Category World News

Norwegian Football Federation President Lise Klaveness is looking forward to meeting her Israeli counterpart before a World Cup qualifier between the two on Saturday, following the announcement of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The Norwegian FA said in August that it would donate profits from ticket sales from Saturday’s Group I game against Israel to support the work of Doctors Without Borders in Gaza, prompting immediate criticism from the Israelis.

“I always meet other football presidents before we play games. I’m very much into dialogue, and the more difficult it gets, the more important is that we meet, even if it’s difficult,” Klaveness said on Friday.

Israel’s FA criticised the ticket money move at the time, saying: “It would be nice if some of the amount were directed to try to find a condemnation by the Norwegian FA of the October 7 massacre that claimed the lives of hundreds of Israeli citizens and children.”

Israel’s government ratified the ceasefire with Hamas in the early hours of Friday morning, clearing the way to suspend hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours and free Israeli captives held there within 72 hours after that.

“We are, of course, extremely happy, on behalf of the involved parties in the whole world, that there is a ceasefire. Football is nothing compared to peace, and now the bombs can stop over Gaza, and that hostages can come home,” Klaveness said.

“That’s very important, and I think it’s very important now that all of us, football leaders and leaders in all big organisations, now give this peace plan energy and momentum. We all know it’s a long way to sustainable peace, but it’s everyone’s responsibility to give it energy and momentum.”

The Norwegian FA has worked closely with police in Oslo on security matters around the game, and Klaveness,  a 44-year-old mother of three who played for her country at two Women’s World Cups, said she hoped Israeli fans would feel safe attending.

“They are warmly welcome, and nothing that we say or state should ever be interpreted as directed towards them or that we don’t feel sympathy for what they’ve gone through with this horrific trauma of October 7th 2033,” she said.

“When we say something about condemning the attack on Gaza, it does not mean that we condemn the attack on their people any less.”

“Any misperceptions, missed deadlines or misinterpretations can scupper this whole [ceasefire].”

Thousands of displaced Palestinians have begun returning to their abandoned and mostly destroyed homes, as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas takes hold, with Israeli forces withdrawing from parts of Gaza.

Families started moving from western residential areas on Friday back towards Gaza City’s main districts, areas from which they were previously forced to flee.

Several Israeli military brigades and divisions have pulled out from central Gaza regions as well.

At the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, families have begun travelling northward, though many remain waiting to enter areas in the Netzarim Corridor, where Israeli forces were stationed. They are holding there until the final Israeli tank departs the area.

Concerning developments include heightened activity of Israeli drones, fighter jets, and warships since early morning. Multiple attacks were reported in the morning at locations where people were gathering to return home.

A huge procession of displaced Palestinians moved northward through dust-filled roads towards Gaza City, the territory’s largest urban centre, which had experienced intense Israeli military operations just days earlier.

“Thank God my house is still standing,” said Ismail Zayda, 40, in the Sheikh Radwan area in Gaza City. “But the place is destroyed, my neighbours’ houses are destroyed, entire districts have gone.”

The Israeli military announced the ceasefire agreement took effect at noon local time (09:00 GMT). Israel’s government ratified the ceasefire with Hamas early Friday, setting in motion a partial troop withdrawal and complete suspension of hostilities in Gaza within 24 hours.

Israeli captives are scheduled for release within 72 hours afterwards, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

The first phase of United States President Trump’s plan to end the two-year Gaza conflict requires Israeli forces to withdraw from major urban centres, though they will maintain control of approximately half the enclave’s territory.

Japan’s Komeito party has announced it will withdraw from its coalition with the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), as newly elected leader Sanae Takaichi awaits a parliamentary vote to confirm her as Japan’s first prime minister, which is now in peril.

Tetsuo Saito, Komeito party leader, told party members on Friday that the 26-year partnership had broken down over an “inadequate” explanation by the LDP of its handling of a political funding scandal that has roiled the ruling group.

He said Komeito would not back Takaichi in the parliamentary vote expected later this month. In response, Takaichi said the collapse of the country’s ruling coalition was “extremely regrettable”.

“We have cooperated over the last 26 years, including when we were out of power. That this relationship is coming to such a conclusion is extremely regrettable,” the head of the LDP said of its junior partner Komeito.

Takaichi, who the LDP picked as its new leader on Saturday and skews to the right wing of the party, is now 37 seats short of a majority in parliament’s lower house. Without Komeito, she will need the backing of at least two other parties to pass legislation.

Opposition parties can put forward their own candidates when parliament meets to vote on the next premier.

Any candidate who secures a simple majority in the first round wins approval. If not, the two candidates with the most votes go into a run-off.

The LDP also has a minority in the less powerful upper house of parliament. It has governed Japan for most of the post-war period.

Takaichi’s selection as LDP leader last week dampened market expectations for a near-term interest rate hike, sending stocks higher and weakening the yen.

She is known for her staunch support of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s “Abenomics” stimulus policies.