Headline Roundup • January 19th, 2025
Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Takes Effect After Initial Delay
Middle East,Ceasefire,Israel Hamas Violence,Hamas,Gaza,Palestine,Israel,Hostages,Palestinians,Benjamin Netanyahu
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoners deal between Israel and Hamas took effect at 11:15 a.m. local time on Sunday, two hours and forty-five minutes after it was originally scheduled to.
The Details: Israel said it had been waiting for a list of hostage names Hamas planned to exchange, and that this was the reason for the delay. An anonymous Israeli official confirmed that three female civilians, Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31 will be released at some point on Sunday. In Gaza, some Palestinian civilians have begun returning to what is left of their homes.
For Context: The ceasefire and hostage exchange is the second since the war broke out in October 2023. In November 2023, a ceasefire saw the release of 70 Israeli hostages and approximately 270 Palestinian prisoners. Currently, there are believed to be around 100 hostages left in Gaza, though on January 7, Newsmax (Right bias) reported that U.S. intelligence believed only 20 were still alive.
How The Media Covered It: The story was one of the biggest across the spectrum on Sunday morning. Several outlets are offering live coverage as the hostages and prisoners have not been exchanged yet, as of 3 p.m. local time.
Featured Coverage of this Story
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, ushering in an initial six-week period of calm and raising hopes for the release of dozens of militant-held hostages and an end to a devastating 15-month conflict. A last-minute delay by Hamas put off the start of the truce by nearly three hours and highlighted its fragility.
But even before the truce officially took effect, celebrations erupted across the war-ravaged territory and some Palestinians began returning to their homes. Israel, meanwhile, announced the names of the...
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Bashar Taleb/AFP via Getty Images
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a ceasefire between Israel's military and Hamas has begun.
The Israeli government announced the ceasefire with Hamas would take effect at 11:15 local time (4:15 am US ET) — around three hours after the originally scheduled time for hostilities to cease.
Relatives of Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher — the three Israeli hostages set to be released later today — express their joy that their loved ones are coming home, but say there’s a “long road ahead.”
Eitan Gonen tells the Kan public broadcaster that while Israeli officials have not provided information on his daughter’s condition, “Romi is finally coming home, alive, there is nothing more joyful than that.”
A source close to the Damari family tells the BBC that it has been a “torturous 471 days but a particularly torturous...
