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

SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Israel prevents patients and wounded from leaving Gaza

A source in the Gaza Health Ministry has told Al Jazeera Arabic that the planned trip of people in need of medical care was postponed due to the delay in Israel’s approval.

The source accused Israel of deliberately delaying travel approvals for lists of patients and wounded to obstruct their evacuation. The group was going to be the 15th batch of people leaving Gaza to receive medical care outside the enclave since the Hamas-Israel ceasefire began last month.


Aid trucks await approval to cross into the Gaza Strip


Critical shortage of oxygen in Gaza hospitals after Israeli destruction: Ministry

Israel has targeted hospitals, medical facilities and health workers throughout its war on the Gaza Strip.

In a new statement, the Health Ministry in Gaza is reporting an extremely severe oxygen shortage in the territory’s main hospitals, saying it is affecting intensive care and other crucial operations and emergencies.

Here are some of the main points from the ministry’s statement:

  • The burning and destruction of the central oxygen stations by Israeli forces have caused this critical situation, especially in al-Shifa Hospital, al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital, El Dorra Pediatric Hospital, the Nasser Medical Complex, Indonesian Hospital and Sheikh Radwan clinic.
  • The 10 destroyed stations met the oxygen needs of vital departments such as surgery, intensive care, emergency and nurseries in addition to the needs of patients at home.
  • A number of nongovernmental hospitals that support the ministry in providing healthcare cannot meet their oxygen needs.
  • The Israeli army’s prevention of the entry of oxygen stations into Gaza’s hospitals will exacerbate the crisis to levels that threaten the lives of patients.
  • The ministry renews its appeal to international institutions and concerned parties to provide the required oxygen stations and demand its entry into Gaza.


Palestinians return to destroyed homes in Rafah



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SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

The US secretary of state is now meeting with several members of Israeli PM’s cabinet

Marco Rubio held a one-on-one meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in West Jerusalem, and now they’re in an expanded meeting that includes some members of the Netanyahu cabinet, including the defence minister, the Foreign Minister, and the Minister for strategic affairs.

This visit comes as Israel has not yet negotiated for phase two of the ceasefire deal that is set to begin in two weeks on March 1.

However, reports within Israeli media indicate that Benjamin Netanyahu is interested in extending phase one of the 42-day phase. He wants to extend it rather than move on to phase two because he wants to release more captives without committing to the remainder of the deal.

There are a lot of moving parts within Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. You have people in his coalition who could leave, toppling the government because of this deal; they said that Netanyahu promised them a return to the fighting.


Netanyahu says Israel and Trump have ‘common strategy’ on Gaza

Netanyahu has said Trump is the greatest friend Israel has ever had in the White House. He made the remarks during a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in West Jerusalem.

Netanyahu said he discussed with Rubio “the bold vision” of Trump for Gaza’s future, adding that he and Trump are working in full cooperation and coordination on the situation in Gaza. He stressed that Israel is determined to achieve war objectives in Gaza.


Iran ‘the single greatest source of instability in the region’: Rubio

The US secretary of state has just addressed the news media. Here are some of his main points:

  • He said Trump has been clear about Hamas: “Hamas cannot continue as a military or government force.” He then stated the group must be “eliminated” and “eradicated”.
  • Rubio said the US and Israeli goals in Lebanon “are aligned”, adding that a strong Lebanese state “can take on and disarm Hezbollah”.
  • He called Iran “the single greatest source of instability in the region”.
  • Rubio accused Iran of backing groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and being responsible for destabilising Syria and causing violence in the occupied West Bank.
  • “There can never be a nuclear Iran,” he said, adding that it could lead to Iran holding itself “immune from pressure and from action”.


Netanyahu’s actions suggest Gaza ceasefire ‘in jeopardy’: Hamas spokesperson

Osama Hamdan, a senior spokesperson for the Palestinian group, has spoken to Al Jazeera. Here are some of his main points:

  • The attack on policemen guarding Palestinian trucks in the southern Gaza Strip is a “clear violation” of the ceasefire.
  • Reported Israeli plans to force Palestinians out of Gaza are not new and have been voiced before, including during the first and the second intifadas.
  • Trump “has no clue about the resistance of the Palestinians. He has no clue about how the Palestinians are connected to their homeland,” Hamdan said, adding, “It’s not real estate. It’s a homeland.”
  • Every time Israeli officials have talked about the “elimination” of Hamas, the group has become “stronger”.
  • Netanyahu and his government’s actions suggest “the ceasefire is in jeopardy” but Hamas will do its best to continue with the agreement.
  • “I will be clear in this: If Netanyahu decides to attack Gaza another time, it will not be [easy] for him.”


SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Inclusion of Palestinians missing in US-Israeli plans for region

The takeaway message of the Rubio-Netanyahu meeting is that the US president is a staunch supporter of Israel. The members of his administration are also big Israel supporters.

Netanyahu and Rubio talked about Iran, Lebanon, Syria, etc – all the military activity that Israel is conducting across the region. But they also talked about Gaza, and what was absent there was the inclusion of the Palestinians. This has been absent for many American and Israeli plans.

Netanyahu says he will defeat Hamas both militarily and politically. This was one of his main war objectives, but after 15 months of fighting, this completely failed.

You see Hamas every week as they released captives in a big show of force, which drives the right wing in Israel crazy. They say after all the fighting, the Israeli military could not achieve its goals.

They also say they want to implement Trump’s plan for the US to take over Gaza, which has been widely condemned in the region.

Absent here is any sort of plan for the Palestinian people other than expelling them from their land.


Rubio’s Middle East tour will skip key allies, players

The US secretary of state’s six-day Middle East tour, which began in Israel, will next include meetings with leaders in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Missing from this itinerary are key allies and players that the previous US administration frequently visited during the Gaza war. There is no stop by Rubio in the key regional powerbroker Qatar, which has been instrumental in ceasefire negotiations.

There are also no visits planned to Jordan or Egypt, key US allies who have rejected the Trump administration’s intense pressure to back a Gaza plan that would transfer the Palestinian population to their nations, a move critics said would be ethnic cleansing.

Also sidelined on this Rubio tour is the Palestinian Authority’s leader, Mahmoud Abbas, once pegged by the Biden administration as the preferred choice to take over the administration of Gaza.


Rubio breaks with tradition and sidetracks the PA, ex-US diplomat says

Nabeel Khoury says the US secretary of state has broken with the traditional set-up for US diplomats to first meet with the Israeli government and then the Palestinian Authority.

“Rubio is not doing that. So this is sidetracking the Palestinian Authority despite all the conveniences and all the cooperation and collaboration it has given the Israeli government,” the former US diplomat told Al Jazeera.

“The next stop after Israel is going to be Riyadh and possibly the United Arab Emirates,” Khoury added, arguing that this fits into “Trump’s vision, … which is rebuilding Gaza minus the Palestinian population”.

Khoury also said: “I imagine, reading behind the lines, … they’re discussing the details of the transfer of the Palestinian population somewhere else outside of Gaza. That somewhere else has yet to be determined.

“They [US and Israel] haven’t gotten any approval from either Egypt or Jordan for a mass transfer,” Khoury noted, adding, “In the end, they would have to come up with a solution, and I imagine part of that solution would be some kind of camps in the Negev desert.”



SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Palestinian man wounded as Israeli settlers attack West Bank town

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli settlers, under the protection of soldiers, attacked Palestinians in the town of Surif, northwest of Hebron, on Saturday.

The settlers from the Bein Sin settlement threw stones at the Palestinians, wounding a young man in the head. He was subsequently transferred to the hospital, the agency reported.

Earlier, attacks by settlers were reported in the Wadi al-Faw region, the village of Jalud, near Nablus, and the village of Umm Safa, near Ramallah. In Jalud and Umm Safa, the settlers deployed live fire. There were no reports of injuries.

Israeli forces assault, displace more Palestinians in Tulkarem

The large-scale Israeli operation in the city of Tulkarem and its refugee camps is continuing and is now in its 21st day, according to Palestinian media. The military sent in additional reinforcements into Tulkarem and set up a checkpoint on the road that connects the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps.

The Wafa news agency, citing the Palestinian Red Crescent, said the soldiers assaulted one person who had to be transferred to the hospital for treatment.

The Israeli military is also continuing to seize homes in the city after forcibly displacing Palestinians from them, the agency reported, adding that at least 15,000 people have already been displaced from the two camps.

Israeli bulldozers are also continuing to destroy what remains of the infrastructure in the two camps, cutting off water, electricity, sewage and communications networks, it added.

Clashes reported as Israeli forces raid parts of West Bank

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that the Israeli army stormed various residential areas in the occupied Palestinian territory at dawn and clashed with fighters.

Palestinian sources said the army raided the town of al-Yamoun in Jenin, Tal in Nablus, as well as the city of Qalqilya and the Jalazone refugee camp in the north of Ramallah.

They said homes were searched and arrests were made during the raids, without giving any numbers.


Seven Palestinians injured during ongoing Israeli raid on Nablus

The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that seven people have been wounded by Israeli fire in Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

It said two of the injured suffered moderate to serious injuries.

Earlier, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported that the Israeli army had stormed residential areas in the occupied Palestinian territory at dawn and clashed with fighters.


Dozens killed, thousands displaced in ongoing Israeli assault on Jenin

The media committee in the Jenin refugee camp has released a statement detailing the latest death toll, numbers of displaced and harsh living conditions resulting from the largest Israeli assault on the occupied West Bank since the second Intifada a quarter of a century ago.

The city of Jenin and its nearby refugee camp have borne the brunt of Israeli military attacks in the West Bank, which have markedly escalated since the ceasefire in Gaza went into effect.

The key points:

  • The ongoing aggression on Jenin has resulted in the deaths of 25 Palestinians and the displacement of more than 20,000.
  • Israeli forces have destroyed or damaged more than 470 facilities and homes and disrupted basic services.
  • There is a total water and electricity outage and a severe shortage of food in the city and its surroundings.
  • Israeli troops have prevented water from reaching four main hospitals in Jenin and have cut it off to 35 percent of residents.
  • The Israeli military has turned houses into military barracks and fired live ammunition at homes.
  • Israel has arrested more than 150 residents and subjected dozens to field investigations.
  • The committee called on the international community and human rights groups to intervene to stop the Israeli operations and secure the needs of Palestinians.


SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Talks on phase 2 of Gaza truce ongoing: US Middle East envoy

Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy, says discussions on transitioning to phase two of Gaza’s ceasefire are under way with mediators and Israel.

In an interview with the US TV channel Fox News, Witkoff said he had “very productive and constructive” calls with Netanyahu, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani and Egypt’s director of intelligence.

They spoke about “the sequencing of phase two, setting forth positions on both sides, so we can understand … where we are today, and then continuing talks this week at a location to be determined, so that we can figure out how we get to the end of phase two successfully”, he added.

Didn't talk to any Palestinians of course.


Israel PM says ‘will finish the job’ against Iran with US support

Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel will “finish the job” against Iran with United States support.

The Israeli leader made the comments during a news conference with visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in West Jerusalem.

“Over the last 16 months, Israel has dealt a mighty blow to Iran’s terror axis. Under the strong leadership of President Trump and with your unflinching support, I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job.” Netanyahu said.

“Israel and America stand shoulder to shoulder in countering the threat of Iran.”

Don't forget the boogeyman Iran! More deflection.


‘Gates of hell’ will open if all captives not released: Netanyahu

Israel is working in “full” cooperation with the United States when it comes to its policy towards Gaza, says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We have a common strategy and we can’t always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell would be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them.”

Netanyahu echoed US President Donald Trump, who said last week that “the gates of hell would be open” if Hamas does not release dozens of remaining captives abducted in its October 7, 2023 attack that preceded the war.

Netanyahu also called Trump’s proposal to ethnically cleanse Gaza a “bold vision” for the Gaza Strip and its future, adding he discussed with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio how to “ensure that future becomes a reality”.

In controversial remarks, Trump proposed forcing the transfer of Palestinians from Gaza into Jordan and Egypt and then rebuilding the enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.


Trump: Israel ‘consulting with me’ to decide next steps in Gaza ceasefire

Asked by a reporter about the latest on the Gaza ceasefire, US President Donald Trump said that “it will be up to Israel what the next step will be, in consultation with me”.

Trump, while speaking to reporters in Daytona, Florida, was also asked about sending more big bombs to Israel despite the truce being under way and Gaza largely destroyed.

“Peace through strength. You understand that, right? You know, they contracted for those weapons a long time ago in the Biden administration, and then Biden wouldn’t deliver the weapons. But I look at it differently. I say peace through strength,” said Trump.

Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his visit to Israel fully endorsed the country’s war aims in the Gaza Strip, saying that Hamas “must be eradicated”.



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SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Israel strikes Lebanon’s east as questions rise over shaky ceasefire

Lebanon’s media say Israeli aircraft carried out three strikes in the Bekaa Valley in the country’s east, two days ahead of a troop withdrawal deadline in a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

“Enemy warplanes carried out two strikes on the outskirts of the town of Harbata and a third strike on the town of Halbata,” the official National News Agency said.

While Hezbollah has stopped its attacks, Israel has not. Israel’s bombing is nowhere near the same intensity as it was before the ceasefire began on November 27, and nightly bombing of Beirut’s southern suburbs has stopped.

However, Israel is still carrying out attacks, some of which are north of the Litani River – which Hezbollah is required to move its forces north of, as per the ceasefire agreement.


Israeli army confirms it attacked targets in Lebanon

Israel’s army says fighter jets struck military sites containing rocket launchers and weapons “where Hezbollah activity was detected”.

The attacks took place ahead of a deadline for the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah that ended the latest war between the two in late November.

According to the deal, Israel should fully withdraw from the Lebanese territory by February 18 – a date pushed back from January 26 – while Hezbollah agreed to pull back above the Litani River that runs across south Lebanon.

Tensions ahead of the withdrawal have mounted as Israel demanded to remain in five southern locations beyond the deadline – a request supported by the US administration and rejected by Lebanese authorities.


Footage shows smoke rising from Israeli air strikes on Lebanon

Earlier, Israeli aircraft carried out several strikes on the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon’s east. Footage shared online and verified by Al Jazeera shows fire and a cloud of thick smoke rising in the Harbata area, one of three areas hit.

Israel has repeatedly attacked Lebanon despite the November ceasefire deal.


Hezbollah chief says Israel must fully withdraw from Lebanon in two days

The head of Hezbollah says Israel’s troops must pull out of Lebanese territory in full by a February 18 deadline, adding it has “no pretext” to maintain a military presence in the south.

“Everyone knows how an occupation is dealt with,” said Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem, without explicitly threatening that his group would resume attacks against Israel.

Under a truce brokered by the US in November, Israeli troops were granted 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, where they waged a ground assault against Hezbollah fighters. That deadline was later extended to February 18, but Israel’s military requested it keep troops in five posts in the south.

In a recorded televised speech, Qassem said: “Israel must withdraw completely on February 18. It has no pretext, no five points or other details … This is the agreement.”

Israel’s public broadcaster said on Wednesday that the United States has authorised a “long-term” Israeli troop presence in southern Lebanon.


Woman killed in Lebanon as Israel-Hezbollah truce deadline looms

Lebanese media reported that Israeli gunfire killed a woman as Washington pressed Beirut to disarm Hezbollah two days before a troop withdrawal deadline in the ceasefire.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israeli forces opened fire towards the southern border town of Hula “after residents entered”, killing a woman.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said Israel would do what it must to “enforce” the ceasefire.

“Hezbollah must be disarmed. And Israel would prefer that the Lebanese army do that job, but no one should doubt that Israel will do what it has to do to enforce the understandings of the ceasefire and defend our security,” he said.

Lebanon has faced unrest after a government decision to block Iranian flights from landing in Beirut, with a UN peacekeeper convoy attacked during protests by Hezbollah supporters.



SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Riot breaks out at Israel’s notorious Ofer military prison: Report

A riot is under way at Israel’s Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, the Jerusalem Post reports.

According to an Israel Prison Service statement, the incident is currently ongoing and officers had to use force to enter prisoners’ cells.

Under the Gaza ceasefire deal, Ofer Prison has been releasing hundreds of Palestinian inmates who have described harsh conditions and physical and mental abuse.

Munthir Amira, an occupied West Bank political activist who was held there, said guards regularly beat detainees for punishment or often for no reason at all.

He said he and 12 others shared a cell with only six beds and a few thin blankets, freezing during the winter months. They were let outside for only 15 minutes twice a week. Amira was held in administrative detention, apparently over his Facebook posts critical of Israel.


Israeli forces assault Palestinian detainees after prison unrest

Special Israeli prison units raided a section of Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and assaulted detainees. “Prisoners were beaten and sprayed with gas,” the Prisoners Media Office said in a statement. No details were available about casualties.

According to Palestinian human rights organisations, Israel is holding more than 10,000 Palestinians in its prisons.

The Palestinian Commission for Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said they hold the Israel Prison Service accountable “for the lives and fate of thousands of prisoners in Ofer Prison”.


Palestinian recounts torture, medical abuse in Israeli jail

Captured during a raid on al-Shifa Hospital in March 2024, Adel Sobeih, 22, was freed in a recent prisoner swap that saw 369 detainees, including 333 Palestinians from Gaza, released in exchange for three Israeli captives.

“My leg was amputated even though it was healthy, according to medical reports from Gaza, but they gave me the choice between signing for amputation or dying,” he told Anadolu news agency.

Sobeih said he endured different forms of torture at the hands of his Israeli jailers.

“I was tortured inside the hospital with a lighter, and I was chained to a hospital bed for 50 days under strict surveillance. They would make me crawl despite my injury and I was subjected to electric shocks. Cigarettes were extinguished on my body, and I was transferred between prisons.


SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Israeli soldiers used 80-year-old Palestinian as Gaza human shield

The Israeli military forced an 80-year-old Palestinian man to act as a human shield in Gaza by tying an explosive cord around his neck and threatening to have his head blown off.

A senior officer from the army’s Nahal Brigade tied the explosive cord around the man’s neck before he was ordered to scout houses.

After eight hours, soldiers ordered the man to flee with his wife from their home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood in May, said +972 magazine, which reported the piece in partnership with The Hottest Place in Hell.


‘No impunity for war criminals’: ICC complaint filed against Israel minister

The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar ahead of his visit to the Belgian capital Brussels on Tuesday.

The foundation accused Saar, along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of being responsible for the “mass displacement, starvation, and persecution of Palestinians”, it posted on X.

“Belgium must act under international law. No impunity for war criminals!” the group said.

The Belgium-based human rights group has been pursuing legal cases against Israeli soldiers across the globe, putting pressure on countries to seek justice for abuses committed in Gaza.

The foundation is named after six-year-old Hind Rajab, a Palestinian girl who was killed in Israeli shelling as her family fled Gaza City last year.


‘Our nation’s complicity with Israel’s genocide must end’

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) denounced Israel’s military after a news report said troops used an 80-year-old Palestinian man as a human shield in Gaza and later killed him and his wife.

In a statement, CAIR described the incident as “further evidence of the uncounted war crimes” by Israel’s army during the war.

“The revelation of this monstrous use of an 80-year-old man as a human shield and the subsequent murder of that man and his wife is further evidence of the uncounted war crimes committed in Gaza by the forces of the far-right government of indicted war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu. Our nation’s complicity with Israel’s genocide must end,” CAIR said.

Earlier this month, the organisation called on the administration of US President Donald Trump “to stop wasting taxpayer dollars” on the Israeli war on Gaza after the announcement of a new $7bn arms sale to Israel.



SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Palestine at the ‘core of the Middle East issue’, China says

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi says the fundamental solution to halting violence in the Middle East lies in implementing the two-state solution between Palestine and Israel.

Wang made the remarks during a meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Beijing’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“The humanitarian disaster in Gaza must be brought to an end as soon as possible,” Wang told his Israeli counterpart.

Pointing out the status of Palestine is the “core of the Middle East issue”, Wang said implementation of the two-state solution can enable “peaceful coexistence” between Palestinians and Israelis, while fostering “friendly exchanges” between Arabs and Jews.

Beijing is “committed to upholding justice” and will play a “constructive role” in finding a “comprehensive and lasting resolution to the Palestinian issue”, Wang added.



Qatar rejects displacing Palestinians from Gaza

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has reiterated Qatar’s “firm rejection of attempts to displace the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip”.

He said “such actions would only reignite confrontations in the occupied Palestinian territories and exacerbate the suffering of the Palestinian people”, according to a statement.



SvennoJ on 16 February 2025

Israeli army raids occupied West Bank town

Israeli forces have stormed the town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya, the Wafa news agency reports. Citing local sources, Wafa said Israeli soldiers entered the town, raided several shops and shot into the air.

No arrests have been reported so far. Israeli forces and settlers continue their attacks on Palestinian civilians throughout the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army sent reinforcements to Tulkarem’s Nur Shams refugee camp, where it has been conducting a deadly, large-scale military assault against its residents.


Israeli forces detain multiple Palestinians in Jenin

Israeli soldiers arrested several Palestinian men and subjected them to interrogation in the centre of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, sources told Al Jazeera.

Last month, Israel’s army launched a major assault in the Jenin area, dubbed the “Iron Wall”, almost immediately after a ceasefire was declared in Gaza.