The European Union is considering gradually suspending multiple economic sanctions on Syria to support the country’s transition while maintaining some influence, according to two internal documents reviewed by Reuters.
EU foreign ministers are expected to discuss suspending certain sanctions on Syria during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27. The documents, prepared by the European Union’s foreign policy body ahead of the meeting, outline options for supporting Syria’s transition and a roadmap for easing sanctions.
European capitals have begun reassessing their Syria policy following the fall of the Assad regime.
Hamas police and security forces were operating in the Gaza Strip today, the second day of a cease-fire with Israel, AFP journalists reported.
Hamas Deputy Interior Minister Mahmoud Abou Watfah inspected armed police officers, some in military fatigues and others in makeshift black uniforms, before they patrolled the streets of Gaza City in the north.
In his inaugural address, Donald Trump referenced the release of Israeli hostages and the Gaza cease-fire agreement, stating, “Hostages in the Middle East are returning home and reuniting with their families.”
“As in 2017, we will build once again the most powerful military the world has ever known. We will measure our success not only by the battles we will win but also by the wars we will end and, perhaps more importantly, the wars we will never enter,” the newly inaugurated president also declared.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tells Trump that the “happiest days” of their alliance are ahead, reports AFP.
The Israeli army blew up buildings near Yaroun (Bint Jbeil district) in southern Lebanon, reports our correspondent. In addition, flares were fired near Aitaroun.
Five bodies were recovered from the rubble in Khiam (Marjayoun) by Civil Defense teams, according to our correspondent in the South. Four bodies were found in the Jlahieh-Nazlet Wadi Qais district, and a fifth in the Sharqi al-Fawr district.
The remains were taken to the Marjayoun government hospital for DNA testing. The search for bodies buried under the rubble will resume tomorrow morning, said the Civil Defense, which is working in coordination with the Lebanese Army.
Israeli forces have released three Lebanese farmers from Wazzani (Hasbaya district) in southern Lebanon, whom they had captured this morning, the president of the local municipality told our correspondent.
“The people of northern Israel are not returning, they don't trust the government,” Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said as quoted by Haaretz.
Qatar has announced that it is sending 1.25 million liters of fuel a day to Gaza during the first 10 days of the truce between Hamas and Israel, according to a statement from its Foreign Ministry quoted by AFP.
Qatar said it had “set up a land bridge to supply the Gaza Strip with 12.5 million liters of fuel during the first 10 days of the cease-fire agreement (...) at a rate of 1.25 million liters per day,” to meet the needs of 2.4 million residents.
Israeli artillery has hit the area around Kfar Shuba (Hasbaya district), reports our correspondent in the South. A drone continues to fly over the area.
Annexing the occupied West Bank would be a “very serious violation of international law,” warned U.N. chief Antonio Guterres in his address, on the eve of President Donald Trump's inauguration.
As Trump gears to step into power, West Bank residents and international experts warn of his past support of Israeli annexation of the area. Read more here.
“The cease-fire in Lebanon is fragile, but it is holding firm. It is clear that the Israeli presence must end and that the Lebanese Army must move in,” said U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at a Security Council meeting in New York.
“The area between the Blue Line and the Litani River must be free of any armed personnel other than U.N. peacekeepers and the Lebanese Army,” he added. “A new day is dawning in Lebanon, where a new government should be formed (...) United Nations and peacekeeping forces are committed to supporting the Lebanese state.”
"Gaza, with its great people and its unwavering will, will rise up to rebuild" what Israeli bombing has destroyed, Hamas said in a statement on Monday, on the second day of the truce with Israel.
The Palestinian Islamist movement added that these efforts would continue "until the occupation is defeated and a Palestinian State is established with Jerusalem as its capital."
Israeli forces burned down a building in the Debesh neighborhood, in the town of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun district) in southern Lebanon, reported our regional correspondent.
At least 47,035 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, and 111,091 have been wounded, the enclave's health ministry said in a statement relayed by Reuters.
(Credit: Omar al-Qatta/AFP)
People walk past the remains of a destroyed Israeli excavator by a damaged building near Saftawi street in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on Jan. 20, 2025 a day after a cease-fire deal in the war between Israel and Hamas went into effect.
⚡ Once again, Israeli artillery fired several shells on the outskirts of Kfar Shuba, in southern Lebanon's Hasbaya district, reported our regional correspondent.
The mother of one of the three hostages freed by Hamas on Sunday said her daughter's health was "much better" than she had imagined, according to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, relayed by Haaretz.
"I finally had the chance to hug her yesterday, as I had dreamed of for so long," she said.
The relatives of one of the Hamas hostages who was killed in Gaza and whose body is still being held by the Palestinian Islamist movement protested at a session of the Israeli Cabinet's Constitution, Law and Justice Committee against the fact that the cease-fire agreement and hostage exchange are not being implemented in a single comprehensive phase, according to Haaretz.
"You have promised me many times that this will be a comprehensive agreement, but it is only partial. How could you vote for a deal that frees 34 hostages while abandoning 65?" the hostage's aunt told lawmakers.
The hostage's father said the decision not to include his daughter and said that the deal was political. "The fact of not bringing back his body harms the image of victory of the prime minister," he added.
Here are the latest updates on Israeli attacks and cease-fire violations in southern Lebanon:
- Road blocked near Wadi Salouki: Israeli tanks and bulldozers have cut off the road to Wadi Salouki between the Bani Hayyan and Qabrikha junctions (Marjayoun district) by constructing a sand barrier, our correspondent reported. The Israeli army has also positioned itself in the town of Tallousseh, where the Lebanese Army was set to deploy today.
- Artillery fire in Maroun al-Ras: Residents attempting to dismantle sand barricades and reopen roads connecting Maroun al-Ras (Bint Jbeil district) to the village of Bint Jbeil came under Israeli artillery fire. Believing the Israeli army had withdrawn, they were forced to retreat after the attack. No casualties were reported. However, residents managed to recover the body of a man killed in a prior Israeli bombing from beneath the rubble.
- Israeli forces in Mais al-Jabal: Israeli forces have established a presence in the Debesh area on the western outskirts of Mais al-Jabal (Marjayoun district).
More on Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon:
Farmers abducted in Wazzani: The Israeli army reportedly kidnapped three Lebanese farmers from the al-Bassatin area of Wazzani, our correspondent reports. The individuals have been identified as Ali Jamil Ahmed (who had previously been abducted), Merhi Adnan Mohammed, and Yacoub Ghassan Mohammed, according to Abu Ziad Mohammed, the head of the village municipality. The farmers were taken to an unknown location.
Fruit trees looted in Dhaira: In the Dhaira area (Sour district), the Israeli army is reportedly cutting down and looting fruit trees using backhoes, according to reports from the state-run National News Agency (NNA) and al-Nashra.
Here are the latest updates on Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon over the past hour, according to our regional correspondent, based on information from residents and news agencies. With one week remaining before the two-month deadline to implement the terms of the cease-fire, tensions in this partially Israeli-occupied region have intensified compared to recent days.
- Shelling near Saddane: The Israeli army fired a shell at the Saddane area, located in the Arkoub Heights (Jezzine district). Residents reported hearing the explosion, but its precise location remains unclear, our correspondent said. The National News Agency (NNA) also reported intermittent shelling in the area.
- Fires in Marjayoun district: Observers noted that the Israeli army was setting fires in various locations, including Marj al-Khiam and Bab al-Thania (east of the Marjayoun Valley).
Yemen's Houthis said they will resume attacks on Israel, the U.S. and UK-linked ships if those countries attack Yemen, Reuters reported.
According to the Associated Press, the rebels have also signaled that they will limit attacks in the Red Sea corridor to Israeli-affiliated ships.
Yemen's Houthis, backed by Iran, began their attacks following Hamas' Oct.7 attacks in an effort to support and stop the war in Gaza.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said today on RMC-BFMTV that Paris had "no news" of the two French hostages in Gaza the day after Hamas first freed hostages.
Asked about the fate of Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi, the minister replied: "No news. And that's the tragedy of these massive hostage-taking events on Oct. 7, is that we have no news about their state of health, about their conditions of detention."
Jean-Noël Barrot recalled that the men "are part of the list of 33 hostages to be released in the next 40 days," adding that Paris had weighed in for them to be part of this list.
According to our regional correspondent, an Israeli army occupying unit advanced to the al-Majidiya farm, at Wadi Khansa, in the Hasbaya district of southern Lebanon, where it apprehended and then searched several Lebanese and Syrian farmers working in the fields, before releasing them.
The latter were interrogated, and their mobile phones were searched before they were released
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said in an interview with Army Radio that Israel should "conquer the entire Strip and establish military rule there. I want a Chief of Staff who understands that this is his mission, who stands behind it and is determined to implement it," reported Haaretz.
"There's no third party that can control the Strip, it's a bluff," Smotrich said. "We need to control Gaza for at least one to two years, with a combined military and civilian effort, until we eliminate Hamas and the population stops fearing it."
To find out more, press here.👈
Also in the occupied West Bank, last night, Jewish settlers torched houses and cars and threw stones at people and property across Palestinian villages. The violence comes in response to the first round of female and teenage Palestinian prisoners being released as part of the Gaza cease-fire agreement.
"In Sinjil, settlers set fire to two houses and at least four cars," reported Haaretz. "In Ein Sinya, houses were set on fire. In Turmus Aya, dozens of settlers caused damage to property. On route 60, near Luban al-Sharqiya, stones were thrown on cars."
The Israeli daily also noted that earlier on Sunday, "names of villages that released prisoners are expected to return to were posted on settlers' social media groups, with calls to get to their entrances and cause disruptions."
The Israeli army announced in a statement relayed by the Israeli media that one of its soldiers had been killed by the explosion of a device in the village of Tammun, in the occupied West Bank. The explosion occurred when the soldiers' armored vehicle came into contact with the explosive device. The battalion commander was seriously injured, while another soldier was moderately wounded, according to information provided by the army.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah MP Ali Fayad has warned that the group will not remain passive if Israel does not withdraw from the southern Lebanese territories it occupies before Jan. 26, the final day of the two-month period set for implementing the terms of the truce negotiated between the two sides. The clashes, which began sporadically on Oct. 8, 2023, escalated into near-total war by last September.
"We in Hezbollah are waiting for Jan. 26, the day when the cease-fire will require a total Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory. If the Israeli enemy does not comply, it will mean the end of the cease-fire and the questioning of the international sponsorship of this agreement," the MP said at a ceremony in Nabatieh, held in tribute to the victims of Israeli bombings in Taybeh after the cease-fire was implemented, in the Marjayoun district. The agreement was brokered under the auspices of France and the United States.
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem has echoed similar warnings in his last two speeches, the latest being this Saturday. To read the highlights of what came in Qassem's latest speech, press here.👈
Israeli drones were reported flying over Saida and the nearby Palestinian refugee camps, according to our correspondent in southern Lebanon.
In Lebanon, a meeting of the technical committee monitoring the cease-fire in Lebanon with Israel is taking place today in Naqoura, in the Sour district of southern Lebanon, according to our regional correspondent.
The meeting aims to finalize key steps concerning the central sector of southern Lebanon, from which Israel is expected to withdraw and where the Lebanese Army will deploy. On Tuesday, the follow-up committee will focus on the final sector, the eastern region.
The two-month period allocated for implementing the cease-fire arrangements ends on Jan. 26.
China on Monday hailed the start of a long-awaited truce aimed at ending more than 15 months of war in Gaza.
A spokeswoman for Beijing's foreign ministry said, "China welcomes the Gaza cease-fire agreement coming into effect."
"We hope that the agreement will be fully and continuously implemented and that a comprehensive and permanent cease-fire in Gaza will be achieved," Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing.
"China will continue to work with the international community to promote peace and stability in the Middle East," she said.
China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
It has positioned itself as a more neutral actor on the conflict than its rival the United States, but has repeatedly called on Israel to end what it calls humanitarian disasters in Gaza.
Last summer, China hosted rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah in Beijing, where they signed an agreement to form a "national unity government" in Gaza after the end of hostilities.
⚡ The Lebanese Army halted its deployment in Tallousseh after receiving reports of three Israeli tanks at the Bani Hayyan junction, in southern Lebanon's Marjayoun district, according to our regional correspondent.
The Lebanese Army is set to enter the village of Tallousseh in the Marjayoun district today as part of its redeployment in the region following the withdrawal of Israeli troops, according to our regional correspondent. However, civilians will need to wait for field inspections and the clearance of unexploded ordnance, as the Israelis had occupied the village during their incursion toward Wadi Slouki.
The army is also expected to enter the village of Ainata and the town of Bint Jbeil. The Israeli army had been unable to enter Bint Jbeil, only reaching its outskirts near the villages of Maroun al-Ras and Yaroun after the cease-fire. Since the fighting stopped, many families have returned to Bint Jbeil.
In southern Lebanon, Israeli occupying soldiers entered the village of Bani Hayan this morning, advancing toward Wadi Slouki in the Marjayoun district and firing machine guns into the area, according to our regional correspondent and the state-run National News Agency.
Minutes after the cease-fire took effect, which includes provisions to deliver the urgently needed humanitarian aid to Gaza, the U.N. announced the arrival of the first aid trucks.
Egypt reported that the agreement allows for "the entry of 600 aid trucks per day." By the end of Sunday, "260 aid trucks and 16 fuel trucks" had crossed into Gaza, according to an Egyptian official.
“We are trying to reach one million people as quickly as possible,” Carl Skau, Deputy Executive Director of the World Food Program, told AFP.
This morning on X, Tom Fletcher, the U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said over 600 trucks had entered Gaza since the cease-fire began, including 300 bound for the heavily bombarded northern part of the enclave.
The truce agreement stipulates an end to hostilities and the release of 33 Israeli hostages during an initial six-week phase. In return, Israeli authorities have pledged to release around 1,900 Palestinian detainees within the same timeframe.
The agreement also specifies that 236 Palestinians serving life sentences for involvement in attacks or bombings will be exiled as part of the exchange, primarily to Qatar or Turkey.
Negotiations for the second phase of the truce will take place during this initial period, aiming for the release of the remaining hostages. The final stage is expected to focus on Gaza’s reconstruction and the return of the bodies of hostages who died in captivity.
Palestinian imprisoned journalist Baraah Fuqaha (R), is welcomed by relatives upon the arrival in the early hours of Jan. 20, 2025 (Credit: Zain Jaafar/AFP)
Hundreds of people lined the road in Beitunia, near Ramallah, to watch the buses carrying freed detainees pass by, waving Palestinian flags and those of various political factions, including Hamas and Hezbollah, an AFP journalist reported from the scene.
As the gates opened, a jubilant crowd welcomed the freed detainees with tears, hugs, songs and fireworks.
“The wait was extremely difficult, but thanks be to God, we were certain that one day we would be freed,” said journalist Boushra al-Tawil, who had been imprisoned in March 2024 and was among the group, which mostly included women and children.
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, thousands of displaced Palestinians navigated an apocalyptic landscape as they began the long journey home.
After 471 days of war, the truce negotiated between Hamas and Israel finally came into effect at 9:15 a.m. GMT on Sunday, nearly three hours behind schedule. Hamas delayed providing a list of the three Israeli hostages set to be released that day, citing “complications on the ground” and “continued bombardments.”
By late afternoon, a Hamas official told AFP that the three hostages had been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in northern Gaza City. Shortly after, the Israeli army confirmed their safe arrival in Israel.
Just after midnight on Monday, the Israel Prisons Authority announced that 90 Palestinian detainees had been freed from the Ofer military prison in the occupied West Bank and a detention center in Jerusalem.
Throughout Sunday, Israeli authorities said they had heightened security measures on the ground, although no incidents were reported.
To catch up on the weekend's key events, be sure to read our Morning Brief.👈
Good morning!
Thank you for joining our live coverage of events unfolding in the Middle East. Today marks the second day of the truce in Gaza, which took effect on Sunday, offering a pause in a war that has raged for 471 days and killed over 46,913 Palestinians.
We’ll also be reporting the developments in Lebanon, Yemen and Syria, where the region continues to grapple with the aftermath of the Assad regime’s collapse just over a month ago.
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