Jean-Noël Barrot, says he has “no news” of the two Franco-Israeli hostages
Guest of BFM this Monday morning, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot affirmed that he had not “no news” French-Israeli hostages Ofer Kalderon and Ohad Yahalomi. “We will continue to fight to bring them back to us.”insisted the head of French diplomacy, calling “Hamas like Israel to respect the terms” of the ceasefire agreement which came into force this Sunday. The two men are on the list of the first hostages to be released as part of the truce concluded between Israel and Hamas, Emmanuel Macron announced this Friday, January 17. These two Franco-Israeli fathers from Kibbutz Nir Oz, whose respective children were released during the November 2023 truce, could thus leave Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire agreement.
On second day of ceasefire, Palestinian rescuers begin searching for people under rubble
Palestinian emergency services announced Monday that a search operation was underway to find thousands of Palestinians believed to be buried. “We are looking for 10,000 martyrs whose bodies remain under the rubble”said Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for Palestinian civil emergency services. According to him, at least 2,840 bodies have disappeared. “There is no [a] no trace of them”he said. Several Gazans said the ceasefire appeared to be generally respected, although isolated incidents were reported. Doctors noted that eight people had been hit by Israeli fire since Monday morning in Rafah, in the south of the country, without giving details of their state of health. On the humanitarian front, 630 trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, including 300 destined for the north of the territory.
“Emily is the happiest woman in the world,” says her mother after her release
On Sunday, the three freed hostages, Emily Damari, 28, Doron Steinbrecher, 31, and Romi Gonen, 24, were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Gaza City, amid a crowd of civilians and armed men. “In her own words, Emily is the happiest woman in the world, she has come back to life”testified Monday Mandy, the mother of the young woman who lost two fingers during her captivity. “Other families anxiously await the return of their loved ones”underlined the president of the ICRC, Mirjana Spoljaric, calling on all parties to “ensure that future operations take place safely”.
Yemen’s Houthis will only target ships linked to Israel after Gaza deal
The Houthis will limit their attacks on commercial shipping to those linked to Israel as long as the Gaza ceasefire is fully implemented, the Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOOC) said. The Sanaa-based body, which liaises between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators and is associated with the Houthi army, said it was ending the «sanctions» against ships owned by American or British persons or entities, as well as ships sailing under their flags. “We affirm that in the event of aggression against the Republic of Yemen by the United States of America, the United Kingdom or the usurping Israeli entity, sanctions will be reinstated against the aggressor”he said in an email sent to maritime industry officials dated January 19. HOOC says Houthis will stop targeting Israel-linked ships “upon full implementation of all phases of the agreement”.
