Closing summary
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Here is a summary of the latest developments:
Hamas and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire deal, Qatar announced on Wednesday evening in Doha. The deal, which is set to be begin on Sunday and will last 42 days, will see the exchange of hostages detained by Hamas and Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons.
Other aspects of the deal include the return of Palestinians, who have been forcibly displaced by Israeli forces, to their homes across the Gaza Strip. The deal will also see the facilitation of travel of people wounded by Israeli attacks and sick people in order to receive treatment, as well as the positioning of Israeli forces across the Gaza border.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Donald Trump and Joe Biden for “advancing” the ceasefire agreement, but did not explicitly say whether he has accepted it, saying he would issue a formal response only “after the final details of the agreement, which are currently being worked on, are completed.”
Israel’s security cabinet will meet at 11am local time (9am GMT) on Thursday to approve the deal, local media reported. The Israeli government will vote on the deal on Thursday, with a majority of ministers expected to approve the deal, a government official told Reuters.
Both Biden and Trump were quick to claim credit. Biden opened his final address to the nation by referencing the deal. “This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration,” he said. Trump said the “epic” agreement could have only happened as a result of his “historic” election victory.
The UN rights chief, Volker Türk, welcomed news of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying it held he promise of “huge relief after so much unbearable pain and misery”.
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, has issued a statement calling the news of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal “long overdue” and urging a “huge surge” in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory. “After months of devastating bloodshed and countless lives lost, this is the long-overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for,” he said.
Biden confirmed that Americans will be part of the hostage release. “This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” Biden said.
Egypt is “preparing to bring in the largest possible amount of aid to the Gaza Strip,” according to state media reports. Coordination was under way to “open the Palestinian Rafah crossing to allow the entry of international aid” into Gaza, Egyptian state media reported.
Here’s a selection of images of people reacting to the ceasefire deal from the region and beyond:
The Israel-Hamas deal was made possible by 18-hour days and a “remarkable” partnership between Joe Biden and Donald Trump’s Mideast envoys – but even then it seemed it might come apart at the last minute, AFP reports.
In the final four days of talks, Biden’s pointman Brett McGurk was joined in the region by Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, to get the deal over the line, US officials said.
As they did so, Israeli and Hamas negotiators were huddling on separate floors of a building in the Qatari capital Doha, while moderators from Qatar and Egypt shuttled between them with their proposals.
McGurk and Witkoff were talking “multiple times a day, and Mr Witkoff actually helped clinch down some of the details. There was great coordination,” national security council spokesperson John Kirby told CNN.
A senior Biden administration official said that the unlikely pairing – there is little love lost between the outgoing and incoming presidents – had been a decisive factor in reaching a deal.
“Four days ago, Steve Witkoff came out to join Brett in his final push, which I think is, historically, almost unprecedented. And it was a highly constructive, very fruitful partnership,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“It was really quite, quite remarkable, and I think speaks to what can be done in the country.”
Veteran diplomat McGurk has served in a number of US administrations, including in Trump’s first term.
Witkoff is a businessman and real estate expert but has jumped into the negotiations – even insisting that Netanyahu break the sabbath on Saturday for a meeting in his office as he pushed to seal the ceasefire.
Negotiations intensified after McGurk returned to the region on 5 January – “18 hours a day, sometimes longer” – but sticking points between Israel and Hamas remained.
The final 96 hours were the most intense of all.
One of the biggest hang-ups were the “incredibly complicated” lists for the exchanges of hostages held by Hamas with Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
“All of that was not fully nailed down until the recent hours,” the senior Biden administration official said.
In social media posts, some Gaza residents have urged Palestinians to exercise extra caution in the belief Israel could step up attacks in the next few days to maximise gains before the ceasefire starts.
Nevertheless, news of the ceasefire deal sparked jubilation in Gaza, where Palestinians have faced severe shortages of food, water, shelter and fuel. In Khan Younis, throngs clogged the streets amid the sounds of horns as they cheered, waved Palestinian flags and danced.
“I am happy. Yes, I am crying, but those are tears of joy,” Ghada, a displaced mother of five, told Reuters.
Abed Radwan, a Palestinian father of three, told AP the ceasefire deal “the best day in my life and the life of the Gaza people.”
“People are crying here. They don’t believe it’s true,” he said.
In Tel Aviv, families of Israeli hostages and their friends likewise welcomed the news, saying in a statement they felt “overwhelming joy and relief (about) the agreement to bring our loved ones home.” In a social media statement announcing the ceasefire, Hamas called the pact “an achievement for our people” and “a turning point.”
Sharone Lifschitz, whose father, Oded, is being held in Gaza, told AP she was stunned and grateful but won’t believe it until she sees all the hostages come home.
“I’m so desperate to see them, if by some miracle my father has survived,” she said.
It is only if the perspective is broadened away from Gaza that Netanyahu and the Israeli military can claim, by deciding to broaden the war with intensified attacks on Hezbollah and Iranian targets, that they changed its course and character. The chain of events that led to the annihilation of the Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon – and then to the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and so to Iran’s loss of its crown jewel – may be sketchy, but it is clearly discernible.
Indeed, the weakening of Iran is probably the biggest regional impact of the war in Gaza. Biden had a point this week in claiming that, all told, Iran “is weaker than it has been for decades”. He elaborated: “Iran’s air defences are in shambles. Their main proxy, Hezbollah, is badly wounded, and as we tested Iran’s willingness to revive the nuclear deal, we kept the pressure with sanctions. Now Iran’s economy is in desperate straits.” A 35-year tack to build a defence strategy around a proxy army had been eviscerated in a matter of months.
The change has had an accelerator effect on Tehran’s foreign-policy elite. Masoud Pezeshkian, the Iranian reformist president, and his strategic adviser, Javad Zarif, are placing numerous olive branches at Trump’s feet.
The fissiparous nature of Iranian internal politics makes it hard for Iran to deliver a consistent message to the west, however, and at the moment there are not many diplomats in France, UK or Germany yet convinced by Iran’s offer to negotiate a new nuclear deal. Iran has a reputation for buying time by offering fruitless talks. Moreover, Trump’s top team is deeply hostile to Iran.
In Lebanon, two years of paralysis have ended and a new, elected leadership will listen to Iran-backed Hezbollah, but not be beholden to it.
But the new prime minister, Nawaf Salam, is the former president of the international court of justice and fresh from delivering the landmark legal verdict that Israel’s occupation of Palestine is illegal and must end within a year. He will be a standing reminder that Israel has unfinished business in front of the international courts.
The imminent transition of power in Washington has played a role in a ceasefire deal being reached between Israel and Hamas, and both Joe Biden and Donald Trump have been eager to take the credit.
Delivering his final address to the nation from the Oval Office, Biden opened his speech by referencing the deal.
“This plan was developed and negotiated by my team and will be largely implemented by the incoming administration,” he said.
“That’s why I told my team to keep the incoming administration fully informed, because that’s how it should be, working together as Americans.”
Strikes on Gaza continue after ceasefire announced – reports
The ceasefire agreement does not come into force until Sunday, and reports from on the ground in Gaza indicate that the Israeli army has continued its bombardment of the territory in the meantime.
The Hamas-run Palestinian Civil Defence says Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 20 people since the deal was announced, including an attack targeting a residential block in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City which killed 12 people and injured 20 others. The Israeli military has yet to comment on the reports.
Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif says “the pace of bombing has increased dramatically in recent hours”, describing it as “terrifying”.
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor
Security for Israel, secretary of state Antony Blinken argued, had to include a credible political horizon for the Palestinians, or else Hamas “or something equally abhorrent” will “grow back”. He said the country “must abandon the myth they can carry out de facto annexation, without cost and consequence to Israel’s democracy, to its standing, to its security”. Yet, he complained, “Israel’s government has systematically undermined the capacity and legitimacy of the only viable alternative to Hamas: the Palestinian Authority”.
If Israel wanted the prize of greater security, he said, that lay through forging greater integration across the region, specifically through normalisation with Saudi Arabia. He said that was ready to go, but only if Palestinians were allowed to live in a state of their own, and not as “a non-people”.
Trump’s return to the White House may have helped pressure Benjamin Netanyahu into a ceasefire, but not to a particular peace. The incoming US president is unlikely to pick up Blinken’s plan for a reformed and UN-monitored Palestinian Authority (PA) to oversee governance of a unified Gaza and West Bank. Israel for its part will risk a bigger vacuum by acting on its commitment not to co-operate with Unrwa, the UN agency for the Palestinians, and other NGOs.
Nor is there any certainty that Palestine will have the quality of leadership required to take sole administrative charge of Gaza. The PA, led by the ageing Mahmoud Abbas, is increasingly reviled on the West Bank and has failed to bury its differences with Hamas in talks in Moscow, Beijing and Cairo.
A ceasefire deal is here. For Gaza, the Middle East and the world, the future remains unknown
There may be no winners in war, but history suggests combatants are often eager to convince the world otherwise.
The ending of the 15-month conflict in Gaza may prove an exception. The sacrifice has been so great, the misery so complete, and the ultimate future for Gaza so uncertain that few can claim with certainty that this was all worthwhile, or likely to benefit Israel’s security in the long term. The damage to Israel’s reputation may last decades.
Read the full piece here:
International aid organisations have welcomed the ceasefire deal and pledged to scale up support.
“This is long overdue for the children and families of Gaza who have endured more than a year of bombardment and deprivation, and for the hostages in Gaza and their families in Israel who have suffered so much,” Unicef said in a statement on Wednesday.
Unicef said at least 14,500 children have died and the war has left “17,000 unaccompanied or separated from their parents”. The organisation called on both parties to “fully adhere” to the ceasefire and to allow the “necessary level of aid into Gaza” to treat children suffering from malnutrition and vaccinate 420,000 children under 5 years old.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote “peace is the best medicine” on social media platform X.
“Too many lives have been lost and too many families have suffered. We hope all parties will respect the deal and work towards lasting peace,” he continued.
World Food Programme chief Cindy McCain stressed the importance of opened borders and increased security for humanitarian staff.
“We need security for team members and our partners, including during aid convoys. Humanitarians MUST be protected. We need more humanitarian staff allowed into Gaza. And we need urgent funding to reach everyone in need quickly,” she said in a statement.
The key negotiators who helped clinch the Gaza ceasefire deal
The Associated Press has taken a look at some of the key players who negotiated the deal. The United States, Egypt and Qatar have mediated the long-running efforts to halt the fighting in the ravaged Palestinian territory, often coming close to a deal before a frustrating breakdown in negotiations, until the final breakthrough this week.
David Barnea
The head of Israel’s spy agency headed up Israel’s negotiation team throughout the negotiation process. Worked alongside the head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency and top political and military advisers to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ronen Bar
The head of Israel’s Shin Bet security agency also has been involved in negotiations for months. Bar’s agency handles matters relating to Palestinian security prisoners. Bar has led the agency since 2021. Just days after the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel that launched the war, he took responsibility for failing to thwart the militants and said investigations into what happened would come after the war.
Brett McGurk
President Joe Biden’s top Middle East adviser has been putting together a draft of the deal from the discussions with the two sides as the lead negotiator in the Israel-Hamas negotiations. McGurk has been a fixture in US Middle East policy for more than two decades under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Steve Witkoff
President-elect Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East has met separately in recent weeks with Netanyahu and Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, another key mediator. Witkoff, a Florida real estate investor and co-chair of Trump’s inaugural committee, has kept in contact with Biden’s foreign policy team as the incoming Trump and outgoing Biden administrations coordinated on the deal.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani
Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister led his country’s pivotal mediation efforts in the stop-start negotiations. He has been a key communicator with Hamas throughout the process, as Israel and Hamas have not communicated directly.
Hassan Rashad
The director of Egypt’s General Intelligence Agency was also a liaison with Hamas throughout the talks. Rashad took office in October 2024, replacing former chief intelligence official Abbas Kamel, who led the negotiations during the first ceasefire in November 2023. Several rounds of negotiations have occurred in Cairo, and the mediators will move to the Egyptian capital Thursday for further talks on implementing the deal.
Khalil al-Hayya
The acting head of Hamas’ political bureau and the militant group’s chief negotiator is based in Qatar but does not meet directly with Israeli or American officials, communicating instead through Egyptian and Qatari mediators. His role increased in importance after Israeli soldiers killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza truce bittersweet for Biden as Trump takes credit
The Gaza ceasefire clinched Wednesday was a bittersweet victory for US President Joe Biden days before he hands over the White House to Donald Trump, who claimed credit – and, most experts say, deserves some, reports AFP.
Biden first proposed the outlines of the deal between Israel and Hamas on 31 May but diplomatic efforts repeatedly came up short, even when secretary of state Antony Blinken warned in Tel Aviv in August that it may have been the last chance for a deal.
Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff marched into Netanyahu’s office on Saturday, forcing the Israeli leader to break the sabbath, and pushed to seal the ceasefire.
The timing has echoes of a 1981 deal on US hostages in Iran, freed from 444 days of captivity moments after Republican Ronald Reagan succeeded Democrat Jimmy Carter, although this time the outgoing and incoming administrations worked together.
In scenes unprecedented in recent US history, Witkoff and Biden’s Middle East adviser Brett McGurk met jointly with the emir of Qatar – a key intermediary between Israel and Hamas – when sealing the deal.
Trump quickly boasted that the “epic” deal “could only have happened” due to his election as US president in November.
Asked if Trump deserved credit, Biden quipped: “Is that a joke?”
Speaking hours before a previously scheduled farewell address to the nation, the outgoing president said he included the Trump team in negotiations so that the United States was “speaking with one voice.”
Biden faced heated criticism from the left of his Democratic Party during its unsuccessful election year over his staunch support of Israel since Palestinian group Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack.
Biden authorised billions of dollars in weapons for Israel’s relentless retaliatory campaign on Gaza, despite criticizing the strategic US ally for the civilian death toll – which authorities in Gaza say is in the tens of thousands.
“The Biden administration was terrified of the political cost of being seen to be pressing Israel in any way,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of the rights group Democracy for the Arab World Now.
Trump, while vowing to be even more pro-Israel, was able to make clear to Netanyahu that “I do not want to inherit this,” Whitson said.
“It made me think that all of this would have been possible months ago and we could have saved thousands of Palestinian lives,” she said.
Trump had warned Hamas of “hell to pay” if it did not agree to a deal, which includes in its first phase the release of 33 hostages seized on 7 October.
David Khalfa, an expert on Israel at the Jean Jaures Foundation in Paris, said that Trump’s unpredictability likely affected Hamas. He also pointed to Netanyahu’s political position heading a hard-right but shaky coalition government.
“There is today an ideological alignment between the American populist right and the Israeli prime minister. So he has very weak room to manoeuvre against a Trump who doesn’t face the pressures of reelection,” said Khalfa.
Updated
Iraq has hailed the truce deal between Israel and Hamas and urged immediate aid deliveries to Gaza, AFP reports.
The foreign ministry stressed the “need to immediately allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories” and “intensify international efforts to rebuild” areas damaged during Israel’s Gaza offensive.
Here’s an explainer on what we know so far regarding the phased truce announced between Hamas and Israel, pausing the 15-month conflict with the aim of ending the war.
Key mediator Qatar said that 33 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza would be released in the first stage of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the war in the Palestinian territory.
Israel earlier said it would release about 1,000 Palestinian prisoners in the first stage of a Gaza truce agreement, Israeli and Palestinian sources reported Tuesday.
Read more:
Updated
At least 12 people were killed and several wounded in shelling in a residential block in northern Gaza, Reuters is reporting, citing the Palestinian civil defence.
The report came after the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which does not come into effect until Sunday.
The US hopes to see more than 500 trucks a day of humanitarian aid entering Gaza during the ceasefire, a US state department spokesperson said.
Matthew Miller, at a briefing earlier today, acknowledged that it has been “very difficult” to distribute aid within Gaza because of the security situation. He said:
We’re looking at a massive infusion of trucks. ... It won’t happen overnight, but we want to get up to over 500 trucks a day.
Colombian president Gustavo Petro called the agreement “good news for humanity” and stated that “Colombia will be willing to send medical teams to Gaza to treat injured children.”
The leftist, who did not mention Israel in his brief post on X, had severed diplomatic relations with the Israeli goverment in May of last year “for having a genocidal president.” In response, the then foreign minister (now Defence minister), Israel Katz, said, “History will remember that Gustavo Petro decided to side with the most despicable monsters known to mankind.”
Colombia used to be one of Israel’s closest partners in Latin America, but relations between the two nations have cooled since Petro was elected in 2022.
Brazil’s leftist president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Argentina’s far-right leader, Javier Milei, have yet to comment. The two have taken opposing stances since the conflict began.
This week, the Argentinean was awarded Israel’s prestigious 2025 Genesis Prize in recognition of his support for the country.
He has already pledged – both during his campaign and after being elected, during a visit to Israel – to move Argentina’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In November, when the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, Milei expressed his “profound disagreement,” stating that the “decision disregards Israel’s legitimate right to defend itself against constant attacks from terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Brazil, on the other hand, has strained – though not severed – relations with Israel since the beginning of last year, when Lula referred to the actions in Gaza as “genocide.” In response, the Brazilian president was declared “persona non grata” by the Israeli government. Since then, Lula has described Israel’s actions in Gaza and Lebanon as a “massacre” and “unnecessary slaughter.”
Netanyahu thanks Trump and Biden, says 'final details' of deal still being worked on
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, thanked US president Joe Biden and president-elect Donald Trump for their “assistance” in advancing the ceasefire and hostages release deal.
In a series of posts on X, Netanyahu’s office said he spoke this evening with Trump and thanked him “for helping Israel bring an end to the suffering of dozens of hostages and their families.”
Netanyahu “made it clear that he is committed to returning all of the hostages however he can, and commended the US president-elect for his remarks that the US would work with Israel to ensure that Gaza will never be a haven for terrorism,” it said.
Netanyahu and Trump decided to meet in Washington soon, it said.
Netanyahu then spoke with Biden and thanked him for his assistance in advancing the hostages deal, it said.
In a separate statement, Netanyahu’s office said:
An official statement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be issued only after the completion of the final details of the agreement, which are being worked on at present.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires from Khan Younis in southern Gaza after the news that Hamas and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire deal to pause the war in the Palestinian territory.
Saudi Arabia has welcomed the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas and called for a commitment to an end of “Israeli aggression” in Gaza.
“The Kingdom stresses the need to adhere to the agreement and stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza,” a statement by the Saudi foreign ministry said.
It called for “the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the (Gaza) Strip and all other Palestinian and Arab territories and the return of the displaced to their areas”.
ICRC 'ready to facilitate' hostage and prisoner releases
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the organisation stood ready to help implement the Gaza ceasefire agreement and facilitate the prisoner and hostage exchanges.
“We are also prepared to massively scale up our humanitarian response in Gaza, where the situation demands it,” ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric said.
She added that the organisation was “also prepared to massively scale up our humanitarian response in Gaza, where the situation demands it”.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to back the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that was announced on Wednesday.
Herzog said the agreement was one of the “most difficult challenges we have known” but added that he calls on the “the government of Israel to accept and approve the deal that will be presented to them, and to return our daughters and sons home”.
New Zealand’s prime minister, Christopher Luxon, welcomed the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, saying the country has long called for the deal.
“New Zealand looks forward to the ceasefire being fully implemented and an end to the terrible human suffering,” Luxon said in a post to X, on Thursday.
Deputy prime minister and minister for foreign affairs, Winston Peters, said the conflict had caused “incomprehensible human suffering” and acknowledged the efforts of those involved in the negotiations.
Peters called on the parties to take meaningful steps towards a two-state solution to ensure lasting peace.
“Political will is the key to ensuring history does not repeat itself,” he said, adding the protection of civilians and release of hostages must be prioritised.
There now needs to be a massive, rapid, unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The US vice president, Kamala Harris, praised Joe Biden’s leadership in helping to negotiate a ceasefire agreement, calling it a “significant moment” that will see American hostages released and “bring desperately needed relief to the people of Gaza”.
“While there is more work to be done, I believe this agreement can be the foundation on which we build toward a two-state solution that creates a more peaceful future for Israeli and Palestinian people. I will never stop working to achieve a future of greater peace, dignity, and security for all people in the region,” she said. Harris continued:
Doug and I pray for all the hostages, and we are grateful that some, including Americans, will soon be reunited with their loved ones. In my meetings with the families of American hostages, I vowed they will never be in this fight alone. President Biden and I have no higher priority than the safety of Americans, and are determined that all the American hostages be returned home as part of this deal.
The conflict was one of the thorniest issues Harris navigated as the Democratic nominee for president last year.
Rather than break from the president, whose approach to the war angered liberals and conservatives, Harris adopted his policy positions. During her campaign, she pledged “iron-clad” support for Israel while also acknowledging the suffering in Gaza, sentiments that failed to sway many of her Arab American critics.
Harris’s carefully worded statement on Wednesday reflected that attempt to strike a balance.
We will never forget the lives taken as a result of the brutal Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, and the horrors endured by countless innocent people in the war that followed. In my many conversations with leaders in the region, my unwavering focus has been to end this war such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom, and self-determination. Today’s agreement will begin to bring desperately needed relief to the people of Gaza through a surge in humanitarian aid and an end to the fighting.
The involvement of president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, with Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, in the final phase of the talks was a “fruitful partnership between the two of them to help nail down some of the final arrangements and bring them to a conclusion,” a US official told Reuters.
Witkoff also visited Israel to meet with Benjamin Netanyahu and “was able to pressure Netanyahu into accepting the deal and moving quickly,” a source told the agency.
Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas gained momentum after Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November, and negotiations reached a boiling point over the last 96 hours, according to a US official.
But a central obstacle was Hamas’s refusal to acknowledge how many hostages it was holding or who among the hostages would be released in the first phase of the deal, Reuters reported. A US official said:
That was the main issue just before Christmas time and we kept the pressure on Hamas and made clear there would not be a deal under any circumstance unless Hamas produced and agreed with the full list of hostages that would come out in the deal.
Hamas agreed to the list of hostages at the end of December, which accelerated the final phase toward reaching a deal, including terms of the ceasefire, the sequencing of the release of hostages, the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel would release in exchange and future humanitarian aid to Gaza, the official said.
That phase of the negotiations became “very intense”, they said.
The Gaza ceasefire deal emerged at the end of an intense 96 hours of negotiations in Doha brokered by US, Egyptian and Qatari diplomats who persuaded Israel and Hamas finally to conclude the agreement, according to Reuters.
A senior Biden administration official credited the presence of president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, as being critical to reaching the deal.
Leading the US side was Joe Biden’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, who had been in the region since 5 January working closely on what the official called a “very complex arrangement”.
The deal crossed the finish line after repeated warnings from Trump that there would be “hell to pay” in the Middle East if the hostages held by Hamas were not released before his inauguration on 20 January, sources told the news agency.
Here are some of the latest images from Tel Aviv and Gaza, as people react to the news that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire deal.
Two American hostages to be released in first phase of deal - reports
Two Americans held in Gaza are on the list of hostages to be released in first six-week phase of ceasefire deal, according to multiple reports.
The two US citizens are Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen, sources have told Reuters and CNN.
Siegel was abducted with his wife, Adrienne, who was among a group of hostages released in a November 2023 ceasefire agreement.
Updated
Starmer calls for 'huge surge' in aid to Gaza after 'long overdue' ceasefire announcement
The UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, has issued a statement calling the news of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal “long overdue” and urging a “huge surge” in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory.
“After months of devastating bloodshed and countless lives lost, this is the long-overdue news that the Israeli and Palestinian people have desperately been waiting for,” he said.
The hostages, who were brutally ripped from their homes on that day and held captive in unimaginable conditions ever since, can now finally return to their families … For the innocent Palestinians whose homes turned into a warzone overnight and the many who have lost their lives, this ceasefire must allow for a huge surge in humanitarian aid, which is so desperately needed to end the suffering in Gaza.
Starmer said attention now must turn to how tos secure a “permanently better future” for the Israeli and Palestinian people which is “grounded in a two-state solution that will guarantee security and stability for Israel, alongside a sovereign and viable Palestine state.”
Joe Biden has welcomed the Gaza ceasefire deal, which will involve the release of Israeli hostages held in the besieged strip.
Biden’s announcement came after the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, confirmed a phased deal, which it is hoped will bring a permanent end to the fighting.
The outgoing US president confirmed that the ceasefire would become permanent after the first phase is complete.
US senator Bernie Sanders, a progressive of Vermont, celebrated the announcement of a ceasefire deal in Gaza as “welcome, long-overdue news”.
“Both sides must honor the deal and implement it as quickly as possible. The senseless killing must stop. The hostages must be released,” Sanders said in a new statement.
The United Nations and other aid organizations must finally be allowed unfettered access to all areas of the Gaza Strip to provide the massive amounts of humanitarian aid that is desperately needed. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people are struggling to survive, lacking food, water, and medical care in the middle of winter. Innocent lives hang in the balance.
Sanders, who has become one of the most vocal critics of the Israeli government in the US Congress, emphasized that the deal represented “just the first step to restoring peace”.
“The international community must insist that the ceasefire be sustained and formalized. A plan for rebuilding Gaza and establishing peaceful Palestinian governance of the area must be laid out,” he said.
And there must be accountability for the many war crimes committed by both sides in this terrible conflict.
UN 'hugely relieved' at deal, urges 'rapid and unhindered' aid access to Gaza
The UN rights chief, Volker Türk, welcomed news of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, saying it held he promise of “huge relief after so much unbearable pain and misery”.
“I am hugely relieved by the news of the first phase of a ceasefire in Gaza, and it is imperative that it now holds,” he said, as he urged all parties to “do everything in their power to ensure the success of next stages of the ceasefire”.
Food, water, medicine, shelter and protection are the top priorities. We have no time to lose.
Türk also noted the need to pursue accountability and justice for those responsible for the 7 October attacks, the unlawful killing of civilians in Gaza, and all other crimes under international law.
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for the Palestinian refugees, said the deal will “finally bring much needed respite for the people of Gaza and the release of hostages.”
What’s needed is rapid, unhindered & uninterrupted humanitarian access and supplies to respond to the tremendous suffering caused by this war.
The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, called on all parties to “uphold their commitments and ensure that this deal is fully implemented.” “Our priority must be to ease the tremendous suffering caused by this conflict,” he said.
I urge the parties and relevant partners to seize this opportunity to establish a credible political path to a better future for Palestinians, Israelis and the broader region.
Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has also joined the chorus of Middle Eastern leaders welcoming the Gaza ceasefire deal.
In a post on X, Erdoğan expressed his government’s hope that “the agreement will be beneficial for our region and all of humanity, especially our Palestinian brothers, and that it will open the door to lasting peace and stability.”
Erdoğan has been a vocal critic of Israel’s actions in Gaza over the past year and has described Hamas as a liberation organisation rather than a terrorist group which has put him at odds with his Nato allies. In his statement, he said:
We respectfully salute the heroic people and brave sons of Gaza who courageously defended their land and freedom against Israel’s unlawful and inhumane attacks.
He further added that his government will support reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
Here is video of Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent Anas al-Sharif in Gaza removing his flak jacket and helmet following the announcement of the ceasefire deal:
Over the last 15 months, Palestinian journalists in Gaza have been routinely targeted and killed by Israeli forces across the Gaza strip.
In a statement on Wednesday following the announcement of the ceasefire deal, the Committee to Project Journalists said:
“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.
We call on Egyptian, Palestinian, and Israeli authorities to immediately allow foreign journalists into Gaza, and on the international community to independently investigate the deliberate targeting of journalists that has been widely documented since October 2023.”
Similarly, in a statement last year that marked one year since the war began, Reporters Without Borders said:
“A full year of war has meant a year of unprecedented violence against journalists, with Gaza’s press corps now decimated and foreign journalists still barred from entering the strip.
Israeli forces have done everything in their power to prevent coverage of what is happening in Gaza, and have systematically targeted journalists who have taken tremendous risks to do their jobs.”
Updated
Egypt’s president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has welcomed the agreement signed between Israel and Hamas. Cairo has played key role through negotiations to bring the fighting in Gaza to an end, mediating between Israel and Hamas.
In a social media post, al-Sisi stated that Egypt, alongside Qatar and the United States, made “strenuous efforts” to bring the deal to fruition. He added that Egypt “will always remain faithful to its covenant, a supporter of just peace, a loyal partner in achieving it, and a defender of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.”
Israeli president calls on Netanyahu to 'accept and approve' ceasefire deal
Israeli president Isaac Herzog has released a statement following the announcement of a ceasefire deal reached between Hamas and Israel in which he called on Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government to accept and approve the deal.
Herzog said:
“My sisters and brothers, citizens of Israel, we are at a most crucial moment… I offer my support to the Prime Minister and the negotiation team in their efforts to finalize this deal and call upon the Cabinet and the Government of Israel to accept and approve it when presented–bringing our sons and daughters 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.”
Updated
Dozens celebrated across the Gaza Strip as it was announced that a deal had been reached between Israel and Hamas after 15 months of war:
Updated
Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, who has been one of the most outspoken European critics of Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza, welcomed the news, saying:
“I receive news of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas with hope. It must bring an end to the conflict, allow the terrible humanitarian situation in Gaza to be dealt with, and lead to the release of all the hostages.
“This agreement is vital for bringing about regional stability. It represents an indispensable step on the path toward the Two State solution and towards a just peace that respects international law.
“I send all my gratitude to Qatar, Egypt and the US, whose tireless efforts as mediators have made it possible.”
In November 2023, the Israeli government recalled its ambassador in Madrid and said it would be reprimanding Spain’s top diplomat in Tel Aviv after Sánchez said he had “genuine doubts” about whether Israel was complying with international humanitarian law in its offensive in Gaza.
At the end of May last year, Spain joined Ireland and Norway in officially recognising a Palestinian state.
Gaza ceasefire deal: what we know so far
Here’s a look at where things stand:
Hamas and Israel have agreed to a ceasefire deal, Qatar announced on Wednesday evening in Doha. The deal, which is set to be begin on Sunday and will last 42 days, will see the exchange of hostages detained by Hamas and Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons.
Other aspects of the deal include the return of Palestinians, who have been forcibly displaced by Israeli forces, to their homes across the Gaza strip. The deal will also see the facilitation of travel of people wounded by Israeli attacks and sick people in order to receive treatment, as well as the positioning of Israeli forces across the Gaza border.
Joe Biden has confirmed that Americans will be part of the hostage release. “This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much needed-humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” Biden said.
Egypt is “preparing to bring in the largest possible amount of aid to the Gaza Strip,” according to state media reports. Coordination was underway to “open the Palestinian Rafah crossing to allow the entry of international aid” into Gaza, Egyptian state media reported.
Israel’s security cabinet will meet at 11am local time (0900 GMT) on Thursday to approve the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, the Times of Israel is reporting, citing Hebrew media. The Israeli government will vote on the deal on Thursday, with a majority of ministers expected to approve the deal, a government official told Reuters.
The US president-elect, Donald Trump, has rushed to claim credit for the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in another Truth Social post. Describing the deal as “epic”, Trump said the agreement could have only happened as a result of his “historic” election victory “as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies”.
Updated
US president Joe Biden, during the news conference, was asked how much credit he would give to the incoming Donald Trump administration.
Biden replied that “this is the exact framework of the deal I proposed back in May. Exact.”
He noted that it was US support for Israel that helped them weaken Hamas and create the conditions for the ceasefire deal.
He added that he had told his team to “coordinate closely” with the incoming Trump team “to make sure we’re all speaking with the same voice, because that’s what American presidents do.”
As he began to leave the room after the conference, a reporter called out: ““Who deserves credit for this Mr President, you or Trump?”
Biden turned around and replied: “Is that a joke?”
Phase three of deal to focus on reconstruction plan for Gaza, says Biden
Biden said the third phase of the ceasefire deal will involve any final remains of hostages who have been killed in Gaza to be returned to their families.
A major reconstruction plan for Gaza will begin in this Phase Three, he said.
“The road to this deal has not been easy,” Biden said. “This is one of the toughest negotiations I’ve ever experienced.”
He attributed reaching the deal to Israeli pressure on Hamas, backed by the US, the death of Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar, a US-led coalition response to Houthi attacks, the “significant” weakening of Hezbollah, and the election of new Lebanese president. Biden said:
All told, these developments in the region, which the United States helped to shape, change the equation.
Biden said he was “deeply satisfied that this day has come” for the sake of the people of Israel and for the sake of the innocent people in Gaza. He said:
The Palestinian people have gone through hell. Too many innocent people have died. Too many communities have been destroyed. Under this deal, the people of Gaza can finally recover and rebuild. They can look to a future without Hamas and power.
Updated
Biden says Israel to negotiate next phase over next six weeks for a 'permanent end to war'
Biden said that during the next six weeks of the first phase of the ceasefire, Israel will negotiate the necessary arrangements for phase two – “a permanent end to the war”.
The US president said that there are a “number of details” to negotiate to move from the first and second phase.
If negotiations take longer than six weeks, then the ceasefire will continue as long as the negotiations continue, he said.
Phase two will allow for an exchange for the release of all the remaining living hostages, including male soldiers.
The second phase will also involve all remaining Israeli forces to be withdrawn from Gaza, and for the temporary ceasefire to become permanent, he said.
Biden confirms ceasefire deal, says Americans will be part of first phase of hostage release
The US president, Joe Biden, has announced that Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal.
“Today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal,” Biden said in a statement.
Biden, in a news conference, said elements of this deal are what he laid in detail in May 2024, and that the first phase will last six weeks and includes 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.” In exchange, Israel will release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
“I’m proud to say Americans will be part of that hostage release on phase one,” he said.
The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, is asked whether pressure from the incoming Trump administration got the ceasefire deal over the line.
Al Thani acknowledged that there has been a “momentum” that started to build in the last month, and that he has seen a “clear demonstration” of US commitment to reach a deal within the past few days.
“We have seen steps that have been been taken recently from the US that have yielded to this moment,” he said.
Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that the details of phase two and three of the ceasefire deal will be finalised during the implementation of phase one.
“Hopefully this will be the last page in the days of the war,” he said.
He stressed the “necessity of both sides committing to the implementation of all three stages of the agreement” in order to “prevent civilian bloodshed”.
Qatar will continue its efforts with Egypt and the US to ensure that all sides are following through with their commitments and engagements, he said.
Updated
Phase one of the ceasefire deal, which will last 42 days, will involve Israeli forces positioned along the Gaza border, the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said.
As part of the phase, Hamas will release 33 Israeli captives, including civilian women as well as children, elderly people, civilians who are wounded or ill.
In return, Israel will release a number of prisoners who are being held in Israeli prisons, he said.
The phase will include the return of displaced people to their homes, he said. It will also facilitate the travel of wounded and sick people in order to receive treatment.
The first phase will include the increased flow of relief and humanitarian aid to all parts of the Gaza Strip, as well as the rehabilitation of hospitals, health centers, and bakeries.
The phase will allow for the entry of fuel and civil defense equipment, as well as basic necessities for displaced people who lost their homes as a result of the war.
Qatari PM announces Gaza ceasefire deal to take effect on 19 January
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, is holding a press conference from Doha where he has confirmed that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has been reached.
The agreement will enter into effect on Sunday, 19 January, he said.
Phase one of the agreement will go on for 42 days and will include a ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the east away from populated areas, he said.
Updated
The European Union “remains committed to supporting all efforts towards a long-lasting peace and recovery”, the EU commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Suica, said.
Suica posted on X:
I welcome the ceasefire agreement and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, which will bring much-needed relief to those affected by the devastating conflict.
We reported earlier that an Israeli airstrike targeted the occupied West Bank city of Jenin earlier on Wednesday.
The death toll from that strike has increased to five, the Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting, citing the Palestinian health ministry.
Egypt 'preparing to bring in largest possible amount of aid to Gaza' - state media
The United Nations is committed to delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza during the ceasefire, but “we can only deliver as much as the conditions on the ground allow for us to do so,” according to a UN aid spokesperson.
Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN’s office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, said:
The removal of the various impediments the UN has been facing during the last year – which include restrictions on the entry of goods; the lack of safety and security; the breakdown of law and order; and the lack of fuel – is a must.
Separately, Egypt is “preparing to bring in the largest possible amount of aid to the Gaza Strip,” according to state media reports.
Coordination was underway to “open the Palestinian Rafah crossing to allow the entry of international aid” into Gaza, Egyptian state media reported.
Updated
Netanyahu says 'several clauses' in deal 'remain unresolved'
We reported earlier that the office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said a ceasefire deal still not reached and that the final details are being sorted out.
Here’s the full statement by Netanyahu’s office:
Due to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s firm stance, Hamas backed down at the last moment from its demand to alter the deployment of forces along the Philadelphi Corridor. However, several clauses in the framework remain unresolved, and we hope the details will be finalized tonight.
Updated
The Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, welcomed news of a ceasefire agreement after “15 months of mass murder and total devastation in Gaza.”
“The world will see the magnitude of Israel’s criminal and genocidal aggression,” he wrote on X.
Now let the journey of healing begin, starting with burying our dead, attending to our wounded, providing for basic human needs and rebuilding livelihoods. The world must not fail us again.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it is preparing to receive Israeli hostages as part of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
The name of the IDF’s preparation operation is “Wings of Freedom”.
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires from Israel’s Tel Aviv and Gaza’s Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah, amid reports that Israel and Hamas have reached a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
Updated
Humanitarian organisations have been reacting to reports that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
A ceasefire deal will bring “some respite to Gaza’s exhausted people” but it is “no substitute for a permanent ceasefire which respects the rights of Palestinians to determine their own future,” ActionAid said.
The last 15 months of “unimaginable violence and horror” has turned Gaza into “hell on earth” with more than 46,000 people killed by the Israeli military and tens of thousands left with “life-changing” injuries, it said.
A ceasefire will not bring back the hundreds of thousands of homes that have been destroyed, nor the entire cities wiped off the map.
The group urged the international community to apply “maximum pressure” to secure a lasting end to the war and for the Israeli government to be held accountable for “all violations of international humanitarian law” and to comply with proceedings by international courts into the charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Helen McEachern, CEO of Care International UK, welcomed the reports of an agreement and said it was “just the first step in stemming the overwhelming tide of suffering.”
A ceasefire will offer respite from the relentless bombardment imposed by Israeli authorities, and every effort must now be made to ensure it is sustained and made permanent.
She called on humanitarian assistance to be allowed into Palestine to aid the population “on the brink of famine” and with its health system “on its knees”.
“The UK Government, which has continued to sell arms to Israel, must now use all its diplomatic levers to ensure the ceasefire is fully implemented,” she added.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, met with the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mirjana Spoljaric, in Jerusalem to discuss preparations for a hostage release deal, his office said.
The ICRC president updated Herzog on the organisation’s preparedness for the transfer of the hostages and the different challenges facing them,” according to his office.
Herzog emphasised “the utmost importance and sensitivity of this mission,” it said.
Updated
Here’s a clip from Tel Aviv, where families of hostages have been gathering amid reports that a deal has been reached between Hamas and Israel for a hostage release and ceasefire deal.
Netanyahu says deal not reached as final details being sorted
The office of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said a ceasefire deal still not reached and that the final details are being sorted out, Associated Press reported.
As we reported earlier, Israel’s government is expected to vote on the deal tomorrow.
Updated
Republican senator John Cornyn quickly credited incoming president Donald Trump for achieving the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, saying that he believed it was tied to Trump’s threats that there would be “all hell to pay” if a deal was not reached before his inauguration.
Speaking with journalists outside of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Cornyn said that the announcement of a ceasefire deal was “encouraging but obviously we know that President Biden has not been the best negotiator when it comes to these deals.”
Asked about whether Trump’s threats played a role, Cornyn replied:
I don’t believe in coincidences. So I do believe that President Trump had an impact on this deal. And obviously the Biden administration is eager to wrap this up before he leaves office.
The remarks indicate the partisan infighting in the US that will surely follow the announcement of the deal which would mark the first break in the fighting since the war began 15 months ago. Cornyn said:
Whatever the reason, I believe this is a step in the right direction but again the details matter.
Four Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on West Bank's Jenin - report
Four Palestinians have been killed and two others critically injured on Wednesday in an Israeli airstrike targeting the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
A statement from the Palestinian health ministry said four bodies were brought to a hospital in Jenin following the airstrike.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it carried out an airstrike in Jenin, adding that further details would be provided.
On Tuesday, an IDF drone strike in Jenin killed six Palestinians, including a 15-year-old child.
Updated
Israel security cabinet to meet on Thursday to approve deal, reports say
Israel’s security cabinet will meet at 11am local time (0900 GMT) on Thursday to approve the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, the Times of Israel is reporting, citing Hebrew media.
The Israeli government will vote on the deal on Thursday, with a majority of ministers expected to approve the deal, a government official told Reuters.
Updated
Donald Trump rushes to claim credit for ceasefire deal
The US president-elect, Donald Trump, has rushed to claim credit for the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in another Truth Social post.
Describing the deal as “epic”, Trump said the agreement could have only happened as a result of his “historic” election victory “as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies”.
He vowed that his national security team and his pick for Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, will continue to “work closely with Israel and our Allies to make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.” He added:
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!
Trump went on to say:
We have achieved so much without even being in the White House. Just imagine all of the wonderful things that will happen when I return to the White House, and my Administration is fully confirmed, so they can secure more Victories for the United States!
A White House official has confirmed to the New York Times that a Gaza ceasefire deal has been reached.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires from Khan Younis in southern Gaza and from Tel Aviv, as people react to reports that Israel and Hamas have reached a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal.
The Israeli government will vote on a Gaza ceasefire deal on Thursday, a government official told Reuters.
Any agreement still needs to be approved by Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, but would be expected to go into effect in the coming days.
US and Hamas officials say ceasefire deal has been reached
Three US officials and a Hamas official have confirmed to Associated Press that a ceasefire deal has been reached.
One US official said that it was expected that the ceasefire would be implemented in the coming days.
As we reported earlier, ceasefire talks hit a last-minute snag over the Philadelphi corridor but the issue has since been resolved, CBS News is reporting.
The US president, Joe Biden, is preparing to address the breakthrough agreement on Thursday, officials said.
According to AP, the deal includes the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in phases, the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to their homes.
The deal also would flood badly needed humanitarian aid into the devastated Palestinian territory.
Updated
US, Qatar and Egypt to issue joint statement on deal shortly - report
A ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas was reached after separate meetings held by Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, with Hamas and Israeli negotiators in his office, according to reports.
An Israeli official has confirmed to the Times of Israel that a ceasefire and hostage deal has been reached.
The paper, citing a senior Arab diplomat, reports that the US, Qatar and Egypt will shortly issue a joint statement announcing the deal.
Trump says 'we have a deal' and hostages will be released 'shortly'
The US president-elect, Donald Trump, has posted to this Truth Social platform, writing:
WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!
Updated
Israel and Hamas have reached a deal to halt fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, an official has told Reuters.
Qatari and Hamas officials have said that a deal has been reached, Associated Press reports.
Reuters has some details on the proposed Gaza deal between Israel and Hamas, which has not yet been officially announced.
The deal would involve a six-week initial ceasefire phase, the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces, the release of hostages held by Hamas and the release of Palestinian detainees held by Israel.
Israel and Hamas reach agreement on Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal - reports
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement on a ceasefire and hostage release deal, the Times of Israel is reporting, citing a US official and an Arab official.
An announcement is expected in the coming hours, an Arab official told the paper.
A US official has also told Axios that a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal has been reached.
Updated
Hamas official says group has approved ceasefire deal - reports
Hamas has told multiple outlets that its delegation has handed its approval of the proposed ceasefire deal to mediators in Qatar and Egypt.
A Hamas official said the group’s leader, Khalil al-Hayya, has delivered approval of the ceasefire agreement to mediators in Doha, Al Jazeera Arabic and Sky News are reporting.
BBC is also reporting that a Hamas official said it has told Qatari and Egyptian mediators that Hamas has approved the ceasefire agreement.
An Israeli official has said ceasefire talks have hit a last-minute snag that are holding up an expected announcement on a deal.
The official said Hamas had raised objections to agreed-upon arrangements for the Philadelphi corridor – a strategic strip of land along Gaza’s border with Egypt, Associated Press reports.
Hamas’s demands go against the maps that were approved by the Israeli cabinet over the course of the negotiations, the Times of Israel reports, citing an unnamed “senior [Israeli] political source”.
“Israel strongly rejects any change to these maps,” the official said, according to AP.
Israeli foreign minister cuts short Europe trip to vote on Gaza deal
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said he was cutting his visit to Europe short on Wednesday so that he could take part in votes held by the security cabinet and government on a Gaza hostage release and ceasefire deal.
A statement from the Israeli foreign ministry reads:
Following the progress in the hostage release negotiations, Minister Sa’ar cut short his diplomatic visit, which was scheduled to continue tomorrow in Hungary. He will return to Israel tonight to participate in the expected discussions and votes in the Security Cabinet and government.
Updated
Summary of the day so far
It is 6pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv, and 7pm in Damascus and Doha. Here is a brief summary on some of the latest updates:
Qatar’s foreign ministry will hold a news conference in Doha later on Wednesday evening, a senior Qatari official told Reuters. It comes as Doha hosts talks towards a Gaza ceasefire deal. The official declined to say what time the news conference would begin. Earlier, an invitation by Qatar’s state news agency said the news conference would be hosted by prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also foreign minister.
Hamas has not yet given a written response to a Gaza ceasefire proposal under negotiation in Qatar, an official from the group, who refused to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters on Wednesday. Another report on Wednesday, by the news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP), quoted two Palestinian sources close to negotiations in Doha as saying that the Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad had approved a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify either report.
The office of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu swiftly issued a denial that Hamas had agreed an outline deal for a limited release of hostages, a ceasefire and partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, after reports circulated of an agreement. “Contrary to reports, the Hamas terror organisation has not yet returned its response to the deal,” the prime minister’s office said.
The briefing and counter-briefing that has emerged over the last few hours appears to show how precarious negotiations for a proposed ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have been. Details of the lengths of specific phases and the number of Palestinian prisoners expected to be released have been contradictory depending on the source of the briefing.
There is also vocal opposition within Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to agreeing a deal. National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already said he and his Otzma Yehudit party will oppose it, and yesterday made a public appeal to finance minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in that position. Kan News reported that Ben-Gvir had cancelled his schedule for Wednesday, and was “in talks with Smotrich’s people in an attempt to convince him to resign from the government”.
Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa, has said that it “will not be acceptable” for any entity other than the Palestinian Authority to run the Gaza Strip in the future, as he attended an international meeting on the two-state solution in Norway. Mustafa also stated that “any attempt to consolidate the separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, or create transitional entities, will be rejected”.
An Israeli airstrike for the first time hit a military target belonging to Syria’s new authorities 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 Ddepartment, and injuring another person” in southern Syria’s Quneitra region, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. A medical source told AFP an official was among the three killed in the strike.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, on Wednesday said transitional justice was “crucial” for Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during the first-ever visit by someone in his post to the country. “Transitional justice is crucial as Syria moves forward,” the UN high commissioner for human rights said at a press conference in Damascus. “Revenge and vengeance are never the answer.”
Updated
There is a little bit more information on Reuters about the freshly announced press conference on Wednesday in Doha that we reported on earlier (see 3.15pm GMT).
Qatar’s foreign ministry will hold a news conference, a senior Qatari official told Reuters, but the official declined to say what time the news conference would begin, apart from that it would held later on Wednesday evening.
Earlier, an invitation by Qatar’s state news agency said the news conference would be hosted by prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is also foreign minister.
Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa, has said that it “will not be acceptable” for any entity other than the Palestinian Authority to run the Gaza Strip in the future, as he attended an international meeting on the two-state solution in Norway.
Mustafa also stated that “any attempt to consolidate the separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, or create transitional entities, will be rejected”.
An Israeli airstrike for the first time hit a military target belonging to Syria’s new authorities on Wednesday, killing three people, a war monitor and a medical source said, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“An Israeli drone launched an attack targeting a military convoy … killing two members of the military operations Ddepartment, and injuring another person” in southern Syria’s Quneitra region, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
A medical source told AFP an official was among the three killed in the strike.
Qatar's PM to hold press conference in Doha amid Gaza ceasefire negotiations
Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, will hold a press conference on Wednesday in Doha where his country has been hosting talks towards a Gaza ceasefire deal, according to an invitation by Qatar’s state news agency (QNA).
Qatar’s prime minister is to hold a press conference in Doha amid Gaza ceasefire negotiations, according to a breaking news line from Reuters.
More details soon …
Updated
UN high commissioner for human rights says transitional justice 'crucial' in Syria
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, on Wednesday said transitional justice was “crucial” for Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, during the first-ever visit by someone in his post to the country, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Since rebels seized Damascus last month, the UN has called for Assad and others to be held accountable for the crimes committed during more than 13 years of civil war.
“Transitional justice is crucial as Syria moves forward,” the UN high commissioner for human rights said at a press conference in Damascus. “Revenge and vengeance are never the answer.”
Syria’s conflict erupted in 2011 after Assad’s brutal crackdown of anti-government protests. More than half a million people were killed and millions displaced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people have been detained and tortured in the country’s jails, while Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons including banned sarin gas against his own people.
“The enforced disappearances, the torture, the use of chemical weapons, among other atrocity crimes, must be fully investigated,” Türk said. “And then justice must be served, fairly and impartially,” he added.
Türk said “such acts constitute the most serious crimes under international humanitarian law”. Among them, “that banned chemicals were used against civilians … and not just once, says a lot about the extreme brutality of the tactics used by the former regime,” Türk said.
The new authorities have sought to reassure Syrians and the international community in recent weeks that they will respect the rights of minorities while rebuilding the country.
Türk said during the visit that he and the country’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, discussed “the opportunities and challenges awaiting this new Syria”.
“He acknowledged and assured me of the importance of respect for human rights for all Syrians and all different components of Syrian society,” Türk said, according to AFP. He said Sharaa also backed “the pursuit of healing, trust building and social cohesion and the reform of institutions”.
After a war that has ravaged Syria’s economy and infrastructure, Türk also called for an easing of certain western sanctions imposed on Syria under Assad’s rule.
“I … call for an urgent reconsideration of … sanctions with a view to lifting them,” he said, adding that they had “a negative impact on the enjoyment of rights” of Syrians.
Türk said he had visited the notorious Saydnaya prison and met a former detainee, “a former soldier suspected of being a defector”. “He told me of the cruel treatment he endured. I cannot even bear to share the stories of beatings and torture that he shared with me,” he said.
Thousands of detainees poured out of prisons after Assad’s fall. But many Syrians are still looking for traces of tens of thousands of loved ones still missing, with many believed to have been buried in mass graves.
Updated
Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad have approved a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal, two Palestinian sources close to negotiations in Doha told Agence France-Presse (AFP) 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 Guardian has been unable to independently verify the report.
Hamas official says group has not yet given written response to Gaza ceasefire proposal
Hamas has not yet given a written response to a Gaza ceasefire proposal under negotiation in Qatar, an official from the group, who refused to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, told Reuters on Wednesday.
Reuters has a breaking news line quoting a Hamas official who says the group has not yet given a written response to the ceasefire proposal. Earlier, Israeli media reported that Hamas had given its response.
More details soon …
Here are some of the latest images sent over the news wires illustrating the conflict in Gaza.
The briefing and counter-briefing that has emerged over the last few hours appears to show how precarious negotiations for a proposed ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza have been.
Details of the lengths of specific phases and the number of Palestinian prisoners expected to be released have been contradictory depending on the source of the briefing.
There is also vocal opposition within Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to agreeing a deal. National security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has already said he and his Otzma Yehudit party will oppose it, and yesterday made a public appeal to finance minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in that position.
Kan News reports that Ben-Gvir has cancelled his schedule for today, and is “in talks with Smotrich’s people in an attempt to convince him to resign from the government.”
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has immediately contradicted Israeli media reports that Hamas has given its response to the ceasefire proposal, and says that it has not.
More details soon …
Netanyahu's office denies Hamas has agreed to outline of ceasefire deal despite reports
An Israeli official has said that Hamas has agreed an outline deal for a limited release of hostages and a ceasefire and partial withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, however the office of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu almost immediately issued a denial that this was the case.
“Contrary to reports, the Hamas terror organisation has not yet returned its response to the deal,” the prime minister’s office said.
Alongside other Israeli media outlets, The Times of Israel had reported:
Officials in Jerusalem tell Israeli media that the deal is expected to be signed tonight, and that a joint declaration is anticipated tonight or tomorrow.
This means that if the deal is approved by the cabinet this evening or tomorrow, with a 24-48 hour period to allow for appeals against the deal to the supreme court, implementation could begin with the first hostages going free on Sunday.
The deal is expected to initially involve the release of 33 hostages including women, the elderly and wounded, and the release of Palestinians detained in Israeli prisons. A partial withdrawal of Israeli troops is expected to take place in Gaza, with the Rafah crossing reopening to allow in humanitarian aid. Negotiations would take place during this phase on a more permanent second phase, which would see the release of the remaining hostages.
Some members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government have said they do not support the deal, but it is believed he has enough support across the Knesset and in government for it to be implemented.
More details soon …
Updated
Reuters has a quick snap that an Israeli official has said Hamas has approved a Gaza deal.
More details soon …
There have been clashes between protesters and Israeli police in Tel Aviv, where ultra-Orthodox men have been protesting about plans to end their exemption from being conscripted into Israel’s military.
We reported earlier that Oslo is host today to a meeting of the global alliance for the implementation of the two-state solution. This photograph shows Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre and the Palestinian prime minister Muhammed Mustafa meeting today.
Al Jazeera reports that “Israeli artillery shelling has cut off the power at the the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza.”
It continued “An Al Jazeera correspondent added that Israeli vehicles were beginning to bulldoze the western side of the hospital.”
Al Jazeera has been banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Israel’s military has issued an order for residents in the north of the Gaza Strip to flee their homes ahead of an attack.
#عاجل ‼️ الى سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في منطقة D5 (قرية جباليا) هذا تحذير مسبق قبل الهجوم!
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) January 15, 2025
⭕️تطلق المنظمات الإرهابية من جديد القذائف الصاروخية من هذه المنطقة المحددة التي تم تحذيرها عدة مرات في الماضي.
⭕️من أجل أمنكم، انتقلوا فوراً الى المآوي في مركز مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/vnl1riYBU9
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Turkey is watching developments in the Gaza ceasefire talks carefully, and also issued a warning for other countries to “take their hands off” Syria.
In comments made in parliament, reported by Reuters, Erdoğan said:
If there is really a fear of the Islamic State threat in Syria and the region, the biggest power that has the will and power to resolve this issue is Turkey. Everyone should take their hands off Syria and we, along with our Syrian siblings, will crush the heads of Islamic State, the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and other terrorist organisations in a short time.
Additionally, on the topic of Gaza, Haaretz quoted the Turkish president saying Turkey is “closely following the cease-fire negotiations … where genocide and massacres have been ongoing for 15 months.”
Earlier on Wednesday Israel’s military issued a statement claiming to have seized over 3,000 military assets and weapons during its ground operation inside Syria, which it launched after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The funeral has been taking place in Jenin today of six Palestinians, including a 15-year-old child, who were killed in an Israeli airstrike on Jenin refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank yesterday.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported “The funeral procession set off from in front of Jenin Governmental hospital, where mourners carried the bodies of the martyrs on their shoulders and toured the streets of the city and the camp, arriving at the homes of their families in the camp to bid them farewell.”
Earlier the Palestinian presidency issued a condemnation of the Israeli strike, calling it “a completely unacceptable step.”
Israel’s military, which has been operating inside the south-west of Syria since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, has issued a statement claiming it has seized “over 3,300 enemy assets”.
In a post on its official Telegram channel, the IDF 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 additionally 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.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
The Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza has issued an updated casualty toll, claiming that at least 46,707 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s military offensive since 7 October 2023. In addition it states that 110,265 Palestinians have been wounded.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
In Oslo today, Norway is hosting a meeting of the global alliance for the implementation of the two-state solution.
Norway’s foreign ministry Espen Barth Eide is quoted by the Anadolu news agency making opening remarks in which he said that a ceasefire in Gaza would only be the beginning of the necessary process.
He said it was the responsibility of the international community to consider “how do we go from there to something that can bring real peace to the people of Palestine, that their inalienable right of self-determination …will become to fruition. But also the quest of the people of Israel … to be able to be live with peace with their Palestinian neighbours, and also, finally, to be embedded in the region through normalisation with important neighbouring and regional actors.”
Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa is attending the event, and Al Jazeera quotes his remarks. Mustafa said there had been “an international failure to protect fundamental rights” for the Palestinian people that “could and should have been prevented.”
He said countries that recognised Palestine as a state were taking “a courageous practical step that brings us closer to the realisation of a just and lasting peace.”
He continued with a rebuke to any ambitions by Hamas to retain a governance role in Gaza after the war ended by saying:
The time has come to take practical measures that advance the two-state solution, address the root causes of this conflict and directly confront the legality of the Israeli occupation and its ongoing violation of international law.
While we are waiting for a ceasefire, it is important to stress that it will not be acceptable for any entity to govern Gaza but the legitimate Palestinian leadership and the government of the State of Palestine.
Here are some of the latest images sent over the news wires from Deir al-Balah in the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who has previously spoken of his desire for Israel to permanently annex the occupied West Bank, has said the country is at a “crucial and fateful time”.
In a statement on social media, Smotrich said:
We are at a crucial and fateful time for the security, future and existence of the State of Israel. What stands before me is only one thing, and I am concerned with it with all my heart and soul, and that is how to achieve the full goals of the war – complete victory, the total destruction of Hamas, both military and civilian, and the return of all our hostages home.
Naturally and as is my custom in these moments, I do these things quietly, in closed rooms, in a very matter-of-fact, serious, incisive and profound discourse. The only thing that concerns me is how to win, how to destroy Hamas, how to bring all our hostages home. I will not rest or be silent until these goals are achieved.
Yesterday, national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Smotrich to join in him in opposing any deal with Hamas. It is believed that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have enough support in the Knesset to approve a ceasefire deal even if some of his coalition partners in government oppose it.
In Israel, Haaretz reports that an Israeli source has told the newspaper “negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire deal are ongoing and that Israel has not yet received Hamas’ response to the latest draft.”
Jonathan Lis writes that “The source denied a report by Reuters from Tuesday, according to which the group had not delivered its response to mediators yet because Israel did not submit maps of its forces’ withdrawal from Gaza.”
Palestinian news agency Wafa is also reporting multiple casualties in Gaza after a series of Israeli attacks, including on the al-Farabi school in Gaza City, which has been housing displaced people. It reports that seven members of one family were killed in a strike there.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
What we know about the terms of the anticipated Gaza ceasefire deal
In today’s First Edition newsletter, my colleague Archie Bland discussed with the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, Julian Borger the prospects for a peace deal:
“We have been told that it’s now just a question of dotting the Is and crossing the Ts,” Julian Borger said. “But we have been here before.”
“There appears to have been a breakthrough overnight on Monday,” Julian said. “We don’t know exactly what that was about. Previously, the speed and extent of Israel’s withdrawal has been a sticking point.”
Donald Trump’s return has changed the calculus on Israel’s side. “We’ve had at least eight months of counterfactuals,” Julian said. “Because the far right always threatened to bring down Netanyahu, the logic has pointed to no deal. But the imminence of Trump’s return is an X factor here.”
Here’s what is in the prospective deal, according to a draft seen by Reuters yesterday:
Hostage return: The first stage, lasting six weeks, would see 33 hostages held in Gaza – children, women including female soldiers, men older than 50, the wounded and the sick – freed gradually over a six-week period in return for the release of around 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Troop withdrawal: Israel would begin a phased pull-back of its troops and leave parts of the Philadelphi corridor that runs along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Movement within Gaza: Unarmed residents would be allowed back into north Gaza, and the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza would begin a gradual reopening.
Aid: The Israelis would also start to let more desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. The Associated Press reported that this could be about 600 trucks a day. At the beginning of January, only about 50 aid trucks crossed into Gaza each day, Unrwa said on Sunday.
Second phase: On the 16th day of the first phase, and if everything has gone to plan, talks would start on a second stage that would see more hostages – including male soldiers and younger civilian men – released, as well as the bodies of those who have died in captivity, in return for further Israeli concessions, which the draft suggests could include the “complete withdrawal” of the IDF from Gaza.
You can read more of Archie Bland’s conversation with Julian Borger here: What a Gaza ceasefire might look like
Updated
24 Palestinians reported killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza as IDF claims to have hit more than 50 'terrorist targets'
In an operational update, Israel’s military on its official Telegram channel, has claimed that yesterday it struck “more than 50 terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip, including terrorist cells, weapons storage facilities, underground infrastructure, anti-tank fire positions, and Hamas military structures.”
Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday morning that the death toll from overnight Israeli attacks in Gaza stands at 24, including two people recently reported killed “in an Israeli drone attack on Khirbet al-Adas area, north of the city of Rafah.”
Lebanon’s National News Agency has reported that during the night Israeli forces have blown up houses and bulldozed roads in multiple locations inside southern Lebanon, including Aita al-Shaab, Hanin and Maroun al-Ras.
Overnight Israel’s military has reported that three of its soldiers were wounded when a military vehicle drove over an explosive in Qabatiya in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Ceasefire and hostage release deal 'right on brink' as hopes rise for agreement
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza were “right on the brink” as the warring sides were reported to be closing in on a deal. Envoys representing the Biden White House and the incoming Trump administration have been taking part in what was billed as a “final round” of talks on Tuesday, meeting delegates from Israel, Egypt and Qatar.
Blinken indicated that Israel had agreed to a deal and that mediators were now waiting for a response from Hamas. “It’s closer than it’s ever been before,” he said. “But, right now, as we sit here, we await final word from Hamas on its acceptance, and until we get that word, we’ll remain on the brink.”
The Associated Press on Tuesday evening reported that Hamas had accepted the draft agreement for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, citing two anonymous sources involved in the talks. That information has not been confirmed by the group publicly and an Israeli official told the news agency that details of the agreement were still being finalised.
Israeli media and reports from the Qatari capital said the agreement would involve an initial release of 33 Israeli hostages, including children, women, elderly people and the sick, and up to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, alongside a partial Israeli troop withdrawal in a first phase lasting up to 60 days.
Hamas earlier said the talks had reached the final steps and that it hoped this round of negotiations would lead to a deal. An Israeli official said talks had reached a critical phase although some details needed to be hammered out: “We are close, we are not there yet.” The militant group Islamic Jihad said it was sending a senior delegation that would arrive in Doha on Tuesday night to take part in final arrangements for a ceasefire deal.
A deal had not yet been clinched on Tuesday night despite more than eight hours of talks in Qatar. A senior Hamas official told Reuters that his group was awaiting documents from Israel that would give more details of the geographical area covered by a ceasefire. A Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said earlier on Tuesday that talks on the final details were under way after both sides were presented with a text.
Hopes rose across Gaza that the war that has devastated the territory, killing more than 46,000 according to the Hamas-led health ministry and displacing millions, was finally coming to an end. Residents of the embattled territory expressed mixed emotions: hope and fear for the future but pain and grief for the past 15 months. Optimism over the negotiations has been tempered by past experience after earlier apparent breakthroughs ultimately failed in the face of opposition from the coalition government of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, or obstruction from Hamas inside Gaza.
Fighting in Gaza has continued in recent days despite reports of an imminent ceasefire. Israeli airstrikes on homes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, health officials said Tuesday. Earlier strikes in Gaza killed at least 18 people, including two women and four children, according to local health officials, who said one woman was pregnant and the baby died as well.
Blinken, in an outgoing speech at the Atlantic Council, outlined a vision for a postwar settlement under which Israel would accept a united leadership of Gaza and the West Bank territories under a reformed Palestinian Authority. Israel has so far rejected those conditions. He also spoke about significant involvement from the international community and Arab countries, including the possibility of deploying troops to stabilise security and facilitate humanitarian aid delivery. Blinken’s speech was interrupted several times by protesters.
Updated
