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Forums - Politics Discussion - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 11 February 2025

A sleepless night in Gaza City as Israeli drones, jets return to skies

The ceasefire was quite fragile from day one, with the unnecessary delays in it taking effect, as well as the many statements from Israeli officials, at the political and military level, which said they would resume war as soon as the captives are released.

All of this was followed by Trump’s suggestions of forced displacement, the most recent of which was repeated last night.

There is fear everywhere. We can see it on the faces of people here – people who have returned in the hopes of rebuilding their shattered lives. But as of last night, things have changed dramatically. There are many drones hovering at a very low level in the skies across Gaza City and the north of the Strip. There were fighter jets that hovered for two to three hours and there were gunboats as well that approached the shore of Gaza City and northern areas.

All of this creates a sense that we are still at war, that we are still bearing the difficulties of the siege imposed by the Israeli military.

The fact that there are drones in the area kept everyone awake last night.

People are very concerned about what may happen because we know things can change dramatically, given the fragility of the ceasefire.


Israeli fire kills one in Rafah: Report

Israeli forces have shot at Palestinians in several areas of Rafah, reports Wafa, killing one young man and severely wounding another person.

The attacks took place in Rafah’s Saudi and Tal as-Sultan neighbourhoods, the Palestinian news agency said.

As we’ve reported, Israel’s military has repeatedly fired at Palestinians in the enclave despite the ongoing ceasefire. On Sunday, Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Israel blocks more medical evacuations from Gaza: Ministry

The Health Ministry in Gaza reports that Israeli authorities are obstructing more medical evacuations from the Rafah crossing to the south, even refusing travel to those who previously received security clearances.

“Among today’s list of patients is a 16-year-old child with cancer who was refused travel, and the companion of another cancer patient was also refused travel,” the ministry said.

It added that only 53 people will be medically evacuated today, which is far fewer than the 150 required as part of the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli authorities have similarly blocked many patients and their companions from leaving the enclave since the start of the deal last month.


Insufficient aid to Gaza is like ‘keeping people on life support’

Aid trucks are coming in, but not at the agreed-upon level. It’s like keeping people on life support.

What has been allowed in is mostly complementary stuff, not survival necessities. People need new, high-quality tents that can withstand the elements and provide them with some warmth. They need clothing. For the past 15 months, they have been wearing the same clothes.

There is a fuel problem as well. While it was agreed that 35 fuel trucks would enter, only 15 of them have made their way into Gaza. This has caused many public facilities, including hospitals, to remain nonoperational.

No matter how we describe it, things are far worse on the ground than our description. It’s very difficult.

Israeli violations of Gaza ceasefire agreement


At least $53bn needed to rebuild Gaza, UN estimates

More than $53bn will be required to rebuild Gaza and end the “humanitarian catastrophe” that has gripped the war-ravaged territory, according to a United Nations estimate.

The sum includes $20bn in the first three years, the UN said.

“While it has not been possible in the current environment to fully assess the totality of needs that will be required in Gaza, the interim assessment offers an early indication of the enormous scale of recovery and reconstruction needs in the Gaza Strip,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a report.



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SvennoJ on 11 February 2025

Public pressure mounts on Israeli government as ceasefire deal falters

There’s a lot of anxiety in Israel – not from the government, but from the families of Israeli captives and the opposition, who are accusing the Israeli prime minister of trying to undermine and completely derail the ceasefire agreement, which they view as their only hope of seeing their loved ones returned.

The discussions in Israeli media centre on the fact that Israeli intelligence says Hamas took this step [to suspend the release of captives] because it doesn’t see that Israel is serious about entering phase two of the ceasefire deal and was really alarmed by statements from the White House.

Netanyahu had made a point to signal that he doesn’t really see the need to move past phase one.

Now there are protests on the streets [in Israel], but it is not clear whether the security cabinet that will meet later on today is going to be affected by this kind of public pressure.




Netanyahu threatens to resume fighting in Gaza if captives aren’t released Saturday

If Hamas does not return the captives by Saturday at noon, the ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian armed group will end and fighting will resume, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says.

“The military will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated,” he said in a video statement. Speaking after a four-hour cabinet meeting, the Israeli leader also said he ordered Israeli troops to gather “inside and around the Gaza Strip”.

His comments came after Hamas said on Monday it would not free any more captives until further notice, accusing Israel of violating the terms with several deadly shootings as well as hold-ups of some aid deliveries in Gaza.


Israeli army boosts forces to prepare for ‘various scenarios’

The Israeli military says it decided to “further strengthen” forces including mobilising additional reservists in the country’s south. “The reinforcement of forces and the mobilization of reserves were carried out to prepare for various scenarios,” said a statement.

The comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to resume “intense fighting” in Gaza should Hamas refuse to release captives by Saturday at noon.


Hamas won’t make deadline to release ‘all’ captives: Trump

The US president says he does not think Hamas will make a Saturday deadline to release “all” Israeli captives, putting a Gaza ceasefire deal in jeopardy.

Speaking to reporters before a meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Trump also said Palestinians will be able to live safely in a location that is not Gaza.

‘Hell worse than what we have already?’

People in Gaza are criticising President Trump for saying he’d be prepared for “all hell” to break out if all remaining Israeli captives are not released by Hamas by noon on Saturday.

“Hell worse than what we have already? Hell worse than killing? The destruction, all the practices and human crimes that have occurred in the Gaza Strip have not happened anywhere else in the world,” said Jomaa Abu Kosh, a Palestinian from Rafah in southern Gaza, standing beside devastated homes.

Israel’s 16-month war on Gaza has killed 48,219 people and wounded 111,665, according to the territory’s Health Ministry.


Gaza ceasefire must be fully implemented without new conditions: EU

The Gaza truce deal must be adhered to as stipulated, without new conditions, the EU special representative for the Middle East peace process says.

“The Gaza ceasefire has brought the beginnings of relief, freedom and hope for safety to countless suffering, innocent people,” Sven Koopmans wrote on X. “It must be implemented in full and without new conditions.”

Koopmans warned that more war would only mean more man-made tragedy for the people of Gaza.

The comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, echoing statements from US President Trump, said that all Israeli captives must be released by Saturday.

Under the first phase of the ceasefire deal, captives have been released by Hamas in small numbers each week.



SvennoJ on 11 February 2025

Israel’s fatal shooting of pregnant Palestinian woman puts focus on West Bank

Palestinians say the fatal shooting of a pregnant 23-year-old in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank signals a worrying trend toward more lethal, warlike tactics by Israel in the occupied territory.

Israeli military vehicles surrounded the camp last week as part of a larger crackdown on Palestinian fighters across the northern West Bank that has escalated since the ceasefire began between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The Israeli army issued a short statement after the killing of Sondos Shalabi, 23, who was eight-months pregnant, saying it referred it to the military police for criminal investigation.

Her father-in-law, Mohammed Shula keeps thinking about how soldiers saw Shalabi’s body bleeding on the ground and did nothing to help as they handcuffed his son and marched him into their vehicle.

“Why did they shoot them? They were doing nothing wrong. They could have stopped them, asked a question, but no, they just shot,” he said in an interview.

Also on Sunday, just a few streets away, another young Palestinian woman, 21, was killed by the Israeli army.


Israeli settlers pave road cutting through Palestinian land in occupied West Bank

Israeli settlers have paved a dirt road on land belonging to the Palestinian village of Yasouf in the Salfit governorate of the occupied West Bank.

The road connects the area with the towns of Beita and Huwara in the Nablus governorate, according to the Wafa news agency, which said the move swallows up dozens of dunams of Palestinian land, including those planted with olive trees.

Meanwhile, in the village of Bardala in the northern Jordan Valley, Israeli soldiers seized an agricultural tractor belonging to a Palestinian citizen who was working on his farm.

In Tarqumiyah west of Hebron, Israeli forces arrested a young man after raiding the local municipality headquarters. Another young man was arrested from the town of Jaba south of Jenin.



Translation: The occupation demolishes a house in Deir Bzei near Ramallah.

Israeli army ‘systematically bulldozing infrastructure’ in Jenin: Monitor

The Al-Haq human rights organisation has said that major Israeli operations are ongoing in Tulkarem, Jenin and Far’a, among other places, on the 22nd day of large-scale Israeli military attacks across the occupied West Bank.

In Jenin, it said the Israeli military “has extended destruction significantly beyond the refugee camp, particularly since early this morning as it has been systematically bulldozing infrastructure and destroying public and private property in the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin City”.

At least four children have been among 33 Palestinians killed so far in Israeli attacks across the occupied West Bank over the past three weeks, and more than 40,000 people have been forcibly displaced.


Israeli soldiers blow up Palestinian home in Jenin

Israeli forces have blown up another Palestinian home in the besieged Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Local Palestinian media reported that the two-storey house belonged to the family of a Palestinian fighter who was killed in July by Israeli forces.

The Israeli army has detonated or set fire to dozens of homes in the northern West Bank in the three weeks since the Gaza ceasefire took effect.



SvennoJ on 11 February 2025

West Bank annexation is ‘going to work out’: Trump

Asked about Israel’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank, Trump responded: “That’s going to work out.”

The comments came after a meeting with Jordan’s king at the White House.

Trump has repeatedly said since last week that he plans to forcibly displace the 2.3 million Palestinians of Gaza and redevelop the war-battered territory.


Trump-King Abdullah meeting: What was said?

US President Donald Trump has just received the first leader of a Middle Eastern country, Jordan’s King Abdullah II, since his return to the White House.

It was also the first visit since Trump announced a controversial plan to forcibly displace Palestinians in Gaza.

Here are the highlights of what was said by the two leaders:

  • Trump said Palestinians will live “beautifully and safely” in another location that is not Gaza.
  • There will be parcels of land in Jordan and Egypt where Palestinians will live, Trump said, adding he’s 99 percent sure he’ll “work out something with Egypt too”.
  • “We are not going to buy it [Gaza], we are going to have it, we are going to keep it, we’ll cherish it,” the US leader said.
  • King Abdullah said Arab states will come to the US with a plan, without explicitly supporting or opposing Trump’s Gaza takeover.
  • Asked about Israel’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank, Trump responded: “That’s going to work out.”
  • Jordan’s monarch said his country is ready to take in 2,000 sick Palestinian children from Gaza.


Trump-Abdullah meeting: What was left unsaid

Let’s think about what wasn’t said in the meeting between US President Donald Trump and King Abdullah of Jordan.

Trump talked about how the people in Gaza have been living in hell and many of them have been dying every day. But what he didn’t say is the reason for that was the war launched by Israel more than 15 months ago, which cost the lives of more than 40,000 people in the Strip.

King Abdullah also did not say Trump’s plan was great or this is something they can work on. He said Arab countries are going to come forward with a plan and they will work with the US, but he didn’t say they would accept what the US proposed.

The Jordanian king is very smart and he knew he was not going to get on well if he was going to criticise Trump’s plan. What is also clear is Trump believes this is a real estate deal. The idea of a two-state solution no longer exists.

He feels that Gaza is a prime real estate to be developed and that international developers will come in and change the face of what many people have for centuries called home. Trump believes if you give Palestinians a few homes, jobs and offices, they will give up their birthright and their land.


US president walks back aid cut threat to Jordan, Egypt

Trump suggested he wouldn’t withhold US aid to Jordan or countries such as Egypt and other Arab nations if they don’t agree to dramatically increase the number of people from Gaza they take in.

“I don’t have to threaten that. I do believe we’re above that,” Trump said. That contradicted the president’s previous suggestion holding back aid was a possibility.

Abdullah was asked repeatedly about Trump’s audacious plan to remake the Middle East, but didn’t make substantive comments on it nor the idea that his country could accept large numbers of new refugees from Gaza.

Trump also repeated suggestions the US could come to control Gaza but said it wouldn’t require committing funds and would somehow come to fruition. He added it would be possible “under US authority” – without elaborating what that actually was.

“We’re not going to buy anything. We’re going to have it,” Trump said of US control in Gaza. He suggested the redeveloped area could have new hotels, office buildings and houses and “and we’ll make it exciting”.

“I can tell you about real estate. They’re going to be in love with it.”


Jordan’s king again rejects Trump’s Gaza plan

Abdullah says he has reiterated Jordan’s stance against displacing Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank during his meeting with Trump.

“Achieving just peace on the basis of the two-state solution is the way to ensure regional stability. This requires US leadership. President Trump is a man of peace. He was instrumental in securing the Gaza ceasefire. We look to the US and all stakeholders in ensuring it holds,” the Jordanian king said on X.



SvennoJ on 11 February 2025

Israel DESTROYING Gaza 'Ceasefire' - Lies of Israel's Cheerleaders Taken Apart


 

'ALL HELL BREAK LOOSE': Trump DEMANDS All HOSTAGES Released


 

Did Jordan’s King Abdullah surrender to Trump on Gaza with shameful utterances? | Janta Ka Reporter


US President Donald Trump has just addressed media with Jordan’s King Abdullah. The content of the press conference and the meek surrender of the Jordanian ruler before the US president shows Palestinians must not have a lot of expectations on the Arab world.



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SvennoJ on 11 February 2025

Main events on February 11th

  • US President Donald Trump reiterated his plans to take control of Gaza and permanently resettle its residents elsewhere, while hosting Jordan’s King Abdullah at the White House.
  • King Abdullah, however, opposed any displacement of Palestinians and said Arab nations would come to the US with a response to Washington’s Gaza takeover plan.
  • Egypt said the “comprehensive plan” will seek to rebuild Gaza without displacing Palestinians. It said it hopes to work with the Trump administration on a plan that will maintain regional peace and stability.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to resume “intense fighting” in Gaza if Hamas failed to free the captives held there by Saturday at noon.
  • The Israeli military said it was deploying troops in the country’s south, including calling up additional reservists, to prepare for any “possible scenario”.
  • Palestinians in Gaza said they are living in fear of the war resuming, while Hamas again condemned Trump’s displacement proposal, describing it as “a call for ethnic cleansing”.



Could Trump’s statements over Gaza backfire on Israel?

Dan Cohen, a filmmaker and founder of Uncaptured News, describes Trump’s approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict as like that of a “bull in a china shop”.

“He’s now alienating Israel’s top allies in the region, including Jordan,” Cohen told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC. “He’s now signalling that he will allow Israel to annex the West Bank, which would further destabilise Jordan. Trump is threatening to cut off aid and humiliating the king of Jordan in front of the world,” the journalist said.

“And now, President [el-]Sisi of Egypt has at least postponed, if not cancelled, his trip to Washington as Trump is making demands that are simply impossible for either of those countries to fulfil. Not because of the Palestinians in Gaza, but simply because of the domestic considerations and popular sentiment.”



Israel looks abroad for construction workers as Palestinians banned

Israel will provide several thousand additional work permits for foreign construction labourers, a decision that signals that Israel intends to keep barring Palestinians in the occupied West Bank from working in Israel.

Before Hamas’s October 2023 attack, some 150,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and roughly 18,000 from Gaza were allowed to work in Israel – mainly in construction, manufacturing and agriculture.

However, during the war, Israeli authorities barred entry to all Palestinians from Gaza and most from the West Bank, saying it was necessary for security. The move left tens of thousands of Palestinians jobless and caused a widely reported shortage of workers on the Israeli side.

The quota for private importation of foreign workers into the construction industry would be raised from 25,000 to 30,000, and other barriers to bringing in foreign workers would be eased, a government statement said.

Lawyers for detained Gaza doctor accuse Israel of torture, severe abuses

Lawyers for Dr Hussam Abu Safia say that he has experienced physical abuse and other forms of torture since he was arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces outside the Kamal Adwan Hospital, in northern Gaza, in December.

The Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, which is representing Abu Safia, said the doctor was only able to meet with his lawyer for the first time on Tuesday afternoon, 47 days after his “abduction from Gaza”.

Al Mezan said in a statement that Abu Safia was first taken to the Sde Teiman military detention camp where he was subjected to “torture and inhuman and degrading treatment”, including “beatings with batons and electric shock sticks, as well as repeated blows to the chest”.

He was then transferred to Israel’s Ofer Prison, in the occupied West Bank, where he “was held in solitary confinement for 25 days—a period so prolonged as to constitute a form of torture in itself”.

Al Mezan said that Abu Safia’s health has deteriorated, stating he has lost “12 kg [26 pounds]… in less than two months”, and called for “his immediate and unconditional release”.



SvennoJ on 12 February 2025

Palestine calls for urgent UN action on Israeli ‘crimes’ in West Bank

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to “overcome its state of paralysis and take urgent action to stop the crimes of settlement, home demolitions and annexation” in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

In a statement shared on X, the ministry reminded members of the UNSC that they were party to the Geneva Conventions and of the recommendations from the recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.

The statement provided examples of recent illegal Israeli measures, such as the establishment of some 800 military checkpoints and iron gates to “control the movement of Palestinian citizens and impose more collective punishment on them”.

The ministry also said there has been a “noticeable increase in the crime of demolishing homes” in Jerusalem and the West Bank leading to “ethnic cleansing and displacement”, while the legalisation of random outposts further isolated Jerusalem and other communities from their Palestinian surroundings.


Israeli forces raid another refugee camp in West Bank

Israeli forces have raided the Arroub refugee camp, near the city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, and are carrying out “large-scale” arrests there, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The soldiers assaulted several of the detainees and have also stormed a UNRWA health centre in the camp.

The raid comes amid a large-scale Israeli military operation targeting refugee camps across the occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces taking part in the offensive, dubbed the “Iron Wall”, have killed dozens of Palestinians and displaced more than 40,000 people from the Jenin, Tulkarem, Nur Shams and Far’a camps. They have also demolished dozens of homes and destroyed critical infrastructure across the camps, including roads, water and power networks.


Palestinians flee their homes in Nur Shams camp


Palestinians walk in front of an Israeli army bulldozer as it tears up roads in Nur Shams


Israeli troops destroy more West Bank homes, force dozens of families to flee

The Wafa news agency is reporting that residents trapped in an eastern neighbourhood of Tulkarem city are calling for help, including the delivery of food and medical assistance, as the siege on the area enters its 17th day.

They say Israeli forces have turned three buildings there into military barracks and that snipers have taken position there, preventing them from leaving their homes “or even appearing at their windows and on their balconies”.

In the Tulkarem camp, Israeli forces burned down the house of the Al Awfi family, while in the nearby Nur Shams camp, the soldiers demolished at least three homes and forced dozens of families to flee their homes “under threat and intimidation” and “amid gunfire and the sound of explosions”.

Earlier, we reported that Israeli forces arrested two women from their homes and a number of others from a mosque in the city of Tulkarem.



SvennoJ on 12 February 2025

More arrests in occupied West Bank

We have reported earlier that Israeli forces arrested two women from their homes in the city of Tulkarem and carried out “large-scale” arrests in the Arroub refugee camp, near the city of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank.

Since then, the Wafa news agency citing local sources reported a string of arrests, including:

  • Four people in the town of Abwein, north of Ramallah.
  • One in the village of al-Mazraa al-Gharbiya, northwest of Ramallah.
  • One more in the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah.
  • Two brothers in the town of Beita, south of Nablus.
  • One in the eastern area of Nablus.
  • One in the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem.

The Palestinian Information Center also reported on the arrests in Abwein, saying Israeli forces abused a number of Palestinians during their raid in the town.


Israeli army shoots and injures Palestinian in occupied West bank’s ad-Dhahiriya city

Amid ongoing Israeli military attacks on several areas of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, a young Palestinian man has been wounded by a live bullet in the city of ad-Dhahiriya.

Local and security sources quoted by the Wafa news agency said Israeli soldiers raided homes, detained a number of people and conducted field interrogations. The soldiers fired bullets, sound bombs and toxic gas, which led to a 25-year-old being shot in the foot and taken to hospital, Wafa said.

Israeli arrests and attacks are continuing in the Arroub refugee camp near Hebron, where at least one building was demolished by Israeli forces.


Armed clashes in Nur Shams and Arroub camps in West Bank

Palestinian fighters are engaged in confrontations with invading Israeli forces in the two refugee camps in the occupied West Bank.

Videos published by local outlets out of the Nur Shams camp show explosive devices and sound bombs being deployed in the area while heavy gunfire rings out. Earlier, Israeli forces used loudspeakers to warn residents of the camp to leave.

Confrontations have also erupted in the Arroub camp, after Israeli soldiers and armoured vehicles entered various neighbourhoods, detaining a large number of people and conducting interrogations.

Israeli forces distributed threatening leaflets to the citizens in Arroub and fired bullets and tear gas canisters at residential homes, although no casualties have been reported, according to the Wafa news agency.


Israeli forces storm more towns in West Bank, assault students

In addition to large-scale military operations in refugee camps and cities in the northern occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers are launching a series of smaller attacks. Here are some of the latest developments as reported by the official Wafa agency:

  • Israeli soldiers assaulted three students near a school in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus, causing bruises.
  • A number of students suffered suffocation injuries after Israeli forces used tear gas and sound bombs on them in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.
  • Israeli special forces stormed Aqqaba town, north of Tubas, and surrounded a house.
  • Accompanied by bulldozers and heavy machinery, Israeli forces damaged agricultural land and demolished a retaining wall in Funduq village, east of Qalqilya.
  • Homes were raided after soldiers stormed the town of al-Issawiya, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.
  • A UN delegation visited the Balata camp east of Nablus to assess damage and the humanitarian situation.


Palestinian prisoner reports torture in Israeli detention

A report from the Prisoners’ Affairs Committee and the Prisoner’s Society has cited the lawyer of a Palestinian detainee who said he had been subjected to severe torture in Israeli detention. It comes after a group of lawyers visited 18 political prisoners in Sde Teiman and Naqab prisons in February.

The lawyer provided the following account by the prisoner after their first visit since detention:

  • Israeli forces arrested me while passing from the north to south Gaza on the designated road and beat me severely.
  • The soldiers forced me to take off my clothes and wear white garments, along with eight others, all left for hours in the cold without food or water.
  • I was transferred to a nearby house and I was beaten again brutally while tied up, fracturing both my hands and leaving me without treatment.
  • They transported us in a truck after that, and I remained in the freezing cold throughout the night with several others.
  • I was eventually taken to hospital because my injuries were clearly visible and swollen. I was handcuffed and blindfolded the entire time.
  • I only learned where I was being held through the visiting lawyer.


SvennoJ on 12 February 2025

US rejects Israeli request to delay troop pullout from Lebanon: Report

The Times of Israel newspaper is reporting that the Trump administration has denied an Israeli request to further delay the withdrawal of its troops from southern Lebanon.

The Israeli newspaper quoted an anonymous US official.

“The response from Washington is that for now, it plans to stick to the February 18 deadline,” the Times said, citing the US official.

Under the initial terms of the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hezbollah in late November, Israeli troops were supposed to withdraw from Lebanon by late January. But Netanyahu delayed the pullout accusing Lebanon of not meeting its obligations. The US later announced that the agreement would remain in effect until February 18.

Lebanese authorities say Israel has violated the terms of the truce by continuing to bombard the country and killing dozens of people.

 

Israel must complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by the deadline, Aoun says

Lebanon’s recently appointed President Joseph Aoun has insisted that Israel must completely withdraw from the country by the ceasefire deadline of February 18, after reports that Israel has requested to keep troops in southern Lebanon until the end of the month.

Lebanon’s National News Agency quoted Aoun as saying that EU countries should “pressure Israel to complete its withdrawal within the deadline of 18 February, and to return the displaced Syrians to their country after the reasons for their remaining in Lebanon no longer exist”.

A Lebanese official and foreign diplomat told the Reuters news agency that Israel has requested to keep its troops in five posts in southern Lebanon until 28 February.

Aoun also reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to a two-state solution for the Palestine-Israel conflict and said he rejected “proposals that lead to any type of displacement of Palestinians from their land or infringement of their legitimate rights enshrined in UN resolutions”.



SvennoJ on 12 February 2025

UN experts say Trump’s plan to take over Gaza is ‘manifestly illegal’

More than 30 independent UN human rights experts have issued a joint statement condemning the “shocking threats” by Trump to “take over” and “own” Gaza.

“It is manifestly illegal to invade and annex foreign territory by force, to forcibly deport its population, and to deprive the Palestinian people of their inalienable right to self-determination, including to retain Gaza within a sovereign Palestinian state,” the experts said.

They also warned that “such blatant violations by a major power” would have “devastating consequences for peace and human rights globally” and “return the world to the dark days of colonial conquest”.

They also proposed ways Trump could respond to the conflict if he “is genuinely concerned for the welfare of Palestinians”. These include pressing for a lasting ceasefire, resuming funding to UNRWA, ending arms transfers and compensating “Palestinians for damage resulting from US weapons and munitions supplied to Israel”.




Israeli public divided over Gaza ceasefire deal

The public in Israel is divided. The majority supports the plan proposed by Trump to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population.

There is also wide support for the ceasefire agreement so long as it results in the release of Israeli captives.

The Israeli opposition is capitalising on that, launching political attacks against Netanyahu and his government, saying that he shouldn’t be cowering from the ceasefire agreement and fearing Smotrich, the minister of finance, who threatened to take down the government if it moves to phase two of the agreement.

In the meantime, the Israeli media is also reflecting that division, the Haaretz newspaper leading with the headline that Netanyahu is endangering the ceasefire, while more mainstream and right-of-centre newspapers say that Netanyahu has issued an ultimatum to Hamas that if it does not release the captives by Saturday, the war will resume.


Israeli army to call up 14,000 Haredim recruits, Israeli Broadcast Authority reports

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has said the army will announce the sending of 14,000 recruitment orders to the Haredim, the Hebrew term for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

In June, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Haredi Jews cannot be exempted from military service.

It also ordered a freeze on budgets for yeshivas, traditional Jewish educational institutions, and said there was no legal basis preventing the government from conscripting Haredi Jews into the Israeli army.

The Haredim, who constitute about 13 percent of Israel’s population, refuse to serve in the Israeli army under the pretext of devoting their lives to religion.