Israel-Gaza war live: Netanyahu says ‘if we must return to fighting, we will do that’, citing support from Biden and Trump | Israel-Gaza war

Here’s a look at where things stand:

• The Gaza ceasefire will come into effect at 8.30am Gaza time (6.30am GMT) on Sunday 19 January, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said. Under the ceasefire agreement, the three-stage truce starts with an initial six-week phase when hostages held by Hamas will be exchanged for Palestinians detained in jails across Israel.

• Hamas said on Saturday that the mechanism of the release of Israeli hostages it holds in Gaza would depend on the number of detained Palestinians Israel would free. Hamas also said on Saturday that Israel had “failed to achieve its aggressive goals” in Gaza.

• In a new statement on Saturday, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will not go forth with the ceasefire deal until it receives a list of the 33 hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the first phase of the deal. “We will not move forward with the agreement until we receive the list of hostages who will be released, as agreed. Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement. The sole responsibility lies with Hamas,” Netanyahu said.

• Benjamin Netanyahu also said that the first stage of the ceasefire deal was temporary, adding: “If we must return to fighting, we will do that in new, forceful ways.” Netanyahu, who also said that Israel’s “campaign is not over yet”, added that both Donald Trump and Joe Biden back Israel’s “right to resume fighting if the second stage is fruitless”.

• Hezbollah leader, Naim Qassem, congratulated Palestinians on Saturday for the Gaza ceasefire deal, saying it proved the “persistence of resistance” against Israel in his first comments since Israel and Hamas reached the accord on Wednesday. Qassem also said that the Hezbollah’s war with Israel in Lebanon had contributed in “Gaza’s victory”, according to Reuters.

• Israeli forces have killed at least 46,899 Palestinians and injured 110,725 since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in an update on Saturday. The ministry statement said that 23 Palestinians were killed and 83 were injured over the past 24 hours.

• Thousands of anti-war demonstrators gathered throughout London on Saturday before the implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Sunday scheduled for 6.30 GMT. The demonstrations came amid 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians and forcibly displaced nearly 2 million survivors.

• The Israeli military said it intercepted two missiles fired from Yemen on Saturday. The military activated air raid sirens in Jerusalem and in parts of central and southern Israel ahead of the interceptions during the day, with the first projectile shot down in the morning.

Thousands of anti-war demonstrators gathered throughout London on Saturday before the implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Sunday scheduled for 6.30 GMT.

The demonstrations came amid 15 months of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 47,000 Palestinians and forcibly displaced nearly 2 million survivors, in addition to leaving the narrow strip grappling with severe shortages in aid, medical supplies and food due to Israeli aid restrictions.

Speaking to Agence France-Presse, one demonstrator, Sophie Mason, said:

We desperately want to be optimistic … And so we need to be out on the streets in order to make sure the ceasefire holds.

In addition to posters that read “Stop arming Israel”, anti-war protestors waved signs that read “Gaza, stop the massacre” and chanted slogans for Palestinian liberation.

Joanna Walters

Preliminary research by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) estimates that at least 166 journalists and media workers have been among the many tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since the current war began in October 2023, making it the deadliest period for journalists worldwide since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.

The CPJ said: “Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, famine, the displacement of 90% of Gaza’s population, and the destruction of 80% of its buildings.”

Here are some members of the media in Gaza taking a moment to celebrate the agreement to a ceasefire early tomorrow, singing: “We will stay here.”

News is moving fast in the Middle East today on the verge of a ceasefire in the 15-month Israel-Gaza war. It’s coming up on 10pm in Tel Aviv and Gaza City. We’ll keep you up to date as events happen.

Here’s where things stand:

• The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said both US president-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday, and outgoing the US president, Joe Biden, have stressed that Israel can return to fighting in Gaza if the next stages of the deal are not realized.

• Netanyahu said that the first stage of tomorrow’s scheduled ceasefire in Gaza was temporary, adding: “If we must return to fighting, we will do that in new, forceful ways.”

• David Lammy, the UK’s foreign secretary, congratulated the Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, for his country’s efforts on reaching a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

• In a new statement on Saturday, Netanyahu said Israel will not go forth with the ceasefire deal until it receives a list of the 33 hostages kidnapped by Hamas in the first phase of the deal.

• The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said that a “more hopeful” future awaits Lebanon, Israel’s northern neighbor which recently entered into a ceasefire with Hamas-ally Hezbollah there. Guterres spoke after his meeting with Lebanon’s new leaders.

• The Gaza ceasefire will come into effect at 8.30am Gaza time (6.30am GMT) on Sunday, 19 January, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said.

• The government announced the approval after 1am Saturday, Jerusalem time, following a six-hour meeting of the full cabinet that went well past the beginning of the Jewish sabbath.

• News of the ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas has been greeted with joy by Palestinians but a more wary attitude in Israel, where demonstrators both in favour and against the deal have taken to the streets.

• Thirty-three of the 98 remaining Israeli hostages – including women, children, men over 50, and ill and wounded captives – are to be freed in this phase. In return, Israel will release almost 2,000 Palestinians from its jails.

• Hamas said on Saturday that the mechanism of the release of Israeli hostages it holds in Gaza would depend on the number of Palestinian prisoners Israel would free.

• Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem, congratulated Palestinians on Saturday for the Gaza ceasefire deal, saying it proved the “persistence of resistance” against Israel in his first comments since Israel and Hamas reached the accord on Wednesday.

• A spokesperson for al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has said that the group is making final arrangements for the release of captives. However, they warned that intensified Israeli bombing could put their lives at risk.

• The Israeli military said it intercepted two missiles fired from Yemen on Saturday.

• Israel’s military offensive on the Gaza Strip has killed at least 46,899 Palestinians and injured 110,725 since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in an update on Saturday.

• Israel is expected to receive the names of the first three hostages to be released. Hamas will reportedly give the names to Qatar, which will then inform the Mossad director, David Barnea. Barnea would then inform the families.

• Israeli police said that several people were injured in a shooting in Tel Aviv on Saturday, while emergency service providers reported that one person was injured by stabbing.

• Eight people have been arrested at a pro-Palestine rally in central London.

• Lebanon’s new president, Joseph Aoun, stressed to UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Saturday the urgency of an Israeli military withdrawal as stipulated by a ceasefire deal that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war in November.

• The Palestine Red Cross Society (PRCS) welcomed the news of a ceasefire deal in the Gaza Strip in a statement published on Saturday, describing it as a “glimpse of hope through the darkness” for Palestinians.

• Two judges were killed in a shooting attack on Saturday outside the supreme court building in Tehran, Iranian state media reported.