Live: Israeli forces detonate 20 homes in Jenin

As Palestinians, we breathed a sigh of relief when the Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange deal between Hamas and Israel was announced last week.

In both Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Palestinians were overjoyed at the completion of this long-awaited agreement to stop the genocide. It represented the failure of the occupying army to defeat and subjugate our people. We were delighted at the ensuing release of Palestinian prisoners.

But this joy has been tarnished by fears that Israel will replicate the scenario of genocide and displacement here in the occupied West Bank.

The first signs were the violent threats that began to intensify from the very moment the war on Gaza stopped. 

Israel imposed strict measures against celebrations, aiming to quash public expressions of joy in the occupied West Bank, while also impeding our freedom of movement. 

READ MORE: Will Israel achieve in the West Bank what it failed to do in Gaza? Opinion by Fareed Taamallah

The Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it had received the four soldiers released from Hamas captivity.

"On their return to Israeli territory, they will undergo an initial medical assessment," the army's statement read.

Hamas has released four female Israeli soldiers who had been held captive since 7 October 2023.

The soldiers stood on a podium in front of a crowd before being handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

In exchange, 200 Palestinian detainees are expected to be released later on Saturday.

Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• At least seven Palestinian children have died from the cold in Gaza since the ceasefire began on Sunday, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) has reported.

• Hamas has expanded its ranks significantly since the outbreak of the war on Gaza, enlisting between 10,000 and 15,000 new fighters, according to Reuters, which cited intelligence seen by two US congressional sources.

• Israel's ban on the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, which is set to come into force at the end of January, risks depriving around 50,000 Palestinian children of their education.

• Israeli forces have killed 34 Palestinians, including six children, in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of January, according to a report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha).

• Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative Movement, has accused Israel of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" in Jenin’s refugee camp.

• The Israeli raid in Jenin has forced 1,800 Palestinian residents to leave the Jenin refugee camp through crossings put in place by the Israeli army since the army began its operation in the area, according to a report by Haaretz.

• Doctors Against Genocide said Israel denied exit to 11 American doctors and nurses from Gaza and called on the US government, the international community and humanitarian organisations to secure their safe evacuation in a statement.

• Israel has ordered the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) to shut down its operations in Jerusalem and vacate all premises by 30 January, according to a letter sent by Israel’s envoy to UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Friday.

• Hamas has criticised Washington’s decision to classify Yemen’s Houthi movement as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, calling it a politically motivated act of retaliation.

The US State Department has issued an immediate suspension of all foreign assistance, blocking ongoing aid programmes and freezing new funding, according to a memo seen by Reuters.

However, the order makes an exception for military financing to Israel and Egypt, ensuring that arms supplies to Tel Aviv remain uninterrupted.

The drastic measure follows Trump’s directive for a 90-day review of foreign aid spending, with the administration claiming it aims to improve efficiency and align assistance with US foreign policy goals.

The State Department’s internal communication instructed senior officials to halt all new obligations “to the maximum extent permitted by law” until Secretary of State Marco Rubio completes the review.

The United Nations has raised the alarm over the worsening situation in the occupied West Bank, urging Israel to fulfil its legal duty to protect Palestinian civilians.

Speaking at a press briefing, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq condemned the ongoing Israeli military assault on Jenin and its refugee camp, now in its fourth consecutive day, which has expanded into nearby villages.

“The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warns once again that lethal, war-like tactics are being applied, raising concerns over use of force that exceeds law enforcement standards,” Haq stated.

He revealed that an estimated 3,000 families have fled the Jenin refugee camp in the past two months, with hundreds forced to leave just this past week due to relentless Israeli raids. While efforts to evacuate the wounded and trapped civilians have been coordinated, Israel’s military onslaught continues unchecked.

“Israel, as the occupying power, has a legal obligation to protect Palestinians and maintain public order and safety in the West Bank in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law,” Haq stressed.

However, with Israeli forces treating the occupied territory as a war zone, Palestinians remain under siege, with little international action to halt the violence.

Private US security contractors from two companies will be headed to Gaza in the coming days, according to several media reports, where they will deploy armed guards in the Palestinian enclave to oversee the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes in the north.

The New York Times and Axios both reported on Thursday that the contractors are being sent to Gaza to screen Palestinians travelling from southern Gaza to the north to return to their homes.

The private security contractors would likely be deployed to the Netzarim corridor, a narrow strip that cuts through central Gaza and was created in recent months by Israeli forces to monitor Palestinians.

It stretches from the Israeli boundary with Gaza City to the Mediterranean Sea. According to the ceasefire agreed by Israel and Hamas, Israeli forces are to withdraw from the Netzarim corridor, and this is where the private security contractors would fill the gap.

The armed guards will check vehicles carrying Palestinians from south to north for weapons.

Read more: US security contractors head to Gaza to oversee Netzarim corridor: Reports

A couple walk up to the display window of a glass shopfront sandwiched between two estate agents in central Hove on England’s south coast and look at window ads for properties for sale - and then, the penny drops.

The posters show a villa under construction in what appears to be the devastated Gaza war zone. Something is not right.

The cognitive jolt from the experience - visible on their faces - is a result of the politically charged artwork called Villa in the Jungle A Real A-State Agent by British-Israeli artist Gil Mualem-Doron.

Inside the shop, which is run by a local campaign group, are several installations and art exhibitions spread across three rooms. 

Mualem-Doron’s work in Hove consists of a short film called Living the Dream and a separate installation featuring miniature villas on wooden plinths, a gold spray-painted log and broken Victorian tiles imprinted with Arabic mosaics scattered on the floor.

Read more: ‘Banality of evil’: Artist turns Gaza settler dream into disturbing installation

Israeli forces launched a drone strike on a house in the town of Meithalun, south of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.

Troops stormed the area, surrounding the targeted home, while fighting erupted with Palestinian resistance fighters.

According to the Wafa news agency, the Israeli army struck a site near the besieged house.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that its medics were unable to reach the wounded, as Israeli forces blocked access, leaving injured civilians without medical assistance.

Palestinian medics have recovered the remains of 17 people buried beneath the rubble of homes destroyed in Israeli air strikes on Rafah.

A medical source told Anadolu Agency that the remains were transported to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis from Rafah, where families anxiously gathered, desperate for news of their missing loved ones.

“The recovered bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition, making identification extremely difficult,” the source said.

Harvard Medical School has cancelled a lecture on healthcare during war and a panel discussion featuring patients from Gaza getting medical care in Boston after complaints it would present only one side of the conflict and not the Israeli side as well, according to a report by Harvard Crimson. 

The lecture, by Tufts Professor Barry S Levy, was supposed to focus on wartime healthcare followed by a student-organised discussion with patients from Gaza and their families.

The decision has received widespread criticism online this week, with many calling it “censorious” of Harvard to take such a decision. 

Instructors and students were notified on Tuesday morning that the events scheduled for that evening would not be held, The Harvard Crimson reported. According to the report, Harvard’s Medical School dean, George Q Daley, wrote in an email on Wednesday that his office began receiving complaints from students and faculty within days of publicising the event.

Read more: Harvard Medical School cancels 'one-sided' lecture with Gaza patients

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has confirmed that 339 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Friday, marking the sixth day of the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, has claimed responsibility for ambushing Israeli soldiers in the Jenin refugee camp, located in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement shared on Telegram, the group said the ambush occurred in the al-Damj neighbourhood, leaving Israeli soldiers wounded.

Hamas has expanded its ranks significantly since the outbreak of the war on Gaza, enlisting between 10,000 and 15,000 new fighters, according to Reuters, which cited intelligence seen by two US congressional sources.

The sources say a similar number of Hamas fighters have been killed during that period, according to Reuters.

Israel has ordered the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) to shut down its operations in Jerusalem and vacate all premises by 30 January, according to a letter sent by Israel’s envoy to UN secretary general Antonio Guterres on Friday.

The directive comes as a controversial Israeli law banning Unrwa from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories. The agency provides essential aid to Palestinian refugees.