Israeli forces kill Palestinian child in southern Gaza’s Rafah

Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian child in the airport area east of Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, according to Wafa. Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported earlier that Israeli artillery shelled the area earlier today.

A 16-year-old child has succumbed to serious wounds after being shot by the Israeli army in the vicinity of the airport area east of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip.

Medical staff at the European Hospital in the nearby city of Khan Younis reported that the child was shot in the back at dawn today, before his death was announced later.



Ben-Gvir calls for Israel to ‘return to a war of total annihilation’ in Gaza

Israel’s far-right politician, former National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is still fuming over the fact that the fragile ceasefire agreement has held, calling it a “reckless surrender deal”.

After arguments at the Knesset over the deal, Ben-Gvir wrote in a post on X that thousands of “murderous terrorists” are being released from prison in reference to Palestinian detainees, and Hamas is rebuilding while Israeli forces have pulled back from parts of the enclave.

“All this, while the government has complete American backing to rain down hell on Hamas if all our hostages are not released immediately,” he said.

The extremist politician, who quit the government over the ceasefire deal but has signalled he would come back if the war continues, called on Netanyahu and cabinet ministers “to come to their senses and return to a war of total annihilation of Hamas immediately”.

Despite calls by families of captives in Gaza to maintain the deal, Ben-Gvir claimed returning to war would be the only way to get them back without compromising on security.

Israeli army files indictments against soldiers accused of torturing Palestinian prisoner: Report

Israel’s broadcaster Kan is reporting that the Israeli military prosecution has filed indictments against five Israeli reserve soldiers on charges of assaulting and torturing a Palestinian prisoner in the Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev desert last July.

Kan said according to the indictment, the five soldiers used extreme violence, including stabbing the prisoner with a sharp object in various parts of his body, which resulted in fractures and serious wounds in sensitive areas.

The incident is reported to have occurred on July 5, 2024, while the defendants were serving at the facility and were asked to search the detainee, who was blindfolded, and had his hands and feet shackled.

The military police had arrested the soldiers involved after a video was leaked showing the prisoner being abused.

Better than nothing. Yet indicting a few scapegoats is still a long way away from solving the policy of systemic torture.

Palestine condemns Fiji’s decision to open embassy to Israel in Jerusalem

Palestine has strongly condemned Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka’s decision to open the country’s embassy to Israel in Jerusalem, calling it a violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry and the Hamas movement issued separate statements, urging the Fijian government to reverse its decision.

According to the Foreign Ministry, the Fijian decision is “an act of aggression against the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights” and impedes “prospects for peace based on the principle of the two-state solution”.

Hamas said in a statement that the decision is “a blatant assault on the rights of our Palestinian people to their land and a clear violation of international law and UN resolutions, which recognise Jerusalem as occupied Palestinian territory”.

Yesterday, the Fijian Foreign Ministry announced on its official website that the country’s cabinet has approved the establishment of an embassy to Israel in Jerusalem.

If the decision is carried out, Fiji will become the seventh country to have embassies in Jerusalem after the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, and Paraguay.

Israeli minister lambasts top lawyer for putting ‘a damper on deportation plan for Gaza’

Far-right Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi has described Israel’s campaign to displace Palestinians from Gaza as a “deportation plan” in a post on X that criticised the country’s attorney general for advocating consultations on the legality of resettling Palestinians from the Strip.

In the post, Karhi said Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara “now wants to put a damper on the deportation plan for Gaza residents” and described her actions as “unimaginable”.

He added that the government should “not take orders” from Baharav-Miara and called for her dismissal.

The Times of Israel said that Karhi’s comments departed from those of senior Israeli figures, including Netanyahu and former Interior Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who have claimed their plans to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza would be “voluntary migration” rather than “deportation”.

Egypt, Spain reject US plan to displace Gazans

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez rejected the controversial proposal by US President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians from war-torn Gaza.

The Arab League is scheduled to hold a meeting in Cairo on March 4 in response to Trump’s plan to take over Gaza and permanently move its Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere.

Speaking in Madrid ahead of the gathering, el-Sisi called for the “international community’s support and adoption of a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing the Palestinian people”.

The Palestinian people “cling to their homeland, which they do not agree to relinquish”, Egypt’s leader said.

Sanchez, one of the staunchest defenders of the Palestinian cause within the European Union, agreed saying, “Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is part of the future Palestinian state”.

Gaza reconstruction should lead to two-state solution: UAE president tells US’s Rubio

United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that his country rejects the displacement of Palestinians from their land, according to state news agency WAM.

He also told the visiting US official that it was important to link Gaza’s reconstruction to a path that leads to a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, the report added.

Hamas offered to free all captives at once, but ending war ‘not a popular idea’ in Israel

Hamas’s latest proposal says that they will release all of the remaining Israeli captives, including male soldiers who were abducted on October 7, in exchange for an end to the war.

What’s different about this proposal is that we wouldn’t see releases over several weeks like we are now seeing in phase one. It would be a one-time release of all of the captives in exchange for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war.

There’s been no official Israeli response to this, but within the Israeli political realm, especially among the right wing, it’s not a popular idea to end the war and leave Hamas in power, militarily and politically in Gaza. Netanyahu says that Israel is going to achieve the absolute destruction of Hamas in both of those aspects.

After weeks of delay, the Israeli PM finally agreed to dispatch a negotiating team for phase two of the talks, but it’s still unclear what Israel is looking for out of phase two.

Netanyahu says he wants to extend phase one, according to reports within Israeli media, to release more captives, but Hamas is adamant about being committed to the deal and wanting to see it through.

Israeli opposition leader says demands for Hamas’s departure obstructs deal

Yair Lapid has told broadcaster Kan that Hamas will not agree to a second phase of the ceasefire deal if the Israeli government demands that it leave the Palestinian enclave.

Lapid said such a demand is not a condition for a deal “but a means to obstruct it”.

He said the agreement needed to be finalised and the captives brought back, but said the “big concern” is that the Israeli government may not implement the second phase for “political reasons”.

The comments come after Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said indirect negotiations for a second stage of the truce deal will begin this week and that Israel “will not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist organisation in Gaza”.

As we’ve been reporting, Hamas has rejected that demand, calling it “ridiculous” and saying “any arrangements for the future of the Gaza Strip will be through national consensus”.

Israel has upper hand, but has not been able to defeat Hamas

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, says both Hamas and Israel have been trying to take the moral high ground with their captive and prisoner swaps.

“Hamas continues to diminish. And despite the fact that throughout those exchanges we have seen over the past few weeks, Hamas showed itself to be able to withstand the Israeli assault – that does not mean it has the upper hand. In fact, it has the lower hand,” Bishara said.

“The problem for Israel is not that it does not have the upper hand. It’s that despite having the upper hand, it’s not able to defeat Hamas,” he said.

“But here we are and Israel is dictating the process – when, where aid goes in. And as long as those alternative housing units are not getting in, it’s making things quite difficult for the Palestinians.”

Bishara added the “bigger problem” is not going to be phase one, but phase two or three.

Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories | Francesca Albanese at Erasmus University Rotterdam

On Friday, 14 February 2025, Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, gave a talk at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Albanese highlighted the findings of her report released on 1 October 2024, which outlined her legal analysis on why the attacks on the Palestinian population may amount to genocide, and have drawn attention to the legal responsibilities of Third States and international organizations to halt the onslaught on Gaza and ensure the accountability of perpetrators of international crimes.

This event was organized by members of various EUR faculties and Centres, including The Hague Humanitarian Studies Centre and Legal Mobilization Platform, hosted at ISS Erasmus. The event was facilitated by Erasmus University Rotterdam.

One Of Israel's VILEST War Crimes Yet - Where Is The Media Outrage?

Referring to this report

Israeli soldiers used an 80-year-old Gazan as a human shield. Then they killed him
https://www.972mag.com/gaza-human-shield-mosquito/

Gunman Shoots Two Israelis He Mistook For Palestinians

https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/17/us/brafman-miami-shooting-palestinian/index.html

Israeli Court Sentences Palestinian Child For 18 Years In Prison



An Israeli court has sentenced 15-year-old Palestinian boy Mohammed Basel Zalbani to 18 years in prison and fined him 300,000 shekels ($83,000). Arrested in February 2023, Zalbani was accused of resisting occupation. His family’s home was also demolished. With over 1,100 Palestinian children imprisoned and increasing violence in the West Bank, human rights groups are calling for urgent international intervention.

Rights group slams EU for ignoring Israeli violations

The European Union has been criticised before its upcoming Partnership Council meeting with Israel, with critics urging the bloc to suspend talks and impose sanctions on Israeli officials.

At a news conference, Alexis Deswaef, vice president of the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights, emphasised the need to hold the EU accountable for its response to Israel’s war conduct in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“All possible alarms are sounding yet the EU turns a blind eye, acting as if nothing is happening in Israel. Every honest lawyer in the world will confirm that this is an ongoing genocide,” Deswaef said.

He condemned Israel’s continued expansion in the occupied West Bank and the Trump administration’s support for annexation efforts. He also warned the EU’s ongoing engagement with Israeli authorities undermines its credibility.

Deswaef pointed to Article 2 of the EU-Israel Partnership Agreement, which requires adherence to human rights and international law, and urged the EU to enforce these principles and reconsider its partnership with Israel.

Israel kills three Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Israeli authorities say undercover police officers killed three Palestinian fighters in the Far’a camp, northeast of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.

The three were involved in smuggling arms, Israel’s army alleged. Two other people were detained in the raid.

Since the start of an Israeli military campaign on January 21 – targeting the Jenin refugee camp and its adjoining city – the raids have expanded to other areas of the occupied territory.

Several refugee camps – including Jenin, Tulkarem, Nur Shams and Far’a – have been “nearly emptied of their residents”, the UN said, describing the incursion as “the single longest in the West Bank” since the second Intifada.

Israeli army to perform military excercise in northern Gaza

The Israeli army announced it will undertake a military manoeuvre in the north of the war-devastated Gaza Strip.

“As part of the exercise, there will be a lot of movement of vehicles and security forces in the area,” it said in a statement.

The exercise will take place on the same day four bodies of Israeli captives will be released for the first time since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was signed in January.

Shackled in chains, Gaza icon Dr Abu Safia appears in video

Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, appeared with both hands and feet shackled for the first time since his arrest by Israeli forces.

Israeli media broadcast a video showing Abu Safia visibly exhausted and weakened as he was escorted by prison guards. Abu Safia is regarded as one of the most prominent doctors who continued working under Israeli bombardment to save wounded Palestinians in northern Gaza.

In late December, Israeli forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, arrested Abu Safia at gunpoint, and destroyed the hospital, rendering it non-functional.

His arrest sparked widespread condemnation, especially after an image circulated of him walking alone amid the ruins, dressed in his medical coat, surrounded by Israeli military vehicles – a scene that became an icon of Palestinian resilience.

According to his family, Abu Safia was subjected to torture and starvation inside Israeli prisons, a claim confirmed by a lawyer who recently visited him.


_{Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, shows the damage inside his hospital caused by Israeli attacks}

Doctors Against Genocide urge US Senate to help end Gaza war

Doctors Against Genocide gathered in Washington, DC to urge the US Senate to take action and end Israel’s war on Gaza.

The global coalition of healthcare workers mobilised more than 100 doctors, nurses, and medical workers on Capitol Hill.

“We are here because our duty as medical professionals does not stop at the hospital doors. It is our responsibility to protect life and to sound the alarm when we witness crimes against humanity,” Dr Nidal Jboor, the group’s co-founder, told reporters.

“What is happening to the Palestinian people is genocide, and it is funded by our tax dollars. We refuse to be complicit. We demand that the Senate take immediate action.”

Jboor said the group demands the restoration of funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and an end to the forced displacement of Palestinians.

“We also demand a permanent ceasefire, not just negotiations, but a complete end to the slaughter of innocent civilians.”

Doctors Against Genocide also demanded the release of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, who was detained by Israeli forces along, with others, during a December 27 raid on the facility.

_{Activists protest in front of Sde Teiman prison in Israel demanding the release of Palestinians, including Dr Hussam Abu Safia}

Main events on February 19th

_{A Lebanese family sits next to a destroyed home in the southern Lebanese border village of Wazzani after Israeli forces partially withdrew on Wednesday}

Abu Safia’s family slams Israeli video as ‘psychological terrorism’

The detained doctor’s family has denounced the Israeli video of Abu Safia, saying his statements had been manipulated and distorted.

“We reject any media outlet broadcasting the video without addressing the psychological terrorism he was subjected to and exposing the manipulation of his statements,” the family said.

“The scene of our father being restrained and unable to move should prompt immediate and continuous actions to ensure his immediate release.”

Lawyers for Abu Safia, who is being held at Israel’s Ofer Prison, have previously said 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”.

UN to continue mass polio vaccination campaign in Gaza

Israel reveals whereabouts of 64 detainees from Gaza

Israeli authorities have informed the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society of the whereabouts of 64 Palestinians from Gaza after months of enforced disappearance.

In a statement, the groups named the 64 people and said they are being held in Negev and Nafha prisons, the Sde Teiman and Saharonim detention facilities, Ofer Prison, Nitzan Prison and Naftali and Megiddo prisons. But they said they are yet to receive any information about the fate of hundreds of others taken from Gaza.

“We note that the only available information about the number of detainees from Gaza is what the prison administration acknowledged at the beginning of this February, which amounts to 1,802 of those classified as illegal combatants. The number includes women and children, while hundreds more are still subject to the crime of enforced disappearance,” the groups said.

“It is worth noting that the number of arrests from Gaza is estimated in the thousands since the beginning of the war of extermination, and the occupation continues to carry out systematic torture crimes against Gaza detainees at an unprecedented level that has led to the martyrdom of dozens of them.”

Hamas hands over bodies of deceased Israeli captives

_{Palestinians look on during the handover by Hamas of deceased Israeli captives}

Hamas fighters handed over the bodies of deceased Israeli captives Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas to the Red Cross

It’s an incredibly sensitive and emotional day across Israel as this convoy was carrying the bodies of the four Israeli captives here: Shiri Bibas and her two children and an 85-year-old man, all of them from Kibbutz Nir Oz.