The three female hostages — captured during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel — were reunited with their families and determined to be in “a good state.” Thirty other hostages, most of whom are presumed to be alive, are slated to be gradually freed in releases every seven days as part of the first phase of the deal lasting 42 days. Hamas confirmed Monday in a statement that the next batch of hostages would be released next Saturday, Jan. 25.
In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, large crowds gathered in Beitunia to welcome freed Palestinian prisoners and detainees, all of them women or teenagers. Prominent political activistKhalida Jarrar was among those freed, photos from news agencies showed.
Here’s what else to know
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated President Donald Trump for his inauguration in a video, saying, “Under your leadership, the best days of our alliance are yet to come.”
- Yemen’s Houthi rebels said in a statement they will limit attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea to Israeli-linked vessels now that a ceasefire in Gaza is in effect. While the group said it was “stopping sanctions” on other vessels — such as any heading toward Israeli ports — it left the door open to attacking American and British vessels if airstrikes against the Houthis continue.
- The mother of U.S. journalist Austin Tice, who was taken captive in Syria in 2012, met with Syrian interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa on Sunday. Photos of the meeting show his mother, Debra, sharing family photos of Austin with Sharaa, as part of her effort to learn more about the fate of her son.
- At least 46,913 people have been killed and 110,750 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
- Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, including more than 300 soldiers, and says 405 soldiers have been killed since the launch of its military operation in Gaza.
- Fifty-seven people are believed to remain hostage in Gaza, but Israel has not given the full basis for its estimates. Around 250 people were kidnapped on Oct. 7, of which around 120 have been freed so far and 74 have been confirmed killed….
Hamas comes out from cold and work’s to restablish control OVER Gaza….
If so?
The Israeli military goal has been a failure…..
Some Israeli hardlines may want to result their efforts to destroy Hamas , something their military and intellgence community have said is impossible militarily…
At the end of a war in Gaza in 2021, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, was photographed sitting in an armchair in his ruined home, a symbol of continuing resistance to Israel.
Mr. Sinwar was killed in this latest Gaza war, in which Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, vowed to dismantle and destroy Hamas. And yet, as a cease-fire took hold on Sunday after 15 months of massive destruction and death, Hamas — badly wounded and diminished — has survived and, at least for now, will remain in charge in Gaza.
Thousands of Hamas fighters have already re-emerged from hiding and fanned out to reestablish control.
“In blunt terms, Hamas are not only still standing, but they remain the most significant force in Gaza,” said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator and president of the U.S./Middle East Project, a research organization based in London and New York.
The situation underlines the fragility of a deal reached with Mr. Netanyahu, who is facing tremendous political pressure at home. It also comes as Donald J. Trump is set to become president again amid great uncertainty over how he plans to deal with a landscape in the Middle East that is much altered since his first term.
And the war is not over. The three-phase cease-fire deal, largely unchanged from a plan President Biden announced eight months ago, is extremely fragile, as evidenced by the tension-filled delay in starting it on Sunday morning. There will be 16 days before talks are expected to begin on the second phase….
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Mr. Netanyahu has consistently refused to discuss who or what will govern Gaza instead of Hamas, essentially ceding the territory to the group Israel has spent the last 15 months trying to destroy, killing tens of thousands of people, both civilians and combatants, in the process. The war erupted after Hamas led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and capturing about 250 others…
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The Saudis have made it clear during the war that they now demand concrete steps on the path toward an independent Palestinian state, which Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to prevent…
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At some point, said Aaron David Miller, a former American diplomat now with the Carnegie Endowment, “Netanyahu is going to come into conflict with Trump, who wants a deal with the Saudis and Iran.”….
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Mr. Trump is essentially unpredictable, said Mr. Sachs. Mr. Netanyahu and the Israelis, he said, “will face a U.S. president who will certainly be very pro-Israeli — and whose favor they are keen to receive — but who will also be forceful in demanding whatever he thinks is in his interest.”….
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