Envoys from US, UK and Germany join Tel Aviv protest

The US, UK and Germany’s ambassadors to Israel spoke at a rally organised by relatives of Israeli captives in Tel Aviv, urging Hamas to release those who remain captive in Gaza.

Jack Lew, the US’s envoy, said Washington was pushing for the ongoing talks to succeed, according to The Times of Israel.

“The United States demands the release of seven of our hostages, four of whom we know to be dead — now!” Lew was quoted as saying. “There could be a ceasefire tomorrow, and an end to the suffering of Gazans, if Hamas releases the hostages,” he added.

Simon Walters, the British envoy, drew on his childhood in war-torn northern Ireland as an example of the sacrifices needed for peace, according to The Times of Israel.

“Every step toward peace was very painful, but that is the only way,” he was quoted as saying. “Hamas is fully responsible for these crimes, but practically, we know the only way to bring the hostages home is through negotiations.”

Steffen Seibert, the German envoy, highlighted the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza. “I know this is not a popular thing to say, but these tragedies are linked,” Seibert said, calling in Hebrew for an end to the “indescribable suffering of hundreds of thousands of Gazans”, as well as the release of the captives, the paper reported.

_{Israelis protest against their government and show support for the captives who were kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack}

Yes, sacrifices need to be made for peace, foremost ending colonialism, occupation and apartheid which led to Oct 7.

Israeli president hopes negotiators secure captives deal ‘soon’

Isaac Herzog says the country is in the midst of “critical days” as the government tries to secure the release of captives held in Gaza.

“I strengthen the hands of those engaged in the work of negotiations and hope that they will bring about an agreement soon. We must act with all our forces, in all aspects and in all arenas, so that the kidnapped men and women return,” Herzog wrote on X after visiting the family of Shlomo Mansour, one of the captives in Gaza.

He added that they will “not rest” until the complete return of captives, including the bodies of those who have died.

Netanyahu to meet Smotrich as captives talks intensify: Report

Israeli media reports say the Israeli prime minister is expected to meet with far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich later today as negotiations to secure a captives deal intensify.

The Walla news outlet, quoting an unnamed source, said Netanyahu will speak to Smotrich to assess whether the minister would resign from the government if a captives-for-prisoners deal is reached.

The report added that Netanyahu’s meeting stems from the understanding that there is a high likelihood that far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir will also resign from the government if a deal is signed.

So, to avoid both ministers quitting simultaneously, Netanyahu will try to persuade Smotrich to vote against a deal instead of leaving the coalition government, the report said.

Israel refusing to commit to an end of the war as part of ceasefire deal: Report

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, quoting an unnamed source, says one of the main disputes in the negotiations in Doha is Israel’s refusal to commit to ending the war on Gaza after the deal’s second phase.

The source is reported to have said there would be an attempt to present a promise from the US to pressure Israel to end the war, even if Israel did not explicitly agree to it.

The paper said Israel is expected to present a plan to mediators for a military reorganization across the Palestinian enclave. This would include the Philadelphi Corridor, the 14km (8.7-mile) long strip of land spanning the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Rescuers in Gaza decry Israeli attacks on schools-turned-shelters

Mahmoud Basel, a member of Gaza’s Civil Defence, has slammed what he called the world’s silence as Israel continues to attack schools-turned-shelters in the enclave.

“Attacking and targeting the schools are ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli forces. The entire world is watching silently as our shelters and schools, which host displaced people, are being targeted,” he said.

The comments came after Israeli forces bombed the Halawa school in Jabalia, killing at least eight people.

Israel claimed it was targeting Hamas fighters inside the school, but offered no evidence to back the claim.

 
46,565 Palestinians killed since October 7, 2023: Health Ministry

Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 46,565 Palestinians have been killed and 109,660 injured since Israel’s genocide in the enclave began on October 7, 2023.

In the past 24 hours, at least 28 Palestinians were killed as Israeli raids on schools-turned-shelters continued, the ministry added.

About 5,000 killed or missing in northern Gaza: Medical source

The Israeli military’s operation that has been ongoing for 100 days in northern Gaza has resulted in 5,000 Palestinians killed or missing, a medical source has told Al Jazeera.

They added that another 9,500 people were injured in the operation.

Israeli forces launched the operation in the north on October 6, laying a deadly siege on hundreds of thousands of people in the war-ravaged area.

Israeli settlers cut down olive trees in the Jordan Valley

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli settlers caused significant damage to Palestinian olive trees and farmland near Bardala village in the northern Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank on Friday night.

The settlers attacked an area of approximately 10 dunums (2.4 acres), in the latest of a string of recent attacks that have become more frequent after Israeli settlers established a new outpost nearby, Wafa reported.

The northern Jordan Valley is one of the most targeted areas in the occupied West Bank, with Israeli settlers and soldiers destroying crops, burning lands, and uprooting fruit-bearing trees to try to force Palestinians to leave their land, Wafa added.


_{Israeli soldiers stand guard as Israeli troops deny access to Palestinian farmers to harvest olives, in Burqa near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on October 20, 2024}

PA’s forces lay siege to Jenin refugee camp

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that the Palestinian Authority’s security forces have imposed a siege on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, preventing the entry of food and medical supplies.

AJA cited local sources in the camp.

The siege comes as the PA, which partially governs the West Bank, continues its months-long security operation against Palestinian fighters, including the Jenin Brigades, in the camp.

The operation began in December after the PA arrested several fighters and members of the Jenin Brigades seized two PA vehicles and set fire to them.

Local sources told AJA that the PA’s security forces cut off water and electricity from large parts of the camp, and arrested many wounded people from inside hospitals. They also said journalists have been warned to stop covering developments in the camp and prevented from entering it.

Meanwhile, the Jenin Brigades told Hurriyah News that talks with the PA were at a deadlock and that the fighters would not surrender their weapons to the authority.

Israel detains 3 teenagers during West Bank raid

Israeli forces have detained three teenagers during an early morning raid in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.

Mohammad Awad, a local activist, told Wafa that Israeli soldiers stormed the Safa neighbourhood in the town of Beit Ummar, raided several homes and detained three minors.

Those detained were identified as Musab Khaled Ekhlail, 15, Hamad Raed Adi, 16, and Qais Mohammad al-Tit, 15.

Israeli forces also closed the entrances to various refugee camps, towns, and the city of Hebron with metal gates.

Military checkpoints were set up at the Old City of Hebron entrances, near the Ibrahimi Mosque, and at several locations, including the Ras al-Joura neighbourhood in the north and Farsh al-Hawa in the west.

Two teenagers injured by Israeli fire near Jenin

Two teenagers have been injured in Israeli firing near the town of Jaba, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, Wafa reports.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its emergency teams transported a 15-year-old boy who sustained a gunshot wound from live ammunition and a 13-year-old injured by shrapnel in his foot to a medical facility.

Israeli forces stormed the city this morning to allow settlers to reach a location on its outskirts, near Jaba.

Main events from Januari 12th

Biden talks to Netanyahu, urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza

The US president has spoken to the Israeli leader about the ongoing talks for a ceasefire in Gaza and stressed the “immediate need” for it, as well as the return of Israeli captives held in the Palestinian enclave.

The call came as Biden has been pushing for a deal to stop the fighting before Trump returns to the White House on January 20.

Gaza ceasefire details ‘can be finalised within days’, says Israeli official: Report

An Israeli official said this morning an “outline of the deal is clear” and that they are awaiting Hamas’s response, Israeli outlet Channel 13 reports. “If it responds soon, the details can be finalised within days,” the official said, according to the report.

The official said Israel “has come a long way” in the talks being held in Qatar.  Three other sources familiar with the details of the negotiations were quoted by Channel 13 as saying “the coming days are critical.”

Meanwhile, the Israeli army’s radio, quoting a source involved in the negotiations, reported “cautious progress” in the ceasefire talks. The source added that Israel is now “waiting for Hamas’s response”.

Hamas ‘very close to an agreement’ with Israel while key sticking points remain, official says

https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/13/middleeast/israel-hamas-deal-talks-intl/index.html

Hamas is “very close to an agreement” with Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, according to an official from the militant group, as the Israeli government also announced progress in the negotiations.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Monday that Israel is working hard to reach a deal in the ongoing negotiations being hosted in the Qatari capital of Doha, and that “progress was made.”

“Israel wants a hostage deal. Israel is working with our American friends in order to achieve a hostage deal, and soon we will know whether the other side wants the same thing,” Saar said in a news conference in Jerusalem.

Several sticking points remain, however, the Hamas official told CNN.

They include Hamas’ demands that Israel withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow strip of land along the Egypt-Gaza border, and commit to a permanent ceasefire rather than a temporary halt to the military operations launched in the wake of the Hamas October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Disagreement also remains over an Israeli-proposed buffer zone inside Gaza to run along the strip’s eastern and northern borders with Israel. The official said that Hamas wants the buffer zone to return to the pre-October 7 size of 300-500 meters (330-545 yards) from the border line, while Israel is requesting a much larger 2,000-meter depth.

“We believe this means that 60 km (37 miles) of the Gaza Strip will remain under their control, and displaced people will not return to their homes,” the official said.

Beyond those key demands, the Hamas official said that negotiators were hammering out specific details of the release of Palestinian prisoners and maps covering the areas from which Israeli forces would withdraw.

Qadura Fares, the head of the Palestinian Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees, told CNN separately on Monday that he is traveling to Doha to advise negotiators on the list of detainees to be released “in the event the deal materializes.”

The optimistic tone was tempered though by Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who said Monday that the potential ceasefire-hostage deal would be a “catastrophe” for Israel’s national security. In a post on X, Smotrich described it as a “surrender deal” that would include releasing “terrorists” and “dissolving” the war’s achievements.

While true, CNN is writing it as if Hames is the sticking point. These are all things they already agreed upon back in May.
https://arabcenterdc.org/resource/details-of-the-ceasefire-deal-that-hamas-has-accepted/

It's Netanyahu that keeps adding conditions like the Philadelphi corridor, Netzarim corridor, 2km buffer zones, permanent military presence/access, right to come back at any time, no right for people to return.

Seeing how the 'ceasefire' in Lebanon is going it's not surprising Hamas is sticking to the original May deal. Netanyahu at most wants a one sided ceasefire with the freedom to continue 'operations' in Gaza like the IDF is doing in Southern Lebanon.

Could Israel be planning a Gaza ‘ceasefire’ for optics only?

American journalist Ryan Grim says it may be risky for Israel to reject a ceasefire in Gaza, even if just to placate US President-elect Trump.

PM Netanyahu bet his political future on waiting for Trump to assume office, argues Grim, co-founder of Drop Site News.

He tells host Steve Clemons that Netanyahu’s gambit paid off, and now he may not be able to reject a ceasefire after January 20 – inauguration day for Trump, who has promised that “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if he does not get his way.

“Whether it holds or whether it’s just something that’s announced so that Trump can celebrate it and say he’s moving on” is the bigger question, Grim says.

Ceasefire talks have always been for optics only from the Israeli side. Every time negotiations were getting close, Israel has stepped up the massacres and added new conditions Hamas can't agree to. Blinken has even admitted to this.

Antony Blinken finally reveals how he never wanted ceasefire in Gaza

There is not going to be a ceasefire as long as 'negotiations' remain one sided. The US needs to agree to a (permanent) ceasefire as much as Israel and neither seem to actually want a ceasefire. The US is already showing its true colors by not enforcing the Lebanon ceasefire.

The backpedaling is already in full force again

Israel has not received draft proposal for ceasefire deal, official says: Report

Israel has not received a draft proposal for a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and return its captives, says an Israeli official, according to a report by Reuters.

Earlier on Monday, another official briefed on the negotiations said Qatar had handed Israel and Hamas a “final” draft of a ceasefire and captives release agreement designed to end the war in Gaza.

Israel’s Smotrich says Gaza deal taking shape is a ‘catastrophe’

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of one of the hardline nationalist religious parties in the country’s ruling coalition, has denounced a deal being worked out in Qatar to end the fighting in Gaza and return captives, calling it a “surrender” deal.

“The deal that is taking shape is a catastrophe for the national security of the state of Israel,” he said in a statement, Reuters reported.

 
Trump’s ‘all hell’ comment a threat to Hamas, says Vance

The US Vice President-elect says a deal between Israel and Hamas could soon be reached and the reason for the progress is “because people are terrified that there’re going to be consequences for Hamas”.

“We’re hopeful there’s going to be a deal that is struck toward the very end of [Joe] Biden’s administration – maybe the last day or two,” Vance said in an interview with Fox News on Sunday.

He was responding to a question about what President-elect Donald Trump meant last week when he said “all hell will break out” in the Middle East if Hamas does not release the remaining captives it holds.

“It’s very clear that President Trump threatening Hamas and making it clear that there is going to be hell to pay, is part of the reason why we’ve made progress on getting some hostages out,” Vance said.

Jewish group urges London police to reverse ban on pro-Palestine protest

More than 660 British Jews, including prominent legal, cultural, and academic figures, have called on the Metropolitan Police to reverse a ban on a planned pro-Palestine protest outside the BBC headquarters in London later this week.

The police on Saturday said they would impose the Public Order Act to prevent the pro-Palestine rally from forming outside the BBC because of its proximity to a synagogue.

In a statement, the Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL) group criticised the ban as bowing to “partisan campaigning aimed at preventing peaceful and lawful assembly”.

The group said the police faced “strong pressure from pro-Israel organisations” who claimed that Palestine solidarity protests pose a threat to synagogue congregations.

“This evidence-free claim is robustly contradicted by the large Jewish Bloc visible on every major demonstration since the genocide began in October 2023,” the JVL statement noted.

“As Jews, we are shocked at this brazen attempt to interfere with hard-won political freedoms by conjuring up an imaginary threat to Jewish freedom of worship.”

Detained Gaza doctors ‘described horrific conditions’: Physicians group

Israeli forces have detained at least 262 health workers in Gaza, including Hussam Abu Safia, the head of Kamal Adwan Hospital, the most prominent healthcare facility in the besieged territory’s north.

It remains unknown where many of them are.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Naji Abbas, the director of Prisoners and Detainees Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, said the organisation’s lawyers had over the past four months visited 26 of the detained healthcare workers, mainly doctors.

“All of them described a very concerning situation about their brutal arrest, about the torture that they faced during the interrogations, about not knowing till now after months – some of them almost after a year of detention, they don’t know why they are being held till now,” he said from Jaffa.

“All of them described horrific conditions, starvation, den[ial of] medical care,” he added.

Abbas said Abu Safia’s detention is no different from the “arrest of hundreds of medical and healthcare workers in the last year since the start of the war in Gaza”.

He added: “All these testimonies that we collected in … are giving us a very horrific picture … of what Dr Hussam [may be] facing right now.”

Palestinians under Israeli siege in north Gaza going days without clean water

Israeli forces have repeatedly destroyed much of Gaza’s water infrastructure. They have also severely restricted the flow of aid into Gaza, including fuel needed to operate water pumps for wells.

This has resulted in Palestinians going days without access to clean water, particularly in Gaza City where Israel’s siege continues for 100 days.

“The water truck hasn’t entered this area for the past five days. If any water comes, it will be a miracle from God,” Ibtihal Hamada, a resident, told Al Jazeera. “Previously they used to bring us water from the wells, but now there isn’t any fuel to operate the wells.”

Another resident, Khloud Abu al-Khier, said: “We used to risk our lives walking long distances to get water. I lost my two children while we were filling bottles with water because Israeli forces targeted the water truck. It’s really hard for me to carry the water to the third floor and I have no help because my husband was martyred in Rafah.”

Even children are not spared.

“We haven’t had water since the day before yesterday. We have to get barrels to get enough water for the coming days,” said Zaja Abu al-Khier, a child whose limbs have been hurting trying to carry water on the days they do manage to get access to some.

“Literally, we haven’t had a single drop of water for days, and we are very grateful because today we have water. My hands and arms hurt because of carrying the heavy water.”

Palestinians in north Gaza enduring ‘unimaginable’ conditions

Conditions in northern Gaza after 100 days of siege are “just simply unimaginable”, says Shaina Low, Norwegian Refugee Council’s (NRC) Communications Adviser in Palestine.

People have very little water and food, while aid is being denied, Low said.

“Between October 6th, when the siege began, and December 31, the UN attempted to make 165 trips to northern Gaza,” she told Al Jazeera, speaking from Amman, Jordan. “149 of those were outright denied. The remaining 16 were impeded.”

Despite the humanitarian situation and the relentless attacks, Palestinians remain there due to uncertainty over whether it is safe to flee, said Low.

Others, meanwhile, are disabled, or too old to flee, while “some people are committed to staying in their homes and do not want to leave because they believe that they have a right to stay there – and under international humanitarian law, they are still protected even if they’ve been told to flee,” the adviser said.

Men and boys have also been detained while trying to evacuate Gaza City, she said. “They’re fearful of what future awaits them no matter where they are.”

Sometimes, NRC does not have aid to distribute, but it is also there to provide other types of services, like water trucking, she said.

“Our teams are also not immune to the suffering that the people of Gaza are facing,” said Low. “We had one staff member who lost over 120 members of her family back in November, but she remains committed to going out and doing her job, working with children, making sure that they’re getting the type of psychosocial support that they need.”

_{Scenes of destruction in northern Gaza}

Palestinian doctor treats children despite own injury

Palestinian doctor Khaled al-Saedni, whose leg was amputated after being wounded in an Israeli attack, walks with an artificial limb to check on patients and injured people at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip.

33 Palestinians killed in north Gaza since dawn: Medical sources

Medical sources have told Al Jazeera that at least 33 Palestinians have been killed in separate Israeli attacks on northern Gaza since dawn today. The area has been under a devastating Israeli siege for more than 100 days, with estimates of at least 5,000 Palestinians killed or missing in that period.

Reports of Israeli naval ships firing at Gaza’s beachline tents

To understand the scale of the crisis in northern Gaza, we need to look at the level of destruction being left behind by the current military operation that has no end in sight. We can see mountains of debris stretched endlessly, a very grim testament to the relentless destruction that has turned these vibrant communities and border towns and villages into a lifeless wasteland.

We have been told by medical teams and Gaza’s Health Ministry that more than 5,000 Palestinians have been killed during this military operation, while more than 10,000 others were wounded. Israel has justified these actions as a military operation to dismantle Palestinian armed groups, but it has led to the displacement of more than 400,000 Palestinians who are now trapped in Gaza City, and such sorts of attacks have laid bare the vulnerability of families who have been caught on the front lines.

Elsewhere, we have reports that five civilians were killed in two separate air raids on residential buildings in the Shujayea neighbourhood, which has been described by the Israeli military as a stronghold for the Hamas movement.

This morning, we have also been hearing huge explosions from the eastern area of Deir el-Balah.

Displaced families who are living on the coastal line of Deir el-Balah say that Israeli naval ships have approached the beaches of Gaza, opening fire at makeshift tents, but so far no casualties have been reported.

We also have initial reports confirming that a civilian’s car has been struck in Rafah city, but we are still monitoring the death toll resulting from the attack.

_{Five civilians were killed in two separate air raids on residential buildings in the Shujayea neighbourhood}


Israeli attack on Salah al-Din School in Gaza City

At least five Palestinians have been killed and others injured in a bombing of a school by Israeli forces in Gaza City, according to the Palestinian news agency, Wafa. The Salah al-Din school was sheltering forcibly displaced Palestinians. Israel has repeatedly attacked schools-turned-shelters during its genocide in Gaza.

_{The attack came as the Israeli siege in north Gaza entered its 100th day}

Seven Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on Gaza’s Daraj neighbourhood

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic now report that seven people have been killed and others injured in an Israeli air raid in the Daraj neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City in central Gaza.

More deadly Israeli attacks on Gaza City reported

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are now reporting that four Palestinians have been killed in two separate attacks on Gaza City. Two of them were reportedly killed and others injured after Israeli shelling on al-Jalaa Street in the centre of Gaza City.

The other attack killed two others in the west of the city.