cairo with Egyptian officials and was in contact with Qatar’s prime minister about increasing the entry of shelters, medical supplies, fuel and heavy equipment for clearing rubble into Gaza.
Egypt’s state-run Qahera TV, which is close to the country’s security services, reported that Egypt and Qatar had succeeded in resolving the dispute. The two Arab countries have served as key mediators with Hamas and helped broker the ceasefire, which took effect in January, 15 months into the war.
Egyptian media also aired footage showing trucks carrying temporary housing and bulldozers on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing with Gaza. They reported that the trucks were heading to an Israeli inspection area before crossing into Gaza.
Updated
More than 350 rabbis sign US ad assailing Trump’s Gaza plan
More than 350 rabbis, alongside additional signatories including Jewish creatives and activists, have signed an ad in the New York Times in which they condemn Donald Trump’s proposal for the effective ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.
The ad, which was signed by rabbis including Sharon Brous, Roly Matalon and Alissa Wise, as well as Jewish creatives and activists including Tony Kushner, Ilana Glazer, Naomi Klein and Joaquin Phoenix, says:
Trump has called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Jewish people say no to ethnic cleansing!”
The ad follows Trump’s proposal to “take over Gaza” and leave 2 million Palestinians who have survived Israel’s deadly onslaught against the narrow strip with “no alternative” but to leave their homes.
Trump has called on Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries to take in Palestinians – a proposal that has been met with widespread criticism from Arab countries and other allies while being condemned as an ethnic-cleansing plan.
Cody Edgerly, director of the In Our Name Campaign and one of the organisers of the ad, said it came at “a critical time as political redlines that were once thought immovable are rapidly shifting as the Trump-Netanyahu alliance takes hold again”.
He said it had been “heartening to witness such a rapid outpouring of support from across the denominational and political spectrum”, adding:
Our message to Palestinians is that you are not alone, our attention has not wavered, and we are committed to fighting with every breath we have to stop ethnic cleansing in Gaza.”
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday that US sanctions were depriving his people of basic necessities, vowing his government would find a way to overcome the country’s challenges, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“Why are you blocking the people’s access to food, water, and medicine?” Pezeshkian said of the sanctions during a visit to the southern Bushehr province. “They cannot block our path, we will find a way,” he added in remarks broadcast on state TV.
US president Donald Trump, who returned to the White House on 20 January, has reinstated his “maximum pressure” policy towards Iran over concerns the country is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has consistently denied it is seeking an atomic bomb.
His administration announced new sanctions earlier this month targeting a network accused of shipping Iranian oil to China after Trump ordered the government to adopt a campaign “to drive Iran’s export of oil to zero” and to “modify or rescind sanctions waivers”.
Trump has also recently called for striking a deal with Iran, suggesting in a Monday interview that stopping it from developing nuclear weapons could be achieved either “with bombs” or with an agreement. “I’d love to make a deal with them without bombing them,” he told Fox News.
But, according to AFP, Pezeshkian brushed off those remarks, saying “they do not want to talk to us, they want us to be humiliated … and we won’t be”. He added: “We are able to solve many of our own problems by relying on our own strengths.”
On Friday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say in all state matters, said there should be no new negotiations with the US. Trump had earlier called for a “verified nuclear peace agreement” with Iran. “No problem will be solved by negotiating with America,” Khamenei said.
On Wednesday, Khamenei called for developing Iran’s military capabilities to “defend the country against evildoers”.
The UK said on Thursday it would adapt its Syria sanctions regions following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s rule late last year, but will ensure asset freezes and travel bans imposed on members of the former government remain in place, reports Reuters.
“We are making these changes to support the Syrian people in re-building their country and promote security and stability,” said Stephen Doughty, minister for Europe, North America and overseas territories.
“The government remains determined to hold Bashar al-Assad and his associates to account for their actions against the people of Syria.”
The Associated Press (AP) reports that Hamas said, in its statement on Thursday, that Egyptian and Qatari mediators have affirmed that they will work to “remove all hurdles,” and that the group will implement the ceasefire deal.
The statement indicated three more Israeli hostages would be freed on Saturday, reports the AP.
Hamas said on Thursday it will continue implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal, including a hostage exchange within the agreed timeframe, reports Reuters.
We will share more details as they come in.
Updated
Denmark pledges $1.4m in aid to Unrwa
The Danish government said on Thursday it was pledging an additional 10.2 million kroner ($1.4m/£1.12m) to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa), which has been banned from operating in Israel.
Denmark “will provide a new contribution of 10.2 million kroner to strengthen Unrwa’s neutrality and internal reform process,” the government said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
After Israel accused Unrwa of providing cover for Hamas militants, Israeli lawmakers passed legislation to bar the agency from operating on Israeli soil as of 30 January.
Many donors cut their support for Unrwa after the accusations though almost all have resumed their funding. The UN has said that Unrwa will continue working in all Palestinian territories.
“The increased Danish support is an unambiguous signal that we stand behind Unrwa’s work and mission. And that we support the organisation’s strengthened focus on internal reform and neutrality,” Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a statement. The minister also said he was “very concerned about the Israeli laws against Unrwa.”
Denmark also announced that its entire annual contribution of 105 million kroner will be distributed immediately rather than throughout the year.
Israel alleges a dozen Unrwa employees were involved in the 2023 Hamas attack, and insists other agencies can step in to provide essential services, aid and reconstruction – something the UN and many donor governments dispute.
A series of investigations, including one led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality-related issues” at Unrwa, but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its headline allegation.
Hamas has confirmed its commitment to continue implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal according to an agreed timeframe, Reuters is reporting in a breaking news line.
More details soon …
Dozens of pieces of heavy machinery, including bulldozers and construction equipment, lined up on Thursday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing ahead of their entry into Gaza, state-linked media reported.
Al-Qahera News, which is tied to Egypt’s intelligence services, also said that trucks carrying mobile homes had been stationed at the crossing, ready to enter the Palestinian territory.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) has the following statement from Hamas. Earlier we reported that the group had said it did not want the Gaza ceasefire agreement to collapse (see 8.37am GMT).
A Hamas spokesperson said in a statement:
We are keen to implement it (the ceasefire) and oblige the occupation to fully abide by it.
Mediators are pressuring (Israel) to complete the full implementation of the agreement, oblige the occupation to abide by the humanitarian protocol, and resume the exchange process on Saturday.”
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires:
The hints of progress came as mediators Qatar and Egypt pushed to salvage the Gaza ceasefire agreement that came into effect last month, while Hamas said its top negotiator was in Cairo, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The truce, now in its first phase, has seen Israeli hostages released in small groups in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. The warring sides, which have yet to agree on the next phases of the truce, have traded accusations of violations, spurring concern that the violence could resume.
UN secretary general António Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the planned release and “avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza”.
Analyst Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group told AFP that despite their public disputes, the warring sides were still interested in maintaining the truce and have not “given up on anything yet”. “They’re just playing power games,” she said.
Updated
Palestinian sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that there has been “progress” in efforts to salvage the ceasefire in Gaza from its worst crisis yet, with a view to ensuring that Hamas releases Israeli hostages this weekend as planned.
The truce that has largely halted fighting in the Israel-Hamas war was plunged into uncertainty after the militant group said it would not release hostages on Saturday, citing Israeli violations. Israel said that if Hamas failed to free hostages on schedule, it would resume its war in Gaza.
“There is progress,” one source told AFP, adding that mediators had obtained from Israel a “promise … to put in place a humanitarian protocol starting from this morning”.
“Hamas has confirmed to Egyptian officials its commitment … to conducting the sixth exchange of prisoners on time, on Saturday, as soon as Israel honours its commitment,” another source told AFP.
US president Donald Trump had warned that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release “all” the hostages by then. If fighting resumes, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said, “the new Gaza war … will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages”. “It will also allow the realisation of US president Trump’s vision for Gaza,” he added.
Trump caused global outcry with a proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and to move its 2.4 million residents to Egypt or Jordan.
Updated
Hamas says it does not want Gaza ceasefire to collapse
Hamas said on Thursday it did not want the Gaza ceasefire agreement to collapse, reports Reuters.
Mediators are exerting pressure for the deal to be fully implemented, ensure Israel abides by a humanitarian protocol and resume exchanges of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel on Saturday, Hamas said in a statement.
Israel has called up military reservists to brace for a possible re-eruption of war in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet a Saturday deadline to free further Israeli hostages.
Reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum states that he can see “hundreds of UN trucks lined up” waiting for permission to enter Gaza.
The Al Jazeera news network has been banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Describing the situation as “fragile”, he reports:
A key component of the current ceasefire agreement is the delivery of humanitarian aid, including shelter materials such as tents and mobile houses that will accommodate thousands of displaced families who right now live on the remnants of their shattered houses.
This has been a key demand by Hamas, which has accused Israel of deliberately hindering the delivery of temporary shelters and the entry of heavy machinery.
The entry of the heavy machinery and the mobile houses will play a crucial role in stabilising the entire area. It will also help remove logistical and various challenges we can see on the ground.”
Release of three Israeli hostages on Saturday reportedly agreed
After a day of mixed messages over hostage releases on Wednesday, on Thursday morning Palestinian sources and Israeli media were suggesting that the release of three Israeli hostages by Hamas would go ahead as planned.
Haaretz reported that Palestinian sources said:
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement over the next phase of the deal to take place this Saturday, in which three hostages will be released … [and] Israel will increase the entry of aid into the Strip, mainly consisting of tents, gas, and medical equipment.”
Egyptian media channel Al-Rad reported that negotiations in Cairo had bought Hamas and Israel closer to an agreement. Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster also reported that the flow of humanitarian aid, which is under Israel’s control, was to be increased.
Opening summary
It has gone 10am in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Cairo, and 11.30am in Tehran. Here are the headlines:
Arab mediators have been scrambling to save the Gaza ceasefire as the Israeli military bolsters troop and tank deployments to the strip’s periphery in advance of the possibility the truce breaks down this weekend.
Hamas unexpectedly announced on Monday that it was postponing the next planned release of three Israeli hostages over the weekend, citing alleged Israeli violations of the truce.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, warned on Wednesday that the country would resume its war in Gaza if Hamas fails to uphold the ceasefire agreement and release Israeli hostages by Saturday. Some regional media sources on Thursday morning suggests the two sides had agreed that three hostages would now be released on Saturday.
Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah said on Wednesday Gaza should be rebuilt without displacing Palestinians, according to a readout of a call between the two leaders by the Egyptian presidency.
The US has authorised a “long term” Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli reports, while Israel has reportedly requested to keep its troops in multiple posts in southern Lebanon until 28 February. Israel had previously agreed to remove the troops before the end of January.
There are fears that a widely unnoticed displacement of Bedouin people by Israeli settlers has the aim of fragmenting the territory intended for a future Palestinian state.
