Middle East latest: Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 17, medics say, as Hamas accepts a ceasefire draft
Israeli airstrikes on homes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 17 Palestinians, health officials said Tuesday. Earlier strikes in Gaza killed at least 18 people, including two women and four children, according to local health officials, who said one woman was pregnant and the baby died as well.
The fresh attacks came as Israel and Hamas appeared to be narrowing in on a ceasefire deal to end the 15-month war and release dozens of hostages.
Two officials involved in the talks told The Associated Press that Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages. An Israeli official said progress has been made but the details are being finalized.
Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants stormed into southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people and abducted around 250. A third of the 100 hostages still held in Gaza are believed to be dead.
The Israel Hamas-war has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to health authorities there. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians, but says women and children make up more than half the fatalities.
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Here’s the latest:
Deadly Israel strikes pound Gaza and the West Bank, killing dozens
JERUSALEM — Israeli airstrikes on two homes in central Gaza killed at least 17 Palestinians late Tuesday and wounded seven more, hospital officials said.
In the occupied West Bank, the Health Ministry said at least six people were killed by an Israeli airstrike in the Jenin refugee camp late Tuesday. The Israeli military confirmed a drone strike in the area but gave no further details. Israel has carried out months of raids in the camp in what it calls a crackdown against militants.
In the Gaza Strip, the bodies of 11 people were brought to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital after a strike smashed into a house in Deir al-Balah, officials at the hospital said.
Another strike killed six people in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp and wounded seven more, according to Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. Some of the dead were brought to the hospital in pieces, medical officials said. Among those wounded was Khaled Rayan, the head of the nursing department at the hospital.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel says it only targets militants and accuses them of hiding among civilians.
Earlier Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 18 people, including two women and four children, according to local health officials, who said one woman was pregnant and the baby died as well.
Thousands of Israelis rally for a ceasefire deal and hundreds protest against it
TEL AVIV, Israel — Thousands of Israelis gathered Tuesday night in Tel Aviv’s “hostages square” in anticipation of a ceasefire deal, with some singing and playing music on a stage, while hundreds of Israeli hard-liners marched in Jerusalem to voice their opposition to the deal.
Demonstrators in Jerusalem chanted, “You don’t make a deal with the devil,” a reference to the Hamas militant group that attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
Some Israelis, including members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, have said they believe a deal with Hamas equals defeat. Some reject any withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and want to see Hamas eliminated.
In Tel Aviv, the families of hostages have been in a similar position when a deal seemed tantalizingly close.
“This is not about politics or strategy. It’s about humanity and the shared belief that no one should be left behind in darkness,” said one of the hostages released earlier from Gaza, Moran Stella Yanai.
However, many feel this time is different and the negotiations are more serious — with some crediting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
“I think Trump will not let it fall,” said Daniel Lifshitz. His 84-year-old grandfather Oded is being held captive in Gaza along with many of his friends. His grandmother was released shortly after Oct. 7. Lifshitz feels Trump’s strong statements helped push the mediators and the Biden administration to put the hostage issue back at the forefront.
Israel’s foreign minister says political pushback to a ceasefire would be eased by a hostage deal
ROME — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told journalists in Rome on Tuesday that that he believes a deal on releasing the remaining hostages would diminish any Israeli resistance to a potential ceasefire with Hamas. He was asked about Israeli protests against a deal after meeting with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani.
“I believe that if we will achieve this hostage deal, we will have a majority in the government that will support this agreement,’’ Sa’ar said. “There is true willingness on our side to reach an agreement.”
Tajani said he would travel in the coming days to Israel and the Palestinian territories to support efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.
“I hope that we are finally close to a cease-fire in Gaza, after the Lebanon cease-fire,’’ Tajani said.
Islamic Jihad sends a delegation to Qatar for ceasefire’s final details
CAIRO — The militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement that a high-level delegation would arrive in Qatar’s capital Tuesday evening for the final details of a ceasefire deal.
Like the larger and stronger Hamas, the group’s fighters took part in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel and have since been fighting Israeli forces in Gaza.
Hamas needs the group’s support for a deal in order to avoid a potential disruption in the process.
Israel’s former defense minister urges leaders to reach a ceasefire deal
TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel’s former defense minister said finalizing a ceasefire and hostage deal with Hamas is the right thing to do and urged the government to put “national considerations” above political interests.
Yoav Gallant ’s comments appeared to be a swipe at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who fired him in November after the two clashed on a number of issues, including a ceasefire agreement. Gallant at the time had been urgently pushing for a deal.
Critics have accused the prime minister of delaying a deal in order to keep his hardline coalition intact. Netanyahu rejects the allegations.
Gallant said he was “ashamed” that hard-liners in the Cabinet oppose the deal, calling it “not Jewish” and “inhumane” of them.
Gallant, who recently resigned from parliament, spoke to reporters in Tel Aviv’s “hostage square,” a gathering point for families of hostages and other supporters.
Gaza mom whose baby was born on Oct. 7 says she’s waiting for a truce
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Palestinian mother of a baby born on the first day of the war in Gaza says she’s awaiting word of a ceasefire.
Rola Saqer is one of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the war. She spoke in a tent camp in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza as her 15-month-old daughter, Massa Zaqout, wore pink pajamas and played with toys.
Saqer said that “we’re eagerly waiting for a truce to happen so we can live in safety and stability … and for things to be available for my daughter.” She said she had been trying to have a child for five years before her daughter Massa Zaqout was born.
She said she hopes for an end to the now-common struggle to find food and medicines in Gaza, large parts of which have been reduced to rubble by Israel’s offensive.
Israeli hostage families anxiously await news of a ceasefire deal
TEL AVIV, Israel — Families of Israeli hostages being held in Gaza anxiously waited for news about the deal.
“It’s a very critical moment, it can be the happiest moment but it can be also the worst,” said Hadas Kalderon.
Nearly 100 people are still captive inside Gaza, and the Israeli military believes at least a third are dead.
Kalderon’s ex-husband Ofer and their two children were abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7. Her son and daughter were released in a weeklong ceasefire in November but Ofer is still there.
She said her kid have struggled since their release, worrying about their wounded father’s health.
A few hundred people rallied in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, holding signs saying: “Why are they still there?” and chanting to bring the hostages home now.
Palestinians in Gaza have cautious hope that a ceasefire will be reached
MUWASI, Gaza Strip — Displaced Palestinians in Gaza are expressing cautious hope over a ceasefire agreement as mediators the United States and Qatar say Israel and Hamas are closer than ever to reaching a deal.
One of the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by 15 months of war is Oday al-Halimy. He told The Associated Press that “certainly, Hamas will comply with the ceasefire, and Israel is not interested in opposing Trump or angering him.”
The warring sides have been under growing pressure to reach a phased agreement before President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Monday.
But al-Halimy, who’s living in a sprawling tent camp in southern Gaza, said he was worried that Israeli forces would step up their offensive against Hamas in Gaza in the remaining time before a deal is announced.
Blinken says a ceasefire agreement is ‘right on the brink’
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas is “right on the brink. It’s closer than it’s ever been before.”
He said Tuesday it’s up to the Hamas militant group for the final word on a deal. Blinken said that word could be “anytime to come in the hours ahead. It could come in the days ahead.”
Fellow mediator Qatar on Tuesday also said the two sides were at the closest point yet to sealing a deal to bring them a step closer to ending 15 months of war.
Blinken spoke to the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, and made a last-minute case for a plan for Gaza’s post-war reconstruction and governance without Hamas in charge.
He said the plan envisions the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, inviting “international partners” to stand up an interim governing authority to run critical services and oversee Gaza. At the same time, other partners, notably Arab states, would provide forces for an interim security mission, he said.
Blinken and his top aides have spent months trying to sell Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Gulf Arab nations on the plan.
Syrian security forces free 7 hostages held by Assad loyalists
BEIRUT — Syria’s security forces freed seven hostages Tuesday held by remnants of former President Bashar Assad’s forces in the port city of Latakia, according to state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Two members of a Public Security Department patrol were killed, and others injured, in an attack by Assad loyalists in Jableh, south of Latakia, Lt. Col. Mustafa Knefati, director of the Public Security Department in Latakia, said. The assailants took seven captives and threatened to execute them, with a video of the threat circulating on social media.
Knefati told state media that an Assad loyalist leader detonated a explosive vest during the clash to free the hostages, killing himself.
Since Assad’s fall, Syria’s de facto leadership under the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has led raids against loyalist remnants in Latakia and other cities. Latakia was once a base of power for Assad and is home to his Alawite religious sect. Concerns persist over HTS’s ability to govern Syria’s diverse sectarian communities.
German leader says a deal that frees Israeli hostages must be top priority
BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says he understands how painful any agreement with Hamas is for Israel but “the lives of the hostages must now be the top priority.”
Germany is a staunch ally of Israel and some of its citizens are among the hostages taken by Hamas in October 2023. Scholz said memories of Hamas’ “despicable crime” remain fresh.
Scholz said in a statement Tuesday that “after many months of agonising negotiations, an agreement now seems to be within reach. We understand how painful any agreement with the terrorist organisation Hamas is for Israel. Nevertheless, the lives of the hostages must now be the top priority.”
He said that “the agreement offers the chance of a ceasefire to finally bring the suffering in Gaza to an end.”
The first class of Syrian police cadets since Assad’s ouster graduates
DAMASCUS, Syria — The first class of Syrian police cadets has graduated since the ouster of President Bashar Assad.
The newly reopened police college in Damascus began accepting applications shortly after insurgents toppled Assad last month, ending decades of his family rule that was known for widespread surveillance, arbitrary detentions, torture and deaths of real and perceived opponents.
The country’s new leadership under the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has been working on restructuring Syria’s military and security forces, Oussama Mohammad, a military official at the police college, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
“The purpose of this course is to preserve security and safety in Syria’s provinces and to track down remnants of the (Assad) regime,” he said.
During the ceremony, recruits in police uniforms marched with rifles, chanting “God is great.”
Over 400 young men applied to join the police, Mohammad said.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas are their ‘closest point’ yet to a ceasefire deal in Gaza
CAIRO — Qatar says Israel and Hamas are at the “closest point” yet to agreeing on a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said at a weekly briefing Tuesday that the ongoing negotiations are positive and productive, while declining to get into the details of the sensitive talks.
Qatar has been a key mediator with Hamas in over a year of indirect talks and is currently hosting the negotiations.
Hamas has accepted a draft agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of dozens of hostages, two officials involved in the talks told The Associated Press. An Israeli official said progress has been made, but the details are being finalized.
Trump says a possible ceasefire deal for Gaza is ‘very close’
President-elect Donald Trump has described a possible ceasefire for Gaza as being “very close.”
“I understand … there’s been a handshake and they are getting it finished — and maybe by the end of the week,” Trump told the American cable channel Newsmax Monday night.
He added that part of the deal would see “bodies” brought out of the Gaza Strip, without elaborating.
Israel and Hamas are under renewed pressure to halt the conflict in the lead-up to Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. The phased deal would be based on a framework laid out by President Joe Biden in May and endorsed by the U.N. Security Council.
A missile fired by Houthi rebels targets central Israel
JERUSALEM — A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted central Israel early Tuesday, causing sirens to blare and people to flee into bomb shelters. Several Israeli strikes also hit the Gaza Strip overnight and early on Tuesday.
The Israeli military said it made several attempts to intercept a missile launched from Yemen and “the missile was likely intercepted.” The Magen David Adom emergency service in Israel said there were no injuries from the missile or falling debris, but some people suffered injuries when running to shelters.
Israeli police said several homes outside Jerusalem were damaged by fallen debris and released a photo of what appeared to be a missile casing on the roof of a house.
Israel’s military also said an earlier missile was intercepted before it entered Israeli territory.
Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have held Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, have launched direct attacks on Israel and some 100 commercial ships as part of their campaign over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Houthis acknowledged the attack early Tuesday.