Live blog: Trump envoy hails 'really great progress' in Gaza truce talks

Tuesday, January 7, 2025

1909 GMT — Negotiators in the Qatari capital are making "really great progress" on a deal that would bring a ceasefire to the besieged Gaza in exchange for the release of prisoners held in the coastal enclave, President-elect Donald Trump's envoy has said.

"We're making a lot of progress. And I don't want to say too much, because I think they're doing a really good job back in Doha," Steve Witkoff said at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in the US state of Florida.

"We've had some really great progress, and I'm really hopeful that by the inaugural we'll have some good things to announce on behalf of the president."

More updates 👇

1831 GMT — Houthi group blames US for hindering peace plan in Yemen

The Houthi group has said that the US is preventing the implementation of Yemen's peace roadmap, emphasising that Washington supports a “peace that does not lead to internal wars.”

The comments were made on the X by Houthi political office member Hussein al-Azzi and statements by Houthi Foreign Minister, of the unrecognised government, Jamal Amer, during a meeting with UN Special Envoy to Yemen Hans Grundberg in the nation’s capital of Sanaa.

Upon his arrival on Monday in Sanaa, Grundberg encouraged the Houthis to take “concrete and essential actions for advancing the peace process,” during his first visit to the city in more than a year and a half.

1748 GMT — No foreign courts have warrants issued against reservists: Israel

Israel has said pressure groups were pushing foreign courts to take action against Israelis over war crimes in Gaza but described the actions as "propaganda activity" and said no warrants had been issued.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The warrants sparked outrage in Israel but also drew fears that similar warrants could be issued against Israelis who served in the military in Gaza.

1650 GMT — Lebanese Army deploys in southern towns following Israeli withdrawal

The Lebanese Army has said that it has begun deploying in five towns across the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts in southern Lebanon following the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

In a statement, the army confirmed its units have started operations in the towns of Ras Naqoura, Alma al-Shaab, and Tayr Harfa in Tyre district, as well as Beit Lif in Bint Jbeil district.

The army added that its forces are also extending their presence to other towns in the western and central sectors of southern Lebanon after the Israeli withdrawal.

1554 GMT — Over 12,000 structures demolished in West Bank since 2009: UN report

Over 12,000 structures have been demolished in the occupied West Bank since 2009, according to a report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The hardest-hit areas include Khirbet Tana, Jabal al-Mukabber, and Silwan, which saw 400, 373, and 274 demolitions, respectively, said the OCHA’s report called "Breakdown of Data on Demolition and Displacement in the West Bank."

The demolitions targeted 3,553 agricultural structures and 3,547 residential buildings, the report revealed.

The year 2024 marked a peak, with 1,763 incidents recorded—the highest in 16 years, it stressed.

1520 GMT — Scores of Israelis protest in Tel Aviv to demand prisoner swap deal with Palestinians

Scores of relatives of Israeli captives in Gaza have demonstrated outside the Defence Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv to demand a prisoner swap deal with Palestinians.

The protest coincided with a Cabinet meeting at the Kirya base, which houses the Defence Ministry headquarters, to discuss indirect negotiations to reach a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement.

Protesters closed one of the gates to the base, waving a large banner bearing the names of around 100 Israeli captives held in Gaza, according to Haaretz newspaper.

1430 GMT — 54 Palestinian detainees died in Israeli custody since Gaza war: rights groups

At least 54 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli prisons since the start of the Gaza war on Oct. 7, 2023, according to prisoners' affairs groups.

"The victims included 35 people from Gaza,” the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement marking the Palestinian Martyr's Day, observed annually on Jan. 7.

The statement accused Israeli authorities of continuing to conceal the deaths of numerous detainees from Gaza in its detention camps.

The two groups said Israel is still withholding the bodies of 63 detainees who died in custody, including 52 since the start of the Gaza war.

1338 GMT — Palestine, Jordan decry Israeli map claiming ‘historical territorial rights’ for Israel

Palestine and Jordan have strongly condemned an Israeli map showing Palestinian, Jordanian, Syrian, and Lebanese lands as part of Israel.

Official Israeli social media accounts published a map that claims that parts of Palestine, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon are part of Israel’s territory.

Palestinian Authority spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh called the Israeli map "a blatant violation of all international legitimacy resolutions and international law."

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry called the Israeli map "provocative and baseless" and "falsely claims historical territorial rights for Israel."

1332 GMT — Hamas stands by demand for end to Gaza war in prisoner swap deal

Hamas has stood by its demand that Israel fully end its assault on Gaza under any deal to release hostages.

Hamas says it will free its remaining hostages only if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.

Hamas official Osama Hamdan, who held a news conference in Algiers, said Israel was to blame for undermining all efforts to reach a deal.

While he said he would not give details about the latest round of negotiations, he reiterated the Hamas conditions of "a complete end to the aggression and a full withdrawal from lands the occupation invaded".

1249 GMT — Palestine denounces illegal settler attacks, Israeli statements on destroying West Bank cities

Palestine has condemned attacks by illegal Israeli settlers and official statements about destroying Palestinian cities and imposing sanctions on Palestinians.

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had called on Monday for destroying the West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus as the case in Jabalia in northern Gaza.

"We denounce the inflammatory statements by Israeli officials to impose collective punishment, abuse Palestinians, and destroy residential areas in the West Bank,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Read the full story here.

1223 GMT — Israeli soldier suspected of war crimes faces legal case in Argentina

An Argentine court has received a legal case against Yuval Vagdani, an Israeli soldier accused of war crimes during the Gaza war, the Hind Rajab Foundation announced.

"After Yuval Vagdani's escape from Brazil to Argentina, the Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a legal case in Argentina against the war crimes suspect," the foundation said on X.

"This move reinforces our commitment to ending impunity and holding perpetrators accountable. Justice will prevail, no matter where they hide," it added.

1213 GMT — Israeli army launches attack in Jordan Valley of occupied West Bank

The Israeli army launched an attack in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank, the military has said.

A military statement did not specify the cities and towns where the operation is taking place or its timeframe.

The announcement came shortly after two Palestinians were killed in an air strike in the town of Tubas, south of Tubas in the northern West Bank.

1114 GMT — Mediator Qatar confirms 'technical meetings' on Gaza truce ongoing

Talks aimed at cementing a truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas are ongoing, with "technical meetings" taking place between the parties, mediator Qatar's foreign ministry has said.

"The technical meetings are still happening between both sides," ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said, referring to meetings with lower-level officials on the details of an agreement. "There are no principal meetings taking place at the moment."

Read the full story here

1020 GMT — Aid efforts at breaking point, says UN as Israel pulverises Gaza

At least 31 more Palestinians were killed in relentless Israeli attacks in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since October 2023 to 45,885, the Health Ministry in the enclave said.

A ministry statement added that some 109,196 others have been injured in the ongoing assault.

Aid efforts in Gaza are increasingly hindered as Israeli forces persist in targeting relief workers, while law and order collapse in the conflict-ravaged area, the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) chief stated.

Tom Fletcher, undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, emphasized that the situation has become critical, noting: “The reality is that despite our determination to deliver food, water and medicine to survivors, our efforts to save lives are at breaking point.”

The official reported that an Israeli airstrike severely injured three individuals at a well-known food distribution site operated by a World Food Programme (WFP) partner. Additionally, Israeli soldiers fired over 16 rounds at a clearly identified UN convoy at a checkpoint on the route from the south to the north on Sunday, he stated.

1015 GMT — Three Palestinians killed in occupied West Bank as Israeli raids intensify

Israeli forces killed at least three Palestinian fighters in stepped-up operations across the occupied West Bank following the killing of three Israeli settlers near an illegal settlement, according to Israeli military.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said an 18-year-old was killed overnight in an Israeli air strike in Tamun, a town northeast of Nablus city, while a 40-year-old was shot dead in the nearby village of Taluza.

The Israeli military said that after a clash with fighters in the Tamun area, its war planes struck and killed two fighters.

1009 GMT — Military option will not end Hamas’ rule in Gaza, says mastermind of Israel’s ‘Generals’ Plan’

A retired Israeli general who masterminded a plan for displacing Palestinians from northern Gaza believes that military option is not the solution to ending Hamas’ rule in the enclave.

"Israel must declare its willingness to end the fighting in Gaza in exchange for the return of all captives,” Giora Eiland told local radio 94 FM.

"The path to ending Hamas’ rule is not through the military solution, which has proven ineffective,” added Eiland, a former head of Israel’s National Security Council.

He said continuing the Israeli war on Gaza will lead to the death of more captives and soldiers in the Palestinian enclave.

0750 GMT — 6 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes on 2 homes in Gaza City, Nuseirat

The Israeli army early killed six Palestinians in air strikes that targeted two homes in Gaza City and the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Gaza Civil Defense service said four Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli air strike on a home for the "Sehweil" family near the Beach refugee camp in western Gaza City.

While in central Gaza, a medical source told Anadolu Agency that two more Palestinians were killed and others injured in an Israeli air strike on a home for the "Al-Abeed" family in the southern Nuseirat refugee camp.

0645 GMT — 2 Israeli soldiers killed, 2 others seriously injured in northern Gaza fighting, military says

Two Israeli soldiers were killed and two others seriously wounded in clashes with Palestinian fighters in northern Gaza, the military said late on Monday.

A military statement identified one of the slain soldiers as Capt. Eitan Shiknazi, a deputy company commander in the Nahal Brigade's 932nd Battalion, while the name of the other to be released later.

The two others who were seriously wounded are from the same battalion and were transferred to hospital, the statement added, without providing details about the circumstances of the deadly incident.

At least 826 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 5,578 others injured since the outbreak of the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, according to military figures.

0451 GMT — Israel's overnight strikes kill at least 10 Palestinians in Gaza

Israeli forces have intensified their assault on Gaza, with mounting casualties, the majority being women and children.

Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that two people were killed and several others injured when Israeli air strikes targeted the Al-Ubaid family home near the Ain Jalut Towers, south of Al-Nuseirat in central Gaza.

In another incident, four people were killed after Israeli aircraft struck the Sahweil family home on Hamid Street in Al-Shati camp, west of Gaza City.

Additionally, several civilians sustained injuries when air strikes hit a displaced persons' tent belonging to the Ismail family near the entrance to Al-Maghazi in central Gaza.

Meanwhile, WAFA news agency reported that four Palestinians, including children, were killed and 13 others injured in an Israeli air strike on the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

0002 GMT — Lebanese premier demands clear timetable for Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon

Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati demanded a clear timetable for completing Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon before a 60-day deadline expires, emphasising that any talk of Israel extending the ceasefire period is "categorically unacceptable".

Mikati's remarks came during his meeting with US envoy Amos Hochstein in Beirut, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency.

Mikati warned that "continued violations and talk of extending Israel's presence under the cease-fire are entirely unacceptable".

"We place these developments before the nations that brokered the agreement and the committee tasked with overseeing its implementation," the agency quoted him as saying.

2328 GMT — Protest held outside EU parliament for release of Palestinian doctor held by Israel

Protesters gathered in front of the European Parliament building in Brussels to demand the release of prominent Palestinian doctor and human rights activist Dr Hussam Abu Safiya by Israel.

The demonstrators, mostly health workers, also chanted slogans condemning Israel's genocide in Palestine's Gaza and attacks on health facilities and workers, with some of them carrying Palestinian flags and banners.

2236 GMT — Israel's state comptroller accuses army of hindering October 7 probe

Israeli State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman accused the military of engaging in "dangerous" actions that are undermining investigations into the October 7, 2023 attack, potentially "hindering the discovery of the truth".

Englman made the accusation in a strongly worded letter to Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported.

2100 GMT — Israel kills 4 Palestinians in its strike in central Gaza

The Israeli military has killed four Palestinians, including children, and wounded 13 others in its strike on Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, WAFA news agency reported.

For our live updates from Monday, January 6, 2025, click here.