Main events on February 13th

Jewish leaders condemn Trump’s Gaza plan in full-page New York Times ad

More than 350 rabbis and dozens of Jewish creatives and activists have signed a full-page ad in The New York Times condemning Trump’s proposal for the forced removal of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

The ad features signatories from diverse Jewish denominations and notable figures such as playwright Tony Kushner, comedian and actor Ilana Glazer and best actor Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix.

“Trump has now called for the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza. Jewish people say NO to ethnic cleansing!” it said.

The signatories emphasised their moral opposition to any plan that would displace Palestinians, drawing on historical parallels and ethical imperatives.

Cody Edgerly, director of the In Our Name Campaign, underscored the ad’s timing. “Our message to Palestinians is that you are not alone, our attention has not wavered and we are committed to fighting with every breath we have to stop ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” he said.

Israeli veterans group says tying shoelaces could get you killed in occupied West Bank

A Palestinian who bends over to tie their shoelaces in Gaza could be shot under Israeli military rules of engagement but now an Israeli veterans group says the same shoot-to-kill protocols have been imported to the occupied West Bank.

Israeli military veterans advocacy group Breaking the Silence published the transcript of a conversation with an anonymous captain in the Israeli military who said Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank had been given permission to shoot anyone thought to be “messing with the ground”.

The captain said that specific phrase was “code” first used in Gaza and initially intended to describe Palestinians suspected of planting explosives.

In reality, the captain said, the term was regularly used to justify shooting Palestinians who might be otherwise going about their business.

“Think of yourself as a civilian: You mess with the ground to tie your shoelaces, pick something up, throw away garbage; you might be looking for something; you might be picking a flower,” the captain said.

“[But in Gaza], messing with the ground is a code name for planting an explosive device, always.”

https://x.com/BtSIsrael/status/1890030387541278725

Israeli military carries out more raids across the occupied West Bank

Israel continued to carry out overnight and early morning raids across the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency and other Palestinian media outlets report, including:

Israeli forces killed 25 Palestinians in West Bank’s Jenin in 25 days: Report

The Palestinian news agency Wafa is reporting that Israeli forces are raiding the city and refugee camp of Jenin in the occupied West Bank for the 25th consecutive day.

The raids have left 25 Palestinians dead, dozens injured and wide-scale destruction of property and infrastructure in the area.

Wafa quoted local sources as saying 470 facilities and homes have been completely or partially destroyed due to the ongoing raids, and residents are cut off from electricity or water.

Schools and health services have been shuttered, and Israeli forces have stopped water from reaching the four main hospitals.

UNRWA accuses Israel of breaching international law by using its facility as detention centre

The UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians, UNRWA, says the Israeli military used its Arroub Camp Health Centre near Bethlehem as a temporary detention site during a search and arrest operation on February 12, despite the UN premises being protected by international law.

“[The military] forcibly entered the health centre and used it for the detention and interrogation of tens of Palestinian residents rounded up in the camp,” a statement by the agency said.

It condemned the move as “a blatant disregard for the inviolability of United Nations facilities”.

“Unfortunately, this recent incident follows a pattern of forcible entries into UNRWA installations in the West Bank since October 2023, by both Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups,” the statement stressed.

“All UN premises are inviolable and are protected under international law,” UNRWA added.

The agency reminded that the new Israeli laws that entered into force on January 30 impose “a no-contact policy” between UNRWA and Israeli authorities, and the agency is no longer able to engage with Israeli officials to directly report such incidents as they occur.

Israeli forces seize 20 vehicles in West Bank’s Hizma town: Report

Israeli forces have stormed the town of Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency. About 20 vehicles were seized by the soldiers who entered the town from its western entrance, the report quoted local sources as saying.

Clashes erupt during Israeli raid in West Bank’s Yatma village

Young Palestinian residents and Israeli troops are clashing in the village of Yatma in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian sources. The violence erupted after Israeli forces raided the village located south of the city of Nablus.

Three Palestinians arrested in occupied West Bank’s Taybeh: Israeli police

The Israeli police have claimed that they seized five pistols and an M16 gun, as it detained residents in the village of Taybeh in the occupied West Bank’s Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate.

The Palestinians are suspected of involvement in an assault on police officers during a wedding, a statement on X said. “During the campaign, approximately 100 bullets and substances suspected to be narcotics were seized,” it added.

Israeli forces arrest child in Jenin: Report

Local sources have told the Wafa news agency that troops detained Abdullah Manasra after raiding his family’s house in the east of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The report did not disclose the age of the child.

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, a nongovernmental organisation, said yesterday that Israel arrested about 380 Palestinians in the governorates of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas, since the beginning of the ongoing Israeli operations in the north of the occupied West Bank.

_{A view of the damaged roads and buildings caused by Israeli military bulldozers and heavy construction equipment in Jenin, the occupied West Bank, on February 13}

What they lost: Families in terror as Israel raids West Bank camps

The rain on Friday did not stop.

Nor did the pounding of Israeli soldiers on the doors of homes across Far’a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Strong winds rushed into houses as doors were knocked down, and the cold bit into the bodies of panicked, unarmed civilians forced into the streets.

In the early hours of the morning, amid an eight-day siege that had cut the camp off from the outside world, dozens of military vehicles and bulldozers rolled up to the camp’s entrance.

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers poured out, swarming through the narrow alleyways. Orders shouted in Hebrew blared from speakers, overlapping with the soldiers’ commands as they banged on doors with the butts of their rifles.

“Open the door! Get out now!” they yelled.

Amnesty chief calls on world to stand up to ‘Donald Trump effect’ in Gaza

Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard has spoken to Al Jazeera at the Munich Security Conference about what she said was the “Donald Trump effect” on human rights around the world.

“In the case of Gaza, what we are witnessing is not even disruption … It is cruel destruction of a peace process that took months to be negotiated, that has reached a very fragile state,” she said.

“What Donald Trump has done is really fragilise it further and make phase two of that peace process extraordinarily difficult,” she noted.

“It is a war crime to forcibly push people out of their places, and it could be a crime against humanity if it is well organised; in a nutshell, it amounts to ethnic cleansing if was to be carried out,” she stated.

“This is where we need the rest of the world, the international community, the countries such as Jordan and Lebanon and others to stand up and say … absolutely no, and to say it in the most resolute and firm fashion,” she said.

‘Go to hell Donald Trump’: Pro-Palestine protesters gather at US embassy in Malaysia

Dozens of people chanted “Go to hell Donald Trump!” outside the US embassy in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur, as pro-Palestinian protesters gathered to publicly reject the “lunatic ideas” of the US president to displace more than two million people from Gaza.

Organised by 18 civil society groups after Friday prayer, the protest in Kuala Lumpur was the second of its kind for the day, with the first being held in the morning outside the embassy. Both times, demonstrators had a written memorandum addressed to Trump containing a total of seven demands regarding Gaza and its Palestinian population, copies of which the embassy refused to accept.

“It is very disappointing as a country with the superpower status, they closed the whole embassy, refused to even receive our memorandum. This is really an act of cowardice,” said Chua Tian Chang, a representative of the Malaysian groups advocating for Palestinian rights.

According to the memorandum, the groups called on Trump to ensure the ceasefire in Gaza, protection of Palestinian sovereignty, an end to Israel’s siege of the territory, rejection of plans for the US to “take over” Gaza, as well as accountability for war crimes perpetrated in Gaza and sanctions on those committing crimes against humanity.

UK doctor says medical profession has ‘shattered’ moral compass over Gaza

A British-Jordanian doctor suspended from work for comments made on social media calling attention to Israel’s genocide in Gaza says the embrace of censorship shows medical institutions have “completely shattered” their moral compass.

Dr Nadeem Crowe spoke to AJ+ about his experience at the Royal Free Hospital in London when a colleague filed a complaint against him alleging he had engaged in anti-Semitic behaviour when using social media to call attention to the destruction Israel has levelled against Gaza.

“People die and doctors aren’t suspended. People come to harm and doctors aren’t suspended. People post about the conflict in Gaza and apparently, they are not safe to work,” he said.

Dr Crowe was told to delete the posts and that he was under investigation.

“When you say it’s wrong, you no longer have the right to work as a doctor. I simply can’t see how those two things are compatible. I believe that their moral compass is completely shattered,” Dr Crowe said.

British Arab doctor was immediately suspended from his job at the Royal Free Hospital in London for talking about Israel’s genocide in Gaza on social media.

Now Nadeem Crowe is speaking out against the silencing and double standards by organizations when it comes to Palestine. pic.twitter.com/HD98FKutWp

— AJ+ (@ajplus) February 14, 2025

Palestinian prisoner subjected to ‘horrific torture and abuse’ in Israeli prison: Report

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office (ASRA) reports that the International Covenant Foundation is holding the Israeli prison administration responsible for the treatment of 59-year-old Palestinian prisoner Abbas Al-Sayed from Tulkarem after hearing the testimony of a prisoner from the Ramon prison, in which he stated that the Al-Sayed was subjected to “horrific torture and abuse”.

“The prison administration stormed the prisoner Al-Sayed’s cell, severely beat him, and transferred him to an unknown location,” ASRA said in a report published on its website.

Al-Sayed is reported to have been subjected to a brutal assault, as the prison administration deliberately took him out every night to the punishment cells, shackled his hands and feet, and forced him to sleep on his stomach for long hours in cold weather.

Al-Sayed is also said to be suffering from scabies, which has caused boils to spread all over his body, but the prison administration refuses to provide him with treatment.

Heavy machinery has still not been allowed to enter Gaza

The only progress that has been made since the implementation of the first phase of the deal is the provision of basic humanitarian supplies that have been widely obstructed from entering the Gaza Strip since the onset of the conflict.

During the past few hours, we have seen aid convoys travel to Gaza City, but the entry of heavy machinery and mobile houses has been widely obstructed as they are still lined up on the Egyptian side of the border.

This is despite the Israeli promises to change behaviour regarding restricting aid supplies, including the entry of reconstruction equipment that is required to afford immediate shelter for Palestinians who are living on the ruins of their destroyed homes.

The obstruction of delivery of mobile houses and heavy machinery has raised concerns about Israel’s commitments [to the ceasefire deal].

Israel is still waiting for the release of the captives, who are expected to be released tomorrow, to show its readiness to keep going on the current ceasefire agreement and to start the second phase of negotiations.

Israel confirms receiving names of three captives set for release in Gaza

Israel has received from mediators Egypt and Qatar the names of the three captives to be released tomorrow in Gaza, the Israeli prime minister’s office confirms.

It said the list is acceptable for Israel and the families have approved the release of the names.

What you need to know on three Israeli captives set to be freed in Gaza

Israel expected to name Palestinian prisoners to be released tomorrow

There is very little information in terms of how the release of captives is going to proceed.

The expectation is that three Israeli captives will be released on Saturday, and that came after the breakthrough in the ceasefire talks and the implementation of the humanitarian protocol, as Hamas refers to it, were realised, given the efforts of the mediators.

In the past few days, there was a lot of concern that the ceasefire was not going to hold because Israel was not allowing enough humanitarian assistance, fuel, mobile homes or tents into the Strip.

Israel is now expected to disclose the list of Palestinian detainees, prisoners, and disappeared people who will be released.

369 Palestinian prisoners expected to be released tomorrow

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office (ASRA) says 36 prisoners with life sentences and 333 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were detained without any charges after October 7 will be released by Israeli authorities tomorrow.

The statement comes after Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad released the names of three Israeli captives due to be released in the exchange.

Netanyahu waiting for ‘green light’ from Trump to resume Gaza war

Sami al-Arian, director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University, has told Al Jazeera that Israel has not been “fulfilling” its part of the ceasefire deal, which is to allow 600 aid trucks to enter the Gaza Strip daily.

“They have been only allowing fewer than 100 [trucks] a day, with the exception that once Hamas threatened that it will withhold the new round [of the captive-prisoner exchange], they started accelerating these releases [of aid trucks]; yesterday, there were over 800 trucks, and today, also there are more than 600,” he said.

He said he believes Netanyahu did not want to start negotiations for phase two of the ceasefire deal until he got a “green light from Trump … allowing him to resume the war whenever he thinks he could”.

“I don’t think Trump allowed him to do that; therefore, the negotiations are now in earnest,” al-Arian noted.

“My prediction is that Trump does not want a war,” he said.


_{Trucks carrying aid move in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, February 13}


Israeli military establishment ‘fatigued’, does not want to resume Gaza war

Menachem Klein, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University in Israel, has told Al Jazeera that there had been “a struggle” in Israel over whether to resume the war or the negotiations.

The army was uninterested in resuming the war, and the families of the captives demanded a deal, but Netanyahu was interested in resuming the war and cancelling the deal, he said.

Klein said the army is fatigued and needs to reorganise itself, including replacing the chief of staff, and this cannot be done while a war is ongoing.

He added that Israeli society as a whole also “needs a break”, with some Israelis close to refusing to serve if the war resumes and the military calls them up.

“My reading is that Netanyahu gave up his wish to resume the war now; he postponed it a little bit later to see if it is possible,” he said.

Now, it is important to see how the US will react to the fact that there is only one US citizen named on the list of captives due to be released on Saturday, considering US President Donald Trump had demanded the release of all US captives.

Israel currently ‘too weak’ to derail Gaza ceasefire

Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg tells Al Jazeera that Israel “is most likely too weak to do anything to change the course of the ceasefire“.

“Israel’s attempt to insist that all the captives are to be released on Saturday is based on a very vague, intentionally ambiguous statement by US President Trump, who talked about the release of all the captives,” he said.

“I don’t think Israel can do a great deal to prevent the ceasefire and certainly phase one from moving forward,” he said.

“Netanyahu does have a vested interest in this deal coming to fruition because [he] has already seen an upcoming election in Israel, which will certainly be called before a scheduled date of November 2026,” Goldberg said.

He noted that if Netanyahu can stand as the prime minister “who fought the difficult war and brought the difficult peace, I doubt any of his competitors will seem even remotely up to the task that he has managed to fulfil”.

Main events from February 14th

Majority of Israelis want to stick with ceasefire rather than returning to war: Poll

The poll of 600 members of the public by Israel’s national broadcaster Kan asked: “Should we continue to phase two of the deal and end the war or return to fighting now without securing the release of all of the hostages?”

Some 61 percent of respondents said Israel should continue to phase two of the deal, 18 percent said Israel should return to war in Gaza, and 21 percent said they were unsure.

Hamas and Israel are set to hold another exchange of captives and prisoners today as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, before progressing to the second phase of negotiations, which are expected to resume early next week in the Qatari capital Doha.

Ceasefire looks set to continue; Netanyahu ‘only person’ who wants to see it end: Analyst

Rami Khouri, a distinguished public policy fellow at the American University of Beirut, said the Gaza ceasefire deal is fragile but it appears to be back on track after days of tensions between Hamas and Israel.

“This was the most significant tension that we have had in this situation since it started and the fact that it was overcome, I think, suggests that the full ceasefire is going to continue. The really tough part is now phase two,” Khouri told Al Jazeera.

Negotiations in the next phase will have to tackle the difficult issues of the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the rebuilding of infrastructure and establishment of new governance structures in the Palestinian territory, he said.

“I think it is going to go ahead because everybody is benefitting from it, the only person who really wants it not to go ahead is Netanyahu – for his personal incumbency. But he seems to be overpowered by the American desire for the ceasefire, the skill of the Egyptian and Qatari negotiators and their insistence on getting this done, and the desire of Hamas and the Palestinians to have the ceasefire continue.”

Netanyahu was waiting for a ‘green light’ from Trump to resume the war

Sami al-Arian, director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs at Istanbul Zaim University, told Al Jazeera that Israel has not been “fulfilling” their part of the ceasefire deal, specifically its commitment to allow 600 aid trucks to enter Gaza every day.

Al-Arian added that while discussions about phase two of the ceasefire deal were supposed to start on day 16 of the ceasefire, this has been delayed because Prime Minister Netanyahu “did not want to start [in case] he gets the green light from Trump, basically allowing him to resume the war”.

Lebanon interior minister calls emergency meeting to discuss Hezbollah protests: Report

We have been reporting on an attack on UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) personnel by what were reported to be Hezbollah supporters during protests on Friday against the Lebanese government’s decision to bar Iranian planes from landing in Beirut.

Lebanon’s state news agency NNA now reports that Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar visited two injured UNIFIL officers at St George University Hospital in the Lebanese capital.

Al-Hajjar “affirmed the Lebanese government’s rejection of this assault that is considered a crime against UNIFIL forces”, NNA reported, adding that the minister has called for an emergency meeting on the violence to be held before noon on Saturday.

US State Department condemns attack on UNIFIL convoy

We have been reporting on an attack on the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) by Hezbollah protesters in Beirut on Friday, which resulted in the injury of at least two UNIFIL peacekeepers.

The US State Department has now condemned the “violent attack”, which was reportedly carried out by Hezbollah supporters protesting the Lebanese government’s decision to block Iranian planes from landing in the capital.

“This attack resulted in multiple injuries on UN peacekeepers. We commend the swift response of the Lebanese Armed Forces to prevent further violence, and the Lebanese government’s commitment to take all necessary measures to hold individuals accountable for their actions. We extend our wishes for a swift recovery to all those affected,” it said in a statement.

Lebanon arrests over 25 after UN convoy attack

More than 25 people have been arrested by Lebanese army intelligence and another detained by security services in relation to Friday evening’s attack on the UN convoy, according to Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar.

He told reporters after an emergency security meeting that this does not mean all those arrested directly participated in the attack, adding that investigations are ongoing to find those responsible.

Hezbollah supporters protest for third day near Beirut airport

Hezbollah supporters gathered near Beirut international airport for a third day to protest over a decision to prevent two Iranian planes from landing there.

Local media reported that security forces fired tear gas to disperse the protesters and that some Lebanese soldiers were injured in scuffles.

Hezbollah protesters drew a Star of David on the road leading to the airport, as protesters accuse the Lebanese state of caving to Israeli orders by not allowing Iranian planes to land.

Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmad al-Hajjar said more than 25 people had been arrested after an attack by protesters on Friday on a convoy of United Nations peacekeepers that wounded two.