Ceasefire Begins, Israeli Troops Withdraw from Rafah in Gaza

SEAToday.com, Jakarta - Ceasefire in Gaza, Palestine, began today, with Israeli forces starting to pull back from the center of Rafah city in southern Gaza. According to Al Jazeera, on Sunday (19/1), the Israeli military has reduced its presence in Rafah and moved back to the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along Gaza's southern border with Egypt.

However, despite the agreed ceasefire, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that attacks continued in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza just hours before the ceasefire began, with airstrikes also carried out in northern Gaza City and southern Rafah.

On Saturday (18/1), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized Israel’s history of violating ceasefires, particularly by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and urged the international community to prevent further violations amidst the agreement between Hamas and Israel.

Erdogan also condemned the 467-day war in Gaza, which has resulted in over 47,000 deaths, asserting that Israel failed to break the resistance of the people in Gaza.

He reaffirmed Turkey's commitment to holding war criminals accountable for their actions in Palestine and promised to work towards healing Gaza's wounds during the ceasefire.

Earlier, on Wednesday (15/1), Qatar announced a three-phase ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas aimed at ending more than 15 months of Israeli attacks on Gaza, with the ceasefire set to begin on Sunday at 06:30 GMT (13:30 WIB).