Middle East crisis live: US secretary of state stresses need to ‘continue implementation’ of ceasefire deal

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Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting for Al Jazeera from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza says that “more than 3,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza during the first four days of the ceasefire” and that “the arrival of aid has brought partial relief to the population.”

He continues, however, by saying “their suffering is exacerbated by rainfall and a search for alternative shelter, especially for families who have returned to the remnants of their destroyed houses.”

A man walks through a flooded area after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday 23 January. Photograph: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

In a statement overnight Israel’s military has ordered “Palestinians to follow its instructions and avoid approaching the troops deployed in [Gaza]”.

It said troops yesterday “identified several armed suspects who posed a threat to the troops” and killed someone it named as “the Islamic Jihad terrorist Akram Atef Farhan Zanon.”

Additionally it claimed “in several areas throughout the Gaza Strip, masked suspects were identified approaching IDF troops, who fired warning shots to distance them.”

The statement continued:

The IDF is determined to fully maintain the terms of the agreement in order to return the hostages. The IDF is prepared for any scenario and will continue to take all necessary actions to thwart any immediate threat to IDF soldiers.

For today’s First Edition newsletter Nimo Omer spoke to the Guardian’s senior international affairs correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, about the latest developments in the occupied West Bank:

In November, Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, announced an end to administrative detention orders for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, meaning that the policy of holding suspects on security grounds without trial or charge would only be used against Palestinians. Government security agency Shin Bet warned against the move because it would “result in an immediate, severe and serious harm to the security of the state”.

Last week, the five settlers who were in administrative detention for violent acts against Palestinians were released, in a move that Katz said was a direct response to the release of Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal. He said it would “convey a clear message of strengthening and encouraging the settlement, which is at the forefront of the struggle against Palestinian terrorism and facing growing security challenges”.

This policy has emboldened and deepened a “climate of impunity” among settlers, Emma says. “One security official was quoted in Haaretz saying that rightist activists – I would say far-right – believe they can act freely and that no one will arrest them, and that is very much what seems to be happening”.

Settler violence has been on the rise for the last 15 months. Between 7 October 2023 and 31 December 2024, at least 1,860 such incidents in the occupied West Bank were recorded, according to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Read more here: Thursday briefing – With a new wave of violence, the West Bank is on edge

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Israel’s military has issued a statement claiming to have killed two men responsible for an attack on a bus on 6 January that killed three Israelis and wounded several others.

In the statement, the IDF claimed that Mohamad Nazzal and Katiba Shalabi were members of the Islamic Jihad group. Israel’s military said several other suspects were arrested, and one Israeli soldier was wounded during the operation.

Al Jazeera accuses Palestinian Authority of arresting reporter to prevent coverage of Israel's military in the West Bank

The Al Jazeera news network has accused the Palestinian Authority of arresting one of its journalists in a bid to prevent coverage of Israel’s military operation inside the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The network, Associated Press reports, said that its reporter, Mohammed al-Atrash, was arrested from his home.

Al Jazeera said Palestinian security forces had earlier prevented him from reporting on a large Israeli military operation in Jenin.

Al Jazeera was banned from operating inside Israel last year by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, and the Palestinian Authority has also issued a restriction on the network’s operation.

Israel’s military has been mounting what it has called an anti-terrorism operation inside the occupied West Bank in recent days.

Bodies of 162 Palestinians recovered from rubble since ceasefire

Gaza’s civil defence authority reports that the bodies of at least 162 Palestinians have been recovered from under the rubble and debris left by Israeli strikes on Gaza since the ceasefire came into operation.

The casualty figures from the conflict in Gaza, which journalists have been unable to verify independently, have been put at nearly 47,000 dead, with many more bodies believed to have been trapped under rubble and too difficult and dangerous to retrieve while the Israeli military assault continued.

Trump administration insisting IDF pull out from Lebanon by Sunday as agreed – reports

Israel’s Army Radio reports that the Donald Trump administration in Washington has told Israel that it expects it to comply with Sunday’s deadline to withdraw the IDF from Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire agreement struck between Israel and Lebanon in November, the IDF were given 60 days to complete its invasion and operations inside Lebanon, and withdraw back behind the UN-drawn blue line which acts as a border between the two countries. The deadline is this weekend.

The IDF has claimed to have been dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure in the south of Lebanon, while also preventing displaced residents from returning to their homes. Tens of thousands of Israelis have also been displaced from their homes by the months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah which the ceasefire aims to stop.

Israel was believed to be seeking, according to reports, a 30 day extension for its invasion before withdrawing. Israeli media reports that it was understood the Biden administration had been minded to permit the extension.

US secretary of state Marco Rubio stresses 'need to continue implementation' of Gaza ceasefire deal

New US secretary of state Marco Rubio has stressed “the need to continue implementation” of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza during calls to regional leaders.

Read-outs from the US government indicate that during a call with UAE foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed, Donald Trump’s top diplomat “discussed the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the release of the hostages and humanitarian aid for Gaza” and Rubio “reinforced the significance of this agreement for regional security and stability and the need to continue implementation.”

Rubio also spoke to Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. In 2021 a US intelligence report found bin Salman approved the murder of US journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in 2018, but Joe Biden’s administration declined to take direct action against the crown prince.

In the call with bin Salman, Rubio is said by the state department to have “conveyed that he looked forward to advancing shared interests in Syria, Lebanon, Gaza, and beyond” and “also stressed the threats posed by Iran and its proxies.”

Welcome to the Guardian’s ongoing live coverage of conflict in the Middle East. Here are the latest headlines …

• New US secretary of state Marco Rubio has stressed “the need to continue implementation” of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza during calls to regional leaders

• Gaza’s civil defence authority reports that the bodies of at least 162 Palestinians have been recovered from under the rubble and debris left by Israeli strikes on Gaza since the ceasefire came into operation

• Israel’s Army Radio reports that the Donald Trump administration in Washington has told Israel that it expects it to comply with Sunday’s deadline to withdraw the IDF from Lebanon

• The Al Jazeera news network has accused the Palestinian Authority of arresting one of its journalists in a bid to prevent coverage of Israel’s military operation inside the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

• Violent Israeli settlers have been descending on Sinjil and other West Bank towns to protest against the release of Palestinian prisoners