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Israel Releases Jerusalem Governor, 9 Fatah members

Gheith and members from Fatah movement warmly welcomed after their release. AFP
Gheith and members from Fatah movement warmly welcomed after their release. AFP
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Israel Releases Jerusalem Governor, 9 Fatah members

Gheith and members from Fatah movement warmly welcomed after their release. AFP
Gheith and members from Fatah movement warmly welcomed after their release. AFP

Jerusalem magistrate court released on Sunday Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governor Adnan Gheith and nine activists of Fatah movement, but it banned them from entering the West Bank for two other weeks.

The prosecution confirmed that their arrest was due to their "involvement in military activities serving the interests of PA security services" and their role in pursuing Palestinians who sell real estate to Jews.

The prosecutor spoke about Gheith and his colleagues’ role in arresting one of the Palestinians, who was suspected of selling real estate to settlement associations, and torturing him in intelligence prisons in Ramallah.

He said that the Israeli government decided to fight this phenomenon and punish every Palestinian who contributes to it.

In addition to releasing Gheith, the court decided to release Hatem Mahlus, Alaa Abu al-Hawa, Amer Awwad, Khalil Bashir, Mohammad al-Qaq, Ahmad Mustafa, Iyad Hadra, Hadi Mahmoud and Hussam Abu Isnineh.

According to the lawyer from the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners' Affairs Mohammad Mahmoud, the court decided to release Geith and the rest of the detainees because their arrest turned into a major political scandal.

Notably, these arrests have raised a wave of public protests in Jerusalem and its environs.

Administrative and educational cadres and students of al-Umma Secondary School in Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem, organized Sunday morning a rally to express solidarity with Governor Gheith.

They raised banners calling releasing Gheith and all the other prisoners.

In addition, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education circulated an order in schools throughout the governorates to organize a silent sit-in for three minutes in support for Jerusalem’s governor and his fellow detainees.

It also asked these schools to use the school radio to talk about the detainees and the role of the students in defending Jerusalem and its Arabism.

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UN Says Can Only Deliver as Much Aid to Gaza as Conditions Allow

Palestinians walk among the rubble of houses destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, amid ceasefire negotiations with Israel, in Gaza City, January 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk among the rubble of houses destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, amid ceasefire negotiations with Israel, in Gaza City, January 15, 2025. (Reuters)
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UN Says Can Only Deliver as Much Aid to Gaza as Conditions Allow

Palestinians walk among the rubble of houses destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, amid ceasefire negotiations with Israel, in Gaza City, January 15, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk among the rubble of houses destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, amid ceasefire negotiations with Israel, in Gaza City, January 15, 2025. (Reuters)

A short-term surge of aid deliveries into Gaza after a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group will be difficult if the deal does not cover security arrangements in the enclave, a senior UN official said on Wednesday.

Negotiators reached a deal on Wednesday for a ceasefire, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters, after 15 months of conflict. It would include a significant increase of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, but it was unclear if any agreement would cover security arrangements.

"Security is not (the responsibility of) the humanitarians. And it's a very chaotic environment. The risk is that with a vacuum it gets even more chaotic," a senior UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. "Short of any arrangement, it will be very difficult to surge deliveries in the short term."

The United Nations has long described its humanitarian operation as opportunistic - facing problems with Israel's military operation, access restrictions by Israel into and throughout Gaza and more recently looting by armed gangs.

"The UN is committed to delivering humanitarian assistance during the ceasefire, just as we were during the period of active hostilities," said Eri Kaneko, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

"The removal of the various impediments the UN has been facing during the last year – which include restrictions on the entry of goods; the lack of safety and security; the breakdown of law and order; and the lack of fuel – is a must," she said.

The UN has been working with partners to develop a coordinated plan to scale up operations, Kaneko said.

600 TRUCKS A DAY

The ceasefire deal - according to the official briefed on talks - requires 600 truckloads of aid to be allowed into Gaza every day of the initial six-week ceasefire, including 50 carrying fuel. Half of the 600 aid trucks would be delivered to Gaza's north, where experts have warned famine is imminent.

"We are well-prepared, and you can count on us to continue to be ambitious and creative," said the UN official, speaking shortly before the deal was agreed. "But the issue is and will be the operating environment inside Gaza."

For more than a year, the UN has warned that famine looms over Gaza. Israel says there is no aid shortage - citing more than a million tons of deliveries. It accuses Hamas of stealing aid, which Hamas denies, instead blaming Israel for shortages.

"If the deal doesn't provide any agreement on security arrangements, it will be very difficult to surge assistance," said the official, adding that there would also be a risk that law and order would further deteriorate in the short term.

The United Nations said in June that it was Israel's responsibility - as the occupying power in the Gaza Strip - to restore public order and safety in the Palestinian territory so aid can be delivered.

Hamas came to power in Gaza in 2006 after Israeli soldiers and settlers withdrew in 2005, but the enclave is still deemed as Israeli-occupied territory by the United Nations. Israel controls access to Gaza.

The current war was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas killed 1,200 people in southern Israel, and took some 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, more than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed, Israel has laid much of Gaza to waste and the enclave's prewar population of 2.3 million people has been displaced multiple times, aid agencies say.