In Gaza, the truce between Israel and Hamas will not begin until the latter has transmitted an expected list hostages to be released this Sunday, January 19, warned Benjamin Netanyahu. The Palestinian Islamist movement, for its part, cited a “technical” delay.
The Israeli Prime Minister “conducted a security assessment tonight regarding the delay in receiving the list of hostages who should be released,” said a statement from his office. He “informed the Israeli army that the ceasefire scheduled to come into effect at 8:30 a.m. (local time, or 7:30 a.m. Paris time) will not begin until Israel has a list of hostages to be released and which Hamas has undertaken to provide,” the text adds. Hamas affirmed, also in a statement, that it had every intention of respecting the agreement, but acknowledged a delay in providing the names of the hostages to be released, “for technical reasons on the ground”.
Information to remember
⇒ The truce, which was to begin at 8:30 a.m. (7:30 a.m. Paris time), has not yet started
⇒ Israel awaits list of hostages to be released, Hamas cites “technical” delay
⇒ The Israeli army “continues to carry out attacks in the Gaza Strip”
9:05 a.m.
Israel will “immediately” receive the list of hostages available for release
A senior Hamas official told AFP that Israel would receive “immediately” the list of three hostages who could be released this Sunday, requested by the Israeli authorities to implement the ceasefire. “The names of the three people who will be released, perhaps soldiers or civilians, will be transmitted shortly,” he said on condition of anonymity, referring to “complications on the ground”. According to him, the Palestinian Islamist movement said that “the exchange (hostages/prisoners) will take place as planned.”
9:00 a.m.
Israeli raids on Gaza: Civil Defense announces eight deaths
The Civil Defense of the Gaza Strip announced this Sunday the deaths of eight people killed by Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip since the time when the ceasefire should have started. “Five martyrs fell in Gaza City and three others (elsewhere) in the North” of the Palestinian territory, Civil Defense spokesperson Mahmoud Bassal said in a statement, also reporting 25 injured.
8:35 a.m.
Israeli strikes on the northern Gaza Strip
The Israeli army carried out strikes this Sunday morning on the north of the Gaza Strip, after the time when a ceasefire with Hamas was due to come into effect, noted an AFP journalist. Present in Sderot, an Israeli town on the northern edge of Palestinian territory, the journalist saw several explosions and plumes of black smoke rising in the Beit Hanoun sector, after 9 a.m. local time. Israel announced that the truce would not come into effect until it received from Hamas the list of the first hostages to be released under the ceasefire agreement.
8:00 a.m.
The Israeli army “continues to carry out attacks in the Gaza Strip”
The Israeli army announced this Sunday that it continued to “carry out attacks in the Gaza Strip” after 6:30 a.m. GMT, the time at which a ceasefire with Hamas was due to come into force. The army “continues to carry out attacks at this very moment in the Gaza Strip”, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, its spokesperson, declared on television. “Hamas does not keep its commitments, and contrary to the agreement, the names of [premiers] hostages [devant être libérés dimanche] have not been transmitted to Israel at this time”, and “according to the Prime Minister’s directives, the ceasefire will not come into force until Hamas fulfills its commitments”, he said. -he added.
7:25 a.m.
Israel announces recovery of body of soldier detained in Gaza since 2014
The Israeli army announced this Sunday that it had recovered during a “special operation” in Gaza the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in combat in 2014 and held by Palestinian Hamas. Sergeant Oron Shaul’s family was informed of the return of his remains after they could be positively identified, the army said. According to the Office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the special operation carried out jointly with the Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security agency, took place during the night from Saturday to Sunday.
7:15 a.m.
Israeli army warns Gaza residents not to approach its soldiers and the buffer zone
The Israeli army on Sunday ordered residents of the Gaza Strip not to approach its forces or head towards the buffer zone, before the truce with Hamas was scheduled to come into effect. “We urge you not to head towards the buffer zone or the (Israeli army) forces,” Arabic-language army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said on Telegram. “At this point, heading towards the buffer zone or moving from south to north through the Gaza Valley puts you in danger. Anyone heading towards these zones puts themselves in danger.”
7:00 a.m.
Houthis warn of ‘consequences’ of any attack in Yemen during Gaza truce
Yemen’s Houthi rebels this Sunday warned the forces opposing them in the Red Sea of the “consequences” that any attack in their country would have during the truce in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas. These Iran-backed rebels, who control large swaths of Yemen and the capital Sanaa, also claimed responsibility for an attack on several warships, including the American aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman.
The Houthis “warn enemy forces in the Red Sea of the consequences of any aggression against our country during the period of ceasefire in Gaza,” the rebels said in a statement and a video on X. They “will face any aggression through specific military operations against these forces without […] red lines”, they added. The leader of the rebels, Abdel Malek al-Houthi, already threatened on Thursday to continue his attacks against Israel if the latter did not respect the truce agreement.