By Abdul Adil
(AA, Wafa, Al Jazeera, NNA, The Muslim News):
GAZA
At least 123 Palestinians, including 33 children and 33 women, have been killed since Hamas and Israel agreed on a ceasefire on Wednesday in Gaza Strip, according to the enclave’s civil defence.
Most of the killings, 92, came in Gaza City, 19 in Khan Younis, 10 in central Gaza, and two more in Rafah in the south, Mahmoud Basal, a spokesperson of the rescue service, said on Telegram.
More than 270 Palestinians were also injured since the accord, he added.
UNICEF reports that about 35 Palestinian children have been killed in Gaza each day over the 15 months of Israel’s war on the territory.
The death toll from the Israeli indiscriminate bombings on the Gaza Strip has surged to 46,899 Palestinian and 110,725 wounded since October 7, 2023.
Medical sources said that the Israeli occupation committed three massacres against families in the Strip, which led to the killing of 23 citizens and the injury of 83 during the past 24 hours.
They pointed out that hundreds of slain Palestinians remain under the rubble and on the roads, where ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.
Last night, five Palestinians from one family were killed in an Israeli occupation forces’ shelling in the southern Gaza Strip.
Medical sources said that a Palestinian from the Al-Qudra family, his wife and their three children, were killed in Israeli shelling that targeted a tent sheltering displaced people in the Mawasi area of Al-Qarara town, near Al-Hedaya Mosque, north of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
In a related context, a female Palestinian was injured by gunfire from the occupation boats west of Khan Yunis.
An Israeli drone strike Friday evening killed three Palestinian civilians in at-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City, according to WAFA correspondents.
They said that Israeli forces used a drone to strike a gathering of civilians in the neighborhood, claiming the lives of three and injuring others.
Last night, five Palestinians from one family were killed in an Israeli occupation forces’ shelling in the southern Gaza Strip.
Medical sources said that a citizen from the Al-Qudra family, his wife and their three children, were killed in an occupation shelling that targeted a tent sheltering displaced people
The coalition government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed on the Gaza ceasefire deal with Hamas that will go into force at 06:30 GMT on Sunday.
Israel’s military is expected to continue such assaults “until the last minute”, says analyst Hassan Barari.
Qatar announced a cease-fire agreement Wednesday to end more than 15 months of deadly Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
WEST BANK
Israeli forces stormed several neighbourhoods in Hebron city, including Jabal al-Rahma, the Ashabi area and Nimra, according to security sources cited by the Wafa news agency.
They also stormed the town of Idhna, west of Hebron, raided dozens of homes, detained a large number of Palestinians, and turned one of the homes into a field investigation centre, before releasing the residents, the report said.
Illegal Israeli settlers Friday assaulted an international activist in Masafer Yatta, south of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to a local activist.
Osama Makhamara said that an Israeli settler attacked an international solidarity activist to the east of the city of Yatta.
He added that the assailant came from the nearby illegal settler outpost of Shim’on.
Meanwhile, settlers grazed their cattle on the cultivated land and olive groves of Farid al-Hamama in Masafer Yatta.
Masafer Yatta is a collection of almost 19 hamlets that rely heavily on animal husbandry as the main source of livelihood.
Located in Area C of the West Bank, under full Israeli administrative and military control, the area has been subjected to repeated Israeli violations by settlers and soldiers targeting their main source of living – livestock.
It has been designated as a closed Israeli military zone for training since the 1980s and is accordingly referred to as Firing Zone 918.
Israeli violations against the area include the demolition of animal barns, homes, and residential structures. Issuance of construction permits by Israel to local Palestinians in the area is non-existent.
LEBANON
Lebanese media on Friday reported four more Israeli violations to the ceasefire agreement that took effect 52 days ago between Israel and Lebanon.
According to the National News Agency, the Israeli army blew up several homes in Meiss El-Jabal town of Marjayoun district in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli drones were detected flying at a low altitude over Beirut’s southern suburb, the main stronghold of the Hezbollah group.
The news agency also reported that a Syrian national was arrested by the Israeli army while grazing a herd of cattle on the outskirts of the Rmeish town.
Lebanon and Israel reached a ceasefire deal on Nov. 27 to end over 14 months of fighting between the Israeli army and the Hezbollah group since the start of the Gaza war.
Lebanese authorities have reported, however, more than 564 Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including the death of 37 people and injury of 45 others.
Meanwhile, Joseph Aoun, the new Lebanese president, supported by US, UK and France, has held a meeting with UN chief Antonio Guterres during which he stressed the urgency of Israeli forces’ withdrawal from south Lebanon under the terms of November’s ceasefire, according to a statement from the presidency.
“The continued Israeli violations on land and in the air, especially in terms of blowing up houses and destroying border villages, completely contradicts what was stated in the ceasefire agreement and is considered a continuation of the violation of Lebanese sovereignty and the will of the international community,” Aoun’s office said after his meeting with Guterres.
The UN secretary-general has said he will “exert utmost efforts” to ensure the “secure” withdrawal of the forces within the January 26 deadline set by the agreement reached on November 27.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday said that Israel is violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701 by continuing its occupation of areas under the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and conducting military operations inside Lebanon.
During his meeting with UNIFIL Commander General Arnaldo Latharo Sainz at the UNIFIL headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura, Guterres stressed that continued support and coordination between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army would be “fundamental in supporting an enduring cessation of hostilities.”
The continued Israeli “occupation inside the UNIFIL area of operations and the conduct of military operations in Lebanese territory are violations of resolution 1701 and pose a continued risk to your safety and security,” the UN chief said, stressing: “They must stop.”
Earlier, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has underscored the urgency of Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon within the deadline set by a cease-fire agreement.
His remarks came during a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, on Friday, according to Lebanon’s state-run news agency.
Aoun highlighted the importance of solidifying the cease-fire, which began on Nov. 27, 2024, and ensuring Israel’s withdrawal from the remaining occupied territories within the 60-day timeframe.
He also called for the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel and for the reconstruction of villages devastated by the recent Israeli aggression.
Under the ceasefire terms, Israel is required to withdraw its forces south of the Blue Line – a de facto border – in phases, while the Lebanese army is to deploy in southern Lebanon within 60 days.
YEMEN
Israel’s military says the sirens that went off in central Israel were triggered by a missile launched from Yemen.
Israel’s air force intercepted one missile, the military said.
Yemen’s Houthi [Ansar Allah], claiming solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, have repeatedly fired missiles at Israel during the Gaza war.
Houthi on Friday announced that it had struck targets in central and southern Israel as well as a US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.
In a statement, the group’s military spokesman Yahya Saree said its fighters “carried out three military operations against Israeli targets.”
He noted that the group targeted the Eilat area in southern Israel with four cruise missiles, and in another military operation, it attacked “a vital target” in the Ashkelon area, southern Israel, with a combat drone.
In the third military operation, he added the group attacked the Tel Aviv-Jaffa area in central Israel with three combat drones.
The Houthi spokesman also said its fighters targeted for the seventh time the USS Harry Truman aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.
Earlier on Friday, the Houthi group reported that the United States carried out five airstrikes targeting the Harf Sufyan district in the northern Amran province.
[Photo: Palestinians, who lost their loved ones in Israeli attacks on Mawasi tent camp, where displaced Palestinians took shelter, mourn over the bodies at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza on January 18, 2025. Despite the announcement of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli army’s attacks on the Gaza Strip continue.
Photojournalist: Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]
