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Forums - Politics - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 22 February 2025

Israel to delay prisoner release: Prime Minister’s Office

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office has said that Israel will delay the release of Palestinian prisoners “until the release of the next hostages is guaranteed”.

In a brief statement, the office said the decision was made “in light of the repeated violations by Hamas – including rituals that humiliate the dignity of our prisoners and the cynical political use of them for propaganda”.

 
Netanyahu playing ‘dirty games’ to sabotage Gaza truce: Hamas

Hamas has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging the Gaza ceasefire agreement, saying the Israeli government is not engaging in negotiations for the second phase of the deal due to end on March 1.

“We believe that, again, these are dirty games from the right-wing government to sabotage and undermine the deal and to send a message of willingness to go back to war,” Basem Naim, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, told Al Jazeera.

The Palestinian group that governs Gaza remains committed to the agreement, and has abided by its obligations under the deal, he said.

Zaher Jabarin, the head of Hamas in the occupied West Bank, to Al Jazeera about the situation in the Palestinian territory:

  • We are working with mediators in Qatar and Egypt to resolve outstanding issues.
  • Netanyahu’s interest lies in continuing the war because the alternative is for him to go to court. We informed the mediators and the world that we are ready for the second phase of the agreement.
  • There is a ceasefire agreement that we have been negotiating for 15 months, the essence of which is to stop the war. If the enemy wants to complete the exchange all at once, we are ready.
  • The resistance treats the enemy’s prisoners with an unprecedented level of humanity, while the enemy responds with brutality.
  • The West Bank holds a resistance reserve capable of defeating the occupation, despite the extent of its crimes.


Hamas: Israel delaying prisoners’ release ‘blatant violation’ of Gaza truce

“The [Israeli] occupation’s failure to comply with the release of the seventh batch of prisoners in the exchange deal at the agreed-upon time constitutes a blatant violation of the agreement,” Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanou said in a statement.

He accused Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of “procrastination and stalling tactics”.



Around the Network
SvennoJ on 22 February 2025

Israeli ambassador to UN calls on Security Council to condemn Hamas

Danny Danon has demanded an emergency session of the UN Security Council “following the findings on the heinous murder of Shiri, Kfir, and Ariel Bibas”.

“The Security Council must convene to condemn Hamas and declare it a terrorist organisation,” said Danon. “Hamas murdered Shiri, four-year-old Ariel, and nine-month-old Kfir with their bare hands and abused their bodies as early as November 2023,” he said in a post on X.

However, the Palestinian armed group has long said an Israeli air strike killed Shiri Bibas and her infant sons, Kfir and Ariel, early in the war.

“The false allegations that the criminal [Israeli] occupation is disseminating about the death of the Bibas children at the hands of their captors are merely baseless lies and fabrications,” Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said in a statement.

Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza Government Media Office, said Prime Minister Netanyahu “bears full responsibility for killing her and her children”.


Rubio warns Hamas will be ‘destroyed’ if all captives not released

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Hamas will be “destroyed” if it does not release all remaining abductees held in Gaza.

“Hamas’ treatment of hostages, including its brutal murder of the Bibas family, further illustrates their savagery and is yet another reason why we are saying these terrorists must release all of the hostages immediately or be destroyed,” Rubio wrote on X.

 
More than 600 Palestinian families wait for prisoner release during delay

There has been no real explanation given by Israel for the delay. What we do know is the release of Palestinian prisoners will depend on when the meeting, the security consultations convened by the Israeli prime minister, will end.

Of course, that also means that more than 600 Palestinian families are waiting in the cold in Ramallah, in the Gaza Strip, but also in Cairo, where more than 100 Palestinians will be exiled.

The consultations will not just focus on today, on the exchange of prisoners and detainees and captives, but also on what happens next.

We’re already beginning to hear a little bit about what is being discussed, namely, will Israel withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor? Will it seek an extension of phase one of the ceasefire agreement, rather than entering into phase two?



SvennoJ on 22 February 2025

Main events from February 22nd

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the release of more than 600 Palestinian detainees planned for Saturday has been delayed “until the release of the next hostages is guaranteed, and without the degrading ceremonies” at handovers of Israeli captives in Gaza.
  • Hamas condemned Netanyahu’s “procrastination and stalling tactics” and described the delay as a “blatant violation” of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
  • Earlier, the Palestinian group freed all of the six remaining living Israeli captives slated for release under the first phase of the truce agreement.
  • Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv demanding Netanyahu advance the ceasefire deal into its second stage and secure the release of all of the remaining captives held in Gaza.
  • Hamas politburo member Basem Naim said the group is “willing immediately to leave the governing position in the Gaza Strip and to allow any Palestinian unity government or a technocratic government or any alternative which is decided by Palestinians within the Palestinian consensus”.
  • Israeli forces killed two Palestinian children, aged 12 and 13, in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin and Hebron as settlers attacked and set fire to Palestinian property near East Jerusalem and Ramallah.


Full statement from Netanyahu’s office

“In light of the repeated violations by Hamas – including rituals that humiliate the dignity of our prisoners and the cynical political use of them for propaganda – it was decided to postpone the release of prisoners that was scheduled for yesterday until the release of the next prisoners is guaranteed, and without the rituals of humiliation.”



SvennoJ on 22 February 2025

Israeli military vehicles leave Ofer Prison

Al Quds Today, a Palestinian channel, has posted footage of Israeli military vehicles withdrawing from the Ofer Prison near Ramallah after Netanyahu announced his decision to halt the release of Palestinian prisoners.

It’s from Ofer Prison that we saw busloads of prisoners and detainees driven to freedom over the past six successful exchanges.



Translation: Occupation forces withdraw from the vicinity of Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah, after the occupation’s decision to suspend the release of prisoners as part of the exchange deal.

Who were the Palestinians detainees slated for release on Saturday?

  • This was meant to be the seventh and largest release of Palestinians from Israeli prisons since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire came into effect on January 19, with some 620 Palestinians set to be freed in total.
  • It included 445 Palestinians who Israeli forces had arrested from Gaza.
  • Among them were 100 women and minors under the age of 19. Israeli media reported that these women and children were not involved in the October 7 attacks or the fighting in Gaza, prompting activists to accuse Israel of taking them as “bargaining chips”.
  • The list did not include Dr Hussam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza and one of some 200 health workers from the Strip who are currently in Israeli detention.


Israel’s delay clearly violates Gaza deal

Stephen Zunes, the director of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, says Netanyahu’s decision to halt the release of Palestinian detainees “is very disturbing”.

“This is a clear violation of the ceasefire deal, along with Israel’s refusal to allow the relief supplies, the tents, the mobile homes, the medical equipment, and other aid that was part of the ceasefire agreement,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The disturbing part is that we know the US will not push Israel to go through with its side of the bargain,” he said. But “without any pressure from the US, Israel does not have much motivation to see through their end of the deal”.

Netanyahu’s decision “has really hurt the trust, whatever trust there was at this point”, Zunes added.

“If Israel does not go through with this part of the bargain, how will they know that Israel will come through with other promises as well, in the later phases of the ceasefire?”



SvennoJ on 22 February 2025

Hamas releases video of captives at handover ceremony

The video shows Eviatar David and Guy Giloba-Dalal in a vehicle at the stage set up by Hamas for the release of three other captives in Nuseirat in central Gaza.

David and Gliboa-Dalal are not among those slated for release in the first phase of the ceasefire deal. In the video, the two men are seen saying, “Please save us. Please take us home.”

Referring to the release of Eliya Cohen, Omer Wenkert and Omer Shem Tov, the men remaining in captivity say, “We want to be like them.”




Families of Israeli captives slam Hamas video

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents relatives of the Israeli captives held in Gaza, has condemned the Hamas video showing Eviatar David and Guy Giloba-Dalal at the handover ceremony on Saturday.

“Today, Hamas released a disturbing video showing Evyatar David and Guy Gilboa Dalal forced to watch as three fellow hostages were freed, while they remain in captivity,” the group said in a post on X.

“This calculated act of psychological torture is a stark, sickening display of cruelty. Evyatar, Guy, and [a] dozen other hostages have been tragically excluded from this current phase,” it said.

The group called on Trump and Netanyahu to bring back the remaining 63 captives held in Gaza, saying that “there is no time for stages or delays” and that “every second counts”.



Hamas has repeatedly offered to release all hostages at once in exchange for ending the war. Israel keeps refusing. Israel keeps delaying.


Ceasefire deal has stumbled before: Former US-diplomat

Nabeel Khoury says that while the ceasefire is clearly stumbling, it is not for the first time.

“I imagine, eventually, they’ll find a way of finishing this exchange,” the former US diplomat told Al Jazeera.

Khoury added that for the Israeli government, returning captives taken from Israel and held in Gaza has never been as important as “trying to totally destroy Hamas”.

Israel is now in a “public relations war”, he added, “and feeling that they’ve been somehow humiliated by how well prepared Hamas has been in the release of these hostages, given that they are coming out from under the rubble and from partially destroyed tunnels”.

“Considering all the circumstances, the release has been actually very well organised, and the treatment seems to be very humane. I’m sure there were some mistakes committed,” he said.

But Khoury notes that the Trump administration has “fully endorsed” the Israeli perspective that “somehow Hamas is humiliating the hostages and is using their release as a propaganda event”, meaning that the remaining pressure on Israel to “bring this deal to a conclusion” comes from the “families of the hostages and left-wing opposition parties” within Israel.

Last edited by SvennoJ - on 22 February 2025

Around the Network
SvennoJ on 23 February 2025

Latest developments:

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is prepared to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip “at any moment” while vowing to complete the war’s goals “whether through negotiation or by other means”.
  • Israeli Defence Minister Katz said 40,000 Palestinians have left the northern occupied West Bank as he ordered the army to stay in refugee camps there.
  • Hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon bid farewell to Hezbollah’s slain leader Hassan Nasrallah at a mass funeral in Beirut, nearly five months after he was killed in an Israeli air strike.
  • Israel suspended the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners, which was scheduled for yesterday, citing dissatisfaction with the way Israeli captives held by Hamas are freed.
  • The Israeli military said soldiers arrested 26 “terrorists” during incursions across the occupied West Bank.
  • The Israeli army confirmed it directed a series of air strikes on areas in southern Lebanon, claiming it targeted Hezbollah.




Outrage as Israel breaks deal to free hundreds of Palestinian inmates

The Israeli decision has triggered widespread outrage, frustration, and distrust among Palestinian families. It reflects the consistency with which Israel undermines agreements.

Yesterday, relatives of the hundreds of prisoners gathered all day at the European Hospital in Khan Younis awaiting the arrival of loved ones. Many broke down in tears and left in the middle of the night when they realised Israel broke the agreement to release them.

Many told us they believe the mediators will contain the situation and they have not yet lost hope completely.

There have been many ceasefire violations by Israel, including failing to provide heavy machinery and mobile housing units as agreed in the deal. So this is just the latest move to undermine the fragile agreement.

But for some Palestinians here, they believe the possibility of the resumption of the war on Gaza is extremely high.

Israel ready ‘at any moment’ to resume Gaza war: Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is prepared to resume fighting in the Gaza Strip “at any moment” while vowing to complete the war’s goals “whether through negotiation or by other means”.

“We are prepared to resume intense fighting at any moment,” Netanyahu said at a ceremony for combat officers, a day after Israel halted the release of Palestinian prisoners as part of a truce deal.

“In Gaza, we have eliminated most of Hamas’s organised forces but let there be no doubt – we will complete the war’s objectives entirely.”

Another lie, Hamas has recruited as many / if not more people than they have lost...
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hamas-has-added-up-15000-fighters-since-start-war-us-figures-show-2025-01-24/



SvennoJ on 23 February 2025

Israeli military hits northern Lebanon, injures girl in the south

The Israeli military has reportedly launched a series of new air raids on Lebanon, including its northern part, which is far from the border with Israel.

Israeli warplanes launched raids near the village of Brissa in the northern Hermel district without inflicting any casualties, according to the National News Agency. The area is more than 120km (75 miles) from the border with Israel.

As a result of raids on towns in the district of Tyre in the south that we reported on earlier, a Syrian girl was wounded and transferred to hospital for treatment, while many homes were damaged.

The footage below, verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency Sanad, shows damage to homes between the towns of al-Qalila and al-Samaiya in Tyre.


Israeli army says it hits Hezbollah targets

In a statement on Telegram, the military says it has targeted Hezbollah infrastructure with rocket launchers and other weapons in the Baalbek area in eastern Lebanon and several other regions in the south of the country.

The attacks were conducted after the army identified Hezbollah activity at the sites, it said.

The attacks, some of which we reported earlier, come as a public funeral is being held for former Hezbollah leader Nasrallah, who was killed in Israeli air strikes on Beirut on September 27.

Israeli jets have also flown over the area of the funeral and greater Beirut at low altitudes.

 

Hezbollah leader says movement ‘will not accept being killed and occupied’

Naim Qassem says the group will keep following the path of his predecessor Nasrallah during a televised speech broadcast at the slain Hezbollah chief’s massive funeral on the outskirts of Beirut.

“We will uphold trust and walk on this path. We will uphold your will,” Qassem said, adding: “You are still with us. Your … path and struggle live within us” and “I am loyal to the legacy of Nasrallah.”

“We will not accept being killed and occupied as we watch,” he stressed.

The Hezbollah leader also claimed the crowd gathered for Nasrallah’s funeral “has no equal in the history of Lebanon”.




SvennoJ on 23 February 2025

Israeli warplanes fly low over Beirut as Nasrallah funeral continues

Residents of Beirut have been able to hear the roar of the planes, which was not accompanied by a sonic boom this time, our correspondents on the ground report.

The Israeli military regularly breaks the sound barrier over Lebanon, a sound very similar to that of a bombing.

Meanwhile, Nasrallah’s funeral continues in southern Beirut.


Mourners gather on the day of a public funeral ceremony for late Hezbollah leaders Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine, who were killed in Israeli air strikes last year, Beirut, Lebanon February 23

Israeli military releases images of flyby over Nasrallah funeral, bombing footage

The Israeli military has released images from its warplanes flying over the funeral procession of Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon in another taunt.

The army also released aerial thermal footage of dozens of bunker-buster bombs being dropped over Nasrallah’s underground bunker in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Earlier, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the flyby conveys the clear message to those threatening Israel.

“You will specialise in funerals – and we will specialise in victories,” he wrote in a post on X.

People in the stadium began chanting slogans against Israel as the warplanes flew by at low altitudes.


‘Lebanon is tired of others’ wars’, president tells top Iranian representative

Irani’s parliament speaker was told by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun that “Lebanon is tired of others’ wars, and the unity of the Lebanese is the best way to confront any loss or aggression”.

“Lebanon paid a heavy price for the Palestinian cause,” Aoun also told Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, according to the Lebanese presidency, adding that the country still backs a two-state solution that is favoured by Arab nations in the region.

At the Baabda Palace, the Iranian parliament chief, formerly an air force commander, reportedly said Tehran backs any decision by Lebanon that is taken free of foreign interference in its affairs.

Ghalibaf said Iran is ready to contribute to the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip alongside Arab and Islamic countries.



SvennoJ on 23 February 2025

Israeli sniper kills young man in Gaza City

A young Palestinian man was killed by Israeli long-range gunfire while inspecting his agricultural land on al-Shaaf Street, east of Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave, according to the Wafa news agency.

The video below, verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking Sanad agency, shows a man being transferred to hospital after being shot by Israeli forces in the Saudi neighbourhood, west of Rafah city in southern Gaza earlier today.


Gaza death toll rises

The Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip reports that the bodies of 10 Palestinians have been brought to hospitals during the past 24 hours, bringing the confirmed death toll since October 7, 2023, to 48,339 people.

There were no injuries in the past day with the total number standing at 111,753 people since the start of the war. Many bodies are still believed to be under rubble or on roads and uncounted.


‘Anger, sadness’ in Gaza after Israel postpones detainee release

As we’ve been reporting, more than 400 people among the 620 Palestinian detainees slated for release on Saturday are from Gaza. They include women and children. Some of those families have been responding to Israel’s decision to suspend the releases.

“The families of the POWs [prisoners of war] are in a state of anger, a state of sadness, a state of resentment, and the mediators must do their part as they started to complete it so that the families of the POWs can rejoice at the release of their POWs who were supposed to be released today,” said Bassam al-Khatib.

“You have received your POWs, so why delay the handing over of our Palestinian POWs? This is something that hurts the heart, the lack of commitment and a disregard for all international standards and laws, and a disregard for the countries sponsoring this agreement,” he added.




Libya speaker calls for Islamic-Arab fund for Gaza

Aguila Saleh has called for the establishment of the fund to rebuild the devastated enclave through contributions from countries, organisations, banks and investment companies.

“Today we meet amid the most dangerous attempts to eradicate the Palestinian cause, following the physical annihilation our people in Gaza have endured over the past 15 months, during which the world witnessed firsthand the killing of thousands of defenceless civilians – men, women and children – and the destruction and burning of their property,” Saleh said in a speech at the Arab Parliament Conference held at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo.

“From this platform, I call on Arab governments, with the participation of Islamic countries and international organisations, to establish the Arab-Islamic Fund for the Development and Reconstruction of Gaza, managed by a trustworthy body capable of the highest level of responsibility and competence,” he added.



SvennoJ on 23 February 2025

Trump envoy says US expects truce phase one extension

Steve Witkoff made the comment in a CNN interview when asked about Israel’s decision to postpone the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

“We have to get an extension of phase one,” Witkoff said. “I’ll be going to the region this week, probably Wednesday, to negotiate that.”

Israel reneged on its promise to release more than 600 Palestinian prisoners yesterday, as per the terms of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, citing dissatisfaction with the way that Israeli captives were being released by Hamas.


‘Number one enemy’: Bannon slams American Jews that do not support Israel

In a video shared on social media, Steve Bannon has described Jewish Americans who have protested against Israel’s war on Gaza as the “biggest single enemy to the Jewish people”.

“The number one enemy to the people in Israel are American Jews that do not support Israel and do not support MAGA,” Bannon said, referring to the “Make America Great Again” movement of Trump supporters.

“MAGA and the evangelical Christians and the traditional Catholics in this country have Israel’s back,” Bannon said in the comments that appeared to be recorded at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Bannon’s comments come after the former Trump adviser sparked criticism for appearing to make a Nazi salute during an appearance at CPAC on Thursday.


Israel has achieved ‘nothing but death and destruction’

Omar Baddar, a Middle East political analyst, says that Israeli authorities are trying to deliver an “image” of achievement but that “frankly, they have nothing to show”.

“The entire campaign of death and destruction in Gaza has achieved nothing but death and destruction for its own sake,” he told Al Jazeera.

Baddar added that recent statements by Trump on “the possibility of expelling all Palestinians out of Gaza” reflect “the fantasy of the extreme right in Israel”.

“I think this is just giving Netanyahu his wish list to finally be able to openly advocate for that position that he’s always had,” Baddar said. “Of course, anybody with a set of eyes and a functioning brain understood that what Israel was waging in Gaza is a war on the entire Palestinian population.

“We are moving in a very, very dark direction, and I think that the United States bears significant responsibility because of Trump’s statements and, frankly, US policy, even before that of a blank check for Israel,” he said.