Netanyahu says Israel will not proceed with Gaza ceasefire until it gets hostage list

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 19 January 2025
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Netanyahu says Israel will not proceed with Gaza ceasefire until it gets hostage list

  • “Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,” Netanyahu said

JERUSALEM: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel reserves the right to resume fighting in Gaza with US support, as he pledged to bring home all hostages held in the Palestinian territory.
“We reserve the right to resume the war if necessary, with American support,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement, a day before a ceasefire is set to take effect.
“We are thinking of all our hostages ... I promise you that we will achieve all our objectives and bring back all the hostages.
“With this agreement, we will bring back 33 of our brothers and sisters, the majority (of them) alive,” he said.
He said the 42-day first phase, which starts on Sunday, was a “temporary ceasefire.”
“If we are forced to resume the war, we will do so with force,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel had “changed the face of the Middle East” since the war began.


US kills Al-Qaeda affiliate leader tied to December attack in Syria, Centcom says

Updated 18 January 2026
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US kills Al-Qaeda affiliate leader tied to December attack in Syria, Centcom says

  • Bilal Hasan Al-Jasim had “direct ties” to a Daesh gunman who killed and injured US and Syrian ⁠personnel

WASHINGTON: US military forces on Friday killed an Al-Qaeda affiliate leader linked to a Daesh attack on Americans in Syria last month, US Central Command ⁠said in a statement on Saturday.
Bilal Hasan Al-Jasim had “direct ties” to a Daesh gunman who killed and injured US and Syrian ⁠personnel on December 13 in Palmyra, Syria, Central Command said.

“The death of a terrorist operative linked to the deaths of three Americans demonstrates our resolve in pursuing terrorists who attack our forces,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, ⁠the head of US Central Command, in a statement.
Since the December 13 attack, US forces have been conducting strikes in Syria, with the US military saying it has hit more than 100 Daesh targets.