A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza yesterday, the Israeli military said, hours after Israel’s Cabinet approved a deal to pause the fighting and exchange the remaining hostages for Palestinian prisoners.
Tens of thousands of people who had gathered in Wadi Gaza in central Gaza in the morning started walking north after the military’s announcement at noon local time. Beforehand, Palestinians reported heavy shelling in parts of Gaza throughout yesterday morning, but no significant bombardment was reported after.
The ceasefire is a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, reduced much of Gaza to rubble, destabilized the Middle East, and left dozens of hostages, living and dead, in the territory.
Photo: Reuters
Still, the broader plan advanced by US President Donald Trump includes many unanswered questions, such as whether and how Hamas would disarm and who would govern Gaza.
A brief statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office early yesterday said the Israeli Cabinet approved the “outline” of a deal to release the hostages, without mentioning other aspects of the plan that are more controversial.
Israeli troops have begun to withdraw to agreed-upon deployment lines, the military said.
An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the withdrawal, said the military would control about 50 percent of Gaza in their new positions.
Senior Hamas official and lead negotiator Khalil al-Hayyas gave a speech on Thursday laying out what he said were the core elements of the ceasefire deal: Israel releasing about 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, opening the border crossing with Egypt, allowing aid to flow and Israeli forces withdrawing.
Khalil al-Hayya said all women and children held in Israeli jails would also be freed. He did not offer details on the extent of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
A list published yesterday by Israel of Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the deal did not include high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti, the most popular Palestinian leader and a potentially unifying figure. Israel views some others as terrorist masterminds who murdered Israeli civilians and has refused to release them in past exchanges.
The Trump administration and mediators had given assurances that the war is over, al-Hayya said, adding that Hamas and other Palestinian factions would now focus on achieving self-determination and establishing a Palestinian state.
To help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, US officials said they would send about 200 troops to Israel as part of a broader, international team.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorized for release.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions
The Ministry of Economic Affairs said it plans to revise the export control list for strategic high-tech products by adding 18 items under three categories — advanced 3D printing equipment, advanced semiconductor equipment and quantum computers — which would require local manufacturers to obtain licenses for their export. The ministry’s announcement yesterday came as the International Trade Administration issued a 60-day preview period for planned revisions to the Export Control List for Dual Use Items and Technology (軍商兩用貨品及技術出口管制清單) and the Common Military List (一般軍用貨品清單), which fall under regulations governing export destinations for strategic high-tech commodities and specific strategic high-tech commodities. The
RSS