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SvennoJ on 25 February 2025

Israeli warplanes attack Syria’s capital after Netanyahu threat

Israeli fighter jets bombed a district south of Syria’s capital as well as the southern province of Daraa, local broadcaster Syria TV reports.

Residents of Damascus heard the sound of aircraft flying low over the capital, followed by a series of blasts.

Israeli strikes hit the al-Kiswah area, about 13km (8 miles) south of Damascus. A security source said a military site was targeted, without providing further details.

Additional Israeli air raids hit a town in the southern province of Deraa. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The bombardment came hours after Syria condemned Israel’s incursion into the country’s south and demanded it withdraw its forces.


More on Netanyahu threat as Israel attacks Syria

As Israeli jets pound south of Syria’s capital, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned this week that his country won’t allow the new Syrian government’s military forces to operate in the area.

Addressing a military ceremony in Israel on Sunday, Netanyahu demanded the “full demilitarisation of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime in the Quneitra, Deraa and Suwayda provinces”.

“We will not allow forces from the HTS organisation or the new Syrian army to enter the area south of Damascus,” Netanyahu said, referring to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which spearheaded the offensive that toppled longtime Syrian leader President Bashar al-Assad last December.

Israel has taken advantage of al-Assad’s fall to expand into a buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and southern Syria, breaching a United Nations agreement brokered in 1974.


Israel confirms strikes south of Syria’s capital Damascus

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the military attacked southern Syria.

“The Air Force is attacking strongly in southern Syria as part of the new policy we have defined of pacifying southern Syria. And the message is clear: we will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

The Israeli army says its jets attacked military targets in southern Syria, including “headquarters and sites containing weapons”. “The presence of military means and forces in the southern part of Syria pose a threat to the citizens of the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.

In 1974, Israel and Syria struck a ceasefire agreement that determined the Golan Heights would be a demilitarised buffer zone. But shortly after the fall of al-Assad last December, the Israeli military moved into the buffer zone and has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Syrian military assets.


Two killed by Israeli air strikes near Syrian capital: War monitor

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths were caused by Israeli air raids at a “military unit’s headquarters southwest of Damascus”.

The UK-based group said it could not confirm if the dead were civilians or military personnel.

Israel earlier launched a series of air strikes south of the capital Damascus, heightening tensions with the military force that recently seized power from President Bashar al-Assad.



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SvennoJ on 25 February 2025

UN envoy says region facing ‘last chance’ for two-state solution

Sigrid Kaag, the UN envoy for the Middle East peace process, says Israeli calls for annexation of the occupied West Bank are an “existential threat” to the possibility of a two-state solution.

“The Middle East today is undergoing rapid transformation — its scope and impact remain uncertain, but it also presents a historic opportunity,” Kaag told the UN Security Council.

“The people of the region can emerge from this period with peace, security, and dignity. However, this may be our last chance to achieve the two-state solution.”


Palestinian UN envoy: Acts that entrench occupation must end

Speaking to the UN Security Council, Palestinian diplomat Riyad Mansour says the path towards ending the conflict must include the reconstruction of Gaza and an end to Israel’s occupation.

Palestinians must be allowed to remain in Gaza while reconstruction takes place, and there must be a cessation of “policies that entrench the occupation”, Mansour said.

Israel withdrew soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005. The territory has been ruled by Hamas since 2007 but is still considered to be under Israeli occupation by the United Nations.

Israel and Egypt control total access to the Gaza Strip.


‘Enough bloodshed, enough agony, enough suffering’

Palestine’s envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, has condemned Israel’s ongoing attacks on occupied Palestinian territory, saying it is pursuing a deliberate strategy to force Palestinians from their land.

“Israel’s plan is clear in Gaza, in East Jerusalem, and in the rest of the West Bank – get rid of Palestinian demography, to seize Palestinian geography,” Mansour told the UN Security Council.

But he added: “It will never happen. There is no military solution to this conflict, only a political one.”

Describing the human toll of Israel’s militarism – with tens of thousands of Palestinians killed over the past 16 months, Mansour pleaded: “Enough bloodshed, enough agony, enough suffering.”


US wants Arab plan for Gaza without Hamas

A US official has called for the destruction of Hamas at a UN Security Council meeting.

“Hamas must be eliminated,” acting US Ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea said. “Any plan for reconstruction in Gaza must ensure Hamas is fully removed from power and held accountable for its October 7 terrorist massacre.”

“We look forward to a plan from our Arab partners on the future of Gaza that reflects this vision,” she added.


UN agency chief says ‘wouldn’t be involved in any’ Gaza displacement

Amy Pope, head of the UN International Organization for Migration, says it will not be a party to “any kind” of forced displacement of Palestinians out of Gaza, warning such an effort would be a “red line” for Middle East governments.

US President Donald Trump previously stated that Palestinians should be expelled from the Strip to make way for high-end real estate developments.

“We made a commitment to the communities that we serve that we wouldn’t be involved in any kind of forced movement of population or evacuation of people,” said Pope.

“As we’re seeing right now, [the displacement of Palestinians] has been a red line for both the government of Jordan and Egypt.”



SvennoJ on 25 February 2025

Former captive: Gaza deal ‘must go on in full, completely’

An Israeli woman kidnapped by Hamas and held in Gaza told the United Nations Security Council how the ceasefire must continue to save other captives still being held.

“I need to make sure that the world knows that: the deal must go on in full … completely, in all the stages,” Noa Argamani told the Security Council before then describing how a house she was held in was blown up, trapping her in the rubble.

“I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe – I thought it’s going to be the last seconds of my life. Being here with you today is a miracle.”


Bibas family slams Netanyahu for invocation of slain loved ones

Ofri Bibas-Levy, sister of freed Israeli captive Yarden Bibas, says the family has been learning details of the deaths of their loved ones taken captive by Hamas in Gaza through government statements – despite asking for such details to be shared privately.

“This is outright abuse of a family that has already been enduring hell for 16 months,” Bibas-Levy said.

Hamas has said that Shiri Bibas and the two small children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, were killed in an Israeli air strike, but Israel has said they were killed by Hamas fighters.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu revealed specifics in remarks before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Tuesday, one day after the family explicitly asked that such details not be shared publicly.

“We ask that all necessary measures be taken to protect the family’s privacy and dignity,” the family members wrote to Netanyahu.


Freed Israeli captive says ‘our lives aren’t worth enough’

Israeli soldier Agam Berger, 20, recounted her ordeal as a captive in Gaza after she was recently freed by Hamas under the ceasefire deal.

Berger told Israeli public radio Reshet Bet that she was moved around multiple times during the nearly 16 months she was held in the Gaza Strip. She stayed in tunnels and apartments with other female captives, with the conditions varying depending on where she was held and who was guarding her.
Berger said her conditions worsened after two military raids early last year rescued Israelis, making her captors more anxious.

“We had food and conditions that, for the most part, were OK when you know what could have been,” she said. For much of the time, Berger was given two meals a day, pita and rice.

In her little access to news media, she learned of developments in Israel’s war on Gaza, including the debate in Israel over what price to pay for the captives’ release. She said it was demoralising to learn there were some in government unwilling to make big concessions to free the captives.

“It’s like saying that our lives aren’t worth enough,” she said.




SvennoJ on 25 February 2025

Main events from February 25th

  • Hamas said an agreement has been reached with Israel over the delayed release of 620 Palestinian prisoners, and they will be freed “simultaneously” with the bodies of four Israeli captives.
  • Israeli forces bombed sites near the Syrian capital, Damascus, killing at least two people, as Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz declared, “We will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon.”
  • Israeli forces killed two others in attacks on eastern Lebanon, according to local media, with Israel’s military saying it attacked a Hezbollah site used for the “production and storage of strategic weapons”.
  • Medical officials said at least six infants have died from hypothermia during a severe two-week cold spell in Gaza, as UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric called on Israel to lift restrictions on the entry of temporary housing into the enclave.
  • Israeli former captive Noa Argamani told the UN Security Council that the ceasefire “must go on in full… in all the stages” to save those remaining in Gaza.
  • Human Rights Watch said Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank have killed more than 50 Palestinians, including seven children, since January 21, as part of its escalating assault on the Palestinian territory.

What we know about Israel’s deadly attacks on Syria

  • Israeli forces bombed the town of Kisweh, approximately 20km (12 miles) south of the capital, Damascus, as well as a town in the province of Deraa, late on Tuesday, according to the Reuters news agency.
  • The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor, said at least two people were killed in the Israeli attacks.
  • Israel said it attacked military targets in southern Syria, including “headquarters and sites containing weapons”. It also said that “the presence of military means and forces in the southern part of Syria pose a threat to the citizens of the State of Israel”.
  • Katz, the Israeli defence minister, said the attacks are part of a policy of “pacifying southern Syria” and said: “We will not allow southern Syria to become southern Lebanon.”
  • The attacks came as Syria wrapped up a national dialogue summit and issued a statement condemning Israeli incursions into its territory and called on it to immediately withdraw.

How does Israel’s attacks impact Syria’s political transition?

Qutaiba Idlbi, a resident senior fellow for Syria at the Atlantic Council, says that Israel’s latest attacks complicate efforts by the new Syrian administration to reunite the country.

Idlbi noted that the attacks took place as Syrians held a national dialogue summit on the country’s political transition.

“The National Dialogue Conference has already been facing its own challenges in terms of coming together before a deal has been reached, especially with the Druze, the religious community in the south, and with the leadership of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria,” he told Al Jazeera from Washington, DC.

“The strikes on Damascus are only going to serve to delay such agreement, as the powers in northeast and southern Syria will feel more empowered to try to find a deal and perhaps some military support from actors outside Syria that would perhaps increase their leverage and power on the negotiating table with Damascus.”



SvennoJ on 26 February 2025

Hamas official discusses with ICRC double standards over release of Israeli, Palestinian bodies

Ismail al-Thawabteh, director of Gaza’s Government Media Office, has met a delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), according to a statement issued on Telegram.

The statement said the official “raised a set of fundamental questions, including the mechanism and method of receiving the bodies of Israeli captives, in humane and appropriate ways, while the bodies of Palestinian martyrs … are handed over in inhumane and brutal ways by the occupation army”.

Last September, the ICRC denied any role in the transfer of the remains of dead Palestinians from Israel to Gaza. The issue was raised by al-Thawabteh in the meeting, the statement said.

He highlighted that some of the Palestinian bodies had been “dissolved and handed over in humiliating ways in plastic bags that contradict international standards”.

The Gaza official also “asked about the position of the International Committee regarding the occupation’s evasion of its responsibilities in revealing the fate of Palestinian detainees who were subjected to the crime of enforced disappearance as a crime against humanity”.

The meeting comes after the ICRC criticised the public handover ceremony of four Israeli captives’ bodies last week, saying it should have been done “privately”.

Israel to release delayed batch of 620 prisoners, along with ‘equivalent number’ of women, children: Hamas

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem has confirmed in an interview with Al-Aqsa TV that an agreement has been reached with mediators in Egypt to resolve the issues related to Israel’s delay in releasing the seventh batch of Palestinian prisoners.

He said the group would hand over four bodies of Israeli captives “simultaneously with the occupation’s release of the postponed batch, in addition to the release of the equivalent number of women and children who were arrested after October 7 in the Gaza Strip”.

He added there “are clear guarantees from the mediators” that Israel must abide by what has been agreed upon.


Hamas names four Israelis whose bodies will be handed over on Wednesday evening

The spokesperson for the Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, has announced the names of four deceased Israelis whose bodies will be handed over on Wednesday night:

  • Tsachi Idan, 50, was taken by Hamas gunmen from his home in Nahal Oz on October 7, 2023. His eldest child, Maayan – who had just turned 18 – was shot dead in the attack.
  • Itzik Elgarat, 69, was kidnapped from Nir Oz, and reportedly shot in the hand during the attack.
  • Ohad Yahalomi, 50, was abducted from Nir Oz, along with his 12-year-old son, Eitan, who was released during the November 2023 ceasefire.
  • Shlomo Mansour, 86, an Iraq-born Israeli, was killed by Hamas on October 7, 2023, and his body was taken to Gaza.


No public ceremony for handover of four Israeli captives’ bodies: Hamas official

A senior Hamas official has told the AFP news agency that the Palestinian movement will not hold a public ceremony for the handover of the bodies of four Israeli captives on Thursday.

“The handover will take place without public presence to prevent the occupation from finding any pretext for delay or obstruction,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to discuss the matter.



Prisoners’ Media Office announces details of Palestinian prisoners to be released

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office has published details of 620 prisoners set to be released from Israeli custody.

It says that 151 of the prisoners being released were given life or long sentences; of those 43 will be released to the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, 97 will be sent into exile, and it said that 11 were arrested from Gaza before October 7, 2023 (and presumably will be released to Gaza, but the statement does not make this clear).

It said that 445 male adult prisoners from Gaza who were arrested after October 7, 2023 and 24 female and child prisoners will also be released.

It said details of a second batch of children and women from Gaza to be released will be published later.



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SvennoJ on 26 February 2025

Israel using cold weather as ‘tool of torture’ against Palestinian prisoners: Monitor

Israeli prisons authorities are using cold weather to “torture” Palestinian prisoners who are deprived of adequate clothing and blankets, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society.

The monitor said in a statement on Telegram that it heard from a prisoner – identified as “D.M.” – who “can no longer feel his feet, which causes him cramps and pain” due to being left out in the cold for prolonged periods.

“He is no longer able to move due to the severity of the pain, and he is also often unable to sleep.”

Numerous instances of torture inside Israeli prisons have been documented by rights groups and released prisoners.



Palestinian prisoner from Gaza dies in Israeli custody

A Palestinian man from the Gaza Strip who was arrested at the start of Israel’s war on the enclave along with his brother and was injured during detention has died in Israeli custody, according to the Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees’ Affairs Commission.

The monitoring group said in a statement that Israeli authorities released no information about the 34-year-old during his detention, and did not allow him any visits.

He is believed to have been held at Ayalon Prison in Ramla before being transferred to the Shamir Medical Centre, also known as Assaf Harofeh Centre, where he was announced dead today.

The statement said he did not suffer from any health problems before his arrest, adding that he leaves behind a wife and a child.

His death brings the confirmed number of Palestinian prisoners who died in Israeli custody to 60 people since the start of the war on Gaza. The figure includes at least 39 people from Gaza.



Graphic footage shows baby girl who died from severe cold in Gaza City

A video published this morning by activist Alaa Hamouda and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency shows the body of a baby girl, Sila Abdel Qader.

In the video, the child’s father says the “one-and-a-half-month-old” died in a tent in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City “from the cold, from the lack of blankets and mattresses and the cold we are in, we have nothing, no houses or anything”.

“I ask for a solution after the war that came upon us. The girl died from the cold,” he said.

We are not sharing the footage as it is extremely disturbing.

‘No sign’ of mobile homes for displaced families entering Gaza

There has been no significant sign that Israel is going to allow mobile shelters to come into the Gaza Strip as a part of this ceasefire agreement.

The first phase of the agreement stipulates that mobile homes and shelters for families who have lost their homes during Israeli military operations in Gaza should be allowed to enter.

We can see shattered landscapes here with residential neighbourhoods that have been reduced to rubble, and now families are living in the open next to the ruins of their destroyed homes.

They are struggling to survive and cannot afford basic necessities. Now, they are waiting eagerly for the entry of mobile shelters that will afford them proper shelter until the reconstruction efforts can occur in Gaza.

Right now, there is a significant lack of commitment by the Israeli side regarding the entry of these humanitarian requirements despite all efforts made by mediators to contain this crisis.



SvennoJ on 26 February 2025

UNRWA chief highlights ‘alarming spill over’ of Gaza war in West Bank

More than 50 people, including children, have been reported killed since the Israeli military operation started five weeks ago, according to Philippe Lazzarini.

“The West Bank is becoming a battlefield: ordinary Palestinians are the first and most to suffer. This must end,” the UN chief said.

“Destruction of public infrastructure, bulldozing roads and access restrictions are common place. People’s lives have been turned upside down, bringing back traumas and loss,” he said, along with other facts and statistics.


Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in Qalqilya, occupied West Bank

WAFA news agency quoted local sources as saying Israeli forces shot 16-year-old Hamid Fadl Muwafi in the head with live ammunition while he was near the separation wall in in the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya.

He was transferred to Qalqilya hospital in critical condition but was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.


‘Dozens of distress calls’ from Tulkarem refugee camp: Palestine Red Crescent Society

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says that it has received “dozens of distress calls from families trapped inside Nur Shams Refugee Camp” near Tulkarem, according to a report by the Wafa news agency.

The group said in a statement that it has received numerous calls from families trapped in the camp and that it is facing difficulties reaching them as the area remains surrounded by Israeli forces.

The Nur Shams refugee camp has been severely managed amid the ongoing Israeli military escalation in several areas of the northern occupied West Bank. Thousands of residents have been displaced.


Palestinians walk on a damaged road, leaving Nur Shams refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank, February 26


France ‘concerned’ over Israel’s military escalation in West Bank

The French Foreign Ministry has expressed concern over Israel’s military escalation in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement posted on X, the ministry denounced the operations, which have resulted in numerous civilian casualties and displaced more than 40,000 Palestinians.

“France calls on the Israeli authorities to exercise the utmost restraint in the use of force and to ensure the protection of civilian populations,” the statement read.

“France emphasises that the forcible displacement of populations is contrary to international law and calls on the Israeli authorities to allow civilians displaced by these operations to swiftly return home.”


A Palestinian man walks across rubble left by Israeli raids



SvennoJ on 26 February 2025

Egypt rejects proposal for it to run Gaza as ‘unacceptable’

“Any notions or proposals that circumvent the constants of the Egyptian and Arab stance [on Gaza] … are rejected and unacceptable,” the official MENA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Tamim Khallaf as saying.

The comments came a day after Yair Lapid floated the idea that Egypt should take over the administration of Gaza for eight years after the war is over, in exchange for massive debt relief.

In press remarks, Khallaf said any suggestions bypassing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state were “half-solutions” that risk prolonging the conflict rather than solving it.

He said the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, were integral parts of the Palestinian territories that must be under “full Palestinian sovereignty and management”.


Gaza reconstruction cannot happen without clear path to two-state solution: UAE official

Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to UAE’s president, says “You need political stability of a roadmap in order for these big investments to come to place.”

His comments come as Arab states are weighing a post-war plan for Gaza to counter US President Donald Trump’s proposal to redevelop the Gaza Strip under US control and displace Palestinians, a prospect that has angered regional leaders.

“Gaza does need a reconstruction plan, a massive one, but that reconstruction plan cannot really take place without a clear path to a two-state solution. So, clearly here, you need political stability of a roadmap in order for these big investments to come to place,” Gargash said.


UN slams ‘annexation’ and ‘forced transfer’ proposals for Palestinian territories

The UN rights chief has rejected “proposals” for the annexation of or forced transfer from Palestinian territories, warning they posed a threat to the entire region.

“We must resist any normalisation of unlawful conduct, including proposals for annexation or forced transfer, which could threaten the peace and security of Palestinians and Israelis and of the wider region,” Volker Turk told the United Nations Human Rights Council.



Palestine Trade Center launches $3.4m EU trade initiative

The Palestine Trade Center, or PalTrade, has launched a new initiative to enhance Palestinian exports and stimulate economic growth, the news agency Wafa reports.

The EU4Trade Project was officially launched in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. The project is a three-year initiative funded by a 3.3-million-euro ($3.4m) grant from the European Union, seeking to strengthen the competitiveness of small and medium Palestinian businesses in international markets.

The EU’s representative to the West Bank and Gaza, Alexandre Stutzmann, attended the launch and said that the project signals the bloc’s longstanding commitment to realising the two-state solution.



Turkiye fears Netanyahu will resume Gaza war once all captives released

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan says he fears Israel will resume the war on Gaza after all the captives are released.

“As it is known, an ethnic cleansing war was witnessed by the whole world; almost 60,000 civilian Palestinians were killed, most of them were women and children. This must never reoccur,” Fidan said.

“However, it is feared that once all Israeli captives are released, Netanyahu will resume the war. There are deep concerns in this respect and they give rise to constant threats within the region.”



SvennoJ on 26 February 2025

New York governor orders public university to remove Palestine job listing: Report

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has ordered the public City University of New York, or CUNY, to remove a job listing for a “Palestine studies” lecturer after pressure from pro-Israel groups.

“Governor Hochul has directed CUNY to immediately remove this job posting and conduct a thorough review of the position to ensure that anti-Semitic theories are not promoted in the classroom,” a spokesperson for the governor, a Democrat, told The New York Post.

“The Governor has continued to strongly condemn all forms of anti-Semitism and has made clear that hateful rhetoric of any kind has no place at CUNY or anywhere in New York State.”

The job listing called for a “historically grounded scholar who takes a critical lens to issues pertaining to Palestine including but not limited to: settler colonialism, genocide, human rights, apartheid, migration, climate and infrastructure devastation, health, race, gender, and sexuality”.

Hundreds of media professionals condemn BBC over censored Gaza documentary

More than 500 film, TV, and media workers have condemned censorship and racism after the BBC pulled a documentary about children’s lives in Gaza.

The media professionals, including 12 BBC staffers, sent a letter to the broadcaster’s leadership on Wednesday, in which they condemned a “racist” and “dehumanising” campaign targeting the film Gaza: How to Survive a War Zone.

The BBC removed the documentary from its iPlayer streaming service after pressure from supporters of Israel. In a note to viewers, it said that there have been “questions” raised about the film and that it is “conducting further due diligence with the production company”.

The media workers wrote: “Beneath this political football are children who are in the most dire circumstances of their young lives. This is what must remain at the heart of this discussion.

“As programme-makers, we are extremely alarmed by the intervention of partisan political actors on this issue, and what this means for the future of broadcasting in this country.”

The film, they added, offers an “all-too-rare perspective on the lived experiences of Palestinian children” and “deserves recognition” rather than censorship.

The BBC’s board is set to discuss the documentary on Thursday.

Last year, more than 100  BBC staff members accused the broadcaster of giving Israel favourable coverage in its reporting of the war on Gaza and criticised for its lack of “accurate evidence-based journalism”.



SvennoJ on 26 February 2025

Israel planning ‘unprecedented’ repressive measures before Ramadan: Jerusalem governorate

Israeli authorities are preparing to “impose unprecedented repressive policies”, in advance of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, which is expected to start on Saturday, to further isolate occupied East Jerusalem and its Palestinian surroundings, according to the Jerusalem governorate.

The Palestinian Authority’s governing body said in a statement that occupation authorities are planning “a series of racist and provocative measures”, including limiting the number of Muslim worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

It said recently released Palestinian prisoners would be banned from entering Al-Aqsa, and entry for worshippers from the occupied West Bank would be restricted based on age, with only men aged 55 and above and women more than 50 years of age allowed in.

Israeli forces are also intensifying their presence by deploying 3,000 armed personnel at checkpoints surrounding East Jerusalem on a daily basis and tightening their grip on 82 military checkpoints, including by using earthen blockades, iron gates, security cameras and intrusive searches.

“The governorate urges Arab and Islamic nations, as well as the international community, to take responsibility and act urgently to halt these violations.”

Israel arbitrarily arrests, humiliates, tortures Gaza’s healthcare workers: Israeli monitor

Dr Khaled Alserr’s voice strained as he recalled the way Israeli soldiers tortured and humiliated him and other medics.

Their treatment “was designed to humiliate us”, the 33-year-old surgeon said over an unstable online call. “They forced us to make the sound of a donkey.”

Dr Alserr had been arrested along with other healthcare workers at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in March last year, where they had stayed to care for their patients despite an Israeli assault on the hospital in February.

Rights groups say the arrests are part of Israel’s deliberate targeting of healthcare workers, pointing to the arrests of more than 250 people.

In its report, Torture of Medical Workers in Israel, Physicians for Human Rights, Israel (PHRI) has catalogued the arbitrary detention and abuse of healthcare workers in Gaza.


PA condemns Israeli obstruction of ambulances in West Bank

The Palestinian Authority says the repeated obstruction of ambulances in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces constitutes another violation of international humanitarian law.

We reported earlier how the UN has also expressed “serious concern” about Israeli attacks in the occupied territory that affect healthcare. Those attacks have been on the rise in recent weeks amid large-scale military incursions.