Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

[SvennoJ]

Main events from Januari 18th

• Palestinians in Gaza are counting down the hours to the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, but Israeli forces are keeping up their attacks across the Strip, including in Khan Younis, where five members of one family have been killed.
• Displaced people in Gaza are packing what is left of their belongings to return to their neighbourhoods, but the Israeli military is warning that moving from the south to the north, including towards the so-called Netzarim Corridor, remains dangerous.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already cautioning that the ceasefire could be temporary, saying in a national address that Israel has the right to resume fighting if necessary.
• Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has quit Netanyahu’s government in protest of the ceasefire deal, but Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he and his party would stay on because the prime minister had agreed to several demands, including the continuation of the war and the “gradual takeover” of Gaza.
• Yemen’s Houthis claimed two more missile attacks on targets in southern Israel, with a spokesman saying the rebel group would stop its operations in support of Gaza when the ceasefire comes into effect.
• Thousands of people gathered in the British capital, London, in support of Palestinians in Gaza. At least 70 protesters were arrested on charges of breaching protest conditions, marking the largest number of people to be detained since the rallies began in October 2023.
• Antonio Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, visited Beirut and assured Lebanon that the international community would help it rebuild after the Israel-Hezbollah war. The trip comes nine days before the deadline for the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.