Middle East updates: Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended to Feb. 18

Israel, Lebanon and the U.S. are negotiating the release of Lebanese prisoners.

Last Updated: January 26, 2025, 7:39 PM EST

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza went into effect a week ago. Hostages held in the strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have started to be released under the multi-phased deal.

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. Israeli forces also remain active inside the Syrian border region as victorious rebels there build a transitional government.

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.

Jan 26, 2025, 1:46 PM EST

Death toll rises to 22 in southern Lebanon

The death toll from attacks Sunday by the Israel Defense Forces in southern Lebanon has climbed to 22, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, as Lebanese civilians attempted to return to their homes.

PHOTO: People carry an injured person on a road leading to their village after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers positioned in Meiss al-Jabal, Marjayoun District, southern Lebanon, Jan. 26, 2025.
People carry an injured person on a road leading to their village after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers positioned in Meiss al-Jabal, Marjayoun District, southern Lebanon, Jan. 26, 2025. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health more than a dozen people were killed when the Israeli army reportedly fired at Lebanese attempting to return to their villages in southern Lebanon.
STR/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

At least 124 people have been injured in the attacks, including nine children, the health ministry said.

PHOTO: An Israeli tank positioned in Meiss al-Jabal, Marjayoun District, southern Lebanon, Jan. 26, 2025.
An Israeli tank positioned in Meiss al-Jabal, Marjayoun District, southern Lebanon, Jan. 26, 2025. According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health more than a dozen people were killed when the Israeli army reportedly fired at Lebanese attempting to return to their villages in southern Lebanon.
STR/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Sunday was supposed to be the last day of a ceasefire deal that saw the IDF completely withdraw from Lebanon, but the IDF remains in several areas in the south.

-ABC News' Victoria Beaule

Jan 26, 2025, 12:33 PM EST

Jordan rejects Trump's suggestion it take in more displaced Palestinians

Jordanian officials have rejected President Trump's comments about Egypt and Jordan "taking" in more displaced Palestinians.

Jordan's position "rejecting the displacement of Palestinians is fixed and unchangeable and is necessary to achieve the stability and peace that we all want," Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ayman Safadi said during a Foreign Ministry press conference on Sunday.

PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians travel in a truck as they return to their house, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Jan 22, 2025.
Displaced Palestinians travel in a truck as they return to their house, following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 22, 2025.
Mohammed Salem/Reuters

"We renew our position of rejecting the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. Our position is that the two-state solution is the way to achieve peace, and our rejection of displacement is fixed and unchangeable," Safadi said, stressing that "the solution to the Palestinian issue is a Palestinian solution, and Jordan is for Jordanians and Palestine is for Palestinians."

Safadi added, "Our approach is clear, to establish the Palestinians in their land and implement the two-state solution."

Safadi said a priority now is to consolidate the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and bring aid to the residents of the area.

”We are working to bring aid into Gaza without interruption in preparation for the start of reconstruction operations," Safadi said.

He said Jordon is looking forward to working with the U.S. administration to achieve peace in the region.

-ABC News' Ghazi Balkiz

Jan 26, 2025, 12:16 PM EST

Netanyahu thanks Trump in video message for resuming shipments of 2,000-pound bombs

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted a short video message on social media on Sunday thanking President Donald Trump for his decision to resume shipments to Israel of the 2,000-pound bombs that former President Joe Biden halted.

"Thank you President Trump for keeping your promise to give Israel the tools it needs to defend itself, to confront our common enemies and to secure a future of peace and prosperity," Netanyahu said in a post on X.

On Saturday, Trump ordered the U.S. to resume shipments of the 2,000-pound bombs to Israel. In May, Biden halted the shipments, claiming at the time that the weapons were being used in areas with high concentrations of civilians, leading to civilian deaths.

-ABC News' Nate Luna and Michelle Stoddart

Jan 26, 2025, 9:51 AM EST

Hamas condemns Trump's remarks on relocating Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan

In a statement Sunday, the Hamas-run Government Media Office in Gaza said it "strongly" condemns statements about what it described as the "so-called transfer of Gaza citizens to neighboring countries."

President Trump on Saturday spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One and said he spoke with King Abdullah II of Jordan about taking more Palestinians from Gaza.

"I've gotten along with him over the years very well. He's done a wonderful job. He really houses, you know, millions of Palestinians, and he does it in a very humane way and I complimented him. But he really -- Jordan's done an amazing job of housing largely Palestinians," Trump said.

He continued, "I said to him that I'd love you to take on more 'cause I'm looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it's a mess, it's a real mess."

When asked for clarification, Trump indicated he'd like Jordan and Egypt to take more Palestinians from Gaza.

"They can take people. I'd like Egypt to take people. I'm meeting with ... I'm talking with General El-Sisi tomorrow sometime. And I'd like Egypt to take people and I'd like Jordan to take people. I can -- you're talking about a million and a half people and we just clean out that whole thing," Trump said Saturday.

Hamas on Sunday called on Arab countries to reject the suggestions, saying, in part: "It is essential that our people be allowed to determine their own destiny."

-ABC News' Sami Zyara

Related Topics