š“ The Israeli government ratified the Gaza cease-fire and hostage return deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said, after a cabinet meeting that lasted more than six hours and ended in the early hours of Saturday, Reuters reports.
Under the deal, bitterly opposed by some cabinet hardliners, a six-week cease-fire is due to take effect on Sunday, with the first of a series of hostage-for-prisoner exchanges that could open the way to ending the 15-month war in Gaza.
On Friday, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened that he and his far-right Otzma Yehudit party would withdraw from the government if it approved the deal.
Israel's Channel 12, quoted by the Times of Israel, reported that the White House had exerted significant pressure on the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the latter decided on Thursday to delay the start of the hostage-taking from Sunday to Monday, citing "bureaucratic problems."
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu's office finally announced that the agreement would begin to be implemented on Sunday, as initially planned.

(Credit: Koby Gideon/GPO/AFP)
This handout picture released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (5-R), heading a security cabinet meeting to vote on a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that should take effect on Jan. 19, in Jerusalem on Jan. 17, 2025.
If approved, the agreement would halt fighting and bombardment in Gaza's deadliest-ever war and initiate on Sunday the release of dozens of hostages held in the territory since Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
A CIA employee accused of leaking secret documents about Israel's plans to strike Iran will plead guilty to criminal charges that he willfully withheld and passed on information from U.S. National Defense, according to a court filing cited by Reuters.
The Palestinian Authority is ready to "fully assume its responsibilities" in Gaza, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said, in his first official reaction since the announcement of a cease-fire agreement on Wednesday.
"The Palestinian government, under the leadership of President Abbas, has completed all preparations to fully assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip," said a statement from the Palestinian presidency, reaffirming "the legal and political authority of the State of Palestine in this territory."
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed former Dutch Foreign Minister Sigrid Kaag as the new U.N. envoy for the Middle East, a spokesperson for the organization said.
Kaag will also continue in her current role as the U.N.'s humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, said U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq.
He added that Kaag's appointment as Middle East envoy was temporary, while Guterres continued his search for a permanent replacement for Tor Wennesland, who left her post late last year after four years in the post.
According to our correspondent in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army is firing machine guns and burning houses in the town of Bani Hayyan in the Marjayoun district.
The Israeli cabinet meeting on the truce in Gaza began, reported Haaretz.
The Israeli authorities have published the names of 95 Palestinian detainees to be released on Sunday as part of the first prisoner exchange phase under the truce agreement.
"The release of the prisoners ... will not take place until Sunday at 4:00 p.m." (14:00 GMT), said a statement from the Israeli Justice Ministry.
Validated by the Israeli security cabinet, but still to be approved by the government, the Gaza truce agreement, due to come into force on Sunday, provides for the release of 33 hostages in Gaza in exchange for several hundred Palestinians incarcerated by Israel.
The Lebanese Army announced on Friday the arrest of a man for allegedly "communicating with agents of the Israeli intelligence service."
According to the army's statement, the suspect, identified as H.A., was deceived by his recruiters, who posed as members of "an international organization." He is accused of "providing his recruiters with security information, then became involved in espionage activities by traveling to the occupied Palestinian territories, where he met his recruiters and received sums of money from them," the statement added.
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British MPs have urged Israel to reverse its decision to ban the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem ā a ban due to be implemented by the end of January, reported AFP.
Such a ban risks seeing the humanitarian situation "deteriorate rapidly, and potentially irreparably" in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, according to the British Parliament's International Development Committee.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy stated that the ban threatened the cease-fire agreement. "What we don't want is this peace, that begins on Sunday, undermined by that legislation just a few days into its passing," he told parliament on Thursday.
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(Credit: Photo provided by our correspondent Sarah Abdallah)
Explosions echoed across the eastern chain near the Taybeh firing ranges, used by the Lebanese Army, according to our correspondent in the Bekaa. Army engineering teams are detonating unexploded missiles left from Israeli attacks on the region.
Egyptian, Qatari, U.S. and Israeli mediators have convened in Cairo to establish "mechanisms" for implementing the cease-fire agreement in Gaza, according to state-affiliated media cited by AFP.
Quoting an informed Egyptian source, Al-Qahera News reported that technical meetings began today in Cairo "to develop mechanisms for implementing the Gaza cease-fire agreement, with participation from Egyptian, Qatari, U.S., and Israeli teams."
š“ The Israeli security cabinet has approved the truce agreement with Hamas in Gaza, reports AFP. An Israeli government meeting is to follow for final approval of the agreement.
ā” āThe occupationā and Israeli military operations in southern Lebanon must end, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said from Lebanon, quoted by AFP.
He added that peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had discovered more than 100 Hezbollah weapons caches since the truce.
The Directorate of General Security in Tartus said that "after coordination with the Intelligence Directorate in the governorate and through continuous monitoring and surveillance, an arms smuggling operation heading to Lebanon via illegal crossings was thwarted. The weapons and missiles were seized just before entering Lebanese territory," the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said in a post on X.
ā”The release of hostages provided for in the first phase of the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas should begin on Sunday, announced the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quoted by AFP.
āSubject to the approval [of the agreement] by the security cabinet and the government, and the implementation of the agreement, the release of the hostages can take place according to plan, with the [first] hostages to be released as early as Sunday,ā said a statement from Netanyahu's office.
The European Union is to provide 235 million euros in aid to Syria and neighboring countries, the European Commissioner for Emergency Humanitarian Aid, Hadja Lahbib, announced from Damascus, according to AFP.
āI've come here to announce a new 235-million-euro humanitarian aid package for Syria and neighboring countries,ā she said following her meeting with Syria's new leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa.
ā”Israel's security cabinet is meeting this morning for a vote on the truce and hostage exchange agreement in Gaza intended to bring an end to more than 15 months of war between Israel and Hamas, says AFP quoting āan official source.ā
āThe meeting of the security cabinet for a discussion and vote on the agreement has begun,ā a government official told AFP on condition of anonymity, without specifying the location of the meeting.
ā”The European Commissioner for Emergency Humanitarian Aid, Hadja Lahbib, is in Damascus, marking the first EU official to visit Syria since the fall of Assad, AFP reports.
The official Syrian agency Sana broadcasted images of her meeting with the new Syrian leader, Ahmad al-Sharaa. āMy main message is that we hope to see an inclusive government,ā she told journalists, calling for it to "incorporate the full diversity of Syrian society."
Hamas will release the names of the Israeli hostages to be freed on the day of their release, Haaretz reports. However, a statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that āthe names will only be made public after the hostages have been handed overā to the army and their families.
Emmanuel Macron began his visit to Lebanon with a meeting with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati. The discussion included the issue of Israelās withdrawal from southern Lebanon and adherence to the cease-fire agreement set to expire on Jan. 26.
"I believe things are moving toward a compliant withdrawal by the set deadline. As for the issue of Israeli violations, it will be addressed during the meeting of the committee implementing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701," Mikati said. Resolution 1701 ended the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
"The necessary complaints will be filed. There are assurances that the violations will cease at the end of the 60 days. I hope that is what happens," the caretaker prime minister added.
Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said yesterday that he would resign from the government if it adopted the āirresponsibleā truce agreement with Hamas.
āIf this irresponsible agreement is approved and implemented, the Jewish Force party will no longer be part of the government,ā said Ben Gvir at a press conference, also calling for a "complete halt to humanitarian aid" to Gaza in order to obtain "the release of the hostages."
Good morning, thank you for joining us for today's live coverage of events in the region. Make sure to read today's Morning Brief to get up to date.
ā”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced early this morning āthat an agreement has been reached on the release of hostagesā held in the Gaza Strip adding that a security cabinet meeting was scheduled for later today, AFP reports.
āPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been informed by the negotiating team that agreements have been reached for the release of the hostages,ā his office said in a statement. The Prime Minister's office had yesterday accused Hamas of reneging on key points of the agreement to extort last-minute concessions, which Hamas denied.
If approved by the Israeli cabinet, the truce agreement will begin on Sunday and will involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. Conditions for a permanent end to the fighting are to be finalized in a subsequent stage.
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