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SvennoJ on 17 February 2025
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Main events from February 17th

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held talks with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in West Jerusalem and said the two countries shared a “common strategy” on Gaza. He warned Hamas that “the gates of hell would open” if it did not release the remaining captives held in the enclave.
  • Rubio hailed US President Donald Trump’s “bold” plan to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza and fully endorsed Israel’s war goals, saying that Hamas “must be eradicated”, in statements that threw the future of the shaky ceasefire into further doubt.
  • Trump said the next steps in the ceasefire “will be up to Israel” in “consultation with me” and defended his administration’s decision to supply Israel with the heavy Mk-84 bombs. “It’s called peace through strength”, he said.
  • Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said talks on phase two of the Israel-Hamas truce will continue this week as Netanyahu’s office said Israeli negotiators will travel to Cairo today to discuss continuing the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
  • Israeli forces carried out more attacks on Gaza, despite the ceasefire, killing at least three Palestinian police officers in the southern city of Rafah.
  • Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Israeli forces must withdraw completely from Lebanon by the February 18 deadline stipulated in the extended ceasefire deal, after Israel’s military requested mediators to keep troops in five posts in southern parts of the country.

HRW: 3,000 Palestinians in detention without charge, held indefinitely

The number of Palestinians being detained without charge in Israeli prisons has risen sharply since the war on Gaza began, says Milena Ansari, an Israel and Palestine researcher at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

“We’re talking about 9,846 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, and from this number, there are 3,369 under administrative detention, which means 3,000 are in detention without charge, without trial, and for an indefinite time,” Ansari told Al Jazeera.

Ansari said the number of Palestinians held under the “combat law” rose from 10 to 1,800 since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

“This type of detention is unlawful because you’re not submitting any charges against a person, and there’s no trial happening for the person unless it is for renewal of their administrative detention,” she added.


AU condemns Israel’s ‘genocide’ against Palestinians

African leaders have condemned Israeli occupation and aggression in a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa.

“Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians and must be prosecuted internationally,” the statement said, according to Palestinian media outlets.

“We call for an end to cooperation and normalisation with Israel until it ends its occupation and aggression against Palestine,” it said.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently hailed the AU statement.

In a post on X, the ministry said it welcomed the African leaders’ “honourable positions on the Israeli occupation and aggression, as well as the genocide against our people”, and the “summit’s rejection of displacement and annexation plans”.