Hamas says it will continue implementing Gaza deal, including hostage exchange
Hamas said on Thursday it will continue implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal, including a hostage exchange within the agreed timeframe, reports Reuters.
We will share more details as they come in.
Key events
The Associated Press (AP) reports that Hamas said, in its statement on Thursday, that Egyptian and Qatari mediators have affirmed that they will work to “remove all hurdles,” and that the group will implement the ceasefire deal.
The statement indicated three more Israeli hostages would be freed on Saturday, reports the AP.
Hamas says it will continue implementing Gaza deal, including hostage exchange
Hamas said on Thursday it will continue implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal, including a hostage exchange within the agreed timeframe, reports Reuters.
We will share more details as they come in.
Denmark pledges $1.4m in aid to Unrwa
The Danish government said on Thursday it was pledging an additional 10.2 million kroner ($1.4m/£1.12m) to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency (Unrwa), which has been banned from operating in Israel.
Denmark “will provide a new contribution of 10.2 million kroner to strengthen Unrwa’s neutrality and internal reform process,” the government said in a statement, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
After Israel accused Unrwa of providing cover for Hamas militants, Israeli lawmakers passed legislation to bar the agency from operating on Israeli soil as of 30 January.
Many donors cut their support for Unrwa after the accusations though almost all have resumed their funding. The UN has said that Unrwa will continue working in all Palestinian territories.
“The increased Danish support is an unambiguous signal that we stand behind Unrwa’s work and mission. And that we support the organisation’s strengthened focus on internal reform and neutrality,” Danish foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said in a statement. The minister also said he was “very concerned about the Israeli laws against Unrwa.”
Denmark also announced that its entire annual contribution of 105 million kroner will be distributed immediately rather than throughout the year.
Israel alleges a dozen Unrwa employees were involved in the 2023 Hamas attack, and insists other agencies can step in to provide essential services, aid and reconstruction – something the UN and many donor governments dispute.
A series of investigations, including one led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality-related issues” at Unrwa, but stressed Israel had not provided evidence for its headline allegation.
Hamas has confirmed its commitment to continue implementing the Gaza ceasefire deal according to an agreed timeframe, Reuters is reporting in a breaking news line.
More details soon …
Dozens of pieces of heavy machinery, including bulldozers and construction equipment, lined up on Thursday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing ahead of their entry into Gaza, state-linked media reported.
Al-Qahera News, which is tied to Egypt’s intelligence services, also said that trucks carrying mobile homes had been stationed at the crossing, ready to enter the Palestinian territory.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) has the following statement from Hamas. Earlier we reported that the group had said it did not want the Gaza ceasefire agreement to collapse (see 8.37am GMT).
A Hamas spokesperson said in a statement:
We are keen to implement it (the ceasefire) and oblige the occupation to fully abide by it.
Mediators are pressuring (Israel) to complete the full implementation of the agreement, oblige the occupation to abide by the humanitarian protocol, and resume the exchange process on Saturday.”
Here are some of the latest images from the newswires:
The hints of progress came as mediators Qatar and Egypt pushed to salvage the Gaza ceasefire agreement that came into effect last month, while Hamas said its top negotiator was in Cairo, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The truce, now in its first phase, has seen Israeli hostages released in small groups in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli custody. The warring sides, which have yet to agree on the next phases of the truce, have traded accusations of violations, spurring concern that the violence could resume.
UN secretary general António Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the planned release and “avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza”.
Analyst Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group told AFP that despite their public disputes, the warring sides were still interested in maintaining the truce and have not “given up on anything yet”. “They’re just playing power games,” she said.
Palestinian sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that there has been “progress” in efforts to salvage the ceasefire in Gaza from its worst crisis yet, with a view to ensuring that Hamas releases Israeli hostages this weekend as planned.
The truce that has largely halted fighting in the Israel-Hamas war was plunged into uncertainty after the militant group said it would not release hostages on Saturday, citing Israeli violations. Israel said that if Hamas failed to free hostages on schedule, it would resume its war in Gaza.
“There is progress,” one source told AFP, adding that mediators had obtained from Israel a “promise … to put in place a humanitarian protocol starting from this morning”.
“Hamas has confirmed to Egyptian officials its commitment … to conducting the sixth exchange of prisoners on time, on Saturday, as soon as Israel honours its commitment,” another source told AFP.
US president Donald Trump had warned that “hell” would break loose if Hamas failed to release “all” the hostages by then. If fighting resumes, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said, “the new Gaza war … will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages”. “It will also allow the realisation of US president Trump’s vision for Gaza,” he added.
Trump caused global outcry with a proposal for the United States to take over the Gaza Strip and to move its 2.4 million residents to Egypt or Jordan.
Hamas says it does not want Gaza ceasefire to collapse
Hamas said on Thursday it did not want the Gaza ceasefire agreement to collapse, reports Reuters.
Mediators are exerting pressure for the deal to be fully implemented, ensure Israel abides by a humanitarian protocol and resume exchanges of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel on Saturday, Hamas said in a statement.
Israel has called up military reservists to brace for a possible re-eruption of war in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet a Saturday deadline to free further Israeli hostages.
Reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum states that he can see “hundreds of UN trucks lined up” waiting for permission to enter Gaza.
The Al Jazeera news network has been banned from operating inside Israel by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
Describing the situation as “fragile”, he reports:
A key component of the current ceasefire agreement is the delivery of humanitarian aid, including shelter materials such as tents and mobile houses that will accommodate thousands of displaced families who right now live on the remnants of their shattered houses.
This has been a key demand by Hamas, which has accused Israel of deliberately hindering the delivery of temporary shelters and the entry of heavy machinery.
The entry of the heavy machinery and the mobile houses will play a crucial role in stabilising the entire area. It will also help remove logistical and various challenges we can see on the ground.”
Release of three Israeli hostages on Saturday reportedly agreed
After a day of mixed messages over hostage releases on Wednesday, on Thursday morning Palestinian sources and Israeli media were suggesting that the release of three Israeli hostages by Hamas would go ahead as planned.
Haaretz reported that Palestinian sources said:
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement over the next phase of the deal to take place this Saturday, in which three hostages will be released … [and] Israel will increase the entry of aid into the Strip, mainly consisting of tents, gas, and medical equipment.”
Egyptian media channel Al-Rad reported that negotiations in Cairo had bought Hamas and Israel closer to an agreement. Israel’s Channel 12 broadcaster also reported that the flow of humanitarian aid, which is under Israel’s control, was to be increased.
Opening summary
It has gone 10am in Gaza City, Tel Aviv and Cairo, and 11.30am in Tehran. Here are the headlines:
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Arab mediators have been scrambling to save the Gaza ceasefire as the Israeli military bolsters troop and tank deployments to the strip’s periphery in advance of the possibility the truce breaks down this weekend.
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Hamas unexpectedly announced on Monday that it was postponing the next planned release of three Israeli hostages over the weekend, citing alleged Israeli violations of the truce.
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Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, warned on Wednesday that the country would resume its war in Gaza if Hamas fails to uphold the ceasefire agreement and release Israeli hostages by Saturday. Some regional media sources on Thursday morning suggests the two sides had agreed that three hostages would now be released on Saturday.
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Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah said on Wednesday Gaza should be rebuilt without displacing Palestinians, according to a readout of a call between the two leaders by the Egyptian presidency.
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The US has authorised a “long term” Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon, according to Israeli reports, while Israel has reportedly requested to keep its troops in multiple posts in southern Lebanon until 28 February. Israel had previously agreed to remove the troops before the end of January.
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There are fears that a widely unnoticed displacement of Bedouin people by Israeli settlers has the aim of fragmenting the territory intended for a future Palestinian state.
