Live blog: Hamas confirms Gaza ceasefire talks to resume in Doha

Friday, January 3, 2025

1728 GMT — Indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas for a truce in Gaza are to resume in Qatar later on Friday, the Palestinian resistance group said in a statement.

"Indirect negotiations will resume today, Friday, in the Qatari capital Doha," Hamas said in a statement, adding the talks would "focus on ensuring the agreement leads to a complete cessation of hostilities (and) the withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza".

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1833 GMT — Palestinian envoy urges UNSC to end Gaza genocide, 'Israeli impunity'

Palestinian envoy to the UN urged the Security Council to end the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza.

"It is our collective responsibility to bring this hell to an end. It is our collective responsibility to bring this genocide to an end," Riyad Mansour told a Security Council meeting on the situation in the Middle East.

"You have an obligation to save lives. Palestinian doctors and medical personnel took that mission to heart at the peril of their lives. They did not abandon the victims. Do not abandon them. End Israeli impunity. End the genocide. End this aggression immediately and unconditionally, now," Mansour told the council.

"They are fighting a battle they cannot win, and yet they are unwilling to surrender and to betray the oath they took," he said.

Read more here

1814 GMT — Israeli Knesset members push for more aggressive approach in northern Gaza

Eight right-wing members of Israel's Knesset have called for a change in the military strategy in Gaza, arguing that the current approach is failing to achieve its objectives: dismantling Hamas’s military and government structures.

The committee members argue that Israel’s air strikes have allowed Hamas to continue rebuilding its forces, prolonging the conflict into a “war of attrition” rather than leading to a decisive victory.

The lawmakers now call for the implementation of the "Generals' Plan,” which includes forcibly displacing residents from northern Gaza, imposing a siege to occupy the area and its population, and ensuring a conclusive victory rather than an extended conflict.

The proposed strategy includes several key measures: encircling and displacing the population, destroying all energy sources, including fuel and solar power facilities, and eliminating food storage and water reservoirs. The plan also calls for the elimination of any individuals found moving in the area.

1809 GMT — US welcomes Israeli decision to send delegation to Gaza ceasefire talks

The White House said that Israel's decision to send a delegation to Doha, Qatar for talks over a potential ceasefire in the besieged Gaza is "encouraging."

"We think that's a good step, and certainly doesn't diminish at all our hope that a deal can be had. We think that a new deal is both urgent and possible, and again, we welcome the Israelis' decision to send another team to Doha," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

"The president has made clear his national security team will be a participant all the way to the very end, and we're going to be doing everything we can to see if we can broker a new ceasefire deal again that will get the hostages home," he said.

1745 GMT — Seven Palestinians wounded in assault by illegal Israeli settlers

Seven Palestinians sustained wounds in an assault by illegal Israeli settlers on the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, central occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians sustained injuries as the settlers beat them using batons and hurled stones, the Health Ministry said. Their condition, however, is stable.

Silwad's mayor Raed Hamed told Anadolu that 40 armed settlers raided the town's Nasiba area, assaulted the people, and set fire to at least five cars.

1726 GMT — UNSC members voice concern over Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza

Several members of UN Security Council expressed concern over Israeli attacks on the hospitals in Gaza.

"The deliberate targeting of hospitals medical personnel, patients and wounded defies every principle of humanitarian law and has no justification," Asim Iftikhar, Pakistan's envoy to the UN told.

"The scale of this genocidal campaign is staggering. Its intent unmistakable. Gaza's homes, schools, hospitals and even its cultural heritage lay in ruins. Even the UN and its personnel have not been spared. This is not a war," said Iftikhar.

"It is a campaign of dispossession, ethnic cleansing and annihilation, the indiscriminate bombing of civilians and the systematic destruction of critical infrastructure are not isolated incidents. These are calculated acts aimed at erasing an entire people from their homeland," he said.

1612 GMT — Human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza: UN

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has expressed concern over ongoing Israeli attacks on health care facilities in Gaza.

"A human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world," Turk told, stressing that: "The destruction of hospitals across Gaza goes beyond depriving Palestinians of their right to access adequate health care. Those hospitals provided sanctuary for thousands of people with nowhere else to go."

Turk said Israeli military assaults in and around hospitals and associated combat have had a "terrible impact" precisely at a time of massive demands on health care due to the ongoing conflict.

Turk also called for "independent, thorough and transparent" investigations into all Israeli attacks on hospitals, healthcare infrastructure and medical personnel, as well as the alleged misuse of such facilities.

1608 GMT — Lebanon reports 11 more Israeli ceasefire violations

Lebanese authorities reported 11 more Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement that ended hostilities between Israel Lebanon on November 27.

According to the Lebanese National News Agency (NNA), the violations occurred in the capital Beirut and the southern districts of Marjayoun, Bint Jbeil, and Tyre.

The reported violations included the demolition of homes, arson, road closures, sweeping operations involving heavy gunfire, and drone activity over various parts of Lebanon.

The latest breaches bring the total number of Israeli violations to 364 since the ceasefire took effect, according to an Anadolu tally based on figures released by Lebanese authorities.

1547 GMT — Three Palestinians killed in standoff with security forces in West Bank

A Palestinian man and his son were killed in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, local medical officials said, as a month-long standoff with Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces in the town.

Separately, a security forces officer died in what PA officials said was an accident, bringing to six the total number of the security forces to have died in the crackdown in Jenin which began on December 5.

The PA denied that its forces killed the 44-year-old man and his son, who were shot as they stood on the roof of their house in the Jenin refugee camp. The man's daughter was also wounded in the incident.

1510 GMT — Gaza death toll tops 45,650 as Israel kills 77 more Palestinians

At least 77 more Palestinians have been killed in relentless Israeli attacks in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since last October to 45,658, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

A ministry statement added that some 108,583 others were wounded in the ongoing assault.

"Israeli forces killed 77 people and injured 145 others in eight massacres of families in the last 24 hours," the ministry said.

1348 GMT — Rockets fired from Gaza as Israeli strikes kill 12, rescuers say

Israel claimed three rockets were fired towards its territory from Gaza, where rescuers reported at least 12 people killed in Israeli strikes.

The rockets were the latest in a spate of recent launches from the devastated Palestinian territory, with Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatening of even more intense retaliatory strikes if they continued.

1328 GMT — Rains, aid blockades deepen crisis for 1M Gaza residents — UN

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said it is "deeply alarmed" by the devastating impact of winter on displaced people in Gaza, saying nearly 1 million people still need urgent assistance.

"Vulnerable people, including at least seven infants, have died from hypothermia, and these tragic deaths underscore the urgent need for shelter and other help to get to the people of Gaza immediately," IOM Director General Amy Pope said in a statement.

Noting that heavy rains and flooding have overwhelmed displacement sites and makeshift shelters, the IOM said that “systematic access constraints,” as reported by the UN humanitarian office, have severely hindered aid delivery, with only 285,000 people receiving shelter support since September 2024.

"As of mid-December, the Shelter Cluster, a coordination group of UN, international and local humanitarian organisations, estimates at least 945,000 still urgently need winterization assistance, such as thermal clothing, blankets, and tarps to seal-off shelters from the rain and cold," it said.


1250 GMT — At least 30 people killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza amid ceasefire talks

At least 30 people, including children, were killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes overnight and into Friday morning, hospital staff said, as sirens also sounded across Israel and stalled ceasefire talks were set to resume.

Staff at the al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital said more than a dozen women and children were killed in strikes that hit various places in Central Gaza, including Nuseirat, Zawaida, Maghazi and Deir al Balah.

Dozens of people were also killed across the enclave the previous day, bringing the total of people killed in the past 24 hours to 56.

1239 GMT — History will confirm Türkiye's righteous stance on Gaza: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that his country’s righteous position on Gaza will be vindicated by history just as it was in Syria.

"Just as we have been proven right in the case of Syria, history will attest to our righteousness in the Gaza crisis as well," Erdogan said at a Türkiye Exporters Assembly event in Istanbul.

Erdogan also underlined that Türkiye is the only country that has completely halted trade with Israel.

Read more here

1140 GMT — Hamas shows no signs of surrender in Gaza: Israeli analyst

Hamas shows no signs of surrender in Gaza and the Palestinian resistance group has "learned to shift to guerrilla warfare" in the region, according to Israeli analyst Avi Issacharoff.

He said: "The Israeli army's 162nd Division is operating in northern Gaza, including the Jabalia refugee camp, in an attempt to destroy Hamas's infrastructure there."

The analyst described the area as looking like a disaster zone, with no people in the streets and even stray dogs barely remaining because they know there is no food to scavenge.

1137 GMT — One more Palestinian journalist killed in Israeli attack on Gaza

One more Palestinian journalist was killed in an Israeli attack in central Gaza, the Gaza government media office said.

In a statement, the media office said Palestinian photojournalist Omar Salah Al Derawi was killed in an Israeli bombing targeting his home in the Al-Zawaida area, central Gaza, killing him along with his parents. Derawi had been working with several news agencies.

The new fatality brought the total number of Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza to 202 since October 7, 2023, it added.

1125 GMT — Israeli hostages' families urge Netanyahu to grant full mandate to negotiators

Israeli families of hostages held in Gaza have called on PM Benjamin Netanyahu to provide a "full mandate" to the negotiating team handling the hostage exchange deal with Palestinian factions in Gaza following his approval to send a delegation to Doha to resume negotiations.

Netanyahu’s office issued a statement late Thursday, confirming that "the prime minister has agreed to send a professional-level delegation to continue negotiations in Doha."

In response, families of Israeli hostages expressed their support for Netanyahu's decision to send the delegation to Qatar.

In a post on X, they said: "We must not miss this opportunity."

"The one hundred hostages held deep in Hamas tunnels in Gaza do not have the luxury of time for the negotiations to falter," they added.

1052 GMT — Popularity of party led by extremist minister Ben Gvir declines in Israel: poll

A poll conducted in Israel has revealed a decline in the popularity of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, with the party falling below its previous polling figures.

According to the Israeli daily Maariv, “In the wake of the turbulent political week during which Minister Itamar Ben Gvir forced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to vote in the Knesset just one day after undergoing surgery, ... the Otzma Yehudit party dropped by two seats reaching its lowest point with only six seats."

The daily explained that if elections were held today, Netanyahu's bloc would secure 50 seats while the opposition bloc would hold 60 seats, and the Palestinian parties would garner 10 seats.

0932 GMT — Israeli soldiers injured in northern Gaza blast: report

Three Israeli soldiers were moderately injured in an attack on their tank in Jabalia, northern Gaza, through an explosive device, a local newspaper has stated.

The Israeli daily Maariv claimed that the Israeli army expects the assault on Jabalia to continue for several more days.

“Despite the damage inflicted on Hamas in northern Gaza and Jabalia, they continue to challenge the Israeli army on a point-by-point basis," it added.

Jabalia is currently a "ghost town," with abandoned dogs roaming the streets that were once bustling with life. "There are no buildings left standing. Any structure that still stands is riddled with bullet and shell fragments," the daily said.

0904 GMT — Israel encircles Gaza's functioning hospital, forcing evacuation

Israeli forces have surrounded the Indonesian hospital in Gaza's northern town of Beit Lahia, urging patients and health officials to evacuate the facility.

The hospital, largely sheltering women, children, and other patients, remains under threat as Israeli forces continue shelling the surrounding area, according to Palestine's news agency WAFA.

Medical sources report that Israeli forces have destroyed vital hospital supplies, including oxygen and electricity stations critical for providing medical services.

The report also notes that Israeli troops have started demolishing the hospital's surroundings.

0715 GMT — Israel army says intercepted missile, drone launched from Yemen

Israel's military reported that it shot down a missile and a drone launched from Yemen on Friday.

"A missile that was launched from Yemen and crossed into Israeli territory was intercepted," the military said in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

"A report was received regarding shrapnel from the interception that fell in the area of Modi'in in central Israel. The details are under review."

0331 GMT — Israel kills a dozen in intense Gaza bombardment

At least twelve Palestinians were killed and several others wounded during an Israeli air strike on Friday morning, targeting multiple locations in Gaza.

Palestine's news agency WAFA reported that three victims, including journalist Omar Al-Diraoui, were killed when an Israeli bomb struck the Shalt family's home in Al-Zawaida, central Gaza.

The bombing targeted the house along with the surrounding area, leaving four people dead and multiple others injured.

A separate attack killed one individual when Israeli forces bombed a house in the west of Gaza City.

In another attack east of Deir al Balah, a resident was killed as Israeli forces targeted the Abu Al-Ajeen area.

The tragic toll climbed higher with an air strike on a house belonging to the Mishmish family in the Burj Beidas area, Nuseirat camp, killing five Palestinians, including two children.

0639 GMT — Israelis injured in stampede following Yemen missile launch

At least 12 Israelis were injured as crowds rushed to bomb shelters after a missile launched from Yemen entered Israeli airspace.

The Israeli army claimed to have intercepted the missile, but debris reportedly fell in the Modi'in area in central Israel.

The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation confirmed that air raid sirens sounded across the greater Tel Aviv area, the Mediterranean coastal region, and Jerusalem.

Residents reported hearing explosions in and around Jerusalem.

2300 GMT — Israel kills 90+ Palestinians in Gaza since Thursday dawn

Overnight Israeli air strikes across central and southern Gaza, including an attack on a sprawling tent camp that Israel has repeatedly bombed despite designating it a so-called "humanitarian safe zone", have taken the Palestinian death toll to more than 90, local media and activists reported.

In its latest attacks, the Israeli military bombed the Salman family's house in Deir al Balah in central Gaza, the Quds News Network, killing at least four Palestinians.

Four Palestinian civilians were killed and several others were wounded in Israeli strikes that targeted a house south of Gaza City, official WAFA news agency reported.

Citing medical sources, WAFA said the "number of martyrs has risen since dawn to 90, including 40 in the north of the Strip, and 50 in the center and south."

Houthis say carried out 22 attacks against US, Israeli targets

Yemen’s Houthi group has said that its forces carried out 22 strikes in one week against US and Israeli targets with missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The Houthis hit the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport, Nevatim Air Base and an electricity station in West Jerusalem, the group's leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said in an address broadcast on the Houthi-run Al-Masirah TV channel.

He said the group's forces also targeted the US aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman with 11 missiles and drones.

Al-Houthi said the US and Britain carried out 931 attacks on Yemen in 2024, both from the air and the sea. He added that 106 people were killed and 314 wounded in the attacks.

Israel strikes Syrian defence positions near Aleppo

Israel has bombed Syrian defence positions in the Al-Safira area southeast of Aleppo city.

An air defence base and warehouse were targeted, said local sources.

A number of people in the area were killed and wounded in around 10 air strikes, according to preliminary reports.

For our live updates from Thursday, January 2, 2025, click here.