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

SvennoJ on 18 February 2025

Israeli drones broadcasting threatening messages in Gaza despite ceasefire

Maha Hussaini, the strategy director at The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a rights groups, says Israeli drones “are flying at low altitudes over central and eastern Gaza City” with intimidating messages.

She said the recorded messages “threaten residents and speak of a second and third Nakba“, referring to the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their land when Israel was created in 1948.

The Euro-Med shared a recording of the messages in a separate post on X.


Suffering in Gaza worsens as Israel obstructs aid deliveries

Delays caused by Israeli restrictions have stalled the delivery of 6,000 caravans and 200,000 tents, as agreed to in the ceasefire.

Thousands of displaced Palestinians, returning from southern Gaza, find their homes destroyed and now live in makeshift tent cities. Harsh weather conditions further compound their suffering.

Despite the agreement, progress remains hindered, leaving displaced families in dire conditions.


Palestinians walk along a street amid widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military’s ground and air offensive against Hamas in Gaza City’s Jabalia refugee camp, Tuesday, February 11


For Palestinians in Gaza, 500 days of ‘humiliation, suffering and bloodshed’

Mohammed Abu Mursa, who has been displaced more than a dozen times since Israel’s war on Gaza began, says he is hoping the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds.

“It’s been 500 days of humiliation, suffering and bloodshed,” the resident of northern Gaza told the AFP news agency.

Mursa, who has been able to return home after the truce took effect on January 19, said, “There is only destruction around us”.

“I just hope the ceasefire holds,” he added.


Health catastrophe in Gaza worsening amid lack of water

Oxfam says less than 7 percent of pre-conflict water levels is available to Palestinians in north and south Gaza, heightening the spread of waterborne diseases and worsening a health catastrophe in the enclave.

In the North Gaza governorate, which includes Jabalia, Beit Hanoon and Beit Lahiya, the Israeli military has destroyed almost all water wells, while in the southern Rafah governorate, more than 90 percent of water wells and reservoirs have been partially or completely damaged, and water production is less than five percent of its capacity before the conflict, Oxfam said.

And despite efforts to resume water production following the ceasefire, the destruction of Gaza’s water pipelines means that 60 percent of water is leaking into the ground rather than reaching people, it added.

“Now that the bombs have stopped, we have only just begun to grasp the sheer scale of destruction to Gaza’s water and sanitation infrastructure. Most vital water and sanitation networks have been entirely lost or paralyzed, creating catastrophic hygiene and health conditions,” said Clemence Lagouardat, Oxfam’s humanitarian head of response in Gaza.

“Our staff and partners have told how people are stopping them in the streets asking for water, and that parents are not drinking to save water for their children. It is heartbreaking to hear about children having to walk for miles for a single jerrycan of water.”

The advocacy group says there has been an explosion of waterborne and infectious diseases in Gaza amid the lack of safe water and untreated sewage overflowing in the enclave’s streets.

It cited a study by the World Health Organization, which found that 88 percent of environmental samples surveyed across Gaza were found contaminated with polio, “signalling an imminent risk of outbreak”. It said infectious diseases, including acute watery diarrhoea and respiratory infections – now the leading causes of death, are also surging, with 46,000 cases, mostly children, being reported each week.

Chickenpox and skin diseases such as scabies and impetigo are also spreading rapidly, particularly among displaced populations in the North Gaza governorate, facing severe water shortages.

“Rebuilding water and sanitation is vital for Gaza to have a path to normalcy after 15 months of horror. The ceasefire must hold and fuel and aid must flow so that Palestinians can rebuild their lives,” said Lagouardat, Oxfam’s humanitarian coordinator in Gaza.



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SvennoJ on 18 February 2025

Israel violated Gaza ceasefire ‘266 times’, killing 132 Palestinians

Palestinian security sources have told Al Jazeera they registered 266 violations of the ceasefire agreement since it came into effect in the Gaza Strip on January 19.

Those violations have led to the killing of at least 132 Palestinians, including 26 who succumbed to their wounds. More than 900 people were injured as a result of Israeli gunfire and raids on the enclave.

Most violations occurred in central Gaza, with 110 incidents, followed by 54 in Rafah, 49 in Gaza City, 19 in Khan Younis, and 13 in the northern Gaza Strip.

Throughout the ceasefire, Israeli leaders have been discussing the possibility of an imminent return to fighting, with far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s cabinet pushing for military occupation of the enclave.


Buildings lie in ruins in Gaza, as seen from Israel on February 15

Here’s a list of the violations, as told to Al Jazeera by Palestinian security sources:

  • Targeting people returning to their homes in the eastern, central, and southern Gaza Strip.
  • Targeting civilian vehicles returning to northern Gaza and bulldozers working to remove rubble and open roads.
  • Carrying out incursions and bulldozing operations in the eastern areas of the enclave, “outside the buffer zone”.
  • Carrying out demolitions of residential homes, especially in the Tal as-Sultan, as-Salam and Brazil neighbourhoods south of Rafah city.
  • Penetrating the centre of Rafah with soldiers, and killing and wounding people.
  • Flying drones of various types across many areas of Gaza outside the hours agreed upon in the ceasefire terms.
  • Most violations occurred near the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors in the central and southern parts of the enclave.
  • The Israeli air force carried out more than 130 sorties with various types of aircraft in the skies of Gaza.


Palestinian woman dies of wounds sustained in Israeli attacks on Gaza

The woman has succumbed to her injuries that were previously sustained as a result of an Israeli military attack, according to the Wafa news agency.

In southern Gaza’s Rafah city, three people were reported wounded after being shot by Israeli forces this morning east of the municipality of ash-Shawka in southern Gaza’s Rafah city.


Israeli forces kill child in southern Gaza’s Rafah city: Report

A child has been killed by Israeli forces near al-Awda Square in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Information Center.

The agency said another child was shot and injured by the Israeli army east of Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood.



SvennoJ on 18 February 2025

Israeli forces detain, ‘humiliate’ Palestinian activist in West Bank

Palestinian rights group Al-Haq has shared a video on social media of Israeli forces questioning one of the group’s researchers after stopping his car at a “flying checkpoint” near an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Sami Huraini said he was detained for “around one hour”, during which Israeli soldiers “humiliated me, conducted intrusive searches, and screamed at me”.

He says the “flying checkpoint” he was stopped at was removed after he was detained.

“Sami has lost count of the number of times the [Israeli army] have detained him, in an attempt to intimidate and silence his work as a human rights defender,” Al-Haq said in a post on X.



Israeli forces beat, arrest several Palestinians in West Bank

Israeli forces have raided several locations across the occupied West Bank, triggering clashes and arresting and beating several Palestinians.

According to local media, Israeli forces have:

  • Detained and beaten several young Palestinian men in the city of Tulkarem
  • Clashed with Palestinians in the town of Yabad, south of Jenin
  • Clashed with Palestinians in the town of Beit Rita, north of Ramallah, and raided the nearby town of Ramona
  • Severely beaten a young man during a raid on a house in the town of Beita, south of Nablus
  • Stormed the village of Asira and the town of Ursa, near Nablus, prompting clashes.

Earlier, we reported that a 15-year-old boy who was wounded in an air Israeli air attack in the city of Qabatiya two weeks ago has died from his injuries.

Another Palestinian was also wounded by Israeli fire during confrontations in the village of Tal, south of Nablus, on Monday evening.

The raids come as Israeli forces continue a large-scale operation, dubbed “Iron Wall”, against Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank, which has killed dozens of people, displaced more than 40,000 and destroyed large areas of refugee camps and cities in the north of the territory.


Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian cars near Hebron: Report

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian government body, says Israeli settlers attacked the village of Susiya in Masafer Yatta, near Hebron, overnight and set fire to vehicles there.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency shows at least one car fully engulfed in flames.

At least 18 Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces across West Bank: Report

Israeli forces have carried out a wave of violent raids and arrests in the occupied West Bank, reports the Wafa news agency. In the town of Meithalun, near Jenin, they fired a tear gas canister at a 16-year-old, injuring him, and “severely beat” another young man, according to Wafa.

They arrested:

  • At least two people in and around Nablus
  • Six people near Ramallah
  • Seven people from Bethlehem
  • Three people from the town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya


Israeli forces destroy more homes in West Bank’s Tulkarem camp

Israeli forces are carrying out a large-scale demolition operation in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on their 23rd day of attacks on the area.

Demolition notifications have been issued for 14 more Palestinian homes inside the camp, according to Wafa, which reports that at least 22 homes have been destroyed in over three weeks of Israeli attacks. Another 300 homes have been partially destroyed, 11 were burned, and about 10,450 people have been forcibly displaced so far from Tulkarem.

Southeast of occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli forces also stormed the town of Jabal Mukaber accompanied by a bulldozer and crew to demolish several homes.


Israeli army demolishes 6 homes in occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta


Israeli forces, accompanied by bulldozers, raid and demolish 6 houses belonging to Palestinians on the grounds that it was ‘unlicensed’ in the Masafer Yatta district of the Hebron governorate on February 18



SvennoJ on 18 February 2025

Israeli leaders discuss ceasefire and a return to fighting in Gaza

Following US pressure after the visit by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Israel, the Israeli prime minister finally decided to dispatch the Israeli delegation to the Egyptian capital to discuss the next phase of the deal.

However, there’s a lot of talk in Israel about not going to the second phase. Discussions within the Israeli security cabinet last night led to no consensus on how to move forward.

According to Israeli media, the prime minister wants to extend phase one rather than going to phase two. And there’s been a lot of talk about going back to fighting. The US has given Israel whatever guarantees it wants. President Trump has said Israel can do whatever it wants about the ceasefire and a return to war.

But a new survey by Israel’s Channel 12 shows that 61 percent of respondents want to continue with the ceasefire deal and release as many Israeli captives as possible. Now, there are talks behind the scenes about Israel getting the US involved to pressure mediators to release more captives who are alive and return the bodies of those killed.

Hamas eyes second phase of Gaza ceasefire as it confirms more releases

Hamas announcements on release of six captives next Saturday and four bodies on Thursday are a big development for negotiations on phase two of the ceasefire.

Hamas said they are doing this because they want the second phase to take place. The Israelis have been asking for this for about a week now, saying they want the bodies of some captives to be released sooner than the end of phase one on March 1.

The bodies to be released on Thursday will include the Bibas family, who Hamas announced in November 2023 were killed in an Israeli air strike.

Husband and father Yarden Bibas was released just a couple of weeks ago as part of phase one. The Israeli military had said they had great concerns over the fate of the mother and her two children, but did not confirm whether they were killed. Hamas now confirms they will be releasing the bodies.

Four more bodies of deceased captives are expected to be released on the final day of phase one.


Netanyahu’s office confirms Israel to receive six living captives, four bodies

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the talks in Cairo resulted in an agreement on the release of six living Israeli captives on Saturday as part of the first phase of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Israel will also receive the bodies of four Israeli prisoners on Thursday and the bodies of four others a week later, the statement said.

The Times of Israel newspaper said the families of the captives have been notified.


Hamas says it will release bodies of four hostages, including Bibas children, on Thursday and six living hostages on Saturday

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/18/middleeast/hamas-israel-hostages-to-release-bibas-family-intl/index.html

It is clearest indication that the Bibas children – who were just nine months and four years old, respectively, when they were kidnapped in October 2023 – are indeed dead.

Israel has not yet confirmed their deaths and has not yet commented on Hamas’ announcement.

Hamas claimed in November 2023 that Kfir and Ariel Bibas were killed along with their mother in an Israeli airstrike, and released a video of their father Yarden, who was also held hostage, in which he blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for their deaths.

An Israeli military spokesperson at the time called the video “psychological terror,” but the military has told relatives that they may not be alive, according to a spokesperson for the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Hamas released Yarden Bibas, alive, on February 1.

The Bibas family, and Kfir in particular, have become one of the most recognizable victims of the October 7 terror attacks.



Kfir’s picture has been featured on many of the posters calling for the release of the hostages that have been on display across Israel and the world for the past 15 months. In it, the red-haired baby boy is holding a pink elephant toy, looking directly into the camera with a toothless smile.

Hamas’ announcement came on the day Israel said it would begin talks on the second phase of the Gaza hostage-ceasefire agreement.



SvennoJ on 18 February 2025

Israeli military’s AI tool misidentified Gaza students as potential fighters: Report

The Associated Press news agency is reporting that US tech giants have quietly empowered Israel to track and kill alleged fighters in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in AI and computing services.

But the high number of civilian killings has fuelled fears that these tools are contributing to the deaths of innocent people, it said.

The Israeli military uses AI to sift through vast troves of intelligence, intercepted communications and surveillance to find suspicious speech or behaviour and learn the movements of its enemies, AP reported. And after the October 7 attacks, the Israeli military’s use of Microsoft and OpenAI skyrocketed, it said, citing an investigation.

But the way these AI systems select targets can go wrong, including through faulty data or flawed algorithms, the AP said.

In one case, an Israeli intelligence officer said the military’s targeting system had misidentified a list of high school students as potential fighters. An Excel spreadsheet attached to several people’s profiles titled “finals” in Arabic, contained at least 1,000 students’ names on an exam list in one area of Gaza, he said. This was the only piece of incriminating evidence attached to people’s files, he said, and had he not caught the mistake, those Palestinians could have been wrongly flagged.

The officer told AP he was worried that other officers, some still younger than 20, under pressure to find targets quickly with the help of AI, would jump to conclusions.


Demonstrators call for the termination of Microsoft’s Azure contracts with the Israeli army in Seattle, Washington, near the Microsoft Build Conference, on May 21, 2024


Rights groups say US, Canada violating UN racism treaty with arms exports to Israel

Eight human rights and legal organisations have told a UN committee that the US and Canada are violating their obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by continuing to export weapons to Israel.

In a 56-page submission to the committee, the organisations detailed how US military aid to Israel has “grown astronomically” since October 7, 2023, with Washington spending “at least an additional $22.76 billion on military aid to Israel and related US operations in the region”, as of September 30, 2024.

“The United States and Canada are well aware of Israel’s violations of international law, often perpetrated with Canada- and US-provided weaponry,” the submission said.



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SvennoJ on 18 February 2025

Main events on February 18th

  • Khalil al-Hayya, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, confirmed that the group will release the bodies of four Israeli captives, including those of the Bibas family, and free four living captives on Saturday.
  • Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said the indirect talks for a second stage of the ceasefire deal, which were supposed to start on February 4, will begin this week.
  • Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinians, including a child and a woman, in the southern city of Rafah in Gaza, and are continuing to hold up the delivery of mobile homes to displaced people in the enclave, in violation of the ceasefire deal.
  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced Israeli raids on three schools and a training centre run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in the occupied West Bank.
  • An assessment by the UN, European Union and the World Bank found that more than $50bn will be required to rebuild Gaza over the next 10 years, with $20bn needed for recovery efforts in the first three.
  • In Lebanon, Israeli troops remained at five strategic positions in southern parts of the country, despite a ceasefire deadline to withdraw completely.

 

Lebanon teams retrieve 23 bodies after Israeli pullout

Lebanon’s civil defence agency has recovered 23 bodies from several border towns after Israeli troops withdrew from some southern towns under a ceasefire deadline.

“Specialised teams today … managed to remove 14 bodies from Meiss el-Jabal, three from Markaba, and three from Kfar Kila, in addition to three from Odaisseh,” said a statement published by the state-run National News Agency.

Lebanese leaders said the Israeli military’s continued presence in five locations is an “occupation” and Beirut is in touch with France and the United States to press the army to completely withdraw from southern Lebanon.



France calls for immediate Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon

Israeli forces should pull back from five positions in southern Lebanon as soon as possible in line with the November ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah, says France.

The Foreign Ministry urged all parties to consider its proposal to deploy the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to these five locations to replace Israeli forces and ensure the security of the population there.

The ministry also praised the redeployment of the Lebanese army where Israeli forces withdrew. The positioning of Lebanese forces allows demining operations and ensures the return of residents in safety, it added.




SvennoJ on 19 February 2025

Lebanon’s president tells US official Israeli occupation in remaining points must end

Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has told US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz that it is necessary to end the Israeli occupation in the remaining points and complete the implementation of the US-brokered ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Israeli troops withdrew yesterday from most of south Lebanon but Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel would temporarily remain in five points needed for its security.

The Lebanese presidency said that Lebanon would consider any remaining Israeli presence on Lebanese land an occupation.

Israel had been due to withdraw by January 26, but this was extended to February 18 after it accused Lebanon of failing to enforce the terms. Lebanon at the time accused Israel of delaying its withdrawal.

Israeli drone attack on vehicle kills 1 in southern Lebanon

An Israeli drone attack on a vehicle in the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab near the border with Israel has killed one person.

Lebanon’s National News Agency confirmed the killing and also reported that at least two people were wounded separately in the town of Wazzani after Israeli soldiers opened fire.

Lebanese sources did not immediately confirm the identity of the deceased, but Israeli Army Radio, quoting security sources, said the target was a Hezbollah member. The man, reported to be the son of the mayor of the town, was driving his car near the border when the attack took place. His wife was seriously injured in the attack.



Sanad, Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, identified the victim as Yusuf Mohammed Sorour, the son of the mayor of the town, targeted while he was sitting in his car in front of his home.


Several Israelis illegally cross into Lebanon: Report

The Times of Israel newspaper, citing police, says several Israelis illegally crossed the border into Lebanon overnight, and some of them threw rocks at Israeli troops who arrived on the scene.

Police officials said some of those were arrested, and the remaining suspects returned to Israel by the army, according to the daily.

It said it was the second such incident this week, with about 20 ultra-Orthodox Jewish Israelis illegally entering Lebanon overnight on Sunday.

The group was reportedly attempting to reach the tomb of Rav Ashi, a fourth-century Babylonian scholar.


Israeli army says it killed Hezbollah fighter near border

A fighter jet eliminated a “Hezbollah military operative” in southern Lebanon, the military says.

The target was “identified as dealing with weapons”, it added. The strike took place a day after the deadline for the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon expired.

The pullout was part of a ceasefire deal signed between Hezbollah and Israel in late November that brought an end to more than a year of cross-border hostilities, including a two-month full-out war.

Despite the deadline, Israel decided to keep troops in five locations on Lebanese territory, raising fears it is planning a new long-term occupation.



SvennoJ on 19 February 2025

Israeli forces arrest Palestinians in Bethlehem and Tulkarem

Israeli soldiers have arrested six Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy, in raids across the Bethlehem governorate in the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa.

They also detained 14 others in the town of Tuqu, southeast of Bethlehem, for hours, a security source told the news agency.

In the north, Israeli forces arrested several Palestinians during raids on Tulkarem, including people displaced from the neighbouring Nur Shams refugee camp, the agency added.


Israel destroyed 50 homes, 280 shops in West Bank’s Tulkarem camp: Official

Tulkarem Deputy Governor Faisal Salama says the Israeli army is “working to reshape the features and geography of the Tulkarem camp through extensive demolition of Palestinian properties”.

He told the Anadolu news agency that the Tulkarem camp is going through “a systematic occupation plan, through which new roads are opened on the ruins of the buildings”.

Salama described the Israeli military operation in Tulkarem as “a massacre and an illegal plan carried out amid Arab and international silence”.

“We are living in tragic conditions and a real catastrophe that has targeted women, children, the elderly, and everything,” the Palestinian official said, adding that only 50 families are still in the camp amid a lack of water and electricity.

Yesterday alone, the Israeli army destroyed 16 homes in the camp, the largest demolition operation in the occupied West Bank since last month.

There have been military operations in the northern West Bank since January 21, killing more than 55 Palestinians and displacing thousands, according to Palestinian officials.


Israeli settlers expand outpost in Tubas, soldiers raid across West Bank

Israeli settlers are expanding an illegal outpost near Tayasir checkpoint east of Tubas in the occupied West Bank, setting up new tents and caravans.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, a Palestinian government body, reports that settlers have attempted to establish at least 10 such outposts since the start of this year, according to the Wafa news agency.

In addition to another group of settlers entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to perform Talmudic rituals, we also have these reports on Israeli raids across the occupied Palestinian territory:

  • Israeli soldiers stormed the areas of al-Issawiya and Silwan in the occupied East Jerusalem, setting up a military checkpoint in Silwan and imposing fines on vehicles.
  • Israeli forces also arrested two Palestinian brothers and a child during a raid on the city of Hebron and the town of Beit Ummar.
  • Israeli forces stormed the town of Nilin, west of Ramallah, and raided a number of homes, including those of former prisoners.
  • Bulldozers of the Israeli army demolished Palestinian structures in the town of Hizma, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.


Israeli army’s Jenin raid enters 2nd month; mass displacement in West Bank

The Israeli army has continued with its large-scale military raid in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp, forcing thousands to flee their homes.

Wednesday marks 30 days since Israeli forces began their assault on Jenin, which then spread to other parts of the northern West Bank, including Tulkarem and its Nur Shams refugee camp. At least 26 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin since January 21.

The army has also deployed hundreds of soldiers and bulldozers that demolished houses and tore up vital infrastructure in the overcrowded camp, forcing almost all of its residents out.



Israeli forces to demolish West Bank homes of two Palestinian prisoners

Israeli authorities have given final authorisation to demolish the homes of two Palestinians who are currently imprisoned, according to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

The monitors said in a statement that the move is against international law and interim orders by the International Court of Justice for Israel to halt its illegal occupation of the West Bank.

One of the prisoners is from the town of Rafat and has been in detention since September 2024, while the other is from Hebron and has been detained since October 2024.

The Wafa news agency reports that Israeli forces have demolished another home and bulldozed agricultural lands and stone walls in the city of Hebron. Israeli settlers also reportedly bulldozed lands in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus.




Israeli forces shoot, injure Palestinian woman in West Bank’s Jenin camp: Report

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that a woman has been injured after being shot at by Israeli forces near the entrance to Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its crews had transferred the 50-year-old woman to a hospital.

Wafa said Israel’s ongoing monthlong siege on the Jenin refugee camp has killed 26 Palestinians and left dozens of injuries. It has also displaced thousands of civilians amidst destruction, demolition and burning of homes.



SvennoJ on 19 February 2025

‘Violent and mass ethnic cleansing’ under way in West Bank: Israeli politician

Ofer Cassif, a member of the Israeli parliament, has taken to X to raise awareness over Israeli attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

“Under the smokescreen of the genocidal ethnic cleansing in Gaza, violent and mass ethnic cleansing is also taking place in the West Bank, actual destruction of many communities and several refugee camps,” he wrote.

“The world must wake up and stop the unfolding disaster NOW!” Cassif stated.

Cassif, a member of the left-wing, Arab-majority Hadash-Ta’al party, has long been a vocal critic of Israel’s abuses, including backing a petition supporting South Africa’s case of genocide against Israel held at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague.

He is also strongly opposed to illegal Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory and has protested against them.


Palestinians leave their homes for safety during a raid by the Israeli army in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, on February 11

US halts funding for Palestinian security forces under aid freeze: Report

The United States plans to stop supporting the Palestinian Authority’s security forces as part of a broader freeze on foreign aid.

According to a report by The Washington Post, the funding cut by the Trump’s administration comes as the Palestinian Authority struggles to maintain security in the occupied West Bank and prepare for a potential role in governing the Gaza Strip.

Brigadier-General Anwar Rajab, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority forces, told the Post the US was a key donor supporting security training programmes.

Despite the freeze, an unnamed former Israeli official said the US Security Coordinator’s office in West Jerusalem remains operational and “other donors have committed to make up the shortfall”.

A Palestinian Authority security training official said, however, some programmes have already been canceled and a planned meeting with US officials about security operations in Jenin has been postponed.


Israel blocks thousands of Palestinians from returning to Jenin

The Israeli army prevented thousands of displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the main entrance of the camp after reported calls by the Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority for residents to return.

“We gathered here at the entrance of the camp to return and see what has happened to our camp, but the Israeli army prevented us and chased us away,” Basma Masharqa, a Palestinian resident, told the Anadolu news agency.

“We know that our house had been demolished. I want to return, despite my heartbreak, just to see even the ruins. We say to the occupation: Enough! Get out of our camp. There is nothing left that you haven’t done.”


Israeli forces arrest 30 Palestinians across occupied West Bank: Prisoners’ groups

At least 30 Palestinians, including children and former prisoners, have been arrested by the Israeli army since yesterday evening until this morning, according to the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS).

Since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in late January, the number of arrests in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp has reached 175, while in Tulkarem and its camps, at least 150, including those who were arrested and later released, the joint statement said.

“It is noteworthy that the occupation has adopted a set of policies in various areas where the aggression has escalated, especially in Jenin and its camp, as well as Tulkarm and its camps,” it said.

“The most prominent of these policies are field executions, assassinations, and systematic field investigations that have affected dozens of families, in addition to detaining citizens as hostages, and turning homes into military barracks, after forcing their owners to leave them and move to other areas,” the statement added.

“The targeting of homes was not only by turning them into military barracks, but also by demolishing and blowing up homes and burning some of them, in addition to the deliberate destruction of infrastructure.”



SvennoJ on 19 February 2025

Gaza urgently needs a more effective humanitarian approach


Trucks carrying container homes wait on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing for permission from Israeli authorities to enter Gaza on Tuesday

The ceasefire agreement in Gaza has now held for a month. There have been critical moments and violations, but the mediators have so far managed to keep the deal alive.

This has allowed many of the 1.9 million displaced people to move back to areas they had fled from, easing the strain on southern and central Gaza which had hosted large makeshift camps without the necessary infrastructure.

The ceasefire has certainly brought a sense of relief to the Gaza Strip, which has endured unimaginable suffering for 15 months. But for the families who have survived the relentless bombing and destruction, the battle is far from over.

They face a new war – one against poverty, hunger, homelessness, and despair. Homes lie in ruins, hospitals are overwhelmed, and schools are either destroyed or still shelter the displaced and homeless. Gaza has been set back by decades.

Over the past weeks, we have seen aid access ramp up significantly into the Strip, particularly the north, which was besieged for months. But significant challenges remain.


Palestinians gather near a fire next to the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip on February 13


Oxfam says 80 percent of Gaza’s water infrastructure is damaged

The international charity Oxfam says 80 percent of water and sanitation networks in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed during Israel’s war on Gaza.

The damaged networks, including all six key wastewater treatment plants, have accelerated the spread of waterborne disease as hundreds of thousands of people shelter in tent camps, Oxfam said.


Israel keeps denying entry of heavy machinery into Gaza: Media Office chief


Rows of bulldozers are still left waiting outside the Rafah crossing in Egypt

Israel has only allowed six small machines to remove rubble from the Gaza Strip while preventing the entry of hundreds more that are desperately needed, according to Ismail al-Thawabta, director of Gaza’s Government Media Office.

Thawabteh told the Anadolu news agency that “the Gaza Strip needs 500 heavy equipment units, including bulldozers, excavators, cranes, and others”.

He stressed that Gaza is experiencing “a suffocating humanitarian crisis due to the lack of the equipment and heavy machinery needed for the rubble removal, opening the roads, and recovering thousands of corpses”.

He noted that Israel’s decision to allow only six machines reflects its “state of ignorance regarding the humanitarian crisis in Gaza”.


People sit around a tent to keep warm and provide light as the sun sets


Jordan to send ready-made houses to Gaza as part of aid campaign

The Jordanian Hashemite Charity Organization has started preparing and sending ready-made houses to the Gaza Strip as part of the aid convoys.

The state-run organisation published a video today, showing the preparation of ready-made houses ready to be sent to Gaza, indicating that they have started shipping them to the Strip in cooperation with the armed forces.

A few days ago, the organisation sent tents to the displaced who lost their homes in various areas of Gaza due to the Israeli aggression.

Despite urgent needs, hundreds of heavy machinery and mobile homes are lined up at the border between Gaza and Egypt, awaiting Israeli approval to enter.