Palestinians make their way after Israeli withdrawal from Netzarim Corridor

The Israeli military has completed the withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor to the buffer zone. As of now, cars are passing an inspection point, as they arrive from the central and southern parts of the Strip.

The Netzarim Corridor is an area that has in the past 15 months turned into a major base for the Israeli military. It is now completely pulverised, with no buildings left. The majority of the agricultural land has been bulldozed and destroyed by the Israeli military.

It will be very difficult for people who were displaced from this area to return to their homes. It’s hard to imagine where they are going to stay here other than just setting up tents here and there.

So we’re seeing more civilian movement between the north and the south.

The hope is now that with the withdrawal of the Israeli military, there is more free movement, a flow of vehicles and aid trucks going all the way to the northern part of the Strip. The expectation is that things are going to move forward step by step, but it’s slow-moving in terms of aid delivery to the northern part of the Strip.


_{The withdrawal will allow people to travel in both directions between southern and northern Gaza}

Aerial footage reveals extent of destruction around Netzarim Corridor

The Israeli military left a huge trail of destruction behind after completing its withdrawal from the Netzarim Corridor.

Aerial footage released by local activists, which has been verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency, show how nothing was spared in the area of the corridor that bisected Gaza and prevented Palestinians from going back to their homes in the northern part of the enclave.


https://www.instagram.com/reel/DF2KLVYAPI8

Aid coming in to Gaza is ‘a dot in the ocean’

There’s still definitely not enough aid coming in.

We’re talking about two million Palestinians who lost their homes, who lost everything they have. They do not have any jobs, or any source of income – they are completely relying on what’s coming in from the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom for Israelis) crossing.

Palestinians are in urgent need of caravans and tents. Tents are being destroyed and flushed away by the rain. Palestinians also need solar panels because there has been no electricity for the past year and a half, and there is no source of electricity. Palestinians are also demanding building materials because those who went back and found their houses partially destroyed need building materials to fix their houses.

We’re expecting at least 600 trucks today, but whatever is coming in is not enough for the Palestinians. It’s a dot in the ocean, and Palestinians are demanding more.

They need all types of materials to start their lives from scratch.

Only fraction of wounded patients leaving, aid trucks entering Gaza

Medical evacuations continue to take place under the ceasefire deal. Today 30 wounded Palestinian patients were evacuated by the World Health Organization to receive medical treatment in Egyptian hospitals.

But under the terms of the agreement, 50 patients were supposed to be evacuated daily. Since the beginning of the month, we understand that more than 200 patients were evacuated, but there should have been more evacuated. Bureaucratic security measures from the Israeli authorities have led to some delays.

Also, 600 humanitarian aid trucks are supposed to be entering the Gaza Strip daily. But, for example, today we have seen only a trickle of aid trucks enter. I have counted them: there are just more than 50 humanitarian aid trucks that have entered today.

Gaza death toll rises

At least eight bodies of Palestinians have arrived at Gaza’s hospitals in the past 24 hours despite the ongoing ceasefire, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.

Seven of them were recovered from under the rubble and one was recently killed, a ministry statement said, adding that at least two other Palestinians were wounded during the reporting period.

The confirmed death toll in Israel’s war on Gaza is now 48,189, the ministry said, with 111,640 people injured since October 7, 2023.

A number of victims remain under the rubble, with the Government Media Office in Gaza presuming them dead, estimating the death toll to be more than 61,000 people.

Casualties reported as Israel launches attack on Nur Shams camp

Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting that Israeli forces have been surrounding the refugee camp, located near the northern city of Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, since dawn.

Local sources told AJA that they heard the sound of explosions and gunfire and that Israeli snipers were deployed in the area and reconnaissance aircraft were flying overhead.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it received reports of casualties but that Israeli forces prevented its crews from entering the camp.

The raid on Nur Shams comes as Israeli forces continue a weeks-long military operation in the north of the West Bank, targeting the Jenin, Tulkarem and Far’a refugee camps. They have killed dozens of Palestinians, displaced thousands and destroyed vast swaths of the camps, including by bulldozing homes and critical infrastructure.

Israeli military ‘expanding operations’ in northern West Bank

The Israeli military reports that its soldiers are “expanding operations” in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, which they have been heavily besieging since the start of the Gaza ceasefire.

The army also confirmed that it is currently attacking the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, saying it dispatched its Ephraim Brigade to “thwart terrorism” in the area.

The Israeli military confirmed that “numerous” soldiers with the army, internal security agency Shin Bet and border guard are part of the incursion that started overnight, claiming that they have so far “struck down several terrorists and arrested additional wanted individuals in the area”.

Israeli army bulldozers are destroying infrastructure right now in Nour Shams refugee camp in the city of Tulkarm. pic.twitter.com/G8ywoJQ6p0

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 9, 2025

Israeli military deploys more troops to Far’a camp in West Bank

The Israeli military is maintaining its siege of the refugee camp south of Tubas in the occupied West Bank for an eighth day.

More military reinforcements have been deployed towards the Far’a camp from the Hamra checkpoint, according to the Wafa news agency, which said Israeli forces continue to destroy infrastructure and private property in the area.

Raids on citizens’ homes and field interrogations are ongoing as well, a day after Israeli soldiers forced dozens of families to be displaced, with some now sheltering in schools. At least eight Palestinians have been arrested in Far’a so far.

Israeli settlers block main street in West Bank’s Huwara

Israeli settlers have stormed the town of Huwara south of Nablus and closed down the main street under the protection of Israeli armed forces. Videos from the town, which have been verified by Al Jazeera, show settlers dancing and raising the Israeli flag.

Israeli settlers under army cover are wreaking havoc and performing provocative dances in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus of Nablus. pic.twitter.com/1ZUY4gWWj0

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) February 9, 2025

Israeli army raids village in Nablus: Sources

Sources have told our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues that Israeli forces are storming the village of an-Nassariya in northeastern Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.

As we reported earlier today, a young Palestinian, a pregnant woman and her fetus have been killed in the Israeli raid on the Nur Shams camp near the northern city of Tulkarem.

The attacks come as the Israeli army continues its operation in the north of the West Bank, targeting the various governorates, killing dozens of Palestinians and displacing thousands.

Israeli forces make incursion into another West Bank village

Wafa news agency reports that the army has stormed Marda village, north of Salfit in the occupied West Bank. Wafa’s sources say Israeli soldiers stormed the northeast area of the village, firing sound grenades and raiding one resident’s home.

They also raided an aluminium factory and seized surveillance footage, Wafa said.

Clashes occurring near Ramallah

Sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that clashes took place between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces in the village of Deir Jarir, northeast of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

Islamic Jihad claims it thwarted Israeli incursion in West Bank

The Tulkarem Battalion of the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad based in the occupied West Bank, announced it had thwarted the infiltration of “a foot infantry force of 10 [Israeli] soldiers while trying to position itself inside a house in the al-Manshiyya axis in Nur Shams camp”.

The armed Palestinian group added: “We subjected the force to a field of fire and direct bullets from zero distance and achieved confirmed hits. We continue to engage with the rescue and support forces.”

The Tulkarem area, along with other cities and towns in the occupied West Bank, has seen ramped up Israeli military operations in recent weeks.

Dubbed the “Iron Wall” by the Israeli army, the operation first began in the Jenin refugee camp before spreading to other areas. Officials say at least 35,000 Palestinians have been displaced. Israel’s defence minister has said they are targeting Palestinian fighters in the camps, but women and children are among the 45 Palestinians killed so far, the youngest a two-year-old.

Main events from February 9th

Trump says released captives in ‘horrible condition’

The US president said he has doubts about the long-term prospects of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas after watching the release of three Israeli captives from Gaza on Saturday.

“I watched the hostages come back today, and they looked like Holocaust survivors. They were in horrible condition. They were emaciated. It looked like many years ago, the Holocaust survivors, and I don’t know how much longer we can take that,” he said as he flew to the city of New Orleans to attend the National Football League Super Bowl championship.

“I know we have a deal where we’re supposed to get, they dribble in and keep dribbling in, but they are in really bad shape,” he said. “You know, at some point, we’re going to lose our patience.”

Well if you would listen to USAID's report, that agency you just closed, you would know there was deliberate starvation going in (and still going on) in Gaza as well as in Israeli prisons. But not a word about the condition (and deaths) of Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli cabinet delays decision on inquiry into October 7 attacks

Netanyahu’s cabinet has held a meeting on establishing a commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led attacks but discussions ended with the ministers deciding to hold more talks on the subject in three months, according to Israeli media.

The meeting was convened after Israel’s High Court of Justice ordered the government in December to hold a hearing on the matter within 60 days.

“Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of establishing any inquiry before the end of the war, and critics have alleged he seeks to establish a panel with fewer powers than a state commission, fearing it would implicate him in the disaster,” The Times of Israel reported.

Israeli opposition leader slams delay in inquiry into October 7 attacks

Benny Gantz, who heads the State Camp Party, has slammed the Israeli cabinet’s decision to postpone talks on the establishment of a commission of inquiry into the Hamas-led attacks of October 7.

In a post on X, he described the attacks as the “greatest disaster” in Israel’s history and said, “The interrogated will not choose the investigators. A state commission of inquiry, independent according to law, will be established.”

Lapid launches campaign to pressure Israeli government over October 7 state inquiry

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has launched a petition campaign to garner signatures in an attempt to press Netanyahu’s government to establish an inquiry into the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks.

The fact that the Israeli cabinet decided to postpone the inquiry amounted to efforts to “bury” the inquiry, Lapid told reporters in advance of a Knesset meeting.

“They postponed it for another three months. From their perspective, no one at the political level is guilty or responsible for what happened on October 7. They don’t want us to know.”

We reported earlier how Benny Gantz, who heads the State Camp Party, also slammed the decision and said he will push for the inquiry to take place.

More on UN relief chief’s visit to Gaza

Tom Fletcher described north Gaza as a “horror show” and warned of a risk of famine if the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal collapses.

Here’s more of what he said:

“The threat of famine, I think, is largely averted now because we’ve got now three weeks of bread and food across. And so those, the starvation levels are down from where they were before the ceasefire,” Fletcher told the Associated Press news agency after his two-day visit.

“But the conditions are still terrible. You know, people are still hungry. There’s still a limit of the supplies that they have. And if the ceasefire falls, if the ceasefire breaks, then very quickly those conditions will come back again,” he added.

WHO slams ‘severe access constraints’ in Gaza

Hanan Balkhy, a top World Health Organization official, has called for “systematic and sustained” access to the people of Gaza, describing the suffering in the Strip as “beyond comprehension”.

She made the comments in a statement issued at a meeting of the WHO’s Executive Board.

Balkhy said the health system in Gaza was ruined, as almost no health facilities remained intact. Malnutrition is rising, while the risk of famine persists, she said.

The WHO is trying to restore essential health services despite “severe access constraints”, she said.

The body is “ready to scale up our response” but urgently needs “systematic and sustained access to the population across Gaza, and we need an end to restrictions on the entry of essential supplies”, she said.

“Equally critical is protecting civilians and health-care workers, expediting the evacuation of patients in urgent need of specialized care, and strengthening the referral system to East Jerusalem and the West Bank,” she added.

Children returning to north Gaza lack basics to survive, UNICEF says

Tess Ingram, a spokesperson for UNICEF, says families in the north of Gaza have been “shocked” at the scale of destruction in the area.

“This is particularly traumatic for children, who have endured so much already,” Ingram said in a video posted on X. “They are now coming back to communities without water and without healthcare, without the basics that they need to survive,” she added.

Families returning to northern #Gaza are shocked by the scale of destruction.

UNICEF’s Tess Ingram shares the reality on the ground and the immense challenges people are facing. pic.twitter.com/IRYrN9AsNM

— UNICEF MENA - يونيسف الشرق الأوسط وشمال إفريقيا (@UNICEFmena) February 9, 2025

Israeli forces kill elderly woman in southern Gaza

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli forces shot and killed the Palestinian woman near the town of al-Qarara, east of the city of Khan Younis.

The killing takes the death toll from Israeli attacks in Gaza on Sunday to four.

Earlier, we reported that Israeli forces shot and killed three people in Gaza City in the north of the Strip.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a rights group, says it has documented the death of at least 110 Palestinians since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect on January 19. This includes people killed by Israeli fire and those who succumbed to their wounds after being denied the right to travel abroad for treatment, it said.

Israeli forces killed 7 Palestinian journalists in Gaza in January

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) has condemned Israel’s “serious and continued escalations” against media workers, saying Israeli forces killed at least seven reporters in the Gaza Strip last month alone.

They are Omar al-Diraoui, Saed Abu Nabhan, Ahlam Al-Taluli, Mohammed Bashir Al-Talmis, Aqel Saleh, Ahmed Al-Shiah and Ahmed Hisham Abu Al-Rus.

The PJS said Israeli forces also killed nine family members of Palestinian journalists in January and destroyed the homes of six of them.

Israel’s war on Gaza has been one of the deadliest conflicts for media workers, with more than 200 killed over the course of 15 months. Rights groups say many of the journalists were killed in targeted attacks.

Three dead after damaged buildings collapse in Gaza

People have set up fires inside collapsed buildings as a way to warm themselves during these difficult weather conditions in northern Gaza.

There is a lack of aid, tents and better protection for people here. They are staying in severely damaged buildings due to a lack of shelters in these areas. There have been three documented cases of people dying under similar buildings that were collapsed in recent days.

Palestinians battle with severe lack of water in Gaza

The destruction of water facilities, roads and other vital infrastructure by the Israeli military means that many Palestinians have to carry their limited water supplies by hand over long distances.