Hundreds of aid trucks line up at Rafah border crossing ready to deliver aid to Gaza - as it happened

Ahram Online , Friday 17 Jan 2025

A high-level meeting to establish mechanisms for implementing the ceasefire agreement in Gaza is taking place in Cairo on Friday, and hundreds of trucks in North Sinai are preparing to deliver aid to the strip once the dust settles on Sunday morning.

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20:00 The head of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, has welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal and called for all parties to ensure the deal is fully implemented.

Lazzarini, in a press briefing, called for “rapid, uninterrupted and unhindered” humanitarian access to the “tremendous suffering” in Gaza.

“The ceasefire is only a starting point,” he said, noting that Unrwa is ready to scale up aid delivery and support the recovery of the Palestinian territory by resuming education and providing primary health care.

19:50 Sigrid Kaag, the former Dutch foreign minister, has been named as the United Nations’ Middle East envoy.

Kaag will also continue in her current role as the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, a UN spokesperson said.

19:20 Hundreds of trucks carrying food, water, and medicine lined up on Friday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, awaiting the green light on Sunday morning when the Israel-Hamas ceasefire goes into effect to enter the strip to deliver urgent humanitarian aid to 2.3 million Palestinians who suffered near-starvation conditions due to 15 months of a deadly Israeli blockade.

Immediately after the announcement on Wednesday evening that Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal to end the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, Egyptian authorities began intensive preparations in North Sinai to reopen the Rahah border crossing that Israel closed in May of 2024 after its army occupied the Palestinian side of the crossing.

19:10 Volunteers will distribute 20,000 bread packages gifted by the Egyptian Committee to displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Volunteers also distributed thousands of bread packages gifted by the Egyptian Committee to displaced Palestinians in Deir El-Balah in the central strip.

19:00 Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, welcomed the Israeli security cabinet’s decision on Friday to approve the ceasefire deal, saying it would “bring our hostages home”.

“I harbor no illusions — the deal will bring with it great challenges and painful, agonizing moments that we will need to overcome and face together,” he posted to X.

"With all my heart, I embrace the families of the hostages, especially those who know that their loved ones will not return in the first stage. We must bring everyone back. Everyone! We will not rest or relent until this happens."

16:50 Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that he hoped a ceasefire in Gaza would lead to a "long-term stabilisation" and called for efforts to secure a "comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."

Speaking about the deal between Israel and Hamas, Putin said: "We hope this will contribute to alleviating the humanitarian situation and to the long-term stabilization of the region."

"At the same time, it is important not to weaken efforts for a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of international law," he said, speaking alongside Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian at the Kremlin.

16:45 Israel’s justice ministry has released a list of 95 Palestinians held in Israeli prisoners to be freed in the first exchange of the captive-prisoner swap deal with Hamas.

Most people on the list are women, and the vast majority were arrested after 7 October 2023, the Jerusalem Post reports.

Under the first phase of the deal, Hamas has agreed to release 33 hostages, including children, women, female soldiers, and men aged over 50.

In exchange, Israel would release 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier released by Hamas and 30 for other female hostages.

16:35 UK lawmakers warned on Friday that an Israeli ban on the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, due to be implemented this month, threatens to undermine efforts for peace in the Middle East.

UK foreign secretary David Lammy said on Thursday that legislation barring UNRWA from operating in Israel and East Jerusalem, due to be implemented by the end of January, threatened the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

“What we don’t want is this peace, that begins on Sunday, undermined by that legislation just a few days into its passing,” he told parliament on Thursday, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“While news of a ceasefire is encouraging, the situation on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank remains alarming,” said Sarah Champion, the chair of the UK Parliament’s International Development Committee (IDC)

She added: "Israel’s proposed ban on UNRWA would prevent aid distribution in Gaza, devastate Palestinian livelihoods and send disruptive ripples throughout the Middle East.”

The IDC has published a report urging the UK government to “do all it can” to ensure UNRWA can continue its work.

The report concluded that if UNRWA were banned, it would almost certainly lead to further conflict and displacement.

UNRWA provides aid to six million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

16:30 The EU is prepared to redeploy a monitoring mission to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt after a ceasefire deal to end Israel's war in the territory, the bloc's top diplomat said Friday.

"We are ready to do it," foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told journalists after meeting Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa in Brussels.

Kallas said the EU needed an invitation from the Palestinian and Israeli sides and agreement from Egypt before it could "go forward."

The 27-nation bloc set up a civilian mission in 2005 to help monitor the crossing, but that was suspended two years later after Hamas took control of Gaza.


People wave flags and signs as they march during a pro-Palestinian rally in York City on January 16, 2025

 

15:20 The Israeli security cabinet approved a Gaza ceasefire and captive release deal on Friday, recommending that the wider government give its final green light, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"After reviewing all the political, security and humanitarian aspects, and understanding that the proposed deal supports achieving the objectives of the war, (the security cabinet) has recommended that the government approve the proposed framework," the office said in a statement.

Right-wing extremists Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich voted against the deal.

The full cabinet will convene later on Friday to decide on the deal.

The Israeli high court is still scheduled to hear petitions against elements of the agreement, but it is widely expected not to intervene.

15:15 Al Jazeera reported that Hamas has requested that mediators pressure Tel Aviv to cease bombardment in the Gaza Strip to allow the Palestinian factions to make preparations for the release of Israeli captives on Sunday afternoon as per the ceasefire deal signed on Wednesday.

The request comes as Israeli warplanes carried out intensive airstrikes in various parts of the strip, including Jabalkia and Gaza City in the north, killing at least 20 Palestinians on Friday, according to Al Jazeera reporter Anas Al-Sharif.

15:00 Two sources close to Hamas told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the first group of captives to be released consists of three Israeli women soldiers.

However, since Hamas considers any Israeli of military age who has completed mandatory service as a soldier, the reference could also apply to civilians captured on 7 October 2023.

The first three names on a list obtained by AFP of the 33 captives to be released in the first phase are women under 30 who were not in military service on 7 October.


Demonstrators celebrate as they gather in front of the parliament building to express their support for the Palestinians in Rabat on January 16, 2025, following the news of a ceasefire and prisoner release deal between Hamas and Israel. AFP

 

14:45 A high-level meeting to establish mechanisms for implementing the recently agreed-upon ceasefire agreement in Gaza Friday started in Cairo on Friday, Al-Qahera News TV channel reported.

The meeting, attended by Egyptian, Qatari, American, and Israeli delegations, will discuss mechanisms for delivering aid to the Gaza Strip at 600 trucks per day, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement.

On Thursday, Al-Qahera News TV channel correspondent in the West Bank confirmed that a delegation from the Israeli military and the Shin Bet would arrive in Cairo on Friday to coordinate with the Egyptian side on mechanisms for the agreed-upon ceasefire in Gaza.

On Friday, Al-Qahera News reported that Egyptian authorities are finalizing preparations in the North Sinai Governorate to facilitate the entry of trucks carrying humanitarian aid to the strip.

Egypt, Qatar, and the US issued a joint statement on Wednesday evening on the agreement reached between Israel and Hamas for the exchange of captives and prisoners and the establishment of sustainable calm, leading to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Egypt, Qatar, and the US guarantee the deal.

Immediately after the announcement of the ceasefire deal, Egyptian security sources said coordination is underway to open the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza to allow the entry of international aid to the Palestinian people in the strip.

The security sources indicated Egypt is preparing to deliver the largest possible amount of humanitarian aid to the strip.

The Rafah border crossing would start operating immediately with the start of the ceasefire deal under Egyptian sponsorship and in coordination with Hamas, according to the Israeli channel 13.

Israel has closed the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which carried humanitarian aid to the strip, after occupying the Palestinian side of the crossing in May 2024.

14:00 The Israeli cabinet is set to meet in the afternoon hours to vote on the ceasefire deal with Hamas, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, and set to go into effect at 12:15 on Sunday.

 

 

13:00 Medical sources stated on Friday that the death toll in Gaza has risen to 103 since the ceasefire agreement was announced on Wednesday evening, with 264 people reported injured as of Friday morning.

According to the sources, 82 civilians were killed in northern Gaza, 16 in the south and five in the central part of the Strip, including 27 children and 31 women.

"The intensive Israeli massacres in the Gaza Strip confirm the terrorist nature of Israel,' added Hamas.

The ceasefire/prisoner swap deal, mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the US, is scheduled to go into effect at 12:15 on Sunday.

On Thursday, Hamas issued a statement denying Israeli claims that the movement has backtracked on the deal.

In the late hours of Thursday evening, US officials announced that all outstanding issues in the ceasefire deal were resolved.

The Israeli war cabinet is set to vote on the deal on Friday.


A young Palestinian girl stands along a street on a misty morning in Khan Younis in the northern Gaza Strip on January 17, 2025. AFP

 

12:30 French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday that French-Israeli citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are in the first group of captives to be freed by Hamas following a ceasefire with Israel.

Macron's announcement came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that the release of captives held in Gaza since 7 October is expected to begin on Sunday.

"Our fellow citizens Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi are on the list of 33 hostages to be freed in the first phase of the Gaza accord," Macron said in a social media post.

"We remain mobilised without pause to ensure their return to their families," he wrote.

12:00 Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said Thursday that he and his party colleagues would quit the cabinet if it approved a Gaza ceasefire and captive release deal. However, they would not leave the country's ruling coalition.

"If this irresponsible agreement is approved and implemented, the Jewish Power party will not be part of the government and will leave it," he said at a press conference late Thursday evening while keeping open the possibility of reversing course if the ceasefire collapsed.

"If the war against Hamas resumes, with intensity, in order to achieve the objectives of the war that have not been achieved, we will return to the government."

Ben Gvir sits on the Israeli cabinet alongside two fellow Jewish Power MPs and contributes six members, including himself, to Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition of 68 lawmakers in the Knesset.

But even as he threatened to quit the cabinet, he said his party "will not overthrow Netanyahu".

Ben Gvir also called on far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the Religious Zionism party, to quit.

Smotrich had said earlier in the day that the ceasefire deal was "dangerous" for Israel's security.

Following Ben Gvir's remarks, Netanyahu's Likud party said in a statement: "Whoever dismantles a right-wing government will forever be in disgrace."

The ceasefire agreement, it added, would allow Israel "to maximize the number of live hostages that will be released... (and) to achieve security successes that will guarantee Israel's security for generations to come."

11:30 A delegation from the Israeli military and the Shin Bet is scheduled to arrive in Cairo on Friday, according to Al-Qahera News TV channel correspondent in the West Bank.

The visit aims to coordinate with the Egyptian side regarding the implementation arrangements of the recently agreed-upon ceasefire in Gaza.

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