A collection of opinionated commentaries on culture, politics and religion compiled predominantly from an American viewpoint but tempered by a global vision. My Armwood Opinion Youtube Channel @ YouTube I have a Jazz Blog @ Jazz
and a Technology Blog @ Technology. I have a Human Rights Blog @ Law
Disputes Hold Up Israeli Cabinet Vote on Gaza Cease-Fire Deal: Live Updates - The New York Times
Live Updates: Disputes Hold Up Israeli Cabinet Vote on Cease-Fire Deal
"The agreement, which would include the release of hostages, was met with cautious optimism. But Israel’s cabinet needed to ratify the deal, and the prime minister’s office said it was unlikely that a vote would come Thursday.
Last-minute disputes on Thursday held up an expected Israeli cabinet vote on a cease-fire deal with Hamas, which had raised hopes for an end to the violence after 15 months of devastating war in Gaza.
Israeli ministers were unlikely to meet before Friday to ratify the agreement, the prime minister’s office said, citing disagreements with Hamas. The holdup prompted fears of further delays in carrying out the agreement, which was announced on Wednesday by brokers Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
Jan. 16, 2025, 12:47 p.m. ET
Israeli Border Police cleared protesters against the proposed cease-fire deal from a highway in Jerusalem on Thursday.
Peter van Agtmael for The New York Times
Peter van Agtmael for The New York Times
Jan. 16, 2025, 12:34 p.m. ET
Johnatan Reiss
Reporting from Tel Aviv
Aryeh Deri, a senior member of the Israeli coalition, told a meeting of his ultra-Orthodox Shas party that he had been informed that the disagreements with Hamas over the cease-fire and hostage release deal had been resolved. He said that a formal announcement would be made soon. There was no immediate confirmation by other Israeli officials.
Jan. 16, 2025, 12:06 p.m. ET
Asked about perceptions that the Biden administration “gave Israel a pass” on violations of human rights law, Blinken says that the way Hamas embeds itself among civilians makes such determinations “incredibly complicated.” “We continue to assess it,” he said, adding,“if we have any conclusions that we can draw in the time that remains,” they will be announced.
Jan. 16, 2025, 11:40 a.m. ET
In an unusually chaotic moment at the State Department, two people were removed from a press room briefing after angrily shouting that Secretary of State Antony J. Blinkenwas a “criminal” responsible for “genocide” in Gaza. Blinken, who was delivering summary remarks about his tenure, remained largely unfazed and said that he would soon be taking questions. It was initially unclear who the men were.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heckled as he delivered remarks about the Gaza cease-fire deal.
Jan. 16, 2025, 11:36 a.m. ET
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said there were two immediate imperatives: fully carrying out the cease-fire deal and finalizing a plan that provides for Gaza’s transitional governance, security and reconstruction and that ensures that the halt in fighting will endure.
Jan. 16, 2025, 11:37 a.m. ET
He added: “It’s going to take tremendous effort, political courage, compromise, to realize that possibility, to try to ensure the gains that have been achieved over the past 15 months at enormous, excruciating costs are actually enduring.”
Jan. 16, 2025, 11:27 a.m. ET
Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said at a news briefing this morning that he expected the cease-fire agreement to go into effect on Sunday. “As President Biden said yesterday, after more than 400 days of struggle, a day of success has arrived.”
News Analysis
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel at the district court in Tel Aviv, Israel, in December.Pool photo by Stoyan Nenov
The Gaza cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas had yet to be ratified by Israel’s government on Thursday, but the battle over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s political future has already begun.
Hours afterthe dealwas announced, Mr. Netanyahu was facing a potential internal rebellion from far-right partners in his governing coalition on whose support he depends to remain in power.
Jan. 16, 2025, 10:59 a.m. ET
Hamas officials did not respond to a request for comment on the specific Israeli claims that the deal was being held up by Hamas demands over the Egyptian border and prisoners release. Earlier on Thursday, a senior Hamas official said the group was still committed to the agreement.
Jan. 16, 2025, 10:43 a.m. ET
Among the last-minute disagreements are changes to how Israeli forces would deploy along Gaza’s border with Egypt during the truce, said Omer Dostri, the prime minister’s spokesman. Netanyahu has argued that control of the border zone is critical to stop the flow of weapons to Hamas. Hamas is also demanding the release of “certain terrorists” unacceptable to Israel, Dostri added.
Palestinians gathering to receive food aid in Deir al Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Thursday.Eyad Baba/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
A cease-fire deal in Gaza would offer a chance to address some of the suffering of its population, aid workers said on Thursday, but they cautioned there is no guarantee that the opportunity will be translated into help for the hundreds of thousands of people in need.
Civilians across much of Gaza facesevere malnutrition, and in the territory’s north, conditions border on famine, according to the United Nations. Almost all of Gaza’s population of 2.2 million has been displaced from their homes, many to makeshift camps along a coastal strip, where clean water and bathrooms are scarce. The enclave’s health and education sectors, as well as its economy, have been decimated by Israeli airstrikes during 15 months of war.
Jan. 16, 2025, 10:18 a.m. ET
Omer Dostri, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said it was unlikely that members of the cabinet would convene on Thursday to approve the provisional cease-fire agreement, claiming Israel was waiting for Hamas to back off new demands. “There isn’t any agreement at the moment,” Dostri said in a text message. “Therefore, there’s no cabinet meeting.”
Jan. 16, 2025, 10:19 a.m. ET
In responses to Israel’s claims of new demands, Hamas has said it it was committed to the agreement announced by mediators on Wednesday. Even though negotiators for Israel and Hamas reached a provisional agreement, they have continued to discuss some details through mediators.
Jan. 16, 2025, 10:08 a.m. ET
The Israeli military said it struck approximately 50 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past day. It said it killed a Hamas militant who took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, and struck additional Hamas and Islamic Jihad targets. Gaza’s health ministry said earlier on Thursday that Israeli strikes in the territory had killed 81 people and injured nearly 200 others over the previous 24 hours. Gazan officials do not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths.
AFPTV
Jan. 16, 2025, 9:58 a.m. ET
Natan Odenheimer
Reporting from Jerusalem
Dozens of far-right Israeli demonstrators blocked a main highway in Jerusalem to protest the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Israeli police dispersed the roadblock. Eliyahu Shahar, 21, said the agreement poses a threat to Israel's safety and should be rejected, “even if it means more hostages will die.”
Peter Van Agtmael and Natan Odenheimer for The New York Times
Palestinians reacting to news of a cease-fire agreement with Israel, in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, on Wednesday.Haitham Imad/EPA, via Shutterstock
Celebratory gunfire rang out across parts of Gaza on Wednesday evening as news spread of the announcement that Israel and Hamas had agreed to a 42-day cease-fire and hostage release deal, raising hopes that a 15-month war that killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and destroyed much of Gaza could soon come to an end.
“Praise God, this tragedy is over,” Mohammad Fares, 24, a resident of Gaza City displaced in southern Gaza, said, with jubilant whistling in the background. “We’re all overcome with joy.”
Jan. 16, 2025, 8:49 a.m. ET
The White House said U.S. officials were aware of the concerns raised by the Israeli government on Thursday and were working to overcome them. “We’re confident that we’ll be able to solve these last minute issues and get it moving,” John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council, told NBC.
Palestinians on Thursday at Al Ahli Arab hospital carrying the bodies of people killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza City the night before.Omar Al-Qattaa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Despite the announcement of a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, deadly strikes in Gaza have continued.
Gaza’s health ministrysaidon Thursday morning that at least eight Israeli attacks in the territory had killed 81 people and injured nearly 200 others over the previous 24 hours.
Jan. 16, 2025, 8:17 a.m. ET
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad
Reporting from Haifa, Israel
The World Food Program said it had 80,000 tons of food waiting outside Gaza or en route, enough to feed more than a million people. But it stressed the need for unrestricted access to allow humanitarian teams and supplies to reach those in need. Aid agencies have complained that Israeli restrictions on shipments into Gaza have prevented them from alleviating the suffering there.
Jan. 16, 2025, 8:04 a.m. ET
A delegation from the European mission that once monitored operations at theRafah border crossingbetween Egypt and Gaza will come to Cairo next week to help implement the cease-fire agreement, the Egyptian government said in a statement. It said the delegation would work toward reopening the Gaza side of the crossing, which has been closed since Israel invaded the city of Rafah in Gaza last spring amid arguments over who should manage and secure the crossing.
Members of Hamas’s military wing, known as the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, arriving on vehicles in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, after the news of the cease-fire deal.Bashar Taleb/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has delivereddevastating blows to Hamas: It has killed top Hamas leaders and thousands of militants, pummeled the militant group’s tunnel network and undermined its ability to threaten Israel with rocket fire.
When Hamas launched its Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel, it had hoped to ignite a regional war that would draw in its allies and lead to Israel’s destruction. Instead, it has been left to fight Israel almost entirely alone. Its allies have been decimated in Lebanon, toppled in Syria and weakened in Iran. The Houthis in Yemen have only managed to inflict occasional rocket and drone attacks, most of which Israel has intercepted.
A mural of the Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in Tehran, Iran, in October. He was killed by Israeli troops.Arash Khamooshi for The New York Times
The younger brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader who was killed by Israel in October, has emerged as a key commander in Gaza, where the Palestinian militant group has mounted a determined insurgency against the Israeli military’s 15-month-long campaign to uproot it.
In order to secure a cease-fire agreement, Hamas negotiators in Doha, Qatar, had to obtain the consent of the group’s remaining military commanders inside Gaza, including the brother, Mohammed Sinwar. They are in hiding and eager to avoid the reach of Israeli intelligence, so communication between them and the negotiators has been slow.
Jan. 16, 2025, 6:49 a.m. ET
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad
Reporting from Haifa, Israel
The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, described the cease-fire agreement as “the hope the region desperately needed.” But she added that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remained grim. Sheannouncedthat Europe would provide $123 million in aid this year, along with in-kind aid such as food shipments, to support Gazans.
Jan. 16, 2025, 6:39 a.m. ET
Ramy Nasr, 44, a displaced Gazan who is sheltering with his wife and children in Gaza City, says he is eager to return to the city of Jabaliya after a cease-fire so he can bury his siblings and their families, who werekilledin a strike in October. He says their bodies have been under the rubble since then. Six of his relatives were killed that day. Nasr, seen here with his family in a photo from November, is not sure if his house still stands, or if he will be able to dig out the bodies.
Families and supporters of Israeli hostages demonstrating outside the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem on Tuesday.Ronen Zvulun/Reuters
When Hamas led the Oct. 7, 2023, raids into Israel, killing about 1,200 people, about 250 people were taken into Gaza as hostages, including citizens of Israel, the United States, Britain, Mexico, Thailand and other countries.
Among the captives were the bodies of 37 people killed in the attack, Israeli officials said. Now, about 100 hostages, living and dead, are still being held in the enclave, officials say.
Jan. 16, 2025, 5:53 a.m. ET
Israel continues to strike Gaza. Video shot near the border between Israel and northern Gaza today shows billowing clouds of dark smoke.
AFP
Jan. 16, 2025, 4:17 a.m. ET
Rawan Sheikh Ahmad
Reporting from Haifa, Israel
After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Hamas had backed out of parts of the cease-fire agreement, a Hamas official said that wasn't true. The official, Izzat al-Rishq, said Hamas remained committed to the deal announced by mediators.
Jan. 16, 2025, 4:00 a.m. ET
The office of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said Israel would not convene its cabinet to vote on the cease-fire agreement for now, citing last-minute disputes with Hamas. The Palestinian group did not immediately comment.
Jan. 16, 2025, 4:05 a.m. ET
Netanyahu’s office said that Hamas had backed out of parts of the cease-fire deal, without saying what they were. It added that the cabinet would not meet to discuss the agreement until Israel had been notified that Hamas had accepted “all elements.”
Jan. 16, 2025, 4:06 a.m. ET
Negotiators continued to work on the final details of the agreement overnight, including the identities of which Palestinian prisoners would be released in exchange for hostages in Gaza.
Jan. 16, 2025, 4:08 a.m. ET
Some of Netanyahu’s hard-line coalition allies have said they opposed the cease-fire, calling it an effective surrender to Hamas. If they left the government in protest, that could weaken Netanyahu’s grip on power.
Jan. 16, 2025, 2:07 a.m. ET
The Israeli military said a projectile had fallen in the area of Kibbutz Nir Am after warning sirens blared early Thursday. The military didn’t identify the type of projectile and said the details were under review.
Jan. 16, 2025, 1:11 a.m. ET
The Palestinian Civil Defense continued to report attacks on Thursday, saying in a statement that an Israeli bombing had killed five people in Gaza City.
News Analysis
President-elect Donald J. Trump and President Biden in November. The deal is set to start on Sunday, before Mr. Trump’s inauguration.Doug Mills/The New York Times
The long-sought, tortuously negotiatedGaza cease-fire dealannounced on Wednesday came about in part through a remarkable collaboration between President Biden and President-elect Donald J. Trump, who temporarily put aside mutual animosity to achieve a mutual goal.
The two presidents directed their advisers to work together to push Israel and Hamas over the finish line foran agreement to halt the fightingthat has ravaged Gaza and release hostages who have been held there for 15 months. The deal is set to start on Sunday, the day before Mr. Biden turns over the White House to Mr. Trump.
Demonstrators on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, Israel, calling for the release of all the hostages from Gaza.Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times
The joy and relief thatfamilies of hostagesexpressed when the cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas was announced Wednesday has been matched with a sense of anxiety that many might be left behind, according to family members of people still being held captive.
Mia Schem, an Israeli woman who was held hostage for 55 days before being released during a previous temporary cease-fire and hostage deal in 2023, on Wednesday re-shared a post on social media of the remaining hostages in celebration."
![[object Object]](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/01/16/multimedia/16mideast-crisis-carousel-morning-01-tqjl/16mideast-crisis-carousel-morning-01-tqjl-square640.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp)
![[object Object]](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2025/01/16/multimedia/16mideast-crisis-carousel-morning-01-tqjl/16mideast-crisis-carousel-morning-01-tqjl-threeByTwoMediumAt2X.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp)
No comments:
Post a Comment