Haredim protesters close major road near Tel Aviv; clash with police

Ultra-Orthodox anti-draft demonstrators have clashed with Israeli police after blocking Route 4 to protest the arrest of two Haredim draft dodgers, Israel Army Radio reports.

The newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported one protester was arrested.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews have been protesting in Israel, unhappy with the idea of being drafted into the army. They were exempt from military service until June 2024 when the Israeli Supreme Court unanimously ruled the exemption had no legal basis.

Israel’s chemical spraying destroys Syrian farmland and livelihoods

Israel is accused of spraying farmland across Syria and Lebanon with chemical herbicides, destroying crops along the shared border. Farmers say it’s threatening their livelihoods and called it an attempt by Israel to force them off their land.

Al Jazeera’s Ayman Oghanna met some farmers and sent this report from Quneitra, southern Syria:

US Muslim group supports Australia protesters denouncing Herzog

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has expressed support for Australian demonstrators who rallied against a visit by Israel’s president.

CAIR noted Isaac Herzog infamously said there were “no innocent civilians” in Gaza at the start of Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the territory.

“We also strongly condemn Australian police officers for attacking a group of Australian Muslims as they peacefully prayed,” the group wrote. “This assault on worshipers was an obscene act of bigotry and those responsible should be held accountable.”

Australia Protests Turn Violent as Police Clash With Crowds Over Herzog Visit

Protesters clashed with police in Sydney as demonstrations erupted over the visit of Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Authorities deployed pepper spray and tear gas after crowds tried to breach police lines, with several arrests made. The protests came after organisers lost a legal challenge against restrictions.

UN chief Guterres ‘gravely concerned’ by Israeli measures

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on Israel to reverse its decision to deepen control over the West Bank.

A spokesperson for Guterres told reporters the UN chief is “gravely concerned” by the Israeli security cabinet’s moves.

“The secretary-general warns that the current trajectory on the ground, including this decision, is eroding the prospects for a two-state solution,” Stephane Dujarric said during a news conference at UN headquarters in New York City.

“He reiterates that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and their associated regime and infrastructure have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law, including relevant United Nations resolutions,” Dujarric said.

“Such actions, including Israel’s continuing presence in the occupied Palestinian territory are not only destabilising, but as recalled by the International Court of Justice, unlawful.”

UK says Israeli move to annex West Bank ‘unacceptable’

Britain is the latest country to call on Israel to reverse its decision to expand control over the West Bank.

“The UK strongly condemns the Israeli security cabinet’s decision yesterday ⁠to expand Israeli control over the West Bank,” the government said in a statement.

“Any unilateral attempt to alter ‌the geographic or demographic ⁠make-up of Palestine is wholly unacceptable and would be inconsistent with international ‌law. We call on Israel to reverse these decisions immediately.”

Last year, the United Kingdom announced it was imposing additional sanctions on illegal Israeli settler outposts in the occupied West Bank.

As international pressure intensifies on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, the European Commission has launched a review of its trade agreement with Israel in response to the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza.

Starmer FINISHED As His Government IMPLODES

"My abiding memory of this government is Police arresting people in Parliament Sq because they had the temerity to protest against genocide in Gaza."

Palestinians demand to return to West Bank refugee camp

The Israeli army displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians from Nur Shams, Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps last year.

_{Human Rights Watch has called Israel’s emptying of refugee camps in the West Bank, and its refusal to allow people to return home, a war crime}

New Israeli measures seize control over religious sites

Israel’s announcement moves to expand Israeli control over two major religious sites in the occupied West Bank.

In Hebron, the West Bank’s largest Palestinian city, municipal bylaws will be amended to transfer building-permit authority in areas around the Ibrahimi Mosque to COGAT, Israel’s military body overseeing civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories.

Asma al-Sharbati, Hebron’s deputy mayor, called the move “the most dangerous ongoing Israeli trend”, adding settlement expansion is happening at a “rapid pace”.

The Bilal bin Rabah Mosque, currently administered by the Bethlehem municipality, will similarly be placed under a newly created Israeli authority.

More Israeli raids reported across occupied West Bank

Israeli forces have stormed the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, firing stun grenades and tear gas canisters, Wafa reports. Separately, the Israeli army also raided the town of Anata, in the Jerusalem governorate, and opened fire with rubber-coated metal rounds.

Armed settlers also attacked Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem, firing weapons at residents and damaging several parked vehicles.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law. About 3 million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank. Another 200,000 Israelis live in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, which the UN says is part of the Palestinian territory.

Strong support in Pakistan for Gaza peacekeeping force but questions linger

A new survey indicates nearly three-quarters of Pakistanis support deploying troops to the Gaza Strip as part of an International Stabilisation Force (ISF).

The findings of the poll by Gallup Pakistan come as media reports suggested Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will attend the first formal meeting of Trump’s Board of Peace (BoP) on February 19, a body Pakistan joined alongside several other Muslim-majority countries last month.

Anam Nadeem, 38, a communications professional from Sialkot, is firmly opposed.

“The ISF’s role, leadership and objectives are vague, and it appears to be aligned with a US-led framework that lacks broad regional legitimacy. Joining such a force risks placing Pakistan in direct conflict with Palestinian factions, including Hamas, potentially against the will of the Palestinian people,” she said.

Indonesian troops expected to deploy to Gaza in coming weeks: Report

Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reports several thousand Indonesian soldiers are expected to deploy in Gaza in the coming weeks as part of the US-coordinated peacekeeping mission.

There is no set date for their arrival. The International Stabilisation Force is part of US President Donald Trump’s post-war plan for the Palestinian enclave.

The news outlet said the troops will be based in Rafah, southern Gaza.

In November, Indonesia’s defence minister said the country trained about 20,000 troops to take on health and construction-related tasks in the war-ravaged Strip.

Israel bombs building in Gaza City, one killed

One Palestinian has been killed and others wounded in an Israeli air strike on a residential building in Gaza City, Wafa news agency reports. A medical source at al-Shifa Hospital told the official Palestinian news agency a man was killed and five others were injured in the bombing.

Last week, Gaza’s Government Media Office said Israel violated the Gaza “ceasefire” 1,520 times since it came into effect on October 10 last year. The Health Ministry said 581 people have been killed and 1,553 wounded.

Death toll in Israeli attack on Gaza City building rises to four

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that the death toll in Israel’s attack on a building in Gaza City has now risen to four.

Latest Israeli attack spreads panic in Gaza City

This is another deadly escalation carried out by the Israeli military. Israeli fighter jets targeted a residential apartment in the al-Nasr neighbourhood of Gaza City.

That building had already been targeted and partially damaged during Israel’s war on Gaza. The renewed attack left dozens injured and they were transported to a hospital.

Al-Nasr is a very crowded neighbourhood. People took refuge in this neighbourhood and took refuge in that partially damaged residential building. They were forced to live there because of the scarcity of shelters.

Israeli army kills Palestinian near ‘yellow line’ in northern Gaza

The army says it shot and killed someone who crossed the so-called “yellow line” in the north of the bombarded enclave.

Israel has justified several deadly attacks since the October “ceasefire” deal came into effect by saying Palestinians crossed the demarcation line, which is not clearly marked in Gaza’s ruins. That includes a deadly mid-October attack that killed several members of a Palestinian family, including women and children, as they sought to reach their home in Gaza City.

JD Vance’s comments show Trump clueless on Iran, Tehran releases future targets

US Vice President JD Vance has accidentally told the truth about Donald Trump's hesitation to launch military strikes on Iran. Vance said that he wasn't aware of any red line on Iran and, even if there was one, only Trump knew about it. This would not go down well with the public posturing of Trump, who has repeatedly warned Iran of consequences.

Rifat Jawaid looks at the significance of Vance's statement and Australia hogging the global limelight for the wrong reasons after police launched a crackdown against protesters during the visit of Isaac Herzog.

The Epstein Mossad Connections Have Gone Mainstream

Two people killed by Israeli attack in central Gaza

A source at al-Aqsa Hospital has told Al Jazeera that two people have been killed by Israeli bombing on Salah al-Din Street in central Gaza.

Palestinian woman killed in central Gaza

A source at Al-Aqsa Hospital has now told Al Jazeera that a Palestinian woman has been killed by Israeli forces in al-Musaddar village in central Gaza.

Only 397 people have been allowed to travel through Rafah crossing: Officials

The Gaza Government Media Office says only 397 people out of a scheduled 1,600 have passed through the Rafah crossing since February 2.

The figure includes 225 who travelled out of Gaza and 172 who entered the enclave.

Falling far short just like the Aid that was supposed to come in unrestricted during the ceasefire.

Gaza death toll rises

Israeli forces have killed at least 586 Palestinians and wounded 1,558 in Gaza since the October 10 “ceasefire”, the Health Ministry said. The total number of people killed during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023 has reached 72,037, with 171,666 wounded.

Israeli troops kill Palestinian man in southern Gaza

Medical sources told Wafa news agency that Youssef Nasser al-Rifi was killed by Israeli army fire north of Khan Younis.

The incident took place in an area that is not under the Israeli army’s control, according to sources.

Rafah border crossing reopens

The Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza has reopened, allowing a new group of patients and their family members to leave Gaza, and the return of those stranded in Egypt.

The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that the seventh batch of Palestinians – 50 people, including 19 patients and 31 family members – departed through the Rafah crossing after being processed at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society headquarters in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, in the presence of representatives from the World Health Organisation.

Local authorities in Gaza said earlier that only 397 people crossed the Rafah border crossing with Egypt between February 2 and 9 since Israel partially reopened the terminal under strict restrictions. This is “out of an expected 1,600 travellers, reflecting roughly 25 percent Israeli compliance with agreed arrangements”, Gaza’s Government Media Office said in a statement.

Israel used weapons in Gaza that made thousands of Palestinians evaporate

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/2/10/israel-used-weapons-in-gaza-that-made-thousands-of-palestinians-evaporate

Thousands of Palestinians have simply vanished during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

According to an Al Jazeera Arabic investigation, The Rest of the Story, Civil Defence teams in Gaza have documented 2,842 Palestinians who have “evaporated” since the war began in October 2023, leaving behind no remains other than blood spray or small fragments of flesh.

Experts and witnesses attributed this phenomenon to Israel’s systematic use of internationally prohibited thermal and thermobaric weapons, often referred to as vacuum or aerosol bombs, capable of generating temperatures exceeding 3,500 degrees Celsius [6,332 degrees Fahrenheit].

The figure of 2,842 is not an estimate, but the result of grim forensic accounting by Gaza’s Civil Defence.

Spokesperson Mahmoud Basal explained to Al Jazeera that teams use a “method of elimination” at strike sites. “We enter a targeted home and cross-reference the known number of occupants with the bodies recovered,” Basal said.

“If a family tells us there were five people inside, and we only recover three intact bodies, we treat the remaining two as ‘evaporated’ only after an exhaustive search yields nothing but biological traces—blood spray on walls or small fragments like scalps,” he added.

The chemistry of erasure

The investigation detailed how specific chemical compositions in Israeli munitions turn human bodies into ash in seconds.

Vasily Fatigarov, a Russian military expert, explained that thermobaric weapons do not just kill; they obliterate matter. Unlike conventional explosives, these weapons disperse a cloud of fuel that ignites to create an enormous fireball and a vacuum effect.

“To prolong the burning time, powders of aluminium, magnesium and titanium are added to the chemical mixture,” Fatigarov said. “This raises the temperature of the explosion to between 2,500 and 3,000 degrees Celsius [4,532F to 5,432F].”

According to the investigation, the intense heat is often generated by tritonal, a mixture of TNT and aluminium powder used in United States-made bombs like the MK-84.

Dr Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, explained the biological impact of such extreme heat on the human body, which is composed of roughly 80 percent water.

“The boiling point of water is 100 degrees Celsius [212F],” al-Bursh said. “When a body is exposed to energy exceeding 3,000 degrees combined with massive pressure and oxidation, the fluids boil instantly. The tissues vaporise and turn to ash. It is chemically inevitable.”

Anatomy of the bombs

The investigation identified specific US-manufactured munitions used in Gaza that are linked to these disappearances:

• MK-84 ‘Hammer’: This 900kg [2,000lb] unguided bomb packed with tritonal generates heat up to 3,500C [6,332F].
• BLU-109 bunker buster: Used in an attack on al-Mawasi, an area Israel had declared a “safe zone” for forcibly displaced Palestinians in September 2024, this bomb evaporated 22 people. It has a steel casing and a delayed fuse, burying itself before detonating a PBXN-109 explosive mix. This creates a large fireball inside enclosed spaces, incinerating everything within reach.
• GBU-39: This precision glide bomb was used in the al-Tabin school attack. It uses the AFX-757 explosive. “The GBU-39 is designed to keep the building structure relatively intact while destroying everything inside,” Fatigarov noted. “It kills via a pressure wave that ruptures lungs and a thermal wave that incinerates soft tissue.”

Basal of the Civil Defence confirmed finding fragments of GBU-39 wings at sites where bodies had vanished.

A ‘global genocide, not just an Israeli one’

Legal experts said the use of these indiscriminate weapons implicates not just Israel but also its Western suppliers.“This is a global genocide, not just an Israeli one,” said lawyer Diana Buttu, a lecturer at Georgetown University in Qatar.

Speaking at the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha, Buttu argued that the supply chain is evidence of complicity. “We see a continuous flow of these weapons from the United States and Europe. They know these weapons do not distinguish between a fighter and a child, yet they continue to send them.”

Buttu emphasised that under international law, the use of weapons that cannot distinguish between combatants and noncombatants constitutes a war crime.

“The world knows Israel possesses and uses these prohibited weapons,” Buttu said. “The question is why are they allowed to remain outside the system of accountability.”

Germany’s top court to rule this week on controversial arms exports to Israel

Germany’s top court will rule on Thursday on whether a Palestinian civilian from Gaza can legally challenge arms exports to Israel – a decision that could set a precedent for other cases, according to rights groups.

The Federal Constitutional Court will decide on a constitutional complaint filed by a Gaza resident who lost his wife and child in Israeli military strikes. The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and Palestinian partner organisations are backing the legal challenge.

Earlier, lower German courts dismissed the complaint from the Palestinian man, who still lives with his remaining family members in a tent in southern Gaza under constant threat of military attacks.

In December last year, he filed an urgent application with the Federal Constitutional Court to stop German defence manufacturers from delivering spare parts for Israeli tanks.

Despite documented violations of international law in Gaza, Germany has continued authorising arms exports to Israel, according to ECCHR. Germany ranks among Israel’s largest arms suppliers, authorising sales totalling more than 492 million euros ($586m) between October 7, 2023, and June 5, 2025.

UNRWA chief slams Israeli curbs on reporters, aid workers entering Gaza

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), has condemned Israel’s ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza and restrictions on humanitarian aid groups and their workers.

“These Israeli policies aim at further dehumanising Palestinians by denying their suffering & their existence,” Lazzarini wrote on X. “Lifting the information embargo is long overdue.”