Israel-Gaza war live: Ceasefire deal at ‘closest point yet’ as Blinken says need to forge ‘new reality’ in Middle East | Israel-Gaza war
Blinken talks of need to 'forge new reality' in Middle East in last major foreign policy speech
Blinken speaks of the need to “forge a new reality” in the Middle East. He said he doesn’t want to turn “back the clock” to the way things were before 7 October 2023. He said he wants countries in the Middle East to be able to achieve their aspirations in a climate of peace and security. He says this will be difficult to achieve. A heckler interrupted his speech and said that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, a war that the US has fuelled through its huge amount of military assistance given to Israel. Blinken says the US has a goal of ending the war in Gaza and normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Key events
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, will visit Lebanon on Friday, according to reporting by AFP. It will be the second such trip by a head of state since the new Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, was elected by lawmakers last Thursday.
Emmanuel Macron. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA
Macron’s office said he planned to mark “the unwavering commitment of France to support Lebanon, its sovereignty and unity”. Lebanon gained independence from France in 1943.
His trip follows a ceasefire in November between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, announced by Macron and Joe Biden, the US president.
Last Friday, Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides became the first head of state to visit Lebanon since Aoun took office.
Pete Hegseth, Donald Trump’s controversial pick for US secretary of defense, has been facing questions during his confirmation hearing with the US senate armed services committee in Washington.
Hegseth’s opening statements were interrupted several times by protesters, including one who called him a “Christian zionist”.
As the protester was removed from the room, another was heard shouting about “bombing babies in Gaza”.
Three people were arrested and charged with crowding, obstructing or incommoding, according to Capitol police.
Gaza protesters interrupt Trump's defence secretary pick during hearing – video
Gaza deal 'painful' for Israel but hostages' lives must be 'top priority', says Scholz
Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas “now seems within reach”.
Scholz, in a statement reported by AFP, acknowledged that a potential deal with Hamas would be “painful” for Israel, but said that saving the lives of hostages must be the “top priority”. He said:
We understand how painful any agreement with the terrorist organisation Hamas is for Israel. Nevertheless, the lives of the hostages must now be the top priority.
He said he was calling for an agreement partly because “there are numerous German nationals among the hostages” and said it would “finally alleviate the suffering in Gaza”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a town hall meeting in Chemnitz, Germany, 14 January 2025. Photograph: Matthias Rietschel/Reuters
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that following investigations by Israel’s air force and home front command, a ballistic missile launched from Yemen overnight was successfully intercepted by air defences.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said it fired a missile in the early hours of Tuesday, triggering sirens in several areas across central Israel. There are no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
A large fragment of a Houthi missile landed on the roof of a home in Mevo Beitar overnight, causing damage, the IDF said.
The military said it identified additional shrapnel impacts in Tzur Hadassah and Beitar Illit, with no major damage.
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, was delivering a speech at the Atlantic Council thinktank when he was interrupted by Gaza protesters.
One protester told the US secretary that he would “for ever be known as bloody Blinken, secretary of genocide”.
“You have the blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people on your hands,” she said.
'Secretary of genocide': Blinken speech on Middle East interrupted by protester – video
Israel’s health ministry is preparing for the return of 33 hostages as part of the first phase of a potential ceasefire, an Israeli official said.
The conditions of these hostages, which will include women, children, older adults and wounded civilians, will be “very different” than when Hamas released 105 hostages as part of a hostage deal in November 2023, Dr Sharon Alroy-Preis, head of the ministry’s public health division, said, the Times of Israel reported. It adds:
The admitting hospitals will make sure to give the hostages their privacy while they do medical tests and check for nutritional deficiencies. The medical staff will continue to monitor the hostages’ health over a long period of time.
The head of the Palestinian political party Palestinian National Initiative said they believe Hamas has accepted a ceasefire deal.
Mustafa Barghouti told the BBC that the deal was “closer … than any time before”, adding:
The deal is almost ready and I think the Palestinian side has agreed to it, accepted it. They’re waiting for the Israeli final response.
Gaza ceasefire deal 'right on the brink', says Blinken
Blinken is asked about reports earlier today that Hamas has accepted a ceasefire deal.
“It’s right on the brink,” the US secretary of state says. “It’s closer than it’s ever been before.”
“We await final word from Hamas on its acceptance and until we get that word, will remain on the brink.”
He says that could come “any time”, including in the hours and days ahead.
Blinken says the US continues to believe that the best way to create a more stable and secure Middle East is through forging a more integrated region.
Key to achieving that integration is ending the conflict in a way that “realizes the longstanding aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians to live with peace and security in states of their own”, he says.
Ultimately, however, the US cannot dictate outcomes, Blinken says. He says there is a “historic window of opportunity” open that will prevent more deaths and will “break the cycle of violence and bloodshed.”
“We must not squander this chance,” he says.
Blinken says that the longer the war goes on, the worst the humanitarian situation gets in Gaza.
He says Israel’s efforts have “fallen far short” of meeting the “colossal” scale of humanitarian need in Gaza, and there are steps that Israel can take to ensure that critical aid reaches Palestinians in need.
Those steps include restarting the flow of commercial goods, undertaking pauses in military operations, and securing aid corridors to storage and distribution sites.
“The suffering of civilians in Gaza is a tragedy in its own right,” he said. “It has also isolated Israel internationally and imperiled its hardened strides toward building relationships in the region.”
Blinken talks of need to 'forge new reality' in Middle East in last major foreign policy speech
Blinken speaks of the need to “forge a new reality” in the Middle East. He said he doesn’t want to turn “back the clock” to the way things were before 7 October 2023. He said he wants countries in the Middle East to be able to achieve their aspirations in a climate of peace and security. He says this will be difficult to achieve. A heckler interrupted his speech and said that Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza, a war that the US has fuelled through its huge amount of military assistance given to Israel. Blinken says the US has a goal of ending the war in Gaza and normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Hezbollah is a 'shadow of its former self', Blinken says
Blinken says Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group, is a “shadow of its former self” with its senior leadership killed and much of its infrastructure destroyed by the Israeli military. He also mentioned former Syrian president Bashar-al Assad being ousted by rebel forces last month and said that Hamas – the Palestinian militant group – has been “decimated”. He said “immeasurable” suffering has been inflicted on Palestinians, though there has been what he describes as “strategic gains” in the region. Nearly the entire population of Gaza has been displaced, many multiple times, is hungry and/or knows someone who has “lost a loved one” in (Israel’s) war, Blinken says. The more people suffer, the less they feel sympathy for the suffering of the other side, he added.
Blinken has been called a “monster” and a “war criminal” by a heckler. “You have no compassion,” she said.
US secretary of state delivers remarks expected to focus on Middle East
Antony Blinken is delivering his last (major) remarks in Washington as secretary of state before the Trump administration comes in next week. Blinken, who has been heavily involved in negotiations, is set to talk about the future of the Middle East and comment on the prospect of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza. You can watch our live feed at the top of the blog to follow along.
Militant group Islamic Jihad, which is separate from Hamas and also holds hostages in Gaza, said it was sending a senior delegation that would arrive in Doha on Tuesday night to take part in final arrangements for a ceasefire deal.
Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer has confirmed that the government will vote on any ceasefire deal put forward by negotiators, as was the case for the temporary truce agreed upon in November 2023. “Again, this is not concluded yet - it’s very important to remember that. We are moving closer but this is not concluded yet,” he was quoted by BBC News as saying, in reference to the talks in Doha. About 1,200 people were killed and 250 taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, triggering Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza. Eighty captives were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian women and children held in Israeli jails in a ceasefire in November that year, but the truce collapsed after a week.
Despite the ongoing truce talks in Qatar, at least 32 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since dawn, with at least 24 of these people killed in the central and southern parts of the territory, medical sources have told Al Jazeera Arabic.
At least 35 Palestinian people have been arrested by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank since yesterday evening until this morning, Tte Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said in a joint statement.
According to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency, the detentions were carried out in Nablus, Salfit, Jenin, Tulkarm and Hebron.
These detentions were accompanied by assaults, threats against detainees and their families and the destruction of property, Wafa reported.
It is estimated that over 11,000 Palestinians have been detained in the occupied West Bank since 7 October 2023.
Human rights groups and international organisations have alleged widespread abuse of inmates detained by Israel in raids in the West Bank.
They have described alleged abusive and humiliating treatment, including holding blindfolded and handcuffed detainees in cramped cages as well as beatings, intimidation and harassment.
