‘Lebanese state cannot realistically disarm Hezbollah’

In his first speech after being sworn in as Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun vowed that the state will have a monopoly over weapons in the country.

But David Wood, International Crisis Group senior analyst for Lebanon, says the Lebanese government will not be able to remove Hezbollah’s weapons against the group’s will.

“The Lebanese state cannot realistically disarm Hezbollah without Hezbollah’s cooperation,” Wood told Al Jazeera.

While Hezbollah has agreed to end its military presence south of the Litani River near the Israeli border as part of the ceasefire agreement brokered in November, the group has insisted that it will not give up its weapons completely.

“As time goes by, Hezbollah might see an interest in cooperating closely with the army in terms of either dismantling its infrastructure or revisiting proposals from decades ago to actually integrate Hezbollah and its fighters and its weapons into the army,” Wood said.

But he added that such a move cannot be forced on the group by the Lebanese government because Hezbollah has representation in the parliament and Lebanon’s state institutions, and it still has some military power.

“Despite the massive blows Hezbollah suffered during its recent war with Israel, it retained residual military strength, which would make – for example – deploying the Lebanese army to disarm Hezbollah an incredibly risky move that the Lebanese state would not seriously entertain,” Wood said.

Hamas says open to forming committee of ‘technocrats’ to rule Gaza: Report

Senior Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk says the group is open to the idea of forming a committee to govern Gaza post-war that includes technocrats agreed upon by Palestinian factions.

In remarks made to local media, Abu Marzouk said the idea was proposed by Egypt, a key mediator in indirect ceasefire talks currently taking place between Hamas and Israel.

According to Abu Marzouk, the idea was blocked by the Fatah movement.

“We support this committee on the condition that it be formed from national and honest figures who are not corrupt,” Abu Marzouk was quoted as saying by the Palestinian Quds News Network.

The issue of who will administer the Gaza Strip following Israel’s bloody assault on the enclave has been a key sticking point in negotiations.

Last year, Palestinian factions signed a “national unity” agreement aimed at maintaining Palestinian control over Gaza once the war comes to an end. The deal, signed by long-term rivals Hamas and Fatah, as well as 12 other Palestinian groups, lays the groundwork for an “interim national reconciliation government” to rule post-war Gaza.

James Woods, who celebrated Gaza genocide, cries on TV for losing house in fire

Social media users are unwilling to sympathise with Holltwood actor James Woods after he broke down on CNN in the wake of the devastation caused by wildfires. Woods, who celebrated the suffering of Palestinians, said that his entire house had been destroyed.

Social media users are also highlighting the irony attached to this tragedy as reports emerge that Canada had sent its firefighters to douse the flames. This was just days after Donald Trump threatened to illegally annex Canada.

David Lammy vows to defend Israel, endorses Donald Trump on Europe’s own defence

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Thursday vowed to defend Israel with the help of the US as he announced a reset in his country's foreign policy. Lammy, who slammed Donald Trump in the past by calling him a Nazi sympathiser, said the incoming US President was right to tell Europe to do more for its own security. He also said that countries such as India will be treated with respect and as equals in the future.

Main events from January 9th

Biden claims ‘progress’ in Gaza ceasefire deal

The US president suggests that an agreement to end the war and release Israeli captives in Gaza is possible. “We’re seeing some progress,” he told reporters. “I’m still hopeful that we’ll be able to have a prisoner exchange.”

Biden went on to say that he spoke to the newly elected Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, describing him as a “first-rate guy”. “They’re also working very hard with the Lebanese military – accountable to the Lebanese people, not Hamas, not Hezbollah, not any other group,” he said.

It is not clear what Biden, 82, meant by his remarks. Hamas has minimal presence in Lebanon.

Official Gaza death toll likely undercounts by 41 percent, says study

An official Palestinian toll for direct deaths caused by Israel’s war on Gaza likely undercounted casualties by 41 percent in the first nine months of the war, a new academic study published in The Lancet has claimed.

The peer-reviewed statistical analysis, conducted by academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Yale University and other institutions, used a statistical method called capture-recapture analysis.

The researchers assessed the death toll from Israel’s assault on Gaza between October 2023 and the end of June 2024, estimating 64,260 deaths due to traumatic injury.

This figure is 41 percent higher than the Palestinian Health Ministry count, with the study explaining that the capacity to maintain electronic death records deteriorated as Israel’s military campaign continued.

The study said 59.1 percent of those killed were women, children and people over the age of 65. The research did not provide an estimate of how many Palestinian fighters have been killed.

As of January 9, the Palestinian Health Ministry’s death toll stands at 46,006 people.

Death toll numbers ambiguous in Gaza with health centres in ruin

There are hundreds of cases of entire families being killed in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. They end up being buried in the yards of their homes or in the streets.

Israeli forces launched a major ground incursion in early October that continues to this day. Video from the war-battered area shows people digging graves on roads or sidewalks. All of these cases have gone unreported because victims are never brought to Gaza’s besieged hospitals.

The entire healthcare system in the northern part of the Strip is out of service without any proper mechanism for recording the number of casualties in the area. Hundreds of these cases have been proven to take place since the beginning of this genocidal war.

It is increasingly difficult to keep track of mass killings during Israel’s relentless attacks.



Gaza authorities call for international help with recovering bodies, counting victims

Gaza’s Government Media Office has called “on the international community, the United Nations and other international organisations to support efforts in counting victims and recovering thousands of bodies in the Gaza Strip”.

It expressed its “deep concern” over the findings of the British study published in The Lancet journal, which said the deaths in the enclave were likely undercounted by 41 percent. The study’s death toll estimate is 64,260 while the official figure was 37,877.

“This discrepancy highlights the extent of the catastrophe inflicted by the Israeli occupation forces on civilians and civil infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” the Media Office statement said.

“We in the Government Media Office affirm that this gap results from the existing inability to register all victims killed by the Israeli occupation across all governorates,” it said.

“This is compounded by the catastrophic humanitarian conditions and the restrictive criteria adhered to by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip,” the statement added.

“Additionally, the ongoing killing, siege, targeting of medical teams, destruction of hospitals, and prevention of Civil Defence teams from operating hinder efforts to recover and bury thousands of bodies.”

UN report paints damning picture of Israeli violence, pressure on Gaza aid missions

The latest Gaza situation report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) paints a desperately bleak picture of humanitarian operations in the Palestinian enclave and the level of violence and obstruction aid workers face from Israeli troops.

Israeli soldiers facing legal accountability will undo Gaza genocide’s ‘dehumanisation’: Hind Rajab Foundation

The founder of the Hind Rajab Foundation says the pursuit of legal accountability for Israeli soldiers carrying out war crimes in Gaza will undo the dehumanisation associated with genocide.

“Justice and accountability restore the balance,” said Dyab Abou Jahjah, who set up the foundation that reveals the identity and whereabouts of Israeli soldiers of whom it has evidence of perpetrating crimes in Gaza.

“No one is merely a helpless victim who dies in silence and is forgotten, and no one is an untouchable monster with full impunity,” he said.

In a separate post, Abou Jahjah appeared to suggest he expected retaliation against him and his organisation by Israel.

He referred to a report published in The New York Times about the foundation’s work, highlighting a section that said: “Travelling abroad is tremendously important to Israelis … there is this idea that this is actually an unacceptable risk, and that the government-slash-military has to make it go away.”

“The last quote of this New York Times article on us is very revealing,” Abou Jahjah said.

Efforts to prosecute Israeli troops overseas for Gaza crimes a new front in ‘lawfare’: Columnist

A columnist for Israel’s Haaretz news outlet has described international efforts to track down and prosecute Israeli soldiers accused of war crimes in Gaza as a new phase in “lawfare” against Israel.

Columnist Amir Tibon said the development was part of a “global struggle” where groups were “trying to get police and prosecutors all over the world to interrogate Israelis”.

“It’s important to understand that this is part of a wider effort by pro-Palestinian groups all over the world, trying to hunt down – I think is the best word we can use, Israelis who participated in the war on Gaza,” Tibon said.

Tibon said Israel was attempting to use diplomacy to pressure countries where a war crimes investigation case may be opened to “close any kind of legal loopholes that allow for this”.

“Maybe to get local parliament to change the law to make it more difficult,” he said, adding that it would not likely work in countries with governments who had been critical of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israeli soldiers’ sense of impunity ‘absolute’: Hind Rajab Foundation

Israeli officials are concerned about their soldiers being arrested after fighting in Gaza, with a soldier having fled Brazil to avoid being questioned over alleged war crimes he committed in Gaza and filmed for social media.

The Belgium-based Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) is the force behind this international effort for accountability.

Formed just five months ago, HRF has pulled together lawyers and activists from around the world to prepare cases, primarily based on social media content shared by Israeli soldiers themselves.

_{Israeli female soldiers pose for a selfie overlooking the rubble their army turned Gaza into, on the Gaza border, in southern Israel, February 19, 2024}

Polish former ICC judge condemns government decision not to arrest Netanyahu

Previously, we reported the Polish government adopted a resolution promising that the highest representatives of Israel – including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – could attend an Auschwitz liberation anniversary event later this month without facing arrest.

Piotr Hofmanski, former International Criminal Court (ICC) president and a former judge for the court in The Hague, has slammed the decision, saying it will only hurt Poland’s international standing.

“I don’t know much about politics, but from a legal point of view, the matter is as clear as a needle. There is an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of Israel on suspicion of committing war crimes and states are obliged to execute it,” Hofmanski told the Onet news outlet.

Hofmanski continued that the decision “calls into question the very purpose of the ICC’s existence if states refuse to fulfil its obligations”.

On Thursday, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda urged the government to ignore an ICC arrest warrant issued in November for Netanyahu’s arrest if he attends the ceremony marking 80 years since Russia’s Red Army liberated the Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Doctors Against Genocide gather at US Senate office building

A group of healthcare workers called Doctors Against Genocide gathered at the US Senate’s Hart office building in Washington, DC, to meet senators and advocate for the protection of their colleagues in Gaza.

They also called for the release of Hussam Abu Safia, director of northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, who was taken by Israeli forces during a December 27 raid that left the facility destroyed.


_{A group of doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals from across the US held a news conference at the Hart Senate building on the healthcare emergency in northern Gaza, on January 8, 2025}

Palestine supporters protest against Israeli presidential visit to Cyprus


_{Palestinian activists hold banners protesting against a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog outside the Presidential Palace in Nicosia, Cyprus, on Thursday}

Israel releases Nasser Hospital’s orthopaedics department chief

Mahmoud Abu Shahada, the head of the orthopaedics department at Nasser Hospital, has been released, lawyer Khaled Zabarqa has told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, after an appeal was filed with the Israeli Supreme Court.

He was subjected to torture and harsh treatment at the hands of the military after being arrested during a raid on Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.

The Institute for Palestine Studies, which documents the killing and arrest of medical workers in Gaza, said he was detained on February 17 last year.

Zabarqa said Abu Shahada was kept under arrest despite it being clear that he had not taken part in fighting in Gaza.

The Palestinian Information Center has posted a video of what it says shows Abu Shahada’s reunion with his mother following his release.

Israeli army confirms death of Gaza captive

A military statement says the family of Hamza Ziyadne, 22, has been informed that his body was identified by forensic units.

The Israeli forces located and returned the bodies of Youssef Ziyadne, his 53-year-old father, and Hamza from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area in southern Gaza.

“Hamza and Youssef were abducted alive on October 7 and were killed in Hamas captivity,” the military said.

Israeli abductees ‘could have been saved’: Captive families

Bring Them Home, a forum of captives’ families in Israel, says Hamza and his father Youssef Ziyadne could have been returned alive in a deal with Hamas after their bodies were brought back from Gaza.

Israeli soldiers located and returned the bodies of Youssef, 53, and Hamza, 22, from an underground tunnel in Rafah, southern Gaza.

They were taken on October 7, 2023, from the Holit settlement by Palestinian fighters along with Hamza’s siblings Bilal, 18, and Aisha, 17.

“Hamza Ziyadne was a man of nature. He loved animals and was loved by his friends,” the forum said on X. “Four family members were kidnapped and only two of them returned alive. Youssef and Hamza, who survived a period of hell in Hamas captivity, could have been saved in a deal prior to now.”

Most of Israeli captives held in north Gaza ‘now missing’: Qassam Brigades

A leading source from the armed wing of Hamas has told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that due to Israel’s military operation, most of the Israeli captives held in northern Gaza “are now missing”.

The source added that Qassam Brigades “had repeatedly warned against reaching this result” and criticised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli army. “[Qassam Brigades] once again holds the enemy government and its army fully responsible for the lives and fate of their prisoners,” the source said.

Israeli military attacks southern Lebanese town

The town of Aita al-Shaab in the Bint Jbeil region has been hit by Israeli artillery, according to Lebanon’s official news agency. Israeli soldiers also carried out an attack with assault weapons in the town’s neighbourhoods, the National News Agency reported.

Since a ceasefire with Hezbollah in November, Israeli troops remain in the south, demolishing homes and other infrastructure. They’ve also prevented people from returning to their homes.

Israel is supposed to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon within 60 days of the November 27 agreement, to be replaced by UN peacekeepers followed by the Lebanese army. But Israel claims Hezbollah infrastructure in the south and efforts to rebuild may push back the timeline for withdrawal.

Israel soldiers find weapons cache in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army says it discovered a “multi-barrel rocket launcher, hundreds of mortar shells, explosive devices, and RPG [rocket-propelled grenade] rifles” while searching a village in southern Lebanon.

In a statement, the military said soldiers found a “weapons storage facility containing dozens of shoulder-launched missiles, explosive charges, and extensive military equipment”, which were all either confiscated or dismantled.

Troops will continue to operate in southern Lebanon as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, it said. But under the terms of the truce deal, which came into effect at the end of November, Israeli forces are expected to leave southern Lebanon within 60 days of the deal.

Which would be in 2 weeks

Israeli drone strikes vehicle in southern Lebanon: Report

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) is reporting that an Israeli drone has hit a vehicle in Tayr Debba, in the southern municipality of Tyre.

Civil defence forces rushed to the location and the injured were taken to hospital, it said.