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Demonstration in support of ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas
Demonstration in support of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, Tel Aviv, January 18, 2025. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun Image: Reuters/Ronen Zvulun
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Israel approves Gaza ceasefire, but carries out more attacks

18 Comments
By Alexander Cornwell and Nidal al-Mughrabi

Israel approved a ceasefire deal with Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday that involves releasing hostages in the Gaza Strip, and Israeli forces carried out new attacks in the enclave before the agreement's scheduled start on Sunday.

The three-phased agreement is set to halt a 15-month-old war between Israel and Gaza's rulers Hamas that has decimated the Gaza Strip, killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destabilised the Middle East.

The war was triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. More than 400 Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in Gaza since.

The Israeli cabinet ratified the ceasefire deal which is meant to stop fighting and see the release of dozens of hostages held by Hamas in return for scores of Palestinians jailed in Israel. Its first stage will last six weeks.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel was still waiting for a list of hostages to be released and reserved the right to resume the war, with U.S. backing, should the second stage of the ceasefire prove futile.

"If we must return to fighting we will do that in new, forceful ways," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

In Gaza, Israeli warplanes have kept up attacks since the deal was agreed, and pounded the territory on Saturday.

Israeli tanks shelled Gaza City and airstrikes hit central and southern Gaza, residents said. Medics in Gaza said five people were killed in an airstrike that hit a tent in the Mawasi area, west of the city of Khan Younis.

The Israeli military said that since Friday it had struck Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters who were among 50 "terror targets" it hit across Gaza.

Nearly 47,000 have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian health ministry, including 123 killed in Israeli strikes since the ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday, according to emergency services.

COUNTDOWN

In Tel Aviv, a large clock at the so-called Hostage Square by Israel's defence headquarters was still counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds since the hostages were taken. Protests for their release have been held there regularly since.

Hundreds gathered there on Saturday night, marking the second birthday of the youngest hostage, Kfir Bibas.

Images of his terrified mother Shiri surrounded by Palestinian gunmen and clutching her two young red-haired sons moments before they were dragged off to Gaza began circulating soon after they were seized. Father Yarden was also abducted.

"Today I tried to write a birthday message for his second birthday, for the second time, for a child who cannot celebrate, a child who isn't here, a child who might not even be alive. But no words came, only tears," said Ofri Bibas, Kfir's aunt.

The Gaza ceasefire will come into effect at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday. The White House expects three female hostages to be released to Israel in the afternoon through the Red Cross.

Thirty-three of the 98 remaining Israeli hostages, including women, children, men over 50 and ill and wounded captives, are to be freed in the first phase of the ceasefire. In return, Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinians from its jails.

They include 737 male, female and teen-aged prisoners, some of whom are members of militant groups convicted of attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, as well as hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza in detention since the start of the war.

Israel's Justice Ministry published their details early on Saturday, along with the ceasefire agreement, which said 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released for each female hostage on Sunday.

After Sunday's hostage release, lead U.S. negotiator Brett McGurk said, the accord calls for four more female hostages to be freed after seven days, followed by the release of three further hostages every seven days thereafter.

With the Gaza accord opposed by some Israeli cabinet hard-liners, media reports said 24 ministers in Netanyahu's coalition government voted in favour of the deal while eight opposed it.

One of them was far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said his party's ministers will submit resignation letters on Sunday.

MISSILES

The Gaza conflict caused shockwaves across the region, triggering a war with the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and bringing Israel into direct conflict with Iran for the first time.

The Yemeni Houthis, also backed by Iran, have carried out hundreds of attacks on what they say are Israeli-linked cargo ships travelling via the Red Sea and fired missiles at Israel, which has retaliated with airstrikes in Yemen.

At least two missiles were fired from Yemen on Saturday, the Israeli military said, setting off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the southern resort town of Eilat before they were intercepted.

In Tel Aviv, a Palestinian man stabbed and wounded one person, police said, before he was shot by a passerby. His condition was not immediately clear.

© Thomson Reuters 2025.

©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.


18 Comments

Comments have been disabled You can no longer respond to this thread.

Anyone who expected the Scofflaw regime to, you know, ceasefire at the time the 'agreement' was signed and ratified by everyone and supposed to go into effect probably also expects Trump to give Lincoln level speeches.

Just like anyone who expects the Scofflaw regime to 'ceasefire' for even a full day after it ceases fire.

One only has to read the PCHRGaza organization's meticulous weekly reports covering the day of all previous 'ceasefires' to know better, and it's annual summations of those weekly reports (imaginatively called annual reports) to understand WHY the Gaza Uprising started, why our media and politicians carefully and decisively don't mention the attacks that happened in the weeks and months before the Gaza Uprising began, and refer to it as a 'war between Hamas and Israel' rather than what it is.

6 ( +13 / -7 )

You just can't make this up.

The US sponsored Murder State squeezing every last drop of killing out of the current situation before having to 'stop'.

Israel has razed Gaza and undertaken genocide in Palestine, that's just a irrefutable fact.

War crimes, war criminals.

0 ( +10 / -10 )

Israelis are trying to renege on the agreement

2 ( +9 / -7 )

"" and Israeli forces carried out new attacks in the enclave before the agreement's scheduled start on Sunday.and Israeli forces carried out new attacks in the enclave before the agreement's scheduled start on Sunday. ""

Yup, this is how Blood Thirsty SAVAGES congratulate themselves and others on reaching an end to a Genocide.

2 ( +9 / -7 )

@IYrral

As expected, especially seeing previous behavior in honoring the agreement.

-4 ( +8 / -12 )

The US sponsored Murder State squeezing every last drop of killing out of the current situation before having to 'stop'.

Israel has razed Gaza and undertaken genocide in Palestine, that's just a irrefutable fact.

War crimes, war criminals.

Damn straight!

Yup, this is how Blood Thirsty SAVAGES congratulate themselves and others on reaching an end to a Genocide.

Yup.

As expected, especially seeing previous behavior in honoring the agreement.

Exactly. I'm not surprised either.

-6 ( +8 / -14 )

Palestinians who are living under the chokehold of the Zionists Occupation know too well how these war criminal operate.

The world watched in shock or at least some of us what the Assad slaughtering machines were doing to the Syrians, the Israeli IGF is NO DIFFERENT with it's daily arrests and killings of young Palestinians in Gaza and the rest of Palestine.

" Oct. 7th did not happen in a Vacuum "

Occupation SUCKS.

0 ( +7 / -7 )

Kick ,em when they are down Bibi....thats the Israeli way

5 ( +7 / -2 )

We should all thank the US administration, starting with Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, for providing over $28 billions in lethal weapons to Israel since January 2024 and allowing criminal Netanyahu's mass killing. Once again the sheer hypocrisy and double standards of Washington when it comes to the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine, juts to mention one, when it comes to incite tensions and destabilize the world order.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Reports, Israel has already Re Arrested more than 30% of the prisoners it released during the first hostages exchange with Hamas in Nov. 2023, and there is NO GUARANTEES that Israel will not repeat the same with the current prisoners it will release this week.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

"" The known history of Gaza spans 4,000 years. Gaza was ruled, destroyed and repopulated by various dynasties, empires, and peoples. ""

Read more about Gaza history in this link.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Gaza . read more about Gaza history in this link.

Many current and past middle East historians and analysts have stated that "for centuries Gaza has been the graveyard of all invader" history certifies that Gaza never bowed, nor surrendered to invaders.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

FosToday  09:17 am JST

We should all thank the US administration, starting with Joe Biden, Anthony Blinken and Lloyd Austin, for providing over $28 billions in lethal weapons to Israel since January 2024 and allowing criminal Netanyahu's mass killing. Once again the sheer hypocrisy and double standards of Washington when it comes to the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine, juts to mention one, when it comes to incite tensions and destabilize the world order.

Spot on.

I note the Pro-US JT crowd are conspicuously absent from anything to do with Israel these days, and they are right to be quiet, because they should be feeling very circumspect, if not downright ashamed about what their tax dollars are paying for in Gaza, and what their elected officials are participating in in Palestine.

Hard to defend the indefensible, and completely hypocritical to point fingers at other nations for meddling, funding conflict or blocking justice and fairness in places like the UN, when the US funds genocide in Palestine.

Don't worry, we can see.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

When you know it has to stop, but some people just need to be…..anyway

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

According to the ceasefile agreement, Palestinian prisoners should be released in return for the release of Israeili hostages. If the hodtages are not released, the agreement will become void.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

According to the ceasefile agreement, Palestinian prisoners should be released in return for the release of Israeili hostages. If the hostages are not released, the agreement will become void.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

israel is bombing terrorists, those that kill and burn and behead and rape innocent jews. it is doing it before the ceasefire deadline. anyone here ever think about the jewish baby hostages? any thoughts for them?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

quoting a human:

Israel is excited to get our babies back. Our innocent women.

Hamas is excited to get their murderers back. Their genocidal maniacs.

There, now you understand the nature of this war. Congratulations.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Now that it’s time to return the hostages, Hamas seems to be trying to break the deal.

won’t provide a hostage list as agreed.

That’s not a good idea today and a very very bad idea if this is still the case tomorrow USA time.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

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