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SvennoJ on 10 February 2025

Israel’s raids on West Bank displace 35,000 Palestinians

At least 35,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced across the occupied West Bank because of the ongoing Israeli military raid and operations that are happening across the Palestinian territory.

The [Israeli] military maintains that it is targeting armed Palestinian fighters and wants to crack down on them in those areas.

However, civilians are the ones reeling from the Israeli military activity, because there’s a lot of civilian infrastructure that’s being damaged and destroyed.

When this raid began in Jenin over two weeks ago, you had heavily armed Israeli military vehicles entering the refugee camp, destroying critical roads and infrastructure along the way, and that has spread to around five different cities in the occupied West Bank.

Now, the Israeli military had said once that ceasefire in Gaza had taken place, that they were gearing up for large offensives in the West Bank, and that now they had more military resources to allocate there, because the focus wasn’t on Gaza.

However, the Palestinian civilians say that they are [being] forced out, that policies that were happening in Gaza by the military over the last 16 months are being mirrored in the occupied West Bank.

Occupied West Bank ‘has been on fire’ since Gaza truce, Israeli rights group says

B’Tselem says “Israel is continuing its all-out war on the Palestinian people” with soldiers and settlers ramping up attacks on the occupied West Bank.

“Since the ceasefire began in Gaza, the West Bank has been on fire,” the group said in a post on X.

“Settlers attacked communities almost every night last week, sometimes with soldiers standing by” it said, while military raids on cities and villages in the West Bank have killed dozens of people since January 19.

“This is not what ceasefire looks like,” it added.



Israeli raid on Palestinian book shop sparks outrage

The Israeli raid on the Educational Bookstore in occupied East Jerusalem has drawn condemnation from writers in Australia, the UK and the US.

Antony Loewenstein, a journalist and author based in Sydney, described the raid as “an absolute disgrace”.

“To raid a Palestinian bookstore, a remarkable place called the Educational Bookstore in East Jerusalem, … shows once again how fearful Israel is of Palestinian culture and identity,” he said.

Peter Oborne, a British journalist and author, also condemned the raid.

“Many unspeakable things are taking place in the occupied territories but this assault on a symbol of Jerusalem’s literary and intellectual establishment is horrifying in its own way,” he said in a post on X.

US author Assal Rad said that Israel is now “attacking books” in East Jerusalem.

“Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are all same. What more do you need to understand it’s a war against Palestinian existence,” she wrote on X.


Owners of bookstore raided by Israeli police detained for 8 days

As we’ve been reporting, Israeli police have raided The Educational Bookshop, a Palestinian-owned bookstore that has long been a hub of intellectual life in occupied East Jerusalem.

The bookstore’s owners, Ahmed and Mahmoud Muna, were detained.

“They got an extension for the arrest for eight days,” their lawyer Nasser Odeh said.

“We believe this is part of the political prosecution and part of the Israeli policy of shutting up the voices of Palestinians to stop them from learning. It’s part of the attacks against the Palestinian people for 10 years.”



Around the Network
SvennoJ on 10 February 2025

Arrests, clashes as Israeli forces continue West Bank raids

Israeli soldiers are continuing their raids on cities and towns across the occupied West Bank.

In the village of Silat al-Harithiya in Jenin, in the north of the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers arrested two young men and set fire to a house, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported. In that same village, Palestinian fighters with the Jenin Battalion claimed detonating an explosive device that damaged an Israeli military vehicle.

Israeli forces also arrested a young Palestinian in Tammun, near the northern city of Tubas, after storming the town with armoured vehicles and a bulldozer. Another young man was arrested in the city of ​Nablus.

In the south of the occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers raided the city of Hebron, triggering more clashes and deploying sound bombs, Wafa reported. A young Palestinian who was wounded by shrapnel from a sound bomb was also taken to hospital, the Palestinian news agency said.

Translation: Local sources – The occupation forces burn a house during the storming of the Wadi area in the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin.


What’s happening in the occupied West Bank?

  • Israel’s military launched a large-scale operation in the occupied West Bank, targeting what it called Iran-backed fighters, on January 21, just two days after the ceasefire in Gaza came into effect.
  • Israeli forces carried out air and ground attacks on the city of Jenin and its refugee camp on that day, killing at least nine Palestinians and wounding 35 others.
  • They expanded the operation to the city of Tulkarem and its two refugee camps on January 27. They went on to raid the Far’a refugee camp near the city of Tubas on February 3.
  • Since the operation began, Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians. As of February 6, the UN has documented 39 killings, including 25 in Jenin, 10 in Tubas and four in Tulkarem. Three more – including a pregnant woman – were killed in the Nur Shams refugee camp, near Tulkarem, on Sunday.
  • The offensive has resulted in the displacement of more than 35,000 Palestinians from the Jenin, Tulkarem and Far’a refugee camps. The UN says that some 90 percent of the residents of the Jenin and Tulkarem refugee camps have been forced to flee.
  • Israeli forces are attacking and laying siege to several hospitals in the camps, while also blowing up homes and destroying critical infrastructure, including roads, water networks and power lines.
  • The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says the displacement and destruction have turned the Jenin camp into a “ghost town”, while the UN human rights office says the killings and the demolition of homes “indicate ongoing violations of international law”.


Israeli military continues attacks on Jenin, Tubas in West Bank

The Israeli military has deployed more armoured vehicles, machinery and bulldozers to both Jenin and the Far’a camp south of Tubas in the occupied West Bank.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed bulldozers destroying more streets and infrastructure in Jenin, while several more families were forcibly displaced from their homes in Far’a this morning.


Israeli forces demolish West Bank homes, give notices to others

Israeli authorities have demolished five houses in Khallet Athaba, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, displacing about 40 people, mostly children and women.

Palestine’s Wafa news agency quoted local sources as saying Israeli forces stormed the area, which is in Masafer Yatta, with heavy machinery and demolished the structures, along with the main and secondary electricity and water networks in the town and a number of trees and crops surrounding the homes.

In Silwan, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and in al-Issawiya, in the northeast of occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities posted demolition orders on Palestinian homes and lands.

They also reportedly ordered the demolition of a house under construction in the village of Malha east of Bethlehem.


About 580 arrested by Israel in West Bank in January: Monitors

Local groups tracking Israel’s detention of Palestinian prisoners said about 580 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in January.

The highest number of cases were recorded in Jenin and its refugee camp, which have been heavily besieged by the Israeli military for 21 days.

At least 60 children were among the arrested, along with 17 women, the groups said in a statement. Hundreds more people were subjected to field interrogations by Israeli soldiers.


Israeli forces displace more Palestinians from West Bank’s Nur Shams

Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows dozens more Palestinians are being displaced by the Israeli military from the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces are also keeping up their attacks on infrastructure in the area, destroying roads and homes.


Palestinians flee occupied West Bank camp as Israeli army attacks

Palestinian residents have accused the Israeli military of destroying the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank. Sounds of explosion and gunfire can be heard during the Israeli assault.

“The situation is catastrophic in the camp,” Ibtisam Abu Zahra, a resident, told Anadolu news agency.

Ahmed al-Izza, an elderly Palestinian, said Israeli troops imposed a movement ban in the camp. “Israeli soldiers stormed our houses and forced us to leave,” he said.

“Destruction is everywhere in the camp. Residents who remained are waiting for their turn. The camp is surrounded and Israeli forces are raiding all houses.”

Assad Abu Zahra was forced to flee the al-Manshiyya neighbourhood with his mother.

“Around 40 soldiers broke into the house and destroyed everything. Today, we are living a new Nakba, like the one lived by our people in 1948,” he said.


‘Unpatriotic act’: Hamas, Islamic Jihad condemn PA decree on payments

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA) for issuing a decree restructuring aid programmes for families of those imprisoned or killed by Israel – fulfilling a longstanding US demand.

“Stopping the allocations for the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded is an unpatriotic act and we call for its immediate reversal,” Hamas said in a statement.

Islamic Jihad said the PA’s decision “represents a clear abandonment of the issue of prisoners, which is as big as the homeland, and a clear concession in the face of American and Zionist pressures and blackmail”.

It called the move “an attempt to weaken the morale of our people and a betrayal of the prisoners who are offering years of their lives steadfastly behind bars, and a punishment of the Palestinian people for their adherence to their legitimate right to resistance and adherence to their land and rights”.



SvennoJ on 10 February 2025

Hamas says it’ll delay captive release indefinitely, cites Israel’s deal ‘violations’

The spokesperson of Hamas’s armed wing has issued a statement on Telegram saying the group will delay the release of more Israeli captives planned for Saturday “until further notice”.

“Over the past three weeks, the resistance leadership monitored the enemy’s violations and its non-compliance with the terms of the agreement,” Abu Obeida said.

“These violations include delaying the return of displaced persons to northern Gaza, targeting them with shelling and gunfire in various areas of the Gaza Strip, and failing to allow the entry of relief materials in all forms as agreed upon. Meanwhile, the resistance has fulfilled all its obligations.”

The Qassam Brigades spokesperson added the decision to delay the release of captives will “remain in place until the occupying entity complies with past obligations and compensates retroactively. We affirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation adheres to them.”

‘Fear and anticipation’ as Hamas delays captives’ release

The announcement by the Qassam Brigades spokesperson is a significant development.

It’s worth noting that civilians did not manage to immediately return back to the north of the Strip as there were a couple of days with delays.

Many civilians once they returned back to their houses in Rafah and in the eastern areas of Gaza have been shot and killed by the Israeli forces, while the number of wounded Palestinian patients who were evacuated, as well the humanitarian aid trucks that have entered Gaza, were fewer than what had been promised in the ceasefire agreement.

This development comes in light also of the latest statements made by US President Donald Trump, who has completely raised concerns about the sustainability of the ceasefire deal.

All this means that the entire atmosphere at the moment is quite charged with fear and anticipation.


Israel on high alert as Hamas announces captive release postponed

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz blamed Hamas for violating the Gaza truce after the Palestinian group announced it’s halting the release of captives because of Israeli violations.

“I have instructed military to prepare at the highest level of readiness in Gaza and to defend our communities,” Katz said.

“Hamas’s announcement it will stop releasing hostages is a complete violation of the ceasefire deal,” he added.


‘Hamas decided to take a stand’

Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, says Hamas is “calling Israel’s and President Trump’s bluff” by halting the captive release.

“Israel has certainly been violating the ceasefire agreement over the past several weeks – denying entry of tents and other equipment that’s part of humanitarian aid, shooting and killing,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Hamas could’ve done this earlier. They choose to do this now because everyone is enchanted with the Trump plan and Hamas decided to take a stand. These are negotiation tactics, and I’m fairly certain a solution can be worked out.”

‘The Israelis are intentionally sabotaging the deal’: Hamas official

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim had told Al Jazeera before the group called for an indefinite delay in the release of Israeli captives that Israel is not meeting the terms of the ceasefire.

“In the last three weeks after signing the deal, we have been in very serious talks and negotiations with the mediators – the Egyptians, the Qataris and the United States – about the daily violations by the Israelis of the deal,” Naim said.

He noted 25 Palestinians have been killed and dozens wounded by Israeli forces after the ceasefire went into effect.

Hamas officials called for hundreds of thousands of tents to be brought into Gaza to shelter displaced people as they faced winter weather, and the necessary aid has not arrived. “We are lacking any sources of electricity. We have called for generators to enter the Strip,” Naim said.

“We have told them clearly: ‘How can we continue the prisoner exchange, including the dead bodies of the captured Israelis, if until now we don’t have any heavy machinery?’

“We are committed to the ceasefire agreement. We have done our part. We have fulfilled all our obligations, and we are still committed, and we are working to avoid any obstacles and overcome any challenges. The Israelis are intentionally sabotaging the deal and undermining the agreement.



SvennoJ on 10 February 2025

‘We must return to war and destroy’: Ben-Gvir responds to Hamas

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s former security minister known for his incendiary remarks against Palestinians, has responded to Hamas’s announcement of delaying the release of captives.

“Hamas’s announcement should have one real-life response: a massive fire attack on Gaza from the air and land, alongside a complete halt to humanitarian aid to the Strip, including electricity, fuel, and water, and including the bombing of aid packages that have already been brought in and are in Hamas’s hands in Gaza,” he said in a post on X.

“We must return to war and destroy.”


Gaza truce mediators likely to ‘step in to save the day’

This move by Hamas is especially notable because the Israelis have been telling us publicly that they don’t like phase two of the ceasefire deal, that they’re trying to escape phase two.

The Israelis are echoing the new position of the White House about ethnically cleansing Gaza while making it ever more unlivable and more difficult for Palestinians to survive. The tents, food, medicine are not coming in in as much as it’s supposed to since the ceasefire began.

It’s bad intentions on the part of the Israelis to try and undermine the ceasefire, because they don’t want to start discussing phase two and end of the war.

I think the mediators are going to step in and probably save the day before Saturday. But that doesn’t mean after that things are going to go smoothly. After that, all bets are off.


Families of Israeli captives respond to Hamas announcement

Bring Them Home Now, the group representing families of Israeli captives, has responded to Hamas’s decision to suspend their release.

“In response to Hamas’s recent announcement, we have urgently requested assistance from the mediating countries to help restore and implement the existing deal effectively,” it said in a statement.

“We stand with the Israeli government and encourage maintaining the conditions that will ensure the successful continuation of the agreement, leading to the safe return of our 76 brothers and sisters.”

The mother of one captive, Einav Tsengauker, was quoted by Israel’s army radio as saying, “Hamas’s announcement is a direct result of Netanyahu’s reckless behaviour. The deliberate foot-dragging, the lack of a mandate for the delegation, and the unnecessary boasting sabotage the agreement.”



SvennoJ on 10 February 2025

Trump, Israel to blame for ceasefire pause: Barghouti

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, says Hamas’s announcement that it would indefinitely delay the release of the remaining Israeli captives is an unsurprising development but a source of concern.

“Of course we are worried about what might happen,” he told Al Jazeera.

Barghouti particularly singled out Trump for undermining the Gaza truce and noted Israel has repeatedly violated it, including by failing to provide the agreed-upon humanitarian assistance, particularly shelters.

“None of that happened, and more than that, a lot of the humanitarian aid was obstructed by Israel,” Barghouti said.

Israeli forces continue to fire on and kill people in Gaza, he noted, but Trump’s recent statements about the future of Gaza were the most crucial factor.

“What do they want? To get back all the Israeli prisoners and then continue the massacres in Gaza? This is exactly the message that Palestinians were getting.”


Truce violations have been widely committed by Israel

If there is no move by the Israelis to address the shortcomings regarding the implementation of the humanitarian protocol of the ceasefire deal, the situation in Gaza is going to get much worse.

In the terms of the agreement, 600 trucks full of aid are supposed to enter the Strip each day. At first, this exceeded expectations. But recently the number of aid deliveries has greatly dwindled to 330 trucks daily.

The United Nations humanitarian office reported over 12,600 trucks have entered over the past three weeks. This number is far less than what’s been promised.

For patients in need of medical treatment abroad, only 50 Palestinians have been sent since the beginning of this month, which completely contradicts the number agreed on in the truce deal. These violations have been widely committed by Israel.


Israeli public anger for delay in captives’ release directed at Netanyahu

Hamas’s decision is “tragic” but predictable, according to Alon Pinkas, a former Israeli diplomat.

“Netanyahu indicated, before his trip to Washington, that he does not have any intentions of moving on to phase two [of the ceasefire deal],” Pinkas told Al Jazeera, speaking from Tel Aviv.

“The moment he made it clear that he has no intention of moving to phase two, that put into question phase one … Then he went to Washington and stood by President Trump, who came up with this Gaza Riviera idea that includes expelling 2.3 million Palestinians.

“Fast forward to today, in an interview on Fox News, [Trump] said that [Palestinians] will not be able to return to Gaza.”

Pinkas said the reaction in Israel to Hamas’s decision is anger directed at Prime Minister Netanyahu. “I would not be surprised to see a very intense, very angry, very broad pushback against Netanyahu in the next 24 hours.”

The former diplomat added far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir’s response – to start up the war again and “destroy” Gaza – should not be taken seriously now that he is out of the government.

Ben-Gvir resigned last month as a result of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire agreement coming into effect.


Increased Israeli drone activity over northern Gaza

Our colleagues on the ground report an increase in drone activity over the skies of Gaza City and other areas in the Strip’s war-battered northern areas.

Meanwhile, Israeli media report that the army suspended leave for all Gaza division soldiers.

The news reports come after Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said he put the armed forces on the highest level after Hamas announced it is suspending the transfer of captives from Gaza because of violations of the ceasefire agreement.



Around the Network
SvennoJ on 10 February 2025

‘Hamas represents the collective Palestinian will’

Hamas’s move to suspend its swap of captives over Israeli ceasefire violations shows its unique position in the Arab world of consistently standing up for the people of Gaza, an analyst says.

“This is a political statement designed to pressure both the United States and the Israeli government and people. This is an example of the kind of resistance politically that Hamas puts up. No other Arab party – except maybe [the Houthis] in Yemen – is really doing this in a sustained manner,” said Rami Khouri from the American University in Beirut.

“This is the reason why Hamas is taken seriously, because it does stick to the point and maintains political pressure to achieve its goals,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Hamas represents now better than anybody – certainly better than the Palestinian Authority and the PLO – the collective Palestinian will, and that includes the will to co-exist with the state of Israel with its Jewish majority.”


‘Zionist zombie killing machine and rejuvenated American imperial madness’

Rami Khouri, a professor at the American University of Beirut, says Hamas remains the only force in the Middle East that continues to hold Israel to account over its decades-long abuse of the Palestinian people.

“What Hamas is saying is either we all live in freedom and dignity, or none of us live in freedom or dignity. This is a very hard position to take, but it’s a position that generates a tremendous amount of support and admiration from people all over the world,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.

“It’s better to solve this conflict peacefully through negotiations and allow the Israelis and Palestinians and Lebanese and others to have equal rights. But this is not happening. Hamas is not willing to forever roll over and be quiet in the face of both Israeli genocidal attacks and American renewed imperial penetration and domination of the Middle East.”

He said ordinary Americans, Israelis, and especially the Palestinians want to see the ceasefire run its course and the war on Gaza finally comes to a permanent end.

“But it’s not going to happen with the Zionist zombie killing machine and the rejuvenated American imperial madness,” Khouri said.


President Trump ‘front and centre’ in ceasefire breakdown

Trump said he is losing patience, as he put it, with the Gaza ceasefire deal.

This is an important point because he is now doubling down on the highly controversial and repudiated idea of resettling all the Palestinians in Gaza and clarifying – despite protestations from many in his administration – that he sees such a move as permanent.

We do understand as well that some of the Hamas negotiators have cited this particular position by the Trump administration as one of the reasons why the deal could break down.

They want to get clarity from the United States as to the extent to which it will continue to back the ceasefire deal, which it helped broker together with Qatar and other nations.

So the president is front and centre in all of this, once again making very clear his belief, his solution, is effectively forced resettlement of Palestinians in Gaza on a permanent basis, as he has now made abundantly clear.



SvennoJ on 10 February 2025

Where does Gaza’s beleaguered ceasefire stand?

  • So far, 16 of the 33 captives to be released in the first 42-day phase of the deal have come home as well as five Thais who were returned in an unscheduled release. In exchange, Israel released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
  • Hamas has accused Israel of dragging its feet on allowing aid into Gaza, one of the conditions of the first phase of the agreement, a charge Israel has rejected as untrue.
  • Israel has accused Hamas of not respecting the order in which captives are to be released and of orchestrating public displays before large crowds when they have been handed over to the Red Cross.
  • Talks on a second phase were meant to begin on the truce’s 16th day, but Israel refused to send its negotiators to Qatar.
  • Later, Netanyahu’s office said an Israeli delegation had returned from ceasefire talks in Doha amid already growing doubts over the Egyptian- and Qatari-brokered process to end the war.
  • There were no immediate details on the reason for the return from the talks.


Israel president calls for truce to continue to bring all captives home

Israeli President Isaac Herzog pressed for the Gaza ceasefire deal to be completed to bring captives home.

“We are in a particularly turbulent period. I repeat and call again and again to complete all stages of the deal, to quickly return all of our kidnapped sisters and brothers, down to the last one,” Herzog was quoted as saying by Israeli news outlet Ynet.

He also denied Hamas’s accusation that Israel violated the ceasefire, saying, “Hamas took a vile and evil step tonight whose sole purpose is to strain our nerves, to create internal tension within us. Its words are empty and false, its reasons are empty and false. We must not fall into its trap of nerves.”


Full Hamas statement on move to halt Gaza captive releases

“Hamas confirms its commitment to the terms of the agreement, which the Zionist occupation committed to. Hamas has implemented all its commitments strictly and on time. The occupation did not comply with the terms of the agreement, and recorded many violations, which included:

  • Delaying the return of displaced people to the northern Gaza Strip
  • Targeting our people by bombing and shooting them, and killing many in various areas of the Strip
  • Obstructing the entry of shelter requirements from tents and ready houses, fuel, and rubble-lifting machinery to recover bodies
  • Delaying the entry of the medicines and requirements to restore hospitals and the health sector

“Hamas counted the abuses of the occupation, and provided them with the mediators first by one, but the occupation continued its excesses. Hamas calls for strict adherence to the agreement, and not subject it to selectivity, by providing the least important, delaying, and obstructing the most urgent and important.

“The postponement of the release of prisoners is a warning message to the occupation, and to pressure towards strict adherence to the terms of the agreement.

“Hamas deliberately made this announcement five full days before the date of extradition of the prisoners to give the mediators enough opportunity to put pressure on the occupation to implement its obligations, and to keep the door open to implement the exchange on time if the occupation adheres to what it agreed to.”


Hamas announcement ‘sent shockwaves’ in Israel

Hamas’s announcement that it would pause the release of captives has sent shockwaves throughout Israeli society and the Israeli government. You have family members of Israeli captives who have now formed spontaneous protests on the streets of Tel Aviv.

That has also prompted reactions from the Israeli government. Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office released a statement saying Israel remains committed to the deal and they want to make it work.

However, behind the scenes, some Israelis say that’s not actually the case. They are hoping this issue will be solved by Saturday because that’s when the exchange is supposed to take place. But Israel’s defence minister issued orders for the military to prepare itself to the highest possible level of alert, meaning it could be preparing for all-out fighting once again.

You also have members of the former government speaking out and putting out quite egregious statements about a “fire belt” in Gaza, that Israel should continue to bomb the Palestinian territory, and even attack the aid that has already gone in there, before cutting it off entirely.

But it’s important to remember before this deal had even come to fruition, members of the right wing who are still part of the government said they got assurances from Benjamin Netanyahu that this deal would not continue after phase one – meaning a return to full-scale war would ensue and phase two and three wouldn’t happen.



SvennoJ on 10 February 2025

Main events from February 10th

  • US President Donald Trump has proposed the cancellation of the Gaza ceasefire deal if Hamas doesn’t release all the remaining captives by noon on Saturday.
  • The call came after Hamas announced the suspension of the next captives’ release, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the deal, including killings and obstruction of humanitarian aid.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened his security cabinet for discussions, and the military cancelled leave for its troops, saying it would “significantly reinforce” areas around the Gaza Strip.
  • The United Nations said not enough tents are entering Gaza, where displaced families are enduring harsh weather conditions, even though 200,000 shelters were promised as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
  • Israel’s weeks-long assault on the occupied West Bank – including refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas – has entered its third week, with more than 40,000 Palestinians now forcibly displaced from their homes.
  • Israeli police sparked outrage after they raided a popular bookstore in East Jerusalem and arrested its owners on charges of selling books that incite violence.

More than 110 NGOs condemn Trump’s plans for Gaza

The organisations have issued a joint statement opposing “any calls for the forcible displacement of Palestinians from Gaza” after Trump proposed plans for the US to buy and own the coastal enclave.

“Forcible displacement, when carried out with an intent to permanently remove a people from a land on the basis of their identity is ethnic cleansing,” the groups said.

“The United States has no right to dictate to the Palestinian people in Gaza to leave.”

The groups said they were also “deeply concerned by clear statements of intent from Israeli government officials over the past year concerning the creation of new Israeli settlements within the Gaza Strip, which further reinforce the intent of ethnic cleansing”.

Earlier, in an interview with Fox News, Trump responded to a question asking if Palestinians would be allowed to return to Gaza under his plan to redevelop the enclave, saying, “No, they wouldn’t”.




Mediators fear breakdown of Gaza deal: Report

Two Egyptian security sources told the Reuters news agency that the mediators of the Gaza ceasefire deal fear a breakdown of the agreement following Hamas’s latest announcement.

The agency reported that Hamas negotiators have said that US guarantees for the ceasefire were no longer in place, given a plan by Trump to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

It also said mediators had postponed talks until a clear indication of Washington’s intent to continue the phased deal was received.


What does Trump’s call for the cancellation of Gaza deal mean?

Khaled Elgindy, visiting scholar at the Georgetown University Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, has told Al Jazeera that Trump is not interested in the details of the Gaza ceasefire deal

“I think that Trump was always about the headline of the ceasefire more than the ceasefire itself,” Elgindy says.

“He wanted to get credit for it. He likes to promote the fact that he was instrumental in securing that ceasefire, rather than [former] President Biden. But I don’t think he really cares much for whether it’s actually implemented or continues.”

“I mean, after all, he’s proposing the expulsion of an entire civilian population,” Elgindy added, noting that Trump’s position potentially supports Netanyahu’s plans.

“Netanyahu himself, I think, would not be upset by a return to full-blown war in Gaza, but this time, it would not be about the hostages, but it would be about, I think, completing or implementing the vision for depopulating Gaza, which now has the backing of the most powerful country in the world, the United States.”



SvennoJ on 11 February 2025

Israel’s Smotrich, Ben-Gvir back Trump’s call to cancel truce deal

The far-right politicians welcomed the US president’s call for the cancellation of the Gaza deal unless Hamas frees all remaining captives by Saturday.

“All of them, now!”, said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in a post on X, seemingly referring to the captive release.

“Trump is right! We must go back and destroy now,” former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said.

The politician who resigned from Netanyahu’s war cabinet in protest against the ceasefire deal said earlier that Israel should respond to Hamas’s move with “a massive fire attack” and a complete suspension of humanitarian aid.

‘Gaza will return to being part of Israel’: Smotrich

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said during a speech at a Haredi institute that electricity and water in Gaza need to be completely cut off, and humanitarian aid cancelled.

“We must threaten that if anything happens to any hostage, Israeli would occupy 5 percent of the Gaza Strip. Another one, another 5 percent,” he said, claiming that “we have full backing” from Donald Trump in light of his latest statements on returning to fighting in Gaza.

Smotrich, who is leading Israeli assaults on the occupied West Bank, said the Israeli military is prepared to occupy parts of Gaza, especially in the north, within “hours” if there is a command from the political echelon.

“Gaza will return to being part of the state of Israel because it is our country and this is the only way to ensure safety of the citizens of the state of Israel and its security,” he said.

The minister said there is no law that could force the ultra-Orthodox Jews into military service.


‘Time to open the gates of hell’ on Gaza, says Israeli communications minister

Israel’s communications minister is the latest senior official to back Trump’s call to “unleash hell” on Gaza if Israeli captives are not released by Saturday.

“The response must be exactly as President Trump suggested,” Shlomo Karhi said in a post on X. “Completely halt humanitarian aid, cut off electricity, water and communications and use brutal and disproportionate force until the hostages return.

“It is time to open the gates of hell on Hamas – and this time, without any restrictions on our heroic fighters.”



‘The language of threats has no value,’ senior Hamas official says

US President Donald Trump must remember that the only way to bring home Israeli captives is to respect the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri has told the Reuters news agency.

“Trump must remember that there is an agreement that must be respected by both parties, and this is the only way to bring back the prisoners. The language of threats has no value and only complicates matters,” he said.

Trump has warned Palestinians that “hell will break loose” if Israeli captives are not released on Saturday as scheduled under the ceasefire. Hamas has postponed the release of captives, accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire’s terms.



SvennoJ on 11 February 2025

Egypt’s el-Sisi says Gaza reconstruction should happen ‘without displacement’

The Egyptian president has made the comments during a phone call with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, according to a statement from his office.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi “stressed the necessity of starting the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip … without displacing Palestinians and in a way that ensures the preservation of their rights … to live on their land”, said the statement.

Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, is under pressure from Trump to take in Palestinians forcibly displaced from Gaza, a plan el-Sisi has flatly rejected.

The US president has said he could “conceivably” cut aid to Egypt if it refuses to comply.



Trump plan for Gaza a ‘serious crime’ that is bound to fail, Syria’s al-Sharaa says

Syria’s transitional President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians and take over Gaza is a “serious crime that will ultimately fail”.

“I believe no power can drive people from their land. Many countries have tried to do it and they have all failed, especially during the recent war in Gaza over the past year and a half,” the leader of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group said in an interview with a British podcast.

“Over 80 years of this conflict, all attempts to displace them have failed; those who left have regretted their decision. The Palestinian lesson that every generation has learned is the importance of holding on to their land.”

This comes as Israel’s Army Radio reported earlier today that the Israeli military aims to indefinitely maintain a “large force presence” in Syria, and there are currently three brigades operating there.

The outlet said nine military sites are already in “advanced stages of construction” in the military zone created by Israel on Syrian territory, and infrastructure that has been completed there includes living quarters with amenities for soldiers.



Yemen’s Houthis ready to attack Israel if war on Gaza resumes, leader says

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, who control most of western Yemen, including the capital, are ready to launch attacks on Israel if it resumes its war on Gaza and does not commit to the ceasefire, the group’s leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, says in a televised speech.

Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi has directly addressed the US president during another defiant televised speech.

“You fool! Do you believe that the honourable Palestinians after all of their resistance against the bombardment and after their sacrifices, they will just sell their homeland to you? Who is going to sell this land to you?” he asked.

The Yemeni leader warned that “our fingers are on the trigger” to inflict pain on Israel and the US if the first and second phases of the Gaza ceasefire are not honoured.

Referring to Trump’s plan to ethnically cleanse Palestinians and Netanyahu’s suggestion to displace Palestinians to Saudi Arabia, al-Houthi warned that a “destructive American-Zionist plot” is looming over the region.

“This plan is after confiscating what is holy to Islam and wants to take over not only the Al-Aqsa Mosque but also Mecca and Medina.”