Gaza ceasefire Highlights: Netanyahu’s finance minister wants Israel PM to return to Gaza war after 1st phase

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Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: The Israeli prime minister’s office is claiming that Hamas is going back on some of the ceasefire agreements. But Hamas released a statement saying that’s not the case, that they’re ready for the framework that was outlined, presented and confirmed by mediators on Wednesday night.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: The party of Bezalel Smotrich, the country’s finance minister, says it is ready to leave the government if they don’t get some sort of assurance from Prime Minister Netanyahu that Israel will go back to full-scale war after phase one of this deal, Al Jazeera reports

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa says his country is ready to welcome United Nations peacekeepers into the UN-established buffer zone with Israel.

“Israel’s advance in the region was due to the presence of Iranian militias and Hezbollah. After the liberation of Damascus, I believe that they have no presence at all. There are pretexts that Israel is using today to advance into the Syrian regions, into the buffer zone,” said al-Sharaa.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered Israeli forces to grab a buffer zone in the Golan Heights – established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement with Syria – after a lightning advance by Syrian opposition forces ended Bashar al-Assad’s rule last month.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has applauded the truce deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the release of captives that is set to take effect on Sunday.

“NATO welcomes the ceasefire; hostage release agreement in Gaza. We commend Egypt, Qatar; USA for their efforts in brokering this deal that brings hope to the region,” NATO official Javier Colomina wrote on X.

“Full implementation of the agreement will be crucial as a first step to greater stability in the Middle East.”

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: Here’s a breakdown of the latest developments

The Israeli PM’s office has postponed a cabinet vote on the ceasefire deal, accusing Hamas of reneging on certain ceasefire provisions – a claim the Palestinian group has denied.

Israel’s Mossad chief David Barnea and other negotiators are still in Doha “finalising the details” of the deal, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

Israeli forces have kept hammering central and northern Gaza, with one strike on a school killing two children, according to our colleagues on the ground.

At least 73 people have been killed in Gaza since mediators announced the ceasefire deal – expected to go into effect on Sunday – according to Gaza’s civil defence.

Othman Moqbel, CEO of Action For Humanity, urged global pressure to stop Israel’s attacks in Gaza immediately, not simply by Sunday. Israel should not “have a blank cheque to commit as many war crimes as possible between now and then”, he said.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: People’s celebrations over the ceasefire announcement have been cut short by heavy waves of air strikes. This is the Israeli military norm.

Many of the attacks have been in Gaza City, with the majority killed women and children. The attacks have also spanned the al-Mawasi evacuation zone and here in the central area. At least 20 children and 25 women are among the dead.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: Israeli MP Avigdor Lieberman, who leads the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party, has accused Netanyahu of blocking a single-stage ceasefire deal that would have released all Israeli captives at once.

The reason for instead opting for a phased deal, according to Lieberman, was to preserve Netanyahu’s governing coalition.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: According to Al Jazeera, there are no signs of Hamas going back on what they agreed upon in this deal.

In turn, in Israel, there is internal conflict within Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, specifically among the Religious Zionism Party.

This is the party of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who has been threatening to leave the coalition if this deal came to a vote, saying this was a bad deal for Israel, that his party would need guarantees that Israel will go back to all-out fighting … after the initial phase [of the agreement].

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held up the cabinet vote on the ceasefire deal that prompted premature celebrations in Gaza and was expected to take effect on Sunday, January 19.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: Palestinians gathered in front of Gaza City's Al-Ahli Hospital to celebrate the ceasefire announcement, expressing mixed feelings of "sadness for those we lost" and "an indescribable joy for the end of this massacre"

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: US President Joe Biden says, “Today, after many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar, Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire and hostage deal. My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done…”

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: India's Ministry of External Affairs released a statement on agreement for release of hostages and ceasefire in Gaza

“We welcome the announcement of the agreement for the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza. We hope this will lead to a safe and sustained supply of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza. We have consistently called for release of all hostages, ceasefire, and return to a path of dialogue and diplomacy,” the MEA said.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: Israel intensified strikes on Hamas-controlled Gaza just hours after Qatar and the United States confirmed a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the war-torn Strip. "While people celebrated the pact in Gaza and Israel, Israel's military escalated attacks after the announcement," the civil emergency service and residents was quoted by Reuters as saying. Tap here to read full report

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: “No one can feel the feeling that we are experiencing now, an indescribable, indescribable feeling,” said Mahmoud Wadi in central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah before joining a chanting crowd.

As celebrations erupted in parts of Gaza after a ceasefire deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Wednesday that a ceasefire agreement with Hamas is still not complete and the final details are being worked out.

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: Celebrations erupted in several areas in Lebanon and Gaza following the announcement of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

 As celebrations spread in Gaza's Khan Yunis, Israel said several clauses in the ceasefire deal with Hamas remain "unresolved," but it hopes they will be finalised "tonight".

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: "...I'm happy but I'm going to fight for each of them until they come back home...", said Ifat Kalderon, cousin of one of the hostages, Ofer Kalderon on Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire and hostage deal

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: US President Joe Biden outlined the three-opase Gaza ceasefire deal on Wednesday. Here's what the deal looks like: 

Phase One:

- Lasts six weeks, will see a "full and complete ceasefire"

- Israel to withdraw, Palestinians can return home. Hamas to free "a number of" hostages

- "Surge" in humanitarian aid to begin

Phase Two:

- Will see a "permanent end of the war"

- Talks ongoing, but if deal not reached by end of phase one, the ceasefire will last as long as the talks do

- Final hostages released, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza complete

Phase Three:

- Remains of any hostages killed to be returned to their families

- Major reconstruction plan for Gaza to begin

Israel-Hamas ceasefire LIVE: Israel and Hamas agreed to pause the devastating war in the Gaza Strip, mediators announced Wednesday. This has raised the possibility of winding down the deadliest and most destructive fighting between the bitter enemies.

The three-phase ceasefire deal promises the release of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israel, and to allow hundreds of thousands of people displaced in Gaza to return to what remains of their homes. It would also flood desperately needed humanitarian aid into the territory ravaged by 15 months of war, mediators were quoted by the Associated Press as saying.