Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
BREAKING: ISRAEL AND HAMAS AGREE TO A CEASEFIRE DEAL
The text of the deal has not been officially released yet, but this is what we know so far.
The first phase
The initial phase will last six weeks, and will involve a limited prisoner exchange, the partial withdrawal of Israeli troops in Gaza and a surge of aid into the enclave.
Thirty-three Israeli captives, including women, children and civilians over the age of 50 – taken during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023 – will be released. In exchange, Israel will release about 2000 Palestinian prisoners during this phase, including 250 prisoners serving life sentences. Among the Palestinians being released are around 1000 who were detained after October 7.
What happens after the first phase?
Details of the second and third phases, though understood to be agreed to in principle, are to be negotiated during the first phase.
Critically, Israel has insisted that no written guarantees be given to rule out a resumption of its attacks once the first phase is complete and its civilian captives returned.
However, according to an Egyptian source cited by the Associated Press news agency, the three mediators involved in the talks – Egypt, Qatar and the United States – have given Hamas verbal guarantees that negotiations will continue and that all three would press for a deal that would see the second and third stages implemented before an initial six-week window has elapsed.
What is planned for the second phase?
If Israel determines that the conditions have been met for a second phase, Hamas will release all the remaining living captives, mostly male soldiers, in return for the freeing of more Palestinians held in the Israeli prison system. In addition, according to the current document, Israel would initiate its “complete withdrawal” from Gaza.
However, these conditions, which have yet to be voted upon by the Israeli cabinet, are at odds with the stated positions of many of the far-right wing members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netayahu’s cabinet, which he relies upon for support, as well as Netanyahu’s own past positions, in which he has repeatedly used the presence of Hamas in Gaza to prolong the conflict.
The third phase
The details of a third phase remain unclear.
According to the draft, should the conditions of the second stage be met, the third will see the bodies of the remaining captives handed over in return for a three- to five-year reconstruction plan to be conducted under international supervision.
(Read more here. This is a developing story.)
Israeli bombs maimed 15 children in Gaza every day in 2024: Save the Children – Day 465
At least 62 people were confirmed killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza on Tuesday.
Israeli bombs maimed 15 children in Gaza every day in 2024: Save the Children
The use of explosive weapons in Gaza in 2024 condemned an average of 475 children each month – or 15 children a day – to potentially lifelong disabilities, including severely injured limbs and hearing impairments, said Save the Children.
Save the Children analyzed a report by the Gaza Protection Cluster – a group of humanitarian organizations including Save the Children – which shows that in the first 11 months of 2024, at least 5,230 children sustained injuries requiring significant rehabilitation support that is inaccessible due to attacks on hospitals and healthcare workers by Israeli forces and restrictions on entry of critical supplies, leaving them with a high likelihood of disability.
These estimates are likely low and may not capture all children left with hearing or visual impairments due to war-related injuries. They also do not capture children suffering potentially lifelong psychological injuries as a result of traumatic incidents they have witnessed or experienced during the war (read the full report here).
13,200 Palestinian students killed, 574 schools and universities bombed
Gaza’s Ministry of Education and Higher Education said that 13,177 students have been killed and 21,991 injured since the beginning of the Israeli aggression on the Strip and the occupied West Bank on 7 October 2023.
The ministry said in a statement yesterday that the number of students who were killed in the Gaza Strip since the beginning of the aggression has reached more than 13,054, and 21,320 were injured. Meanwhile, 123 students were killed in the West Bank and 671 others were injured, in addition to 560 arrested.
It also stated that 657 teachers and administrators have been killed and 3,904 were injured in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and more than 165 were detained in the West Bank.
The ministry noted that 324 government schools, universities and the buildings affiliated with them and 65 affiliated with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) were bombed and vandalized in the Gaza Strip. Of these, 128 were completely destroyed, and 57 were partially destroyed, while 109 schools and seven universities in the West Bank were raided and vandalized.
The Ministry of Education confirmed that 788,000 students in the Gaza Strip have been unable to attend schools and universities since the beginning of the aggression in October 2023, while most students suffer from psychological trauma and face difficult health conditions.
West Bank: Israeli air strike on home kills six in Jenin
An Israeli strike on a home in Jenin in the occupied West Bank has killed six and left others wounded.
The victims of the air strike on Tuesday night have been identified as Mahmoud Ashraf Mustafa Gharbiyeh, 15, Mo’men Ibrahim Abu al-Hayja, 28, Amir Ibrahim Mahmoud Abu al-Hayja, 27, Hussam Hassan Qanouh, 34, Ibrahim Mustafa Qaneiry, 23 and Bahaa Ibrahim Abu al-Hayja, 33.
Others wounded during the strike are reportedly in stable condition.
Eyewitnesses reported that an Israeli drone fired three missiles near al-Awda roundabout in the Jenin refugee camp, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
A statement by the Israeli army confirmed that “an Air Force aircraft attacked a short time ago in the Jenin area” in a joint operation with the Shin Bet intelligence agency.
Israeli soldiers refuse to fight until Gaza ceasefire is signed
Yotam Vilk says the image of Israeli soldiers killing an unarmed Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip is seared in his mind.
An officer in the armored corps, Vilk said the instructions were to shoot any unauthorized person who entered an Israeli-controlled buffer zone in Gaza. He saw at least 12 people killed, he said, but it is the shooting of the teen that he can’t shake.
“He died as part of a bigger story. As part of the policy of staying there and not seeing Palestinians as people,” Vilk, 28, told The Associated Press.
Vilk is among a growing number of Israeli soldiers speaking out against the 15-month conflict and refusing to serve anymore, saying they saw or did things that crossed ethical lines. While the movement is small — some 200 soldiers signed a letter saying they’d stop fighting if the government didn’t secure a ceasefire — soldiers say it’s the tip of the iceberg and they want others to come forward.
Seven soldiers who’ve refused to continue fighting in Gaza spoke with AP, describing how Palestinians were indiscriminately killed and houses destroyed. Several said they were ordered to burn or demolish homes that posed no threat, and they saw soldiers loot and vandalize residences (continue reading here).
To understand the details of the ceasefire agreement under consideration, read
Main points of anticipated Gaza cease-fire, prisoner exchange deal with Israel, Hamas
Nine US lawmakers demand answers on Turkish-American activist’s death in West Bank
US Senator Peter Welch shared a letter on X on Tuesday, signed by eight other Democratic lawmakers from both chambers of Congress, demanding answers from the Biden administration on Israel’s killing of Turkish-American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi last year.
The letter is dated 3 January.
“Detailed statements of international, Israeli, and Palestinian eyewitnesses, as well as a Washington Post inquiry that included interviewing 13 eyewitnesses and reviewing more than 50 videos and photographs, describe a significantly different sequence of events” than the Israelis, the letter said.
“This case is disturbingly like the fatal shooting of Shireen Abu Akleh by an Israeli soldier located nearly 200 meters away. Shireen and Aysenur each died from a single gunshot wound to the head.”
The lawmakers list questions about what instigated the shooting, what possible threat Eygi could have caused, and what the US Department of Justice has done about it, if at all.
The Biden administration is only in office for another 5 days.
RELATED:
Trump Pentagon chief nominee supports Israel’s ‘existential defense’
Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, has been fielding questions as part of his US Senate confirmation hearing.
That has included questions on his views of Israel, including whether he is a “Christian Zionist”.
“I’m a Christian and I robustly support the state of Israel and its existential defense and the way America comes alongside them as their great ally,” Hegseth responded.
He later added: “I support Israel destroying and killing every last member of Hamas.”
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‘Secretary of genocide’: US’ Blinken protested at Atlantic Council address
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, was protested in Washington DC during his address at Atlantic Council event on Middle East on Tuesday, called “bloody Blinken, Secretary of genocide” and “we will not forgive you” by a woman protester in solidarity with Gaza.
He was speaking on his foreign policy as his four-year term is set to end next week.
“Secretary of genocide, you have the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people on your hands,” shouted the woman protester.
“Your legacy will be genocide. You will forever be known as Bloody Blinken, Secretary of genocide. You have the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people on your hands! … We will not forget, shame on you,” she continued while being escorted out.
“I respect your views. Please allow me to share mine. Thank you,” Blinken responded.
Blinken faced two more interruptions, with another protester calling him a “monster” and a “war criminal”.
French-Israeli policeman charged with homicide over death of Palestinian man in custody
French authorities have charged a policeman with voluntary homicide after a Palestinian man was beaten to death during his arrest in 2023 in the capital, Paris, local media reported.
According to reports, the Paris Public Prosecutor’s Office charged the policeman, a dual French-Israeli citizen, on Monday, with homicide for assaulting 43-year-old Tamer Miskir during his arrest.
The incident occurred on 17 August 2023 at the eastern train station in Paris, where the victim was arrested during a fight, handcuffed and placed in a police car. While inside the car, the police officer assaulted him, severely beating him on the head, face and neck, causing him to lose consciousness.
On 24 August, Tamer died due to “violent blows to the head and neck area”, an autopsy revealed. The police officer was charged with homicide.
For his part, the police officer claimed he acted in self-defense against the handcuffed victim.
Ha’aretz: When Israel Protects Alleged War Criminals, It Goes From State to Cult
Odeh Bisharat, a Palestinian Israeli op-ed writer for the Israeli news site Ha’aretz, writes: Moshe Sharett, Israel’s second prime minister during the early 1950s, once challenged his colleagues in the government leadership by asking them whether Israel was a state of law and order or one of robbery. The question today is much more difficult: Is Israel a state or is it a cult?
People are now trying to effect the return of soldiers traveling abroad who have been accused of committing war crimes in Gaza, to save them from the threat of foreign courts.
Anyone who is anyone is on the front line: the army, government ministries, the media, social networks, Knesset members, the opposition and the governing coalition. The entire nation is the front, there is no left nor right, no democrat nor fascist, because it’s us against the world. And then we end up wondering why the whole is world against us?
Israel’s handling of arrest warrants abroad against soldiers raises ethical, legal and also ideological questions regarding the role of the state, any state, in protecting its citizens even when there are suspected of war crimes. Moreover, these are soldiers who shared the “heroic videos” from within Gaza.
The question is, why do state systems mobilize to protect those suspected of violating the law? This is not the role of a civilized state. But in Israel, it’s a completely different story: The state is required to protect Jews, anywhere and in any situation, including in matters of war crimes (continue reading here).
NOTE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself is wanted as a war criminal by the International Criminal Court.
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MORE NEWS:
IMEMC Daily Reports
Mondoweiss: The Biden team is working to spin their foreign policy legacy, but it’s too late.
Electronic Intifada: EU lends $847 million to Israel amid Gaza genocide
Spurs ban football fan from waving Syrian flag
A Syrian man said he was banned from carrying the Syrian flag at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. He recorded the conversation with a stadium official who explained that the safety officer made the decision because Syria is ‘too close… pic.twitter.com/jnMQ8JZXrp
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) January 14, 2025
“US President Joe Biden will be remembered as the American president who oversaw the genocide of Gaza”, says Middle East Council on Global Affairs’ fellow Omar H. Rahman for #AJOPINION ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/98e4s4OpYd
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) January 14, 2025
Looking for a way to help get the word out about Palestine? Go here.
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JANUARY 14, 2025:
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 14, 2025: at least 47,559* – 46,707 in Gaza; in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers and/or settlers have killed at least 852 Palestinians (~175 of them children).
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.
According to a report in the Lancet, by multiplying the reported deaths by five, it is possible to reach a conservative estimate of total deaths (including indirect causes like starvation and lack of medicine). Using the latest figure from AFP (46,707), it is reasonable to estimate at least 233,225 total deaths in Gaza since October 7th, 2023.
According to a recent report by the UN Human Rights Office of identified fatalities in Gaza, about 44% were children. It is reasonable to estimate that 20,551 of known direct deaths and 102,755 of the total deaths are children.
Palestinian injuries from October 7, 2023 – January 14, 2025: at least 117,265 (including at least 110,265 in Gaza and 7,000 in the West Bank, including 830 children). [It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.]
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 14, 2025: ~1,616 (or 1,590) (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 431*** (or 405) military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza (updated: Jan. 11, 2025); 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel) and~10,000 injured.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
ADDITIONAL STATISTICS: Since October 7th, 2023:
- At least 54 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons (at least 35 of them from Gaza).
- At least 43 Palestinians have died due to malnutrition (at least 37 of them children)**.
- About 1.9 million of Gaza’s 2.3 million population are currently displaced.
- About 345,000 Gazans are currently experiencing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
*The Ministry’s figures have been contested by the Israeli authorities, although they have been accepted as accurate by Israeli intelligence services, the UN, and WHO. These data are supported by independent analyses, comparing changes in the number of deaths of UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) staff with those reported by the Ministry, which found claims of data fabrication implausible.
Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.
**Euro-Med Monitor reports that Gaza’s elderly are dying at an alarmingly high rate. The majority die at home and are buried either close to their residences or in makeshift graves dispersed across the Strip. There are currently more than 140 such cemeteries. Additionally, according to Euromed, thousands have died from starvation, malnourishment, and inadequate medical care; these are considered indirect victims as they were not registered in hospitals.
***The figure does not include the reportedly 59 Israeli soldiers – nearly 17% of the total Israeli military deaths – killed due to friendly fire in Gaza and other military-related accidents.
† For most of the conflict, women and children accounted for about 70% of deaths in Gaza, with children making up a little over 40% of those killed, according to official statistics.
Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
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- Blood Splattered Madness
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- ‘No Civilians’: IDF Soldiers Reveal Killings, Lawlessness in Gaza
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- Gaza is Now ‘Hell on Earth’—Exactly as Intended
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