The EU promises DKK 120 million. EUR in new aid to Gaza – as it happened | The Israel-Gaza War

On January 19, 2025By Littum

Key events

Israeli authorities have rejected United Nations aid organizations access to Rafah as they prepare to scale up aid delivery to Gaza during the ceasefire agreement, according to a UN official.

“We would have liked to go to Rafah – we have been asking for months to go to Rafah to access our logistics base and fuel depots,” Georgios Petropoulos, head of the Gaza section of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the Washington Post on Thursday.

But the Israeli military on Thursday rejected UN requests to travel there, he said.

“We understand that the Israeli military has to prepare for whatever they do” to withdraw some forces under the deal, Petropoulos said, “but we’re completely in the dark here.”

Jason Burke

The ceasefire, which is due to take effect on Sunday – barring a major last-minute hitch – will cement massive and rapid changes across the Middle East and could seal a significant defeat for the Islamist militant groups that have been powerful players in the region this year .

Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and various Shia Muslim militias in Iraq and Syria will all come out of the conflict considerably weakened. Only that one Houthis in Yemen is stronger – although it may not last. The Islamic State remains a shadow of its former self.

For an organization like Hamas, simply surviving a major conflict is an achievement and a means Israel has failed to achieve one of its primary war aims. But the concessions Hamas has made since coming close to a ceasefire last May underscore its weakened state.

Although no reliable statistics exist and Hamas has undoubtedly recruited many new fighters, its military arm has been badly damaged by the Israeli attack, killing most senior and mid-ranking commanders.

Read the full analysis: Islamist groups in the Middle East will emerge from the Gaza war weakened

More than 80 Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes since ceasefire announced, Gaza Civil Defense Agency says

An Israeli airstrikes killed five Palestinians west of Jabalia in the north The Gaza Strip Thursday, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Since Qatar announced on Wednesday that a ceasefire deal had been reached – but has yet to be formally agreed – Gaza’s Civil Defense Agency reported that Israel had “escalated” its attacks across the territory.

According to Wafa, Israeli attacks have killed 81 people and injured 188 others. A civil defense spokesman said its teams had recovered the bodies of five children after an attack on the northern town of Jabalia.

The Israeli military said it had carried out strikes on “approximately 50 terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip” since late Wednesday.

Relatives of Ahmad Al-Shayah, a journalist killed in an Israeli drone strike on a charity facility, mourn his shrouded body at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza on January 16, 2025. Photo: Anadolu/Getty Images

Turkeypresident, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, have expressed concern about it Israeli airstrikes still killed Palestinians Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement announced a day earlier.

“The Israeli government should not be allowed to violate and exploit the ceasefire,” Erdoğan told a news conference.

The international community should fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities to the people of Gaza.

Israeli cabinet to vote on ceasefire deal on Friday – report

As we reported earlier, Israeli media reports that the remaining disputes about Gaza the hostage and cease-fire agreement has been resolved.

The Israeli cabinet is now expected to meet on Friday morning to ratify the agreement, Axios reports reporting, quoting an Israeli official.

Blinken says he is ‘confident’ about the ceasefire and expects it to take effect on Sunday

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is asked at the briefing how certain he feels that the ceasefire will actually happen.

“At the armistice I am sure,” he replied. “I fully expect implementation to begin … on Sunday.”

He noted that the negotiation process has been “challenging” and that “you can get a loose end.”

We’re tying up the loose ends as we speak. I’ve been on the phone in one way or another all morning with (White House Middle East Adviser’) Brett McGurk, with our Qatari friends and I am very confident that we will (see this) move forward and that we will see the start of the implementation of the agreement on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, during his press conference, was interrupted several times by anti-war protesters sitting in the State Department briefing room.

“How does it feel to have your heritage as genocide?” A man called out to Blinken.

A little later the US Secretary was asked “why are you not in The Hague?”

'Why aren't you in The Hague?': Chaos breaks out at Antony Blinken's final press conference – video — ‘Why aren’t you in The Hague?’: Chaos breaks out at Antony Blinken’s final press conference – video

There are reports that the remaining disputes over the ceasefire agreement have been resolved.

Aryeh Derithe head of Shas, announced that the obstacles preventing the implementation of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas have been addressed, The Times of Israel reported.

“A few minutes ago I received a final notification that all obstacles have been overcome and that the deal is under way,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.

“Now they are busy with the final technical formulation. I want to congratulate Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, he is responsible for the agreement.”

Israeli officials have told Jerusalem Post that “all divisions have been resolved.”

Axios also cites US sources reports that the agreement is now “finished”.

US Secretary of State, Antony Blinkenholding a news conference where he said he expected the ceasefire agreement to take effect on Sunday.

“As President Biden said yesterday, after more than 400 days of struggle, a day of success has come,” he said, describing it as a “moment of enormous relief for both Israelis and Palestinians”.

Blinken said it would take “enormous effort, political courage, compromise” to ensure the deal lasts.

Summary of the day so far

It is almost 6:30 PM in Tel Aviv and Gaza. Here is a summary of recent developments:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has postponed a cabinet meeting on Thursday to vote on and ratify a ceasefire and hostage release deal announced by the leaders of Qatar and the United States the day before. Netanyahu’s office accused Hamas of “rejecting parts of the agreement” which had created a “last-minute crisis” and said the cabinet would not meet until “Hamas accepts all elements of the agreement”.
Fighting has continued in Gaza despite expectations of a ceasefire, with at least 80 Palestinians killed and hundreds more wounded by Israeli airstrikes since the ceasefire.according to the Danish Civil Defense Agency. The Israeli military said it had carried out strikes on “approximately 50 terrorist targets” across Gaza since late Wednesday. A civil defense spokesman said its teams had recovered the bodies of five children after an attack on the northern town of Jabalia.
More than 46,788 Palestinians have been killed and another 110,453 wounded by Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the latest figures from the area’s Ministry of Health on Thursday. They include 81 killed and 188 injured within the past 24 hours. Among them was Fatin Shakoura-Salha, the head of nursing staff at Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat, ActionAid said.
A senior Hamas official, Izzat el-Reshiq, said after Netanyahu’s announcement that the group remained committed to the ceasefire agreement, without giving further details. This is according to the White House’s national security spokesman, John Kirby The United States is “confident” that issues delaying ratification of the agreement will be resolved. US representatives are believed to be still actively involved in negotiations in Doha on the final details needed to get the deal over the line.
The ceasefire deal, which was announced on Wednesday but has not been formally agreed, is expected to take effect on Sunday. In the first phase, to last 42 days, Hamas agreed to release 33 hostages, and in return Israel would release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas and 30 for other hostages. Palestinians displaced from their homes would be allowed to move freely around Gaza, wounded people would be cleared for treatment abroad and aid to the territory would increase to 600 trucks a day. A second phase would include Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza.
The EU announced that it would deliver 120 million EUR (123 million USD) in new aid to Gaza, brought the bloc’s humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Territory to more than €450 million since 2023. The package will include food, healthcare and shelter assistance and support to provide access to clean water, the European Commission said.