6 hours ago
Ceasefire 'only a starting point', says Unrwa chief
The head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, has welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and called for all parties to ensure the deal is fully implemented.
Lazzarini, in a press briefing, called for a “rapid, uninterrupted and unhindered” humanitarian access to the “tremendous suffering” in Gaza.
“The ceasefire is only a starting point,” he said, noting that Unrwa is ready to scale up aid delivery and support the recovery of the Palestinian territory by resuming education and providing primary health care.
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Summary of the day so far
It’s 9pm in Gaza and Tel Aviv. Here’s a recap of the key developments:
Israel’s full cabinet has begun meeting to consider the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, after the smaller security cabinet voted to approve the deal earlier today. The Israeli high court is still scheduled to hear petitions against elements of the agreement, but it is widely expected not to intervene. Hardline national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who on Thursday threatened to quit the government if it ratified the agreement, urged his allies to stop the deal ahead of the full cabinet meeting.
More than 115 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry said on Friday. Since Wednesday night, 116 Palestinians were killed, 62 of them women and children, said a spokesperson for Gaza’s civil defence agency. Gaza’s health ministry said at least 46,876 people have been killed and 110,642 injured in more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas.
Under the first phase of the ceasefire deal, which is to last 42 days and take effect from Sunday, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women – including female soldiers – and those aged over 50. In exchange, Israel will release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas, and 30 for other female hostages. Israel’s justice ministry released a list of 95 Palestinians held in Israeli prisoners to be freed in the first exchange. French president, Emmanuel Macron, said French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of hostages to be freed by Hamas.
The head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, welcomed the ceasefire but warned that it was “only a starting point”. Lazzarini, in a press briefing on Friday, called for a “rapid, uninterrupted and unhindered” humanitarian access to the “tremendous suffering” in Gaza. He also noted that the Israeli Knesset’s legislation barring the UN agency will come into effect in less than two weeks, warning that it would be “catastrophic” for Gaza and “irreversibly harm the lives and future of the Palestinians”. UK lawmakers warned on Friday that an Israeli ban on Unrwa threatens to undermine efforts for peace in the Middle East.
Aid agencies have warned of obstacles for life-saving aid to reach Palestinians, from destroyed infrastructure, massive need and collapsed law and order. A UN official called it “a moment of hope and opportunity” but said “we should be under no illusions how tough it will still be to get support to survivors”. On the ground in the territory, where nearly all 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once, aid workers worry nothing will be enough to meet the need.
Joe Biden said Israel “has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns” of Palestinians for the long term sustainability of Israel. In what has been billed as his final interview as president, Biden said “the idea that Israel is going to be able to sustain itself for the long term without accommodating the Palestinian question … It’s not going to happen.”
criminal court (ICC) prosecutor, Karim Khan, defended his decision to bring war crimes allegations against Israel’s prime minister, saying Israel had made “no real effort” to investigate the allegations itself. In an interview with Reuters, he stood by his decision over the arrest warrant despite a vote last week by the US House of Representatives to sanction the ICC in protest, a move he described as “unwanted and unwelcome”.
UN secretary-general António Guterres urged an end to Israel’s “continued occupation” and “military operations” in south Lebanon, after a November ceasefire to end fighting between Israel and militant group Hezbollah. “The continued occupation by the Israel [military] inside the Unifil area operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution 1701 … They must stop,” he said on Friday, referring to the UN security council decision that ended a 2006 war between both sides.
Palestinian Authority says it is ready to assume 'full responsibility' in Gaza
The Palestinian Authority is ready to assume “full responsibility” in postwar Gaza, president Mahmoud Abbas said in his first statement since a ceasefire deal was announced.
“The Palestinian government, under president Abbas’ directives, has completed all preparations to assume full responsibility in Gaza,” a statement shared by AFP reads.
This would include the return of displaced people, providing basic services, crossings management and reconstruction of the war-torn territory, it said.
It also urged the international community to offer aid to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem, adding that there should be an “international peace conference” to recognise the State of Palestine and support its entry to the UN.
Footage broadcast by the Egyptian news channel Al-Qahera shows dozens of trucks packed with life-saving aid preparing to cross the Rafah border into Gaza before the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas:
Emma Graham-Harrison
A provision to increase the aid entering Gaza under the ceasefire is welcome but insufficient, and shows Israel could have allowed more food, medicine and other supplies into the strip during the war, humanitarian and legal experts said.
The deal agreed this week allows for 600 trucks a day of aid to enter Gaza, where nine out of 10 Palestinians are going hungry and experts warn that famine is imminent in areas. Israel faces accusations it is using starvation as a weapon of war.
Tania Hary, the executive director of Gisha, an Israeli human rights organisation that petitioned Israel’s high court over the lack of aid entering Gaza, said:
We have said throughout the war that Israel could always have done more to surge the aid response and this clause is effectively an admission of that. We don’t deny that in the absence of hostilities it will be safer for the trucks and workers to move around Gaza but that was far from the only or defining factor in how much aid reached people.
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini also spoke about the “fierce global disinformation campaign” against the UN agency.
He pointed to an “intense diplomatic lobbying by the government of Israel as well as by affiliated NGOs”, noting the billboard and Google ads reportedly paid for by the Israeli government.
Unrwa chief Philippe Lazzarini noted that the Israeli Knesset’s legislation barring the UN agency will come into effect in less than two weeks.
Full implementation of the legislation would be “catastrophic” in Gaza, he warned.
It would massively weaken the international humanitarian response, and this will immeasurably worsen an already dire, catastrophic living condition.
He said the disintegration of Unrwa would “intensify the breakdown of a social order”, “undermine” the ceasefire agreement” and “sabotage” Gaza’s recovery and political transition in the West Bank.
The legislation would “irreversibly harm the lives and future of the Palestinians” as well as “obliterate their trust in the international community”.
Ceasefire 'only a starting point', says Unrwa chief
The head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, has welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and called for all parties to ensure the deal is fully implemented.
Lazzarini, in a press briefing, called for a “rapid, uninterrupted and unhindered” humanitarian access to the “tremendous suffering” in Gaza.
“The ceasefire is only a starting point,” he said, noting that Unrwa is ready to scale up aid delivery and support the recovery of the Palestinian territory by resuming education and providing primary health care.
Sigrid Kaag, the former Dutch foreign minister, has been named as the United Nations’ Middle East envoy.
Kaag will also continue in her current role as the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, a UN spokesperson said.
Israeli cabinet begins meeting on ceasefire deal
Israel’s full cabinet has begun meeting to vote on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Israel’s security cabinet met earlier on Friday to ratify the deal.
The deal then goes to the full cabinet for the final signoff so that the agreement can be implemented on Sunday with the release of the first hostages and prisoners.
Thaslima Begum
After 15 months of relentless bombardment, the war in Gaza has been the deadliest on record for journalists – with at least 166 Palestinian media workers killed according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
As the world waits for the Israeli cabinet to approve the first phase of a ceasefire due to start on Sunday, press freedom organisations are now demanding unfettered access into Gaza for foreign journalists – who have so far been barred by Israel – and calling for accountability for Israel’s alleged war crimes, urging justice to replace a culture of impunity.
“For 15 months, journalists in Gaza have been displaced, starved, defamed, threatened, injured and killed by the Israeli army,” said Thibaut Bruttin, director general of Reporters Without Borders.
“Despite these dangers, they have continued to inform the population of the enclave and the world while their foreign colleagues were denied access to the territory.”
Here are some of their stories.
Israel's hardline security minister urges allies to stop deal at full cabinet meeting
Israel’s hardline security minister, Itamar Ben- Gvir, has urged his allies to stop the Gaza ceasefire deal after the country’s security cabinet ratified the deal earlier on Friday.
Ben Gvir, a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) party, said he had been “horrified by details of the deal.
He called on his allies to continue their opposition to the ceasefire during the full cabinet meeting scheduled for later today. “We can stop this deal, join me, we can stop it,” he said.
On Thursday, Ben-Gvir said he would quit the government if it ratifies the ceasefire deal, calling it “irresponsible” and “reckless”.
Accepting the ceasefire deal with Hamas would “erase the achievements of the war” by releasing Palestinian militants and ceding territory in Gaza, he had claimed.
Israel's president welcomes security cabinet decision to approve deal
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, welcomed the Israeli security cabinet’s decision on Friday to approve the ceasefire deal, saying it would “bring our hostages home”.
“I harbor no illusions — the deal will bring with it great challenges and painful, agonizing moments that we will need to overcome and face together,” he posted to X.
With all my heart, I embrace the families of the hostages, especially those who know that their loved ones will not return in the first stage. We must bring everyone back. Everyone! We will not rest or relent until this happens.
Israel publishes list of 95 Palestinians to be freed in first phase of hostage deal
Israel’s justice ministry has released a list of 95 Palestinians held in Israeli prisoners to be freed in the first exchange of the hostage release deal with Hamas.
Most of the people on the list are women, and the vast majority were arrested after the Hamas attacks on 7 October, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Under the first phase of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages including children, women, including female soldiers, and men aged over 50.
In exchange, Israel would release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas, and 30 for other female hostages.
Russia hopes that the ceasefire in Gaza will lead to long-term stabilisation of the region, president Vladimir Putin said on Friday at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian.
Pezeshkian said he hoped the ceasefire would be implemented.
Putin said it was important not to weaken efforts towards a comprehensive settlement of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, leading to the creation of an independent Palestinian state.
