TEL AVIV: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a “last minute crisis” with Hamas was holding up Israeli approval of a long-awaited agreement to pause the fighting in the Gaza Strip and release dozens of hostages. Israeli airstrikes meanwhile killed dozens of people across the war-ravaged territory.
Netanyahu’s office said his Cabinet won’t meet to approve the agreement until Hamas backs down, accusing it of reneging on parts of the agreement in an attempt to gain further concessions.
Izzat Al-Rashq, a senior Hamas official, said the militant group “is committed to the ceasefire agreement, which was announced by the mediators.”
US President Joe Biden and key mediator Qatar announced the deal on Wednesday, which is aimed at releasing scores of hostages held in Gaza and winding down a 15-month war that has destabilized the Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Netanyahu’s office had earlier accused Hamas of backtracking on an earlier understanding that he said would give Israel a veto over which prisoners convicted of murder would be released in exchange for hostages.
Netanyahu has faced great domestic pressure to bring home the scores of hostages, but his far-right coalition partners have threatened to bring down his government if he makes too many concessions.
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have meanwhile killed at least 48 people over the past day, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. In previous conflicts, both sides have stepped up military operations in the final hours before ceasefires as a way to project strength.
Around half of the dead were women and children, Zaher Al-Wahedi, head of the ministry’s registration department, told The Associated Press. He said the toll could rise as hospitals update their records.
A phased withdrawal and hostage release with potential pitfalls
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel in a surprise attack on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, and the Israeli military believes around a third and up to half of them are dead.
Under the deal reached Wednesday, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Israeli forces will pull back from many areas, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians would be able to return to what’s left of their homes, and there would be a surge of humanitarian assistance.
The remainder of the hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second — and much more difficult — phase that will be negotiated during the first. Hamas has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal, while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until it dismantles the group and to maintain open-ended security control over the territory.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Health Ministry. it does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced some 90 percent of its population of 2.3 million people, according to the United Nations.
Israel says final details still being worked out
Mediators from Egypt, Qatar and the US are expected to meet in Cairo on Thursday for talks on implementing the agreement. They have spent the past year holding indirect talks with Israel and Hamas that finally resulted in a deal after repeated setbacks.
President-elect Donald Trump’s Mideast envoy joined the talks in the final weeks, and both the outgoing administration and Trump’s team are taking credit for the breakthrough.
Many longer-term questions about postwar Gaza remain, including who will rule the territory or oversee the daunting task of reconstruction after a brutal conflict that has destabilized the broader Middle East and sparked worldwide protests.
Israel has come under heavy international criticism, including from its closest ally, the United States, over the civilian toll in Gaza. It also blames Hamas for the civilian casualties, accusing it of using schools, hospitals and residential areas for military purposes.
The International Court of Justice is investigating allegations brought by South Africa that Israel has committed genocide. The International Criminal Court, a separate body also based in The Hague, has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister and a Hamas commander for war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the war.
Israel and the United States have condemned the actions taken by both courts.
Hamas, a militant group that does not accept Israel’s existence, has come under overwhelming pressure from Israeli military operations, including the invasion of Gaza’s largest cities and towns and the takeover of the border between Gaza and Egypt. Its top leaders, including Yahya Sinwar, who was believed to have helped mastermind the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, have been killed.
But its fighters have regrouped in some of the hardest-hit areas after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, raising the prospect of a prolonged insurgency if the war continues.
Netanyahu says ‘last minute crisis’ with Hamas holding up approval of Gaza truce and hostage deal
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Netanyahu says ‘last minute crisis’ with Hamas holding up approval of Gaza truce and hostage deal
- Netanyahu accuses Hamas of reneging on parts of ceasefire deal to gain concessions
- Hamas official says group “committed to ceasefire agreement” announced by mediators
US issues sanctions on Sudanese army chief Burhan
Washington announced the measures, just a week after imposing sanctions on Burhan’s rival in the two-year-old civil war, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo
NAIROBI/WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on Sudan’s leader, army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, accusing him of choosing war over negotiations to bring an end to the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.
The US Treasury Department said in a statement that under Burhan’s leadership, the army’s war tactics have included indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure, attacks on schools, markets and hospitals, and extrajudicial executions.
Washington announced the measures, first reported by Reuters, just a week after imposing sanctions on Burhan’s rival in the two-year-old civil war, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commander of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Two sources with knowledge of the action told Reuters one aim of Thursday’s sanctions was to show that Washington was not picking sides.
Speaking earlier on Thursday, Burhan was defiant about the prospect that he might be targeted.
“I hear there’s going to be sanctions on the army leadership. We welcome any sanctions for serving this country,” he said in comments broadcast on Al Jazeera television.
Washington also issued sanctions over the supply of weapons to the army, targeting a Sudanese-Ukrainian national as well as a Hong Kong-based company.
Thursday’s action freezes any of their US assets and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. The Treasury Department said it issued authorizations allowing certain transactions, including activities involving the warring generals, so as not to impede humanitarian assistance.
The Sudanese army and the RSF together led a coup in 2021 removing Sudan’s civilian leadership, but fell out less than two years later over plans to integrate their forces.
The war that broke out in April 2023 has plunged half of the population into hunger.
Dagalo, known as Hemedti, was sanctioned after Washington determined his forces had committed genocide, as well as for attacks on civilians. The RSF has engaged in bloody looting campaigns in the territory it controls.
In a statement, Sudan’s foreign ministry said the latest US move “expresses nothing but confusion and a weak sense of justice” and accused Washington of defending genocide by the RSF.
The United States and Saudi Arabia have tried repeatedly to bring both sides to the negotiating table, with the army refusing most attempts, including talks in Geneva in August which in part aimed to ease humanitarian access.
The army has instead ramped up its military campaign, this week taking the strategic city of Wad Madani and vowing to retake the capital Khartoum.
Rights experts and residents have accused the army of indiscriminate airstrikes as well as attacks on civilians, most recently revenge attacks in Wad Madani this week. The US had previously determined the army and RSF had committed war crimes.
In his final news conference ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday that it was a “real regret” Washington had not managed to end the fighting under his watch.
While there have been some improvements in getting humanitarian assistance into Sudan through US diplomacy, they have not seen an end to the conflict, “not an end to the abuses, not an end to the suffering of people,” Blinken said. “We’ll keep working here for the next three days, and I hope the next administration will take that on as well.”
UN’s Guterres in Lebanon on ‘visit of solidarity’
- Guterres will meet political officials and visit UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during his trip which will last until Saturday
BEIRUT: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres arrived in Lebanon Thursday on a “visit of solidarity,” he said, after a long-stalled presidential election and a devastating war between armed group Hezbollah and Israel.
“I have arrived in Beirut on a visit of solidarity with the Lebanese people,” Guterres posted on X.
“A window has opened for a new era of institutional stability with a state fully able to protect its citizens and a system that would allow the tremendous potential of the Lebanese people to flourish,” he added.
“We will do everything to help keep that window open wide.”
His deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Guterres would meet political officials and visit UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon during his trip which would last until Saturday.
Lebanon’s deeply divided political class last week finally elected a new president, Joseph Aoun, after two years of deadlock.
Aoun on Monday named Nawaf Salam, until recently the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, to form a government.
Since Wednesday Salam has been consulting political parties ahead of drawing up a list of cabinet members.
Guterres is visiting the country as the deadline approaches for full implementation of a November 27 ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel in southern Lebanon.
Under the truce, which ended two months of all-out war between both sides, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside UN peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws before January 26.
Hezbollah is due to pull its forces north of the Litani River, some 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the border with Israel, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in south Lebanon.
Hard-line Israeli minister Ben-Gvir threatens to quit over Gaza deal
- Itamar Ben-Gvir: ‘The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal’
- Ben-Gvir urged Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal
JERUSALEM: Israel’s hard-line National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said on Thursday he would resign from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government if it ratifies the ceasefire deal in Gaza, which he has strongly opposed.
Israeli media outlets reported earlier that the cabinet was expected to vote to ratify the agreement on Friday, but there has been no confirmation from the prime minister’s office.
“The deal that is taking shape is a reckless deal,” Ben-Gvir said in a televised statement, saying it would “erase the achievements of the war” by releasing hundreds of Palestinian militants and withdrawing from strategic areas in Gaza, leaving Hamas undeafeated.
“If this irresponsible deal is approved and implemented, we the members of Jewish Power will submit letters of resignation to the prime minister,” he said.
Ben-Gvir, whose departure would not bring down Netanyahu’s government, this week urged Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to join him in a last-ditch attempt to prevent a ceasefire deal, which he described as a dangerous capitulation to Hamas.
Smotrich has described the deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and exchange Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners as a catastrophe for Israel but has not threatened the quit the government.
Earlier on Thursday, Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party repeated its opposition, threatening to quit the government if it did not go back to war to defeat Hamas after the first six-week phase of the ceasefire was completed.
Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd see no immediate return to Red Sea
- Both companies said they would closely monitor the situation
FRANKFURT: Two of the world’s top shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, said on Thursday they did not see an immediate return to the Red Sea after the ceasefire between Hamas and
Israel was announced.
Both companies said they would closely monitor the situation in the Middle East and return to the Red Sea once it was safe.
“The agreement has only just been reached. We will closely analyze the latest developments and their impact on the security situation in the Red Sea,” said a Hapag-Lloyd spokesperson.
“It is still too early to speculate about timing,” a Maersk spokesperson said.
Hapag-Lloyd had already flagged in June that a ceasefire would not mean an immediate resume of passage through the Suez Canal, as attacks from Yemen-based Houthi militants could still be possible.
Rearranging the schedule would take between four and six weeks, a company spokesperson said at the time.
Disruptions in the Middle East have caused shipping companies to divert their vessels toward longer routes, often forcing their container ships around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, pushing freight rates higher, and disrupting global ocean shipping.
Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November 2023, saying they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
They have sunk two vessels, seized another, and killed at least four seafarers.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa for more than a year.
Maritime security officials said on Thursday they were expecting Houthis to announce a halt in attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The experts pointed to an email, seen by Reuters, from the group postponing a planned security briefing that had been due to take place in the coming days as a possible signal.
“British, American and Israeli strikes have succeeded in significantly limiting the attacks by Houthis, who are looking for a pretext to announce a ceasefire,” Dimitris Maniatis, the CEO of maritime security company Marisks, said regarding the briefing postponement.
Another maritime security official said that an announcement was largely expected, and there were indications that some companies were preparing to resume Red Sea journeys.
However, it was still too early to say that traffic would be restored.
“The first sign that business returns to normal will be seen in the insurance market, as insurance fees will start decreasing,” the official said.
A second maritime official said a halt in attacks was widely expected but could not confirm it.
In the email seen by Reuters, the Houthis said that the security webinar, aimed at shipping and maritime companies and the first such invitation they had issued, had been postponed to Feb. 10 due to the many questions and suggestions received from participants.
“This will ensure that the event is more comprehensive and beneficial for all attendees,” they said in the email on Wednesday.
Lebanese president seeks Israel’s commitment to Gaza deal, warns against violations
- French president, UN chief set to visit Beirut as Aoun rallies support
- PM-designate Salam calls for dialogue with Hezbollah, Amal as consultations end
BEIRUT: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun hoped on Thursday “for the ceasefire in Gaza to end the tragic reality and prompt Israel to seriously abide by the clauses of the agreement, which requires the follow-up of the sponsoring states and the UN.”
Israel had always evaded its commitments and ignored international resolutions, he said.
“The hostilities taking place in the south (of Lebanon), as well as the violations of the ceasefire agreement, prove so.”
Aoun’s comments came as Israel’s violations of Lebanese airspace reached Beirut and its forces continued to bulldoze the neighborhoods of Taybeh and Aita Al-Shaab.
Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International said its media staff “came under Israeli fire while accompanying an ambulance team inside a house in Mays Al-Jabal, with no casualties reported.”
Aoun, who was elected president a week ago, received invitations to visit Qatar and Jordan. He also took a phone call from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who invited him to visit the Kingdom. Aoun said it would be his “first visit abroad.”
Qatar’s Ambassador to Lebanon Saud bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani delivered an official invitation from his nation’s leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, for Aoun to visit Doha.
In the letter, the sheikh said he hoped that Aoun’s tenure would “witness a new stage where security, stability and prosperity will prevail in the country.”
In a speech delivered from the presidential palace, the ambassador expressed his country’s “continuous support for Lebanon in all the political, economic and military fields.”
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi delivered an invitation from King Abdullah II for Aoun to visit Jordan. He also expressed Jordan’s “commitment to supporting Lebanon, its security, stability and full sovereignty” and urged Israel to “honor the ceasefire agreement and stop its violations against Lebanon.”
Safadi also met Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam.
“We believe that the new leadership in Lebanon can go forward and we affirm that we will continue to support the Lebanese army,” he said.
“We look with our partners worldwide into providing what the army needs in terms of fundamental capabilities so it could carry out its role.”
Safadi said that the mediators announced the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip “clearly and decisively” and that “the whole world knows the importance of respecting and implementing this agreement.”
“We call for full compliance,” he said. “We also urge the opening of all crossings and an international effort to deliver sufficient humanitarian aid to Gaza.”
French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to make a working visit to Beirut on Friday, becoming the second head of state to visit the country, following Cyprus’ President Nikos Christodoulides.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is also expected to travel to Beirut to congratulate Aoun.
The Elysee Palace said Macron’s visit “underscores France’s unwavering commitment to Lebanon’s stability, unity and development” and that his presence would strengthen the ceasefire monitoring mechanisms, mainly focusing on UNIFIL’s peacekeeping operations.
In domestic developments, Aoun held talks with acting Central Bank Governor Wassim Mansouri, who offered his first public assessment since Lebanon’s recent period of turmoil.
He reported “improving monetary conditions and increased foreign currency reserves following the presidential election” and emphasized the central bank’s policy of maintaining the value of the Lebanese pound “without market intervention.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Aoun received Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, EU and Cooperation Jose Manuel Albares Bueno.
Meanwhile, Salam entered the final day of non-binding parliamentary consultations regarding government formation and the ministerial statement that will outline his administration’s agenda.
The process has unfolded amid growing international and Arab support for Lebanon’s new leadership.
A meeting between Salam and Berri is expected to take place on Friday.
Both Berri’s parliamentary bloc and Hezbollah’s representatives have boycotted the consultations, protesting against Salam’s appointment ahead of their preferred candidate, Najib Mikati.
If it takes place, the meeting between Berri and Salam is intended to ease Hezbollah’s concerns.
It will also seek to assure the party it has not lost its internal cohesion following the speeches of the president and prime minister.
Salam is expected to present his vision for forming the next government to Berri and the president after consulting with all parliamentary blocs, including independent and Change lawmakers.
MP Jihad Al-Samad met Salam on Thursday and quoted him as saying that “given the ongoing disagreement, there are only two solutions: either an agreement or an agreement.”
Other lawmakers who attended the talks said the parliamentary consultations concluded on the second day with the “assertation that the government’s ministerial statement must be a reflection of the president’s oath speech.”
They said the consultations also emphasized the importance of “establishing a government capable of protecting Lebanon, overseeing rapid reconstruction and ensuring the return of the displaced people to the south.”
“It must be a government composed of qualified people, free from political calculations, with all its components, including new faces who aspire to trust and plan to restore depositors’ funds,” they said.
“Additionally, the government should consist of national competencies, separate parliamentary seats from ministerial posts and ensure the transparency and integrity of the judiciary to attract investments back to the country.”
At the end of the first day of the parliamentary consultations, the parliamentary blocs expressed their desire to form “a government of specialists representing all the parliamentary blocs.”
