Middle East latest: Israel's full Cabinet approves the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal

A child sits outside a tent at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Friday Jan. 17, 2025. Credit: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana
Israel's Cabinet has approved the Gaza ceasefire deal that would pause the fighting and release dozens of hostages held by militants, along with Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The approval came early on Saturday after a marathon session by the full Cabinet. The prime minister’s office has said that once the deal is approved, the ceasefire could start on Sunday with the first hostages released. This would be just the second ceasefire achieved in 15 months of war.
Under the deal, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The remaining hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first. The Hamas militant group has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
As many as 95 Palestinian prisoners are set to be released during the first stage of the ceasefire, Israel’s Justice Ministry says.
Israel’s war against Hamas has killed over 46,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It does not say how many of the dead were militants. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
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Here's the latest:

Symbolic coffins are displayed in Jerusalem to protest a hostage deal as Israel's security cabinet is set to convene to decide whether to approve a deal that would release dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza and pause the 15-month-war, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025. Credit: AP/Mahmoud Illean
Israel publishes list of more than 700 Palestinian prisoners to be released under the ceasefire deal
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Justice Ministry has published a list of over 700 Palestinian prisoners who are to be released under the ceasefire deal pausing the war with Hamas militants in Gaza.
The list was published early on Saturday, just hours after Israel’s full Cabinet approved the ceasefire deal, under which militants in Gaza will release dozens of hostages in exchange for Israel releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The Justice Ministry said the Palestinian prisoners would be released no earlier than 4 p.m. local time on Sunday, the day the exchange is set to begin. The list includes members of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad militant groups, some of whom are serving lifetime sentences and are convicted of serious offenses such as murder.
The list did not appear to include Marwan Barghouti, the 64-year-old Palestinian who is the highest-profile prisoner held by Israel and seen by many Palestinians as a prime candidate to become their president in the future. He was a leader in the West Bank during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s.

Activists representing families of Israelis who were killed during the war in Gaza block a road during a protest against the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in Jerusalem on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. Credit: AP/Ohad Zwigenberg
Hamas has demanded that Israel release him as part of any ceasefire agreement, a possibility Israeli officials have ruled out.
UN says Israeli soldiers' actions in buffer zone between Israel and Syria violate a 1974 agreement
UNITED NATIONS — Israeli forces are continuing construction in the buffer zone established by a 1974 ceasefire agreement between Syria and Israel and have set up communications equipment and roadblocks, a U.N. official says.
Major General Patrick Gauchat, the acting head of the U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNDOF that's patrolling the area, says the force has told Israel that its presence and actions violate the agreement.
Israel entered the area, saying it's temporary to prevent it from being occupied by armed militants in the wake of the fall of Syrian President Bashar Assad last month that halted the country’s 13-year civil war.
The area's residents want Israeli forces “to leave their village centers and lift roadblocks impacting their agricultural work,” Gauchat said.
Israeli Cabinet approves deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages
After a marathon session, the Israeli Cabinet has approved a deal for a ceasefire in Gaza and a release of dozens of hostages held there in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The ceasefire will pause the 15-month war with Hamas for six weeks.
The deal was approved by the full Cabinet shortly after 1 a.m. on Saturday. The hourslong meeting went well past the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, a sign of the moment’s importance. In line with Jewish law, the Israeli government usually halts all business for the Sabbath except in emergency cases of life or death.
It brings Israel and Hamas a step closer to ending their deadliest and most destructive fighting ever. The ceasefire — just the second achieved during the war — is expected to begin on Sunday.
Mediators Qatar and the United States announced the ceasefire on Wednesday, but the deal was in limbo for more than a day as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted there were last-minute complications that he blamed on the Hamas militant group.
The Lebanese army sig
nificantly expanded its footprint since the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, UN says
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. peacekeeping chief says Lebanon's armed forces have significantly increased their deployment in the south near the border with Israel over the past two months.
Jean-Pierre Lacroix spoke to the U.N. Security Council in a video briefing from Beirut on Friday.
He said Lebanese troops have moved into 93 locations in the south since the ceasefire between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group began on Nov. 27. That's up from an estimated 10 locations south of the Litani River at the time of the truce, he said.
As part of the government’s plan to deploy an additional 6,000 troops to the south, he said, 262 new recruits have arrived, another 673 are undergoing training and an additional 600 are undergoing pre-recruitment screening.
Lacroix echoed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is also visiting Lebanon, in urging Israeli forces to withdraw without delay.
The Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire gave Israeli forces and Hezbollah two months to leave southern Lebanon and hand over control to the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers.
“With 10 days until the end of the stated 60-day period for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon, however, Israeli demolitions of tunnels, buildings, and agricultural land continue,” he said. “Some airstrikes have also been reported, as have ongoing violations of Lebanese airspace.”
Israel has said its actions are targeting Hezbollah assets and personnel, Lacroix said, but the presence of Israeli forces in Lebanon is a violation of the Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war.
Palestinian leaders in the West Bank assert they’re ready to take ‘responsibility’ in Gaza
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian leaders who administer parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank say they’re ready “to assume full responsibility” in the Gaza Strip, according to a statement reported by the official Wafa news agency.
President Mahmoud Abbas’ office said the Palestinian Authority’s administrative and security agencies had finished preparations to restore critical services in Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas.
But there’s still no plan for who will govern Gaza after the war.
Israel has said it will work with local Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas or the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. But it’s unclear if such partners exist, and Hamas has threatened anyone who cooperates with Israeli forces.
The Palestinian Authority controlled Gaza before Hamas violently expelled it in 2007, a year after winning an landslide victory in Palestinian elections.
UNRWA is determined to keep working in Gaza despite Israeli ban
UNITED NATIONS — The head of the U.N. agency supporting Palestinian refugees says it is determined to keep working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank after an Israeli ban on its operations takes effect Jan. 30.
Philippe Lazzarini told reporters Friday that shutting down the agency known as UNRWA would “massively weaken the international humanitarian response” in Gaza.
That’s because UNRWA is the only body capable of providing essential health care and education in Gaza, he said, which will be especially needed once the ceasefire takes effect.
Israel alleges Hamas and other militants in Gaza have infiltrated UNRWA, using its facilities and taking aid — claims for which it has provided little evidence.
Established in 1949, UNRWA offers support to the 6 million Palestinian refugees and their descendants around the Mideast.
Right now, nearly all of the 2 million Palestinians in Gaza rely on the agency for primary health care, and its 650,000 children depend on UNRWA for education. Lazzarini said ending ending UNRWA’s operations would be “catastrophic.”
Putin welcomes the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday welcomed the Gaza ceasefire deal and said he hopes it will hold.
This was the first time Putin has commented publicly on the agreement since mediators announced it earlier this week. Putin spoke after meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, and said they touched on the Gaze ceasefire during their talks at the Kremlin.
He said that in addition to freeing Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, the deal must open the way for more food, fuel and medicine into Gaza.
“At the same time, it is important not to weaken efforts to comprehensively resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the generally recognized international legal basis,” he said, “which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state existing in peace and security with Israel.”
Israeli military says it's getting ready to pull back from parts of Gaza
TEL AVIV, Israel — The Israeli military said troops stationed inside Gaza are preparing for the implementation of the ceasefire, which is expected to begin Sunday.
During the ceasefire, the Israeli military will gradually withdraw from certain locations and routes within the Gaza Strip.
However, the military said it will not allow Palestinian residents to return to areas where Israeli troops are stationed, or near the border with Israel.
Under the deal, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
US sanctions a bank in Yemen for alleged support to Houthi rebels
WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Friday imposed sanctions on Yemen-based Yemen Kuwait Bank for its alleged financial support to the Houthis, which the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.
“The Houthis rely on a few key financial institutions like Yemen Kuwait Bank to access the international financial system and finance their destabilizing attacks in the region,” said Bradley T. Smith, Treasury’s acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
2 Americans are detained in Lebanon on suspicion of spying on Hezbollah, officials say
BEIRUT — Lebanese authorities are holding two U.S. citizens on suspicion of gathering information in an area controlled by the militant group Hezbollah south of Beirut, officials said Friday.
The U.S. citizens were carrying cameras and smartphones, and drew the suspicion of Hezbollah members who detained them before handing them over to Lebanon’s military intelligence for questioning. That’s according to two Lebanese judicial officials and a security official.
A U.S. Embassy official, when asked whether two Americans have been detained in Beirut, responded by saying: “We are aware of the case but have nothing further to add.”
All four officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the security matter with the media.
Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar first reported about the detention, saying two Americans in their early 30s were detained Tuesday at a shawarma restaurant close to a compound run by Hezbollah. Al-Akhbar said the two men entered Lebanon on Monday, rented a car and were staying at a hotel in central Beirut.
The Lebanese judicial and security officials said the men went for two days to eat at restaurants in the southern suburbs of Beirut.
Iran-backed Hezbollah has deep support among the Shia community in Beirut’s southern suburbs and in the country’s south — areas that Israel repeatedly bombed last fall during the war with Hezbollah. A shaky ceasefire has been in effect since late November.