Live blog: Israel's aggression displaces 2,000 families from Jenin

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

1925 GMT — Around 2,000 Palestinian families have been displaced from the Jenin refugee camp amid an Israeli military invasion, now in its second day, an official in the city in the occupied West Bank has said.

The families have dispersed to nearby villages under harsh conditions, lacking the basic necessities, Bashir Matahin, the municipality's public relations officer, said.

"A large-scale displacement was recorded today before the Israeli army, in the evening hours, prevented residents from leaving and informed them to try again on Thursday morning," he said.

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1843 GMT — Lebanon, ceasefire monitoring committee meet ahead of Israel’s withdrawal deadline

Acting Lebanese Army Commander Maj. Gen. Hassane Ouda met with US Gen. Jasper Jeffers, head of the committee monitoring a ceasefire agreement with Israel, Lebanon’s National News Agency has reported.

The meeting at the Lebanese Defence Ministry in Beirut was held with 72 hours remaining until a deadline for Israel’s withdrawal from all areas it occupied in southern Lebanon during its recent war.

Developments in southern Lebanon and the progress of implementing the ceasefire agreement were discussed, according to the news outlet, without providing details.

1828 GMT — UN warns Israel amid deadly raids in occupied West Bank

The UN has warned about the Israeli army's deadly incursion in the occupied West Bank amid a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

Deputy spokesman Farhan Haq cited the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs OCHA when he warned that the operation by Israel in the city of Jenin “is putting people's safety and welfare at risk while destroying infrastructure as basic as roads, electricity and water pipes."

Saying that the Jenin Governmental Hospital in the northern occupied West Bank is not receiving water and electricity, Haq reported that the facility "relies on dwindling water reserves from emergency tanks that were installed just weeks ago in preparation for such situations" via an allocation by the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund that is managed by OCHA.

The UN "partners are set to refill water and full reserves at the hospital as soon as they secure access to the facility," he noted.

1806 GMT — Israel unlikely to meet Lebanon withdrawal deadline: report

The Israel army is unlikely to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon within the 72-hour deadline stipulated in the recent ceasefire agreement, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority Kan has claimed in its report.

Army generals informed the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee in a closed-door meeting that the army would not be able to pull out in the timeframe specified in the ceasefire agreement, according to the broadcaster.

1723 GMT — Israeli military brigade withdraws from Gaza with 86 fatalities

The Israeli army has begun withdrawing its Givati Brigade from Gaza after sustaining significant losses during ground offensives against Palestinian resistance factions since Oct. 27, 2023.

The army confirmed that the brigade lost 86 soldiers and commanders during military actions in the area.

According to official figures, Israel has suffered 841 military casualties since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, with 405 killed during the ground invasion.

1606 GMT — Egypt vows strong support for Gaza ceasefire implementation

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has pledged to work “with utmost determination” to ensure the full implementation of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

Sisi described the ceasefire as “a living testament to Egypt's relentless efforts and ongoing endeavors alongside its partners.”

“We will exert maximum effort to fully implement this agreement to stop the bloodshed of our Palestinian brothers, restore services in Gaza to make it livable, and prevent any attempts to displace its residents under these dire circumstances,” he stressed.

1548 GMT — Israeli officials travel to Egypt to discuss second phase of Gaza truce deal

Top Israeli security officials travelled to Cairo to discuss arrangements of the second phase of a Gaza ceasefire agreement with Egyptian officials, Israeli media has said.

Mossad chief David Barnea, and Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s Shin Bet domestic security service, chose to go to Cairo to discuss the second phase of the deal, instead of waiting for day 16 of the first phase, Israeli Channel 12 reported.

Key topics include the terms for releasing Palestinian prisoners and the numbers in exchange for Israeli captives, the broadcaster said.

1530 GMT — Explosion kills one Palestinian, wounds two in northern Gaza

A Palestinian has been killed and two others wounded in northern Gaza due to the explosion of an object believed to be remnants of Israeli explosives, a local medic has said.

The explosion took place in al-Touam area between the towns of Jabalia and Beit Lahia, the medic said.

A security source said preliminary investigations indicate that the object that exploded was a remnant of Israeli explosives in the area.

1511 GMT — Trump's envoy says he'll be part of Gaza ceasefire inspections

US President Donald Trump's Mideast envoy has said he would travel to the Middle East to be part of what he described as an inspection team deployed in and along Gaza to ensure ceasefire compliance.

In an interview with Fox News, the envoy, Steve Witkoff, also said he believed all countries in the region could get "on board" to normalise ties with Israel.

Asked to identify specific countries, he singled out Qatar, saying the Gulf country was a critical player in reaching the Gaza ceasefire deal.

1446 GMT — Israeli army harassing journalists by driving bulldozers towards them in Jenin

The Israeli army has been harassing journalists in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin to prevent them from doing their job, an Anadolu reporter has said.

A blockade and raids into the city and its refugee camp have continued. It also has been dispatching armored vehicles into the area.

The Anadolu reporter added that bulldozers have been deliberately driven towards the journalists in the area and demolishing infrastructure nearby.

1434 GMT — Israel kills a Palestinian, wounds four in Gaza

A Palestinian man has been killed and four others wounded by Israeli army fire in the southern city of Rafah, a medical source has said.

The source identified the victim as Akram Atef Zanon, without specifying the circumstances of the attack in eastern Rafah.

1428 GMT — Gaza death toll nears 47,200 as 53 bodies recovered from rubble

Palestinian medics recovered the bodies of 53 Palestinians from under the rubble in Gaza, pushing the overall death toll from Israel’s genocidal war on the enclave since October 2023 to 47,161, the Health Ministry has said.

A ministry statement said that 19 wounded people were also admitted to hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the number of the wounded to 111,166 in the Israeli onslaught.

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

1421 GMT — Palestinians find military pouch of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after his final stand

Palestinians found belongings of Yahya Sinwar, the former leader of the resistance group Hamas, who was killed by Israeli forces in the southern city of Rafah in October.

Ashraf Abu Taha, the homeowner where Sinwar sought refuge and fought during his last moments, said he struggled to recover Sinwar's military pouch, parts of his clothes, and an orange-coloured chair he had sat on while injured, from the rubble of his destroyed home.

“Sinwar's martyrdom in my home is a source of pride for me,” Abu Taha said, adding “Sinwar will always be remembered in history as a revolutionary leader."

1359 GMT — Israeli PM denies allowing Palestinian Authority to run Rafah crossing

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports that he allowed the Palestinian Authority to run the Rafah border crossing on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

In a statement, Netanyahu’s office accused the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority of trying to “create the false impression that it controls the crossing."

The Palestinian Authority "currently plays some role in approving exit visas," it said, stressing that the Israeli army will continue to be present around the terminal under the ceasefire agreement.

1335 GMT — Israel accused of forcibly displacing Palestinians in Jenin amid occupied West Bank attack

A Palestinian mayor has accused the Israeli army of forcibly displacing Palestinians from Jenin city amid a military operation in the northern West Bank.

"The Israeli army is working to displace Palestinians from several neighbourhoods in the Jenin refugee camp,” Jenin Mayor Mohammad Jarrar said.

“The displaced people were transferred to the western side of the camp and we are working to provide shelters for them,” he added.

1257 GMT — Yemen's Houthis release crew of Galaxy Leader after Gaza truce

Yemen's Houthis have released the crew of the Galaxy Leader more than a year after they seized the vessel off the coast of Yemen, Al Masirah TV, which is owned by the Houthis, has reported.

The crew were handed to Oman after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

1240 GMT — Israel abducts 25 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank

At least 25 Palestinians have been abducted in fresh Israeli military incursions in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners' affairs groups.

Former prisoners were among those abducted in the Israeli aggression that targeted Hebron, Jenin, Tulkarem, and Ramallah, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

Israeli soldiers tortured dozens of Palestinians in several towns during the raids before releasing them, it added.

The new abductions brought the number of Palestinians seized by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank since October 2023 to over 14,300, including those who were released after being abducted, according to Palestinian figures.

1237 GMT — UN chief praises Trump's 'large contribution' to Gaza ceasefire

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has hailed Donald Trump's diplomatic efforts to help secure a truce in Gaza following 15 months of war.

"I will praise the United States, Qatar and Türkiye for their efforts for months and months to obtain the release of hostages, also to obtain the ceasefire," Guterres said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"There was a large contribution of the robust diplomacy of the at-the-time president-elect of the United States," he added.

1221 GMT — Germany calls on Israel to clamp down on violent settlers in occupied West Bank

Germany has urged Israel to rein in rampant settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"We are also concerned about the further increase in settler violence, as well as statements by Israeli Cabinet members who describe the violent actions of the settlers as part of the fight against terror and in this way legitimise them,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer said at a press briefing in Berlin.

“Such violence and its legitimation cannot be justified, violates human rights and damages the prospects for resolving the Middle East conflict and we will continue to monitor settler violence at the European level," he added.


1128 GMT — Jordan warns of grave consequences from Israeli military operation in Jenin

Jordan’s foreign minister has warned of grave consequences from an ongoing Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

"The situation in the West Bank is grave and may destabilise the region's security," Safadi said during a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

He said his country is working to prevent an explosion of the situation in the occupied territory.

0830 GMT — Israeli forces kill Palestinian in front of family in Jenin

The Israeli army killed a Palestinian man in front of his wife and three children while driving a car in Jenin city in the northern occupied West Bank amid ongoing Israeli incursion.

A video filmed by the family that went viral on social media documented the last moment of Ahmed Nimer Obeidi Shayeb when he was shot and injured while driving.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Bashir Matahen, the director of Public Relations and Media at the Jenin Municipality, said Ahmed Shayeb was with his family - his wife and three children - returning home when he came under Israeli army's sniper fire.

Meanwhile, Matahen noted that over 600 Palestinians fled the Jenin refugee camp amid a major Israeli incursion into Jenin.

He also said that the displaced people are in difficult humanitarian conditions without proper shelters, adding that the municipality opened one of its buildings to host them.

0200 GMT — UK legal scholars demand inquiry into policing of pro-Palestine protest

Dozens of leading UK legal scholars called for an independent inquiry into the Metropolitan Police’s handling of a pro-Palestine protest over the weekend in London.

The lawyers have also demanded that charges against Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), and others arrested during the demonstration be dropped.

In a letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, they described the policing of the protest as “a disproportionate, unwarranted and dangerous assault on the right to assembly and protest.”

They urged the government to take action, warning that “the drift of British law and policing poses a fundamental threat to the right to protest.”

0145 GMT — ASEAN welcomes Gaza ceasefire, calls for full implementation

The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN welcomes a ceasefire in Gaza and calls for its full implementation and release of all hostages and detainees, its chair Malaysia said.

"We also call for a full, safe, rapid, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance for the Palestinians," it said in a statement released on Wednesday.

0050 GMT — Israeli army destroyed 80% of northern Gaza: Palestinian official

The Israeli military's recent genocide and ethnic cleansing have left 80 percent of northern Gaza in ruins, a Palestinian official said.

Areas like the Jabalia refugee camp, Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahia have suffered near-total destruction, Deputy Minister of Public Works and Housing in Gaza Naji Sarhan told Anadolu Agency.

“The devastation is absolute, affecting homes, streets and infrastructure, making northern Gaza uninhabitable,” Sarhan said.

More than 300,000 Palestinians are currently homeless, and the impending return of internally displaced people from central and southern Gaza according to the ceasefire agreement is expected to exacerbate the humanitarian crisis, he added.

0012 GMT — Trump criticises Biden over Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal

US President Donald Trump criticised former President Joe Biden’s handling of the Middle East, saying he could not secure a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal sooner.

“Biden couldn't get it done,” Trump told reporters at the White House. "It was only the imposition that I put on it as a deadline that got it done."

“The hostages are starting to come back. If I weren’t here, they wouldn’t be back ever... They would have all died.”

2300 GMT — Israel's top general resigns over October 7 failures

Israel's top general resigned, taking responsibility for security failures tied to Hamas' surprise attack on October 7, 2023 and adding to pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has delayed any public inquiry that could potentially implicate his leadership.

Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi is the most senior Israeli official to resign following the security and intelligence failure on 7 October 2023, when Hamas fighters launched a coordinated land, sea, and air attack on southern Israel, attacking army bases and nearby communities.

Halevi's resignation, effective March 6, came days into the ceasefire with Hamas that could lead to an end to the 15-month war and the return of captives.

Maj Gen Yaron Finkelman, head of Israel's Southern Command responsible for overseeing military actions in Gaza, has also resigned.

2224 GMT –– Israel launches major West Bank assault

Israel launched a major military attack in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin that killed at least nine Palestinians and left at least 40 more people wounded, Palestinian health officials said, as Israel’s fragile ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza entered its fourth day.

In Tel Aviv, four people were wounded in a stabbing attack and the suspect was killed by security forces, according to Israeli police.

Authorities only identified the attacker as a 28-year-old “foreign national” but believe the stabbings were a terrorist act.

2130 GMT — Permanent ceasefire in Gaza key for aid: UN migration chief

The temporary ceasefire between the Palestinian group Hamas and Israel must become permanent to ensure the delivery of essential aid to Gaza, Amy Pope, director general of the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), told Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of this year's Davos summit in Switzerland.

“Because, without a ceasefire, we cannot get the goods to those who are most in need,” Pope said of the ceasefire, which began Sunday.

She noted that the humanitarian needs in Gaza are “astronomical,” with basic necessities such as shelter, food, clean water, medicine, and hygiene still unmet.

“Frankly, without a ceasefire, we’re simply unable to deliver to those who need us most,” she said.

2100 GMT — Over 2,400 aid trucks roll in since truce

Nearly 900 more humanitarian aid trucks have entered Gaza as a senior UN official said so far there had been no apparent law-and-order issues.

The latest arrivals bring the total to more than 2,400 trucks entering the besieged enclave.

Throughout the 15-month Israeli genocidal war, the UN has described its humanitarian operation as opportunistic — facing problems with Israel's military invasion, access restrictions by Israel into and throughout Gaza and more recently looting by armed gangs.

Muhannad Hadi, the top UN aid official for Gaza and the occupied West Bank, said there had been minor incidents of looting in the past three days, but "not like before."

"It's not organised crime. Kids jumped on some trucks trying to take food baskets. There were some other people (who) tried to take some bottled water," he told reporters.

"Hopefully within few days this will all disappear once the people of Gaza realize that we will have aid enough for everybody."

2000 GMT — Decomposed corpses found under debris of bombed homes

Many Palestinians from the southern Gaza city of Rafah have returned to the area only to be shocked to find nothing left of their homes and businesses.

Manal Selim, a single mother of six, worked as a hairdresser and owned a shop that rented wedding and evening dresses. Her family lived upstairs.

"We thought we’d find some place to live in or stay," she said. "The destruction is scary. It's like an apocalypse."

She broke down in tears seeing it all destroyed, pulling a few ripped dresses from under the rubble.

"This is my house. I built it brick by brick for 25 years," she said.

"We retrieved 120 decomposed bodies over the past two days. They’re completely decomposed with only skeletal remains," Civil Defence member Haitham Hams told The Associated Press.

AP footage showed members sifting through piles of debris and in one case, unearthing a person's thigh bone, a ripped shirt and a pair of pants. A body bag inside an ambulance was labeled "unknown" and the discovery date late on Tuesday.

2000 GMT — Israel reports stabbing attack in Tel Aviv

Four people have been wounded in a stabbing attack in central Tel Aviv, according to Israeli police, who said the attacker was killed by Israeli soldiers at the scene.

Two people were in moderate condition and two had light wounds, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's emergency rescue service. Ichilov Hospital said one person was in moderate-severe condition with a stab wound to the neck.

Authorities identified the attacker as a 28-year-old Moroccan who entered Israel on a tourist visa.

For our live updates from Tuesday, January 21, 2025, click here.