Closing summary
We’re about to close this blog and move our live coverage of the Israel-Gaza war to a fresh blog here. Here’s a recap of the latest events.
Israeli forces have started withdrawing from areas in Gaza’s Rafah to the Philadelphi corridor along the border between Egypt and Gaza, Reuters has cited pro-Hamas media as reporting early on Sunday. It came ahead of the Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas being scheduled to come into effect at 8.30am local time (6.30am GMT) on Sunday 19 January, according to Qatar.
Under the ceasefire agreement, the three-stage truce starts with an initial six-week phase when hostages held by the militant group will be exchanged for Palestinians detained in jails across Israel.
Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that Israel would not go ahead with the ceasefire deal until it received a list of the 33 hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the deal’s first phase. “Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement. The sole responsibility lies with Hamas,” the Israeli prime minister said. He also said the first stage of the ceasefire deal was temporary, adding: “If we must return to fighting, we will do that in new, forceful ways.” Netanyahu added that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden backed Israel’s “right to resume fighting if the second stage is fruitless”.
Hamas said on Saturday the mechanism of the release of Israeli hostages it held in Gaza would depend on the number of detained Palestinians Israel would free. Hamas also said Israel had “failed to achieve its aggressive goals” in Gaza.
Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, congratulated Palestinians on Saturday for the Gaza ceasefire deal, saying it proved the “persistence of resistance” against Israel in his first comments since Israel and Hamas reached the accord on Wednesday. Qassem also said Hezbollah’s war with Israel in Lebanon had contributed in “Gaza’s victory”, according to Reuters.
Yemen’s Houthis claimed an attack on a US aircraft carrier on Sunday and warned of “consequences” for any retaliation during the coming Gaza ceasefire. The Israeli military said it intercepted two missiles fired from Yemen on Saturday. The military activated air raid sirens in Jerusalem and in parts of central and southern Israel ahead of the interceptions.
Israeli forces have killed at least 46,899 Palestinians and injured 110,725 since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in an update on Saturday. It said 23 Palestinians were killed and 83 were injured over the past 24 hours.
More than 70 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested in central London on Saturday on suspicion of breaching protest conditions after some allegedly broke through a police line as they marched from a rally in Whitehall.
Updated
Israel’s supreme court has rejected petitions filed by bereaved families and the Choosing Life forum against the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal, the Haaretz newspaper reports.
It said that in their decision, handed down early on Sunday, justices Daphne Barak-Erez, Yael Willner and Ruth Ronnen wrote that “undoubtedly this is a case in which the law’s limitations are evident”.
The judges also expressed sympathy for “the families of those who have not yet returned, as well as for those who see the murderers of their loved ones released from prison with a heavy heart”.
The judges added:
There remains hope that sons and daughters will indeed return to their homeland.
