Friday, January 17, 2025
05:40 GMT — Israeli strikes kill scores ahead of Cabinet meeting on truce deal
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a deal to pause war in Gaza and return captives from the besieged Palestinian enclave has been reached.
Friday's announcement came a day after Netanyahu's office said there were last minute snags in talks to free captives in return for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Palestinian abductees.
Netanyahu said he will convene his security cabinet and then the government to approve the agreement.
04:48 GMT –– Biden says Netanyahu should accommodate 'legitimate concerns' of Palestinians
Outgoing Democratic US President Joe Biden said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns" of Palestinians for the long term sustainability of Israel.
"And the idea that Israel is going to be able to sustain itself for the long term without accommodating the Palestinian question ... It's not going to happen," Biden, who hands over to Republican President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, said in an interview on MSNBC.
"And I kept reminding my friend, and he is a friend, although we don't agree a whole lot lately, Bibi Netanyahu, that he has to find a way to accommodate the legitimate concerns of a large group of people called Palestinians, who have no place to live independently."
04:21 GMT — Israel kills 86 Palestinians since Gaza truce announcement
The Israeli military has killed at least 86 Palestinians in air strikes across Gaza since the announcement of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that is meant to pause Israel's genocidal war on Gaza.
Three Palestinians were killed and others wounded in an airstrike on Rafah in southern Gaza and Gaza City in the latest attacks.
The deaths brought the toll since the agreement was announced to 86 Palestinians, including 23 children and 27 women, according to Gaza's Civil Defense Service.
03:52 GMT — Trump says ceasefire better be finalised before his inauguration
President-elect Donald Trump has said the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas better be finalised before his inauguration on Monday and said his involvement was crucial for the negotiation.
"We changed the course of it, and we changed it fast, and frankly, it better be done before I take the oath of office," he said in a podcast interview with Dan Bongino.
Trump also said "we shook hands, and we signed certain documents, but it better be done."
For our live updates from Thursday, January 16, 2025, click here.
