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Netanyahu, Biden speak on ceasefire and hostage deal

PHOTO: A man watches smoke billow following an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel on Jan. 12, 2025.
5:16
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
Situation in Gaza getting ‘significantly worse’: Emergency doctor
By David Brennan, Ivan Pereira, Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: January 13, 2025, 8:19 AM

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.

The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the strip around several Palestinian hospitals. A latest round of peace talks to end the 15-month-old war is set to resume in Qatar.

Meanwhile, the November 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.

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.

Latest headlines:

  • Netanyahu spoke with Biden on ceasefire and hostage deal
  • High-level delegations gather in Doha for Gaza talks
  • Lebanon elects army chief as new president
  • Gaza death toll passes 46,000
Here's how the news is developing.

Jan 13, 2025 8:19 AM

Netanyahu spoke with Biden on ceasefire and hostage deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he spoke with President Joe Biden on Sunday about progress in negotiating a ceasefire and hostage deal.

A senior White House administration official confirmed the call to ABC News.

PHOTO: This combination of pictures created on Jan. 12, 2025 shows President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3, 2025 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 2024.
Chris Kleponismaya Alleruzzo/AFP/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
This combination of pictures created on Jan. 12, 2025 shows President Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 3, 2025 and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Dec. 9, 2024.
Chris Kleponismaya Alleruzzo/AFP/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

"The Prime Minister discussed with the US President the progress in negotiations for the release of our hostages, and updated him on the mandate he gave to the negotiating delegation to Doha, in order to promote the release of our hostages," Netanyahu's office wrote in a release about the call.

According to the White House, Biden and Netanyahu "discussed the fundamentally changed regional circumstances following the ceasefire deal in Lebanon, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, and the weakening of Iran’s power in the region."

The call comes as Brett McGurk, the White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, is in the Middle East for negotiations. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday that McGurk is there to hammer out the "final details" of an agreement.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Michelle Stoddart


Jan 13, 2025 8:13 AM

100 days of Israel's north Gaza assault

Sunday marked 100 days since the Israel Defense Forces launched its military operation in northern Gaza, with the toll of dead and missing Palestinians now at 5,000 people, according to a report published by the Gaza media office in the Hamas-run territory.

PHOTO: Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike on Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, on Jan. 12, 2025.
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
Smoke billows following an Israeli airstrike on Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, on Jan. 12, 2025.
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Some 9,500 more people have been injured and 2,600 have been detained including women and children, the report said.

Israel continues striking targets across the strip. Over the last 24 hours, IDF attacks killed 24 Palestinians, according to data published by the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The report added that 46,565 Palestinians have been killed by Israel throughout Gaza since the war began in October 2023, with another 109,660 people injured.

Israeli attacks in the north of Gaza have targeted civilian infrastructures and hospitals, which combined with a siege of the area have worsened a humanitarian crisis there.

Calling for an end to the war, the Gaza media office report urged the international community -- including the UN -- to take immediate action to stop the assault and address the humanitarian crisis in the strip.

Israeli strikes on Gaza continued as Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dispatched senior negotiators to Qatar for ceasefire, prisoner and hostage release talks attended by President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Middle East adviser, Steven Witkoff, and President Joe Biden's outgoing adviser, Brett McGurk.

-ABC News' Samy Zyara and Jordana Miller


Jan 13, 2025 8:13 AM

High-level delegations gather in Doha for Gaza talks

For the first time in months, Israeli sources are expressing cautious optimism that a Gaza ceasefire may be within reach before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.

Officials close to the matter told ABC News on Sunday that a high-level Israeli delegation led by the head of the Mossad -- David Barnea -- arrived in Doha, Qatar, for a critical round of talks.

PHOTO: A man watches smoke billow following an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel on Jan. 12, 2025.
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
A man watches smoke billow following an Israeli airstrike in Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel on Jan. 12, 2025.
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters

Others participating are Egyptian and U.S. officials including President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Middle East adviser, Steven Witkoff, and President Joe Biden's outgoing adviser, Brett McGurk.

Witkoff made a surprise visit to Israel Saturday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to Israel's Channel 12, progress on some issues has been made -- including the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released and the details of the Israel Defense Forces' redeployment.

But some outstanding issues remain, including whether Hamas can provide Israel with a list of hostages who are alive. A Hamas official told Saudi media on Saturday that the group is ready to show flexibility.

The first phase of the deal is expected to last six to eight weeks, as the report suggests. A leaked hostage list by Hamas shows the names of two Americans to be released in the first phase. Seven Americans are among the 94 hostages, three of whom are presumed to still be alive.

-ABC News' Jordana Miller and Somayeh Malekian



Jan 11, 2025 6:33 PM

8 killed in IDF strike on North Gaza school

Eight people were killed, including two children and two women, in an Israeli forces strike on a school sheltering displaced people in Jabalia, North Gaza, according to Gaza Civil Defense. Thirty people were injured in the strike, according to the Gaza Civil Defense

The Israel Defense Forces claimed the strike was targeting "terrorists in a command and control center" at the school.

-ABC News' Samy Zyara and Anna Burd


Jan 08, 2025 10:10 AM

Biden, Trump teams 'very collaborative' on Gaza push, envoy says

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told reporters that President Joe Biden's team has been "very collaborative" on working towards a Gaza hostage release deal, with renewed talks ongoing in Qatar.

PHOTO: Steve Witkoff talks with reporters after a news conference by President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, on Jan. 7, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Evan Vucci/AP
Steve Witkoff talks with reporters after a news conference by President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, on Jan. 7, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida.
Evan Vucci/AP

"We're just very collaborative together," Witkoff said following Trump's Tuesday Mar-a-Lago press conference. "I mean, this is a tense negotiation, so no one has pride of authorship. We are totally outcome oriented. Let's get them home."

Witkoff said he speaks every day with Brett McGurk, the top Biden White House official on Middle East policy.

During the press conference, Trump said "all hell will break loose" if the remaining hostages aren't released before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.

Witkoff said "there was no exaggeration or embellishment with what the president said."

"If you get on the phone with the hostage families, it's harrowing to listen to them," Witkoff said. "There are people who just want the remains of their children back…it is withering to listen to this, and he [Trump] listens to them all."

Witkoff said the incoming administration "aspirationally" hopes for a 42-day ceasefire to be enacted before the inauguration.

"President Trump's persona is such that he's driving the narrative on these negotiations," Witkoff added. "He will be in office when that 42-day ceasefire is over. That's what Hamas cares about -- how we move to phase two. That's what the Israelis care about, how President Trump will be at the end of that ceasefire."

Witkoff said he's seen intelligence reports about how many hostages remain alive, and said it's "not a small amount."

-ABC News' Selina Wang


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