The Israeli government closed all border crossings into the Gaza Strip as the United States and Israel conducted strikes against Iran (The Hill)
The closures, including at the Rafah crossing, blocked humanitarian aid workers and patients requiring medical evaluation from entering or leaving (Reuters)
Aid Groups Challenge Israeli Court Over Gaza Access Rules
Dozens of international aid groups announced that they have petitioned to continue working in the Gaza Strip; this comes as Israel announced that it will ban thirty-seven aid groups by March 1 if they do not comply with new rules (Reuters)
The new rules require aid groups to provide the contact information and names of employees alongside details of funding and operations, requirements the groups have deemed arbitrary and invasive (AP)
Israeli Settlers Vandalize West Bank Mosque
The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs reported that Israeli settlers spray-painted offensive messages and set fire to a mosque in the West Bank; spray-painted graffiti included the words “price tag” and “revenge,” as well as disparaging imagery of the Prophet Muhammad (AP)
Trump’s International Board of Peace Meets to Discuss Gaza
While at least twenty-seven nations are officially members of the board, envoys from some forty-five countries attended the first meeting, underscoring Trump’s significant role in orchestrating the postwar plans for the enclave; besides the United States, no other permanent member of the UN Security Council is on the board (TIME)
Trump said countries will pledge at least $7 billion toward Gaza’s reconstruction (AP)
The United Arab Emirates and Kuwait are each expected to pledge $1.2 billion of that total, an unnamed U.S. official told Reuters (Reuters)
Trump said the United States will contribute an additional $10 billion (WaPo)
The Board’s top representative for Gaza, Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov, said that recruitment is underway for a local police force that will be deployed inside the territory in two months, as a complement to the larger international stabilization force envisioned in Trump’s Gaza peace plan (Anadolu Agency)
Outstanding questions still loom about the next steps of Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, including how Hamas’s demilitarization could unfold (CFR)
Israeli Airstrikes Kill Eleven
Palestinian officials announced that Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed eleven Palestinians; the IDF stated that the strikes were in response to ceasefire violations by Hamas (Reuters)
Since Israel partially opened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt earlier this month, the UN and partner agencies have helped medically evacuate at least 108 patients, while at least 269 people returned to Gaza, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said; it added that a handful of planned humanitarian missions in Gaza this month have been blocked by Israel or security risks on the ground (OCHA)
Indonesia Says Peacekeeping Troops Ready by June
Indonesia’s military announced that up to eight thousand troops are expected to be ready by June to deploy to Gaza as part of a humanitarian and peace mission (AP)
Israeli Foreign Minister to Attend First Board of Peace Meeting
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar will attend the January 19 first Board of Peace meeting; U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to announce plans for a multibillion-dollar reconstruction of Gaza and a UN-authorized stabilization force (Reuters)
Trump and Netanyahu Discuss Gaza in White House Meeting
U.S. President Donald Trump and Netanyahu discussed their approaches toward Iran and Gaza during a White House meeting today (Times of Israel)
Beyond the meeting, Trump expressed his criticisms of Israeli President Isaac Herzog for not issuing a pardon to Netanyahu; the comments come amid Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial (Axios)
Washington’s consideration of military action or a nuclear deal with Tehran prompted Netanyahu to move up his visit, which was initially slated for later this month; he has taken at least six trips to the United States since Trump returned to office last year (NYT)
Indonesia Preps Gaza Troops
Indonesia has preliminary plans to send between five and eight thousand troops to Gaza as part of an international peacekeeping force, its army chief of staff said; Indonesia is the first country to openly pledge troops for the mission (Times of Israel/Reuters)
President Prabowo Subianto has said that as the world’s most-populous Muslim country, Indonesia should help stabilize Gaza and promote an eventual two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (BBC)
The U.S. draft plan demands Hamas surrender all weapons capable of striking Israel as part of the second phase of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, but at least initially allows the group to keep some small arms, the New York Times reported; spokespeople for Netanyahu and Hamas did not immediately comment (NYT)
Meanwhile, health officials reported that Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed five individuals; while the Israel Defense Forces did not directly comment on the situation, it stated that it carried out attacks on Hamas militants in response to militants opening fire on troops on Monday (Reuters)
Pushback to West Bank Steps
A White House official told reporters that Trump “does not support Israel annexing the West Bank” following the Israeli security cabinet’s decision Sunday to expand Israeli authority in the territory (Times of Israel)
The measures facilitate land purchases by Jewish settlers and assume Israeli control of certain administrative roles previously prescribed to the Palestinian Authority (NYT)
Israeli ministers said the changes would “increase transparency and facilitate land redemption”; the steps are widely deemed to be violations of international law and of Israel’s agreements under the Oslo accords (BBC)
Israel to Expand Control in West Bank
Israel’s security cabinet approved measures that would expand Israeli control over the West Bank, a move criticized by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (Reuters)
The measures include canceling the prohibition of the sale of West Bank land to Israeli Jews, transferring construction planning for religious and sensitive sites in Hebron to Israel, approving Israeli enforcement of archaeological and environmental issues in Palestinian-administered areas, and declassifying land registry records; the measures also would revive a committee with the ability to make “proactive” land purchases in the West Bank (AP)
According to a Saudi Foreign Ministry statement, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates strongly condemned the measures (Al Jazeera)
Meanwhile, in Gaza, a senior Hamas official rejected any surrendering of weapons, though Israel insists demilitarizing Gaza is a non-negotiable step for the peace process (Times of Israel)
Israeli Strikes on Gaza Hospital Kills Twenty-One
Israel stated the strikes were in response to a militant attack on Israeli soldiers that seriously wounded one (AP)
An Israeli military official further stated that Israel would continue striking the Strip (NPR)
Palestinians Wait at Rafah Border Crossing
More Palestinians gathered at both the Egyptian and Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing after its reopening on Monday; only approximately twelve returnees were allowed across the border on Monday amid delays and confusion over who was allowed to cross (AP)
Israel Partially Reopens Rafah Border Crossing
The reopening of the crossing—the only route in or out of Gaza for most residents—was an unmet requirement of the first phase of President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the territory (CFR)
Israel had delayed the reopening until it recovered the final hostage body from Gaza, which occurred last week (Reuters)
Until Israel’s takeover in a May 2024 offensive, Rafah was the only Gaza border crossing not controlled by Israel; the crossing was not immediately opened for goods (AP)
Having only partially withdrawn from Gaza in accordance with the peace plan, Israel still controls the area that is home to the crossing (NYT)
Fifty Palestinians are expected to enter Gaza through the crossing today, while around fifty will be allowed to exit, an unnamed Palestinian source told Reuters (Reuters)
The progress came even as strikes that Israel said targeted Hamas militants and weapons sites killed more than thirty people in Gaza over the weekend, exposing ongoing obstacles to Trump’s peace plan (WaPo)
Israel to Open Rafah Border on Sunday
The Israeli government stated the Rafah border crossing will be opened on Sunday; Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories did not state how many Palestinians would be permitted to cross the border per day (Reuters)
Israel Returns Fifteen Palestinian Bodies
Israel returned the bodies of fifteen Palestinians killed in the Gaza war three days after recovering the remains of its last hostage, a step mediators hope will advance the next phase of a U.S.-backed peace plan (Reuters)
Hamas Seeks Police Role in Gaza
Hamas is pushing to fold its roughly ten thousand police officers into a new U.S.-backed Palestinian administration for Gaza, a move Israel is likely to oppose as the group weighs whether to give up its weapons (Reuters)
Final Hostage Body Returned
The body of Ran Gvili, the last remaining Israeli hostage taken to Gaza in Hamas’s 2023 attack, has been returned to Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said (Israeli PMO)
The return of all hostage bodies was a key tenet of the first phase of Trump’s Gaza peace plan and paves the way for the second phase to proceed with Israel’s participation (Times of Israel)
In line with the peace plan, Netanyahu’s office also announced that it will reopen the Rafah crossing into Gaza for pedestrians (Israeli PMO)
Israel Conditions Opening of Rafah Crossing to Recovery of Last Hostage
Israel will open Gaza’s Rafah Crossing with Egypt only after its military completes an operation to locate and recover the remains of the last Israeli hostage; once the operation concludes, Israel plans to allow limited pedestrian passage through the crossing under a full Israeli inspection mechanism (Reuters)
UNRWA Warns West Bank Training Center Faces Imminent Closure
Israeli authorities may close a UNRWA vocational center in the West Bank within days by expropriating its land, threatening education and job training for 350 Palestinian students, the agency says (Reuters)
Officials From Twenty Countries Sign Onto Board of Peace
They included several Muslim-majority and Central Asian countries as well as Argentina and Paraguay; Bulgaria and Hungary were the only EU countries to join, and no other permanent member of the UN Security Council beyond the United States has confirmed membership (NBC)
Israel is joining the board but did not attend the ceremony (CNBC)
Trump said he envisioned the board playing a role in conflicts beyond Gaza but that it would work “in conjunction with the United Nations” (Reuters)
At the same ceremony, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner said the next phase of the Gaza truce would focus on providing aid, funding for reconstruction, and demilitarizing Hamas; according to a slide in Kushner’s presentation, Hamas members who cooperate will receive “amnesty and reintegration, or safe passage” (Times of Israel)
Joining the Davos ceremony by video, the newly minted head of Gaza’s technocratic governing committee, Ali Shaath, said the enclave’s Rafah border crossing would reopen in the coming days (Reuters)
Israeli Demolitions at UN Compound
Israel bulldozed structures at a United Nations (UN) compound in East Jerusalem that previously housed the UN agency for Palestinian refugees; UN Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the demolition as a violation of international law (Reuters)
Israeli forces seized the compound and ordered a halt to the agency’s operations last year, alleging bias and accusing its staff of taking part in the October 7 attacks (AP)
The agency still operates in East Jerusalem, which the UN considers territory under Israeli occupation (CNN)
Leaders Consider Trump’s Proposed Board of Peace
The leaders of countries including Argentina, Kazakhstan, Hungary, Morocco, and Vietnam said they would join Trump’s proposed so-called Board of Peace to oversee the next phase of the Gaza peace plan—and potentially other world conflicts; additional leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, are debating whether to accept the invitation (AP)
Macron was among those invited, but Paris does not plan to join due to the concerns the proposal raises about undermining the United Nations, an unnamed French official told reporters (Reuters)
Trump threatened to impose 200 percent tariffs on French wine and champagne if Macron did not join the board (White House)
Israel Objects to Gaza Executive Board
The Israeli prime minister’s office issued a statement calling the proposed executive board contrary to Israeli policy, without going into detail (DW)
Israel previously rejected a possible role for Turkey in postwar Gaza (Guardian)
White House Announces Executive Board for Gaza
The proposed Gaza Executive Board would coordinate with the enclave’s new technocratic governing committee; it includes Turkey’s foreign minister, senior Qatari and Emirati officials, and an Israeli businessman, but no Israeli officials (NYT)
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff are also members (White House)