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Middle East live updates: Biden confirms ceasefire deal reached

Hamas and Israel have reportedly agreed to a hostage deal.

ByDavid Brennan and Nadine El-Bawab
Last Updated: January 15, 2025, 1:57 PM EST

A ceasefire has been reached between Israel and Hamas, with the Qatari prime minister announcing the deal Wednesday afternoon.

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.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing.
3 hours and 46 minutes ago

Israel and Hamas reach ceasefire agreement

A ceasefire agreement has been reached between Israel and Hamas, more than 15 months into the conflict.

A new round of ceasefire negotiations began on Jan. 3 in Qatar. Delegations from 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.

A Palestinian man reacts as he and others wait for news of a ceasefire deal with Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 15, 2025.
Hatem Khaled/Reuters

Secretary of State Antony Blinken had previously told reporters the United States wanted a ceasefire deal in Gaza and all remaining captives released before President-elect Donald 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."

Click here for more on the agreement.

11:37 AM EST

Ceasefire deal hits last-minute snag: Israeli source

A ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas has hit a last-minute snag, with both sides at odds over the Philadelphia axis, a piece of land separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt, according to an Israeli source with direct knowledge of the negotiations.

"The Israeli negotiating team was recently informed that the Hamas terrorist organization decided at the last minute to make new demands - this time regarding the Philadelphia axis, in contrast to the maps that have already been approved by the cabinet and American mediators. Israel strongly opposes any changes to these maps," the Israeli source told ABC News.

8:55 AM EST

Hamas has given green light to ceasefire deal, sources say

Two sources close to the ceasefire negotiations tell ABC News Hamas has given the green light to the agreement.

A view of damaged buildings in the northern Gaza Strip as seen from southern Israel near Sderot on Jan. 15, 2025.
Amir Cohen/Reuters

"We are very close," the sources said. "The goal (is) an agreement today or tomorrow."

-ABC News' Jordana Miller

3:42 AM EST

IDF attacks 50 Gaza targets as ceasefire deal nears

The Israel Defense Forces and Israeli intelligence agencies coordinated to attack around 50 targets across the Gaza Strip in the previous 24 hours, the IDF said in a Wednesday morning post to X.

People check the destruction in the aftermath of an Israeli strike at Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, on Jan. 15, 2025.
Eyad Baba/AFP via Getty Images

The attacks targeted Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the IDF said.

It reported strikes in Gaza City in the north of the strip, Khan Younis in the south and Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

The targets included "terrorist cells, weapons depots, underground infrastructure, anti-tank positions and military structures," the IDF said.

The latest wave of strikes came as ceasefire negotiators in Qatar reportedly neared a deal to pause -- and eventually scale down -- the 15-month-old war.

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