Main events from February 17th
- Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz announced the establishment of a new government agency, which he said would provide Palestinians with “extensive assistance” to “voluntarily” leave Gaza.
- Displaced Palestinians living in makeshift shelters flooded with rain and sewage water appealed for adequate shelter, as Israel continues to hold up the entry of mobile homes in violation of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
- Hamas will return the bodies of at least four Israeli captives on Thursday, according to Israeli media, and free three more living captives on Saturday in line with the deal’s first phase.
- Israeli protesters rallied in Tel Aviv to mark 500 days since the October 7 attacks, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to secure the release of the remaining captives and move into the second phase of the ceasefire deal.
- Israel’s military has begun pulling out from some Lebanese villages, officials say, but will leave troops in “five strategic points along the border” – past the deadline for their complete withdrawal under the truce deal with Hezbollah.
- US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held talks with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh and “underscored the importance of an arrangement for Gaza that contributes to regional security”, according to his office.
Israel to receive bodies of four captives on Thursday
Israel is expecting to receive the bodies of four Israeli captives killed after October 7 on Thursday, in exchange for half of the women and children that Israeli forces took from Gaza and disappeared since the war.
We do not know how many Palestinians will be released because Israel has not disclosed how many people it has taken from Gaza.
This is an implementation of phase one of the agreement. So there isn’t anything out of the ordinary. But it is an indication that mediator efforts are bearing fruit; that talks are continuing.
There is no movement, though, on phase two of the agreement. Negotiations on that are two weeks behind schedule. The Israeli prime minister is reported to have pledged to only move forward after a cabinet vote.
Where there is movement, though, is the Israeli Ministry of Defence, where the minister, Israel Katz, has formed a directorate to facilitate the implementation of Donald Trump’s plan to displace the population of Gaza and take over the enclave.
Who are the Palestinian women, children set to be released by Israel?
We reported earlier that Israel is preparing to release half of the women and children its military detained from Gaza during the war, in exchange for the bodies of four Israelis held by Hamas.
In a post on X, Axios reporter Barak Ravid offered more details on the swap.
“Israel will release all women and minors under the age of 19 who have been detained by the [Israeli military] in Gaza since October 8 and who were not involved in the fighting,” he wrote.
The Times of Israel, citing other Israeli media reports, said the detainees had not been involved in the October 7 attack on Israel either, and added that “it was not immediately clear why they were arrested”.
Muhammad Shehada, a visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, referred to Ravid’s post on X, saying it shows that Israel “is openly admitting” that it is holding women and children from Gaza “hostage”.
These women and “minor children” have “been kidnapped by the [Israeli military] since Oct 8 without charge, evidence, legal counsel, trial” and “are held as bargaining chips”, Shehada said.
He also went on to slam the mainstream media’s silence on the matter using emojis.
