Pope Francis falls, injures arm at residence, Vatican officials say

(DOHA) — A ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and Hamas, more than 15 months into the conflict.

The agreement, which was brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, is currently being finalized, Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, announced during remarks in Doha late Wednesday. The Israelis will take the agreement back to their government for approval, he said.

The agreement will begin on Sunday, with the first, six-week phase seeing a ceasefire, the withdrawal of some Israeli forces to allow more aid to get in and the release of 33 hostages in Gaza, starting with women, children and the elderly, according to the Qatari prime minister. A number of Palestinian prisoners will be released, as well, he said.

According to the Hamas delegation in Doha, the provisions Hamas agreed to include the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi corridor, in stages, and handing over 33 Israeli prisoners, dead and alive, in exchange for the release of 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Negotiations would be completed in stages for the release of the remaining hostages, according to the Hamas delegation.

The Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement that they resolved an issue over forces on the Philadelphi corridor, though there are several “unresolved clauses” in the deal they hope to finalize Wednesday night.

Israel said its security cabinet will convene on Thursday to approve the deal.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the deal is “the right move” and called upon the Israeli government to approve it.

“There is no greater moral, human, Jewish, or Israeli obligation than to bring our sons and daughters back to us — whether to recover at home, or to be laid to rest,” he said.

The head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Khalil Al-Hayya, thanked Qatar and Egypt for their “strenuous efforts and multiple rounds of negotiations” to reach a ceasefire deal.

Phase one will also include an increased flow of relief and humanitarian aid throughout the Gaza Strip, the Qatari prime minister said. Coordination is currently underway to open the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing to allow the entry of international aid into Gaza, an Egyptian security source told ABC News.

The second and third phases of the agreement will be finalized after the first phase, the Qatari prime minister said. Phase two will mark a “permanent end of the war,” President Joe Biden said during remarks Wednesday.

Under phase two, the remaining living hostages will be released and all remaining Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza, according to Biden. The remains of the final hostages will be returned in phase three and a “major reconstruction plan for Gaza will begin,” Biden said.

Biden said the mediating countries have pledged to ensure that negotiations move forward “as long as it takes,” and that his team is coordinating closely with the incoming Trump administration “to make sure we’re all speaking with the same voice.”

The Qatari prime minister said Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. will monitor the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

“With this agreement, I emphasize the importance of accelerating the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza to address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis, without any hindrances, until a sustainable peace is achieved through the two-state solution, and for the region to enjoy stability, security and development in a world that is large enough for everyone,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said in a statement.

The United Nations is ready to support the implementation of the deal and “scale up the delivery of sustained humanitarian relief,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement Wednesday.

In over a year of war between Israel and Hamas, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza and almost 110,000 injured, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. That figure does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. However, more than 14,000 children and 8,000 women have been killed, according to the health ministry.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they have killed more than 15,000 combatants throughout the course of the war, which was sparked by the unprecedented Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in southern Israel. More than 1,200 people were killed and another 253 were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

During a weeklong ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in late November 2023, Hamas freed more than 100 people. In exchange, Israel released more than 200 Palestinians from Israeli prisons. Several hostages in Gaza have also been freed in the months since, while the bodies of others have been recovered.

Amid the renewed negotiations in early January, 94 abductees remained in Gaza, including 34 who have been confirmed dead, according to Israeli officials.

Hamas is currently advising Palestinians to remain alert until the official start of the agreement and to rely on official sources for information on the timing of the ceasefire.

Following news of a ceasefire and hostage deal being reached on Wednesday, people could be seen celebrating across Gaza and Israel.

Biden said the deal followed “many months of intensive diplomacy by the United States, along with Egypt and Qatar.”

“This deal will halt the fighting in Gaza, surge much-needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians, and reunite the hostages with their families after more than 15 months in captivity,” Biden said in a statement.

“My diplomacy never ceased in their efforts to get this done,” he added.

Biden said he is determined to bring seven American hostages home, three of whom are alive. Two of them — Keith Siegel and Sagui Dekel-Chen — are expected to be part of this first phase of the agreement, a senior administration official told reporters Wednesday. The third, Edan Alexander, will fall in the second release phase because of his Israeli military service, the official said, adding that the U.S. remains fully committed to getting him out.

President-elect Donald Trump also said Wednesday that a hostage deal has been reached, writing in a Truth Social post, “WE HAVE A DEAL FOR THE HOSTAGES IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THEY WILL BE RELEASED SHORTLY. THANK YOU!”

Trump took credit for what he called an “EPIC” ceasefire agreement, saying it “could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November.” He said his special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will continue to work closely with Israel and U.S. allies to “make sure Gaza NEVER again becomes a terrorist safe haven.”

The families of seven American hostages in Gaza said they are “deeply grateful” that an agreement for the phased release of hostages has been reached.

“The coming days and weeks will be just as painful for our families as the entirety of our loved ones’ horrific ordeals,” the families said in a statement. “That is why we ask all parties to stay committed to this agreement, every phase until it is fully implemented and everyone has been returned. We feel hopeful that under President Trump’s leadership, every last hostage will come home.”

A new round of ceasefire negotiations began on Jan. 3 in Qatar. Delegations from both Israel and Hamas were dispatched to Doha to resume the negotiations, which were brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The Biden administration also helped broker the talks.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously told reporters the United States wanted a ceasefire deal in Gaza and all remaining captives released before Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Blinken on Jan. 6 reported “intensified engagement,” including by Hamas, on reaching a deal, though he added, “We are yet to see agreement on final points.”

“We need Hamas to make the final necessary decisions to complete the agreement and to fundamentally change the circumstance for the hostages, getting them out, for people in Gaza, bringing them relief, and for the region as a whole, creating an opportunity to actually move forward to something better, more secure for everyone involved,” Blinken said at the time.

On Tuesday, Blinken said during an address at the Atlantic Council that Israel and Hamas were “on the brink” of reaching a six-week ceasefire deal that would see some hostages released from Gaza.

The deal comes after a ceasefire deal was reached between Israel and Hezbollah in November 2024, weeks after Israel invaded southern Lebanon as part of an escalation of its conflict with Hezbollah.

It also follows the high-profile assassinations last year of Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar — with Sinwar being one of the key architects of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel — as well as Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel has claimed responsibility for their deaths.

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(LONDON) — The stunning collapse of President Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria presents “a moment of historic opportunity,” President Joe Biden wrote on X on Sunday, as rebel fighters and Damascenes celebrated the end of their 14-year war against the authoritarian government.

But, the president added, “It is also a moment of risk and uncertainty.”

The uprising that began with a protest march in the southern city of Daraa in 2011 ended with celebratory gunfire in Damascus in 2024.

The surprise rebel offensive that surged out of northwestern Idlib province last month showed the regime in Damascus to be hollow. Its backers in Moscow, Tehran and Beirut were unable or unwilling to respond, perhaps because their attention and resources having been sapped by wars in Ukraine, Lebanon, Gaza and elsewhere.

The story of the fall of Damascus was — arguably — written in Donetsk and Dahiya. The coup de grâce, though, was inherently Syrian.

The offensive that toppled Assad was led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an Islamist group with roots in al-Qaeda. The group is listed as a terrorist organization in the U.S. and European Union.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said over the weekend that the group’s background “is a concern,” noting that elements of the group are affiliated with organizations “that have American blood on their hands.”

HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jolani has become the most recognizable face of the Syrian opposition. Speaking at Damascus’ 8th-century Umayyad Mosque on Sunday, Jolani said the opposition victory is “historic for the region” and that “Syria is being purified.”

It remains unclear whether and how Jolani — who is increasingly using his real name of Ahmed al-Sharaa, rather than his nom de guerre — will be able to exert control over the disparate groupings of rebel forces drawn from around the country.

What does the US think?

American officials are concerned that the power vacuum will allow ISIS to reconstitute. The U.S. launched 75 strikes against ISIS targets in central Syria on Sunday in a move that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said was designed “to keep the pressure on ISIS.”

“As this unfolds, there’s a potential that elements in the area, such as ISIS, could try to take advantage of this opportunity and regain capability,” Austin warned.

The future shape of U.S.-Syrian relations will depend on the composition and direction of the next government in Damascus.

The White House may be somewhat pleased by Jolani’s speech at the Umayyad Mosque on Sunday, in which he lamented how Syria became “a playground for Iranian ambitions.”

“We will remain vigilant,” Biden said on Sunday after Damascus fell. “Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses.” The president, however, added that the groups are “saying the right things now.”

“But as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions,” Biden added.

Thomas S. Warrick — a former deputy assistant secretary for counterterrorism policy in the Department of Homeland Security — said the U.S. “has a huge stake in what comes next,” even if it was not directly involved in Assad’s ousting.

A more stable Syria “that frees itself from Iranian and Russian dependence” could, Warrick wrote, allow millions of refugees to return home, end its role as a Hezbollah conduit to threaten Israel and perhaps even join the Abraham Accords at some point in the future.

“All these unthinkable things are now possible,” Warrick — now a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative — wrote. “But this will not happen spontaneously, without outside help and support. Postwar planning for Syria needs to go into high gear.”

The incoming Trump administration will need to chart a policy approach to Syria. Some will be skeptical of success, but others — Warrick wrote — will note that “weakening Iranian influence, supporting Israel’s security, and peace in Lebanon are, collectively, one of the biggest wins that a Trump administration could hope to achieve.”

A Syrian power struggle

In a recent interview with CNN, Jolani said that Syrians should not fear HTS’s brand of Islamism. “People who fear Islamic governance either have seen incorrect implementations of it or do not understand it properly,” he said.

As the rebels reached Damascus, Assadist Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi al-Jalali said the outgoing regime would “extend its hand” to the opposition and assist with the transition of power. Jolani said on Sunday that Jalali will remain in his post to supervise state bodies during the transition.

Jolani and his HTS will have competition for influence in the new Syria.

The Turkish-backed Syrian National Army also took part in the offensive, with fighting still ongoing between the SNA and the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces — who are supported by the U.S. — in the northeast of the country. Ankara enjoys significant control over the SNA and other groups and can be expected to seek influence over the future direction of its neighbor.

“The opposition is not a homogenous movement and there is a risk that internal fractures within the HTS-led umbrella movement — which may become more salient in the weeks and months to come — may lead to discord and threaten Syrian stability,” Burcu Ozcelik of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in the U.K. told ABC News.

“A new transitional Syrian administration will soon need to take on the task of state-building, including the rebuilding of a national Syrian security force and a constitution-building process, as the Syrian state has been painfully hallowed out by the Assad regime,” Ozcelik said.

The next government will also need to address the question of Russian presence in Syria. Russian forces retain control of Khmeimim Air Base and Tartus naval base on Syria’s Mediterranean coast, two key strategic facilities from which Moscow helped keep Assad in power.

“It is in Russia’s interest to seek to maintain access, but its ability to project power in and through Syria is now severely debilitated,” Ozcelik said.

“It will take time and negotiations with the new Syrian administration, a yet to be determined entity, before it is clear what Russia’s stakes in Syria will be,” Ozcelik added. “But this is now a radically transformed Syria, and Russia has no good options.”

Moscow is in touch with the opposition factions, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a Sunday statement. “All necessary measures are being taken to ensure the safety of our citizens in Syria,” it said. “Russian military bases in Syria are on high alert. There is currently no serious threat to their security.”

For Tehran, “there is no doubt that the fall of the Assad regime is a highly consequential defeat for Iran,” Ozcelik said. “Syria was the conduit for Iran’s systematic support for Hezbollah in Lebanon, this supply chain has now been cut off.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is concerned about the “possibility of a renewed civil war or a sectarian war between different sects or the division of Syria and the collapse of Syria and its transformation into a haven for terrorists.”

Meanwhile, rebel-liberated territory is already being bombed by Israeli warplanes and occupied by Israeli soldiers. Israeli officials have said they intend to deny “extremist” elements access to the Assad regime’s advanced military capabilities.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the regime’s collapse “is a direct result of the blows we have inflicted on Iran and Hezbollah, the main supporters of the Assad regime.”

“The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers,” he added.

Assad’s legacy

Assad fled the country for Russia in the early hours of Sunday, state-owned Russian media said, having resigned the presidency following negotiations with opposition factions, per a Russian Foreign Ministry statement.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced Monday that President Vladimir Putin would grant his longtime ally political asylum in the country.

Assad’s departure ended 24 years of his rule — and 50 years of Assad family rule. Posters and statues of Assad, his brothers and his father, Hafez Assad, were being torn down by jubilant crowds around the country.

More than a decade of civil war left at least 307,000 people dead by the end of 2022, per United Nations figures. The fighting forced around 12 million Syrians — more than half of the country’s 2011 population of around 22 million — from their homes, around 5.4 million of whom were still living abroad as of late 2022.

Assad’s regime fought bitterly to retain control of much of the country during the hot phase of the civil war. But his victory proved a pyrrhic one.

The northern city of Aleppo fell to the Idlib rebels on Nov. 29 — a shocking development that helped spark renewed rebel uprisings all across the country.

In Daraa — known as the “Cradle of the Syrian Revolution” for its role in the 2011 unrest — opposition groups rose anew and began their march on the capital.

“Damascus has been liberated and the tyrant Bashar Assad has been overthrown, and oppressed prisoners in regime prisons have been released,” a rebel spokesperson said at the state television headquarters in Damascus after opposition forces seized the building.

“We ask people and fighters to protect all property in Free Syria,” the spokesperson added. “Long live Syria free for all Syrians of all sects.”

ABC News’ Hami Hamedi, Ellie Kaufman, Luis Martinez and Lauren Minore contributed to this report.

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(LONDON)– Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.

Meanwhile, the ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group. The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza.

Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.

Negotiation team returning after ‘significant week’: Israeli PM office

The Israeli negotiation team will return to Israel from Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday after a “significant week of conducting negotiations” regarding a ceasefire and hostage deal, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said in a statement.

“The team returned for internal consultations in Israel regarding the continuation of negotiations for the return of our hostages,” the statement continued.

-ABC News’ Anna Burd

IDF ‘besieging’ 3 Gaza hospitals, health ministry says

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said in a statement Tuesday that Israeli forces are “intensifying” their attacks on three hospitals in the devastated and depopulated northern portion of the strip.

Israeli troops, the ministry in the Hamas-run territory said, are “besieging and directly targeting the Indonesian Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital and Al-Awda Hospital during the past hours and insisting on putting them out of service.”

The ministry said Israeli troops were “forcing the wounded and patients to evacuate the Indonesian Hospital,” while bombing “all departments of Kamal Adwan Hospital and its surroundings around the clock without stopping.”

“Shrapnel is scattered inside the hospital yards, causing terrifying sounds and serious damage,” the ministry said.

“We appeal to all international and UN institutions and concerned parties to urgently intervene to protect the health system in the Gaza Strip,” the ministry wrote.

On Monday, Palestinian officials said 20 people were injured when Israeli forces detonated a “robot bomb” in the vicinity of Kamal Adwan Hospital.

The IDF has not commented on the latest developments around Kamal Adwan or the other north Gaza hospitals.

-ABC News’ Nasser Atta
 

3 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces said Monday that three soldiers were killed in combat in northern Gaza.

Cpt. Ilay Gavriel Atedgi, 22, Staff Sgt. Netanel Pessach, 21, and Sgt. First Class (res.) Hillel Diener, 21, were all killed by an explosion during an operation in the Beit Hanoun area, which has been a focus of Israel’s intense recent offensive in the northern part of the strip.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and the border zone is now 391.

Health officials in the Hamas-run territory say more than 45,300 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir and Ellie Kaufman

20 injured after bomb detonates near Gaza hospital

Twenty people were injured among the medical staff at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza Monday evening after a “robot bomb” was detonated in the hospital’s vicinity, according to medical sources.

ABC News has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for a comment.

-ABC News’ Samy Zyara

Israeli forces kill Hamas operative in Gaza City, IDF says

Israeli forces killed the head of the national security directorate of Hamas’ security mechanism during an attack on Sunday in Gaza City, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The Hamas operative, Tharwat Muhammad Ahmed Albec, was “operating in a command and control center” that was embedded in a “compound that previously served as the ‘Musa bin Nusayr’ school” in a neighborhood in Gaza City, the IDF said in a statement on Monday.

Hamas has yet to comment on the IDF’s statement.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

‘Certain progress’ made in hostage negotiations: Netanyahu

“Certain progress” has been made in ongoing hostage and ceasefire negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a speech at the Israeli parliament on Monday.

“I can carefully say there has been a certain progress” made in the ongoing negotiations, Netanyahu said, adding that he “doesn’t know how long it’s going to take.”

“We will continue to operate in any way and without a pause until we bring them all back home from the enemy’s land,” he said.

-ABC News’ Dana Savir

Hamas reports Israeli attack on Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp

Hamas on Monday said the Israel Defense Forces killed or wounded at least 50 people in an air and ground assault on the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

An IDF airstrike was followed by an incursion into the camp supported by 17 heavy vehicles, among them tanks and bulldozers, Hamas said.

Israeli forces also attacked Nuseirat camp two weeks ago, killing at least 33 people according to the Gaza Government Media Office.

The IDF is yet to comment on Monday’s operation.

-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz and Tomek Rolski

Netanyahu says Israel will act against Houthis after missile strike

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his nation would “act forcefully” against the Houthis in Yemen after a weekend missile attack on Tel Aviv injured 16 people, according to Israeli emergency authorities.

“Just as we acted forcefully against the terrorist arms of Iran’s evil axis, so we will act against the Houthis — the result will be the same,” Netanyahu said in a statement posted to X.

Since October 2023, the Houthis have been launching attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea, as well as long-range drone and missile attacks towards Israel.

On Thursday, the Israel Defense Forces said it intercepted a Houthi missile but that debris destroyed a school building in Tel Aviv.

The Houthis — which have close ties with Iran and are part of the Tehran-led “Axis of Resistance” — are demanding an end to Israel’s war in Gaza, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, infiltration attack into southern Israel.

The U.S. and U.K. — supported by other allies — have launched a series of strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen since January. Israel has also launched significant strikes in Yemen in recent months, most recently on Thursday.
 

At least 7 dead after IDF strikes humanitarian area in Gaza

At least seven people were killed after an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis, which is located in the southern Gaza Strip.

The strike hit a collection of tents within what had been designated a humanitarian area, where displaced people were sheltering.

The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged the strike on Sunday, saying in a statement it was “an intelligence-based strike on a Hamas terrorist.”

“Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence,” the IDF said.

– ABC News’ William Gretsky

21 killed in Gaza, IDF northern offensive continues

The Gaza Ministry of Health said Saturday that 21 people were killed and 61 injured in three separate Israeli attacks over the last 24 hours in the Hamas-run territory.

A total of 45,227 people have been killed since the start of the war, health officials said.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces continued intense operations in northern Gaza, particularly around the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia.

The director of the hospital said there is shooting “around the clock” nearby, adding that on Friday the third floor and the hospital entrance were shelled.

The director said the IDF is blocking the entry of all requested medical supplies. Nine people need urgent evacuation for surgery in Gaza City and the hospital is currently treating over 70 people, he said.

-ABC News’ Samy Zyara and Victoria Beaule

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