Live Update
From the Liveblog of
Monday, January 20, 2025
Hamas security forces move to swiftly reassert control over Gaza during ceasefire

Masked Palestinian gunmen guard trucks loaded with humanitarian aid in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, January 20, 2025. (Ali Hassan/Flash90)
Hamas police and security forces have been operating in Gaza today, the second day of a ceasefire-hostage deal with Israel in the war-battered territory, AFP journalists note.
Hamas’s deputy interior minister for the territory, Mahmud Abu Watfah, inspected armed police, some in fatigues and others dressed in black, before they patrolled the bombed-out streets of Gaza City.
“We care about the comfort and protection of those who sacrificed with the resistance and paid a heavy price for this bloody war,” Abu Watfah says.
He says they also want “to control the situation on the ground in case of any chaos. This was achieved from the first hour of the deployment of the ministry of interior (forces) and the security forces.”