The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they happen.
Report: Exiled Palestinian prisoners released under Gaza truce deal arrive in Qatar
A group of Palestinian prisoners have arrived in Qatar after they were released by Israel yesterday and delivered to Egypt via Gaza’s Rafah Border crossing as part of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, Arabic media reports.
The prisoners, who had been serving life sentences for terror attacks that killed dozens of people, were greeted in Qatar by delegations of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad officials, the Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed news outlet reports.
In total, 70 of the 200 Palestinian security prisoners released yesterday were deported abroad, while the others were returned to the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
Trump says Jordan, Egypt should take in more Palestinians from Gaza
US President Donald Trump says that Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinians from Gaza, where Israel’s war against Hamas has caused a humanitarian crisis.
“I said to him I’d love you to take on more because I’m looking at the whole Gaza strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess. I’d like him to take people,” Trump says about his call with Jordan’s King Abdullah.
“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump tells reporters, adding he would speak to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday.
IDF tells Gazans not to return to north until ‘Hamas breach’ of hostage deal is resolved
The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee warns Gazans against returning to the northern Gaza Strip from the south via the Netzarim Corridor, where troops are still deployed.
He says that the delay in reopening the route is due to “Hamas’s breach of the ceasefire agreement.”
The Prime Minister’s Office said yesterday that Israel will not allow Palestinians to return to the northern Gaza Strip until Hamas arranges the release of female civilian hostage Arbel Yehud.
According to Israel, Hamas has violated the deal by releasing female hostage soldiers before the living civilian women.
Adraee says on X that the Netzarim Corridor will not be reopened “until the release of Israeli civilian Arbel Yehud has been settled between the mediators and Israel.”
He warns Gazan civilians to follow the instructions issued by the IDF in order to keep themselves safe.
#عاجل ‼️إعلان عاجل إلى سكان قطاع غزة
????في ضوء خرق اتفاق وقف إطلاق النار من قبل حماس وبهدف منع الاحتكاكات وسوء الفهم:
⭕️كافة التعليمات القائمة لا تزال سارية المفعول وبالأخص حظر الاقتراب إلى محور نتساريم حتى الإعلان عن فتحه
⭕️محور نتساريم لن يفتح للانتقال حتى تسوية تحرير المواطنة… pic.twitter.com/otHYwapCtI— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) January 25, 2025
US State Department stresses ‘critical’ need for hostage deal to be implemented in full
The US State Department calls for the full implementation of the hostage deal, amid persistent calls from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners for Israel to return to fighting after the first stage.
“It is critical that the ceasefire implementation continues and that all of the hostages are freed from Hamas captivity and safely returned to their families,” the State Department says in a statement welcoming the release of the four Israeli hostages today.
“We continue to mourn the innocent lives lost at the hands of Hamas terrorism since October 7, 2023,” the statement adds, appearing to place all responsibility on the terror group for those killed in the war – an apparent change from the Biden administration, which also held Israel responsible for the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the fighting, arguing that Jerusalem needed to do more to prevent those deaths.
The United States celebrates the release of the four Israeli hostages held in captivity for 477 days.