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

SvennoJ 1 day ago

Main events on February 26th

  • Hamas handed the bodies of four Israeli captives over to the Red Cross, while joyous scenes were seen across the occupied West Bank as Israel began the release of more than 600 Palestinian prisoners in return.
  • Israeli authorities confirmed they received the four deceased captives and are in the process of formally identifying the remains.
  • The Israeli military carried out an air raid in eastern Lebanon that killed a key member of Hezbollah’s 4400 Unit, which smuggles weapons from Iran and its allies to Lebanon.
  • Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Palestinian Hamid Fadl Muwafi near the separation wall in the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya, the Wafa news agency reported.
  • In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera, Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he fears Israel will resume its war on Gaza after Hamas releases all of the captives.
  • More than 500 film, TV and media workers have condemned censorship and racism at the BBC after the British broadcaster pulled a documentary about children’s lives in Gaza.


No path forward for Israel but to enter negotiations

Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, has welcomed the latest captive-prisoner exchange and says he sees no option for Netanyahu’s government but to enter talks for phase two.

“Despite Hamas’s handover ceremonies, despite returning the wrong female corpse, despite Israel’s obstructions and heated rhetoric, and flagrant violations, this has happened. The bodies have been returned. Phase one has ended,” he told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.

“I don’t see Netanyahu’s government as having any kind of path forward but to enter negotiations for phase two. Especially as President Trump and his emissary, Steven Witkoff, have emphasised that they are interested in seeing phase two carried out.”

Goldberg noted that Israeli right-wing politicians have been pushing for a resumption of the war.

“Still, I think the pressure that is being applied to Netanyahu about the urgent need to return all the hostages before considering any such option is very viable and very much present in Israeli public consciousness, and while the hard-right and the settlers are pressing for a continuation of the war, they are now standing in direct contrast to both Washington and the Israeli public,” he said.

“I don’t see how Netanyahu can prefer their version.”



Around the Network
SvennoJ 1 day ago

Released Palestinians say they are fatigued and hungry


    Joy, tears as Palestinian prisoners reunite with families in Ramallah

    This release is the last in phase one of the ceasefire agreement.

    Some of the Palestinian prisoners who spoke to the media in the occupied West Bank spoke of being fatigued, of being hungry, of losing a lot of their body weight, of being starved in the past 16 months.

    We know that 43 Palestinians serving life and long sentences were released to the occupied West Bank, about six to occupied East Jerusalem, and 97 will be exiled out of the occupied territory to Egypt, at least temporarily.

    And 11 who were serving life or long sentences were from Gaza, so they will be returned there.

    Then there are 445 Palestinians who were disappeared from Gaza by the Israeli army during the war. These were civilians who were taken from their homes, their shelters, from hospitals, and no one knew much about their fate.

    Israel has refused up until now to disclose that information.

    Human rights organisations estimate thousands of Palestinians from Gaza, dead and alive, are in Israeli custody.

    There are also 46 women and children who will also be released.

    Let’s remember these are scheduled releases for three separate releases of Israeli captives and bodies of those killed during the war.

    Ambulances carrying wounded Palestinian detainees arrive in Gaza

    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in cooperation with the Gaza Health Ministry, has concluded preparations to receive the released Palestinian detainees here at the European Hospital in Khan Younis.

    As you can hear right now, there is celebratory gunfire as a number of vehicles carrying injured Palestinian detainees have arrived. We have been updated by the Red Cross that a number of injured detainees have been sent here due to the severity of their cases.

    But at the moment, we are still waiting for the arrival of the buses that are carrying the released Palestinian detainees. We understand that at least 590 Palestinian prisoners from Gaza will be released from Israeli prisons.

    They will be reunited with loved ones who are waiting for them desperately outside the European Hospital in these late hours of the night.


    Israel releases 97 Palestinian prisoners to Egypt

    The Reuters news agency is reporting that Israel has now handed over some 97 Palestinian prisoners to Egypt. These are the group of Palestinian prisoners who are being exiled from Palestine, with Egypt as their first destination.



    SvennoJ 1 day ago

    Where does Israel detain Palestinians from Gaza?

    According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, Israel is holding more than 10,000 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank in Israeli jails, as well as thousands more from the Gaza Strip.

    Israel has severely restricted rights groups and lawyers from visiting its jails and detention facilities since October 2023, making it difficult to verify the exact number of Palestinians from Gaza in Israeli custody.

    The prisoner associations have located Palestinians in Gaza in several facilities including the notorious Sde Teiman detention facility in the Negev desert, the Negev and Nafha prisons, the Saharonim detention facility in southern Israel, Ofer Prison in the central West Bank, Nitzan Prison in central Israel, and Naftali and Megiddo prisons in northern Israel.

    At least five Israeli soldiers have been charged with torturing a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention facility, including breaking his ribs, puncturing his left leg and tearing his rectum.




    Emotional scenes in Gaza as hundreds of Palestinian detainees arrive

    Twelve buses right now have arrived at the European Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza.

    They are carrying hundreds of Palestinian detainees who have been transported to the Gaza Strip by the Red Cross. The Palestinian detainees will undergo a medical check in order to be reunited with their loved ones.

    Those Palestinian detainees are coming out from the buses, and we can see signs of exhaustion, signs of the misery and suffering that they have been enduring in the Israeli detention centres. The Red Cross is facilitating the reunion of those Palestinian detainees with their loved ones.

    It’s absolutely very emotional and dramatic scenes here.

    Live footage from the European Hospital in Gaza shows Palestinian detainees continuing to disembark from buses. They are dressed in white shirts and grey pants, and some of them need help from Red Cross crews to get down from the bus.

    As we’ve been reporting, 12 buses have arrived in Khan Younis. Israel is supposed to release some 445 Palestinians taken from Gaza.


    Freed Palestinian prisoner receives medical attention in Khan Younis



    Hamas says it is ready to start talks on phase two

    In a new statement, the Palestinian group says that the only way to release the remaining Israeli captives from Gaza is through “negotiation and commitment” to the ceasefire agreement.

    “We renew our full commitment to the ceasefire agreement with all its details and provisions and our readiness to enter into negotiations related to the second phase of the agreement,” the statement said.

    Hamas also said that Israeli authorities’ attempts to obstruct the release of prisoners have “failed”, adding that this means Israel has “no choice” but to begin negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire deal.



    SvennoJ 18 hours ago

    Ukraine better pay attention, don't sign a ceasefire with the USA


    Israeli forces ‘staying indefinitely’ in Lebanon border buffer zone: Minister

    Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz says his country’s troops are “staying indefinitely” in a buffer zone on the border with Lebanon, adding their deployment there is “situation-dependent”.

    “There is a buffer zone [on the border with Lebanon]. It wasn’t easy but I stood my ground, and we received a green light from the United States, we gave them a map, and we are staying indefinitely. This is situation-dependent, not time-dependent,” he said at a news conference, according to a statement issued by his office.


    Israel air attacks kill one person in Hermel, eastern Lebanon

    One person has been killed and another injured after two Israeli air attacks hit a car in the city of Hermel, eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry says.

    Israel has continued to launch deadly attacks on Lebanon despite the ceasefire with Hezbollah that came into effect in late November, often claiming that it is targeting arms smuggling.

    Israel military says it struck Hezbollah ‘observation post’ in south Lebanon

    “Earlier today [Thursday], activity inside an observation post belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation was identified in the area of Aainata in southern Lebanon,” the military said in a statement, adding that it “was struck by the IAF [air force]”.

    The Israeli military calling the presence of the observation post “a violation of the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon”.



    SvennoJ 18 hours ago

    Israeli settlers build new road near Jericho, soldiers raid West Bank

    Israeli settlers are building a new illegal road in the Bedouin community of Arab al-Melahat, west of Jericho in the occupied West Bank.

    A local official told the Wafa news agency that, once completed, the new road and settler movements would mean more confiscation of Palestinian lands and rising tensions.

    In the al-Dawha town, west of Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers arrested one person after raiding his home. In the village of Husan, near the same area, they stormed the home of the father of a prisoner who was scheduled to be released overnight.

    Israeli forces also targeted several towns and villages in Ramallah and el-Bireh, arrested one person and ransacked a restaurant amid ongoing attacks on Nablus.

    In a village in the northern Jordan Valley, Israeli authorities notified Palestinians that they must stop working on a barn and a pond. This comes a month after settlers attacked the same village, seizing agricultural equipment.



    Translation: The occupation forces raid a house during the storming of Balata al-Balad, east of Nablus, in the northern West Bank.


    More Palestinians injured in Jenin amid Israeli attacks on West Bank

    We reported earlier that a young Palestinian man was killed and a 14-year-old boy was injured after Israeli soldiers opened fire in Nablus.

    A doctor and a young woman have also been wounded by Israeli gunfire today in Jenin city and its camp, according to the Wafa news agency.

    It cited the Palestinian Red Crescent Society as confirming that the doctor was shot in the leg in the al-Zahraa neighbourhood of Jenin, while the women was wounded in the refugee camp.

    At least 27 people have been killed and dozens injured as a result of Israeli military attacks on Jenin after the Gaza ceasefire, which are now on their 38th day.

    Several new Israeli raids have also been reported across the occupied West Bank, including an incursion by special forces into the city of Jericho that was accompanied with live fire. Israeli forces hit a neighbourhood in Silwan south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied East Jerusalem as well.

    Italian Jews call for end to ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Palestinian territory

    Writers, academics, philosophers and journalists are among the 220 signatories of the text, which was published in the daily newspapers La Repubblica and Il Manifesto.

    It said Trump “wants to expel Palestinians from Gaza. Meanwhile in the occupied West Bank the violence of the Israeli government and settlers continues.”

    “Italian Jews say no to ethnic cleansing. Italy must not be an accomplice,” they added.

    The call aims to “bring out a clear and strong Jewish voice of disapproval”, said the Jewish Antiracist Laboratory, a group of young Jewish-origin Italians that is behind the petition.

    The organisation said it is “opposed to the annexation of Palestinian territories by Israel and all forms of anti-Semitism”.



    Around the Network
    SvennoJ 18 hours ago

    At least eight people injured after car rams into pedestrians in Israel’s Haifa: Report

    Israeli media have reported that a car has rammed into a group of pedestrians on Highway 65 near the Karkur intersection, south of Haifa. Local sources told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that the car had fled after hitting several people.

    According to reports, at least eight people were injured in the incident, one of whom was severely wounded. Moreover, a police spokesperson told the Israel Hayom news outlet that the alleged perpetrator had been arrested.

    The Israeli national emergency service, MDA, said it has transferred six injured people to a hospital, including two in serious condition. Two other people had minor injuries.



    Israeli police killed car ramming attack perpetrator

    Israeli police have said the man who rammed into a crowd of people near the Karkur Junction was a 53-year-old Palestinian who was killed.

    The police said the perpetrator, who was from Jenin in the occupied West Bank, was residing in Israel without a permit and was married to an Israeli citizen.

    He injured several civilians who were standing at a bus stop, it added. Earlier, medics said one of the at least eight casualties was seriously wounded.



    SvennoJ 18 hours ago

    Israeli defence minister says Philadelphi Corridor in Gaza to remain ‘buffer zone’: Report

    Defense Minister Israel Katz has told Israeli broadcaster Channel 7 that the area along the border between Egypt and Gaza, the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, will remain a buffer zone “just like in Lebanon and Syria”.

    We have reported earlier that according to unnamed Israeli officials quoted by the Israeli media, the Israeli military intends to keep its forces in the area.

    Israel was supposed to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor on Saturday, the last day of the first phase, and complete the withdrawal within eight days.


    Hamas condemns Israel’s refusal to withdraw from Egypt-Gaza border

    We reported earlier how Defence Minister Israel Katz told local media that the Israeli military will not leave the border area between Gaza and Egypt and keep it as a “buffer zone” just like it occupied parts of Lebanon and Syria.

    The idea is a “clear violation of the ceasefire agreement”, Hamas said in a statement.

    “Hamas while confirming its full commitment to the ceasefire agreement … is also urging the mediators, the international community and all relevant parties to take immediate and serious action to compel the Israeli occupation to abide by the requirements and provisions of the agreement, and to work hard to prevent Netanyahu and his criminal government from disrupting and thwarting it,” the group said.


    Israel is ‘planning to escalate again’: Hamas official

    Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, has spoken to Al Jazeera about the group’s position on negotiations for phase two of the ceasefire. Here are some of his main points:

    • Until now, the Israelis have refused to engage in negotiations for the second phase and, therefore, are violating and endangering the ceasefire.
    • Israel has threatened directly or indirectly that its forces may return to war and are planning an escalation, but Hamas is committed to the ceasefire.
    • Israel has killed more than 100 Palestinians during the ceasefire, prevented aid promised in the agreement from entering the Gaza Strip and delayed the release of prisoners.
    • He conveyed to mediators that Hamas is ready to negotiate on the second phase based on the original signed agreement.
    • Hamas cannot accept ending the first phase on Saturday without being engaged or involved in negotiations for the second phase.
    • Israel has violated the deal many times, but Hamas’s main goals are to achieve an end to the war and a withdrawal of all Israeli forces and start a rebuilding process.
    • Hamas will still be committed to the deal if it can achieve these three goals.
    • Hamas represents the vast majority of Palestinians and is part of the social fabric and the political arena of the Palestinians.
    • Hamas hopes that mediators do their duties and oblige Israel to abide by the deal by engaging in the second phase, advancing a permanent ceasefire and withdrawing its military forces from the Gaza Strip.
    • If Israel does not withdraw, Hamas is “ready for all scenarios”.
    • What Israel has done in Gaza, it is threatening to do in the occupied West Bank, destroying houses and taking Palestinians from their homes.
    • It is not about Gaza or Hamas. It is about the “fascist” and “racist” ideology of the Israeli government, which seeks to get rid of all Palestinians from their homeland.
    • An escalation in the Gaza Strip will not bring about “security, prosperity or stability to the region”, as Trump has stated, but would rather “destabilise the whole region, not only the Gaza Strip”


    SvennoJ 18 hours ago

    Netanyahu dragging phase one of deal for ‘political interest’: Israeli politician

    Benny Gantz, Israeli opposition politician and former member of the country’s war cabinet, says Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu wants to drag out phase one of the Gaza ceasefire deal for “political interest”.

    The National Unity party leader wrote on X that it is in Israel’s interest to return the captives as “quickly as possible” and not in “drips”. “Time is working in favour of Hamas, which is arming itself and rehabilitating itself militarily and politically,” Gantz claimed.

    He called on Netanyahu to “stop wasting time” and allow the deal to bring the captives home so Israel can “deal with Hamas without our hands tied”.


    Top Dutch diplomat calls for agreement on second phase of Gaza ceasefire

    Caspar Veldkamp, the foreign minister of the Netherlands, has welcomed last night’s exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli captives’ bodies as part of the Gaza ceasefire.

    He expressed solidarity with Israel and the families of captives whose bodies have been returned in the past week, also condemning Hamas for “a cruel handover ceremony” and “grave injustices”.

    “Everything must now be done to ensure that the ceasefire holds and an agreement on the second phase is soon reached,” Veldkamp wrote in a post on X.


    Israeli delegation going to Cairo to check for ‘common ground to negotiate’: Saar

    Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says Israel wants “to extend the framework [of phase one] in return for the release of more hostages” from Gaza.

    “If it is possible, we’ll do that. It will be better to speak at length about it after the return of the delegation from Cairo,” he said at a news conference in Jerusalem, according to the Times of Israel newspaper.

    Israel, Hamas looking forward as phase one of deal comes to an end

    The humanitarian protocol of phase one of the ceasefire has not been implemented. Israel hasn’t allowed enough humanitarian assistance in the form of tents, mobile homes, and the like.

    But now everybody’s looking forward, and the Israeli prime minister has finally announced that he would be allowing a delegation to go to Cairo.

    Although we heard a little bit more about where the mindset of the Israeli government from the Foreign Minister Gideon Saar who basically said Israel is looking to see what the possibilities are of extending phase one rather than going to the next phase of the ceasefire, which would require Israel to declare an end to the war and withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

    Already, the withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor was scheduled for this phase, but it doesn’t seem like Israel has made a decision to comply with that obligation.



    SvennoJ 18 hours ago

    Dead Israeli captive ‘sacrificed on political altar’, brother says

    The brother of Itzik Elgarat, whose body was among the four handed over by Hamas overnight, has accused the Israeli government of abandoning the captive, according to The Times of Israel.

    In a poem titled, “I failed” and posted on Facebook, Danny Elgarat wrote, “You were sacrificed on a political altar. The struggle ended in defeat.”

    He also wrote, “A ‘complete victory’ was achieved over me,” referring to Netanyahu’s justification for continuing the war on Gaza.

    “Forgive me and the whole nation, we didn’t do enough to save you, I didn’t honour my promise to get you back safely,” he added.


    Israel identifies bodies of 3 captives

    The family of one Israeli captive and the community that two others belonged to have announced their deaths, according to Israeli media, hours after authorities in Israel began identifying their remains.

    Hadassah Lazar, the sister of Shlomo Mansour, told Ynet News that Israeli authorities have informed the family that the body of the 86-year-old captive has been identified.

    “None of this should have happened, and it pains me that in the absurd situation that our country is in, we have to take comfort in the fact that we received a body and that we are burying it. I am full of rage for what happened. I don’t know if this is comfort, I am full of rage,” she was quoted as saying.

    Kibbutz Nir Oz, meanwhile, announced the deaths of Itzik Elgarat, 69, and Ohad Yahalomi, 50, saying both men had been murdered in captivity, according to The Times of Israel.

    There were no additional details of the circumstances of the men’s deaths.

    Hamas also said it has handed over the body of Tsachi Idan, 50, who was taken from his home in kibbutz Nahal Oz. There has been no word yet on whether his remains have been identified.


    Israel confirms identities of all 4 bodies handed over by Hamas

    Israeli President Isaac Herzog confirms that the identities of all four bodies of captives have been verified.

    We reported earlier that the identities of Shlomo Mansour, Itzik Elgarat and Ohad Yahalomi had been confirmed. Israel has now identified the remains of Tsachi Idan.

    “The return of the bodies of our brothers from captivity emphasises the obligation to do everything in our power to immediately return all those kidnapped from the hell of captivity in Gaza,” Herzog said.



    SvennoJ 17 hours ago

    Remaining Palestinian prisoners arrive in Gaza’s Khan Younis

    A new group of Palestinian prisoners will be released this time, including children and women, as part of the seventh batch that was carried out yesterday.

    More than 40 Palestinian women and children who have been released from Israeli prisons after a delay have arrived in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.


    What does the shirt that Israel forced Palestinians to wear say?

    The white shirt carries text in Arabic that says: “I pursue my enemies until they are eliminated.”

    Many of the detainees were wearing the shirt inside out or seen taking them off and trampling on them following their arrival.



    Press coverage: Freed prisoners trample on clothes the occupation forced them to wear, which bore Israeli symbols and phrases.


    Freed Palestinian prisoner meets her children in Khan Younis

    Asmaa Shatat, a Palestinian prisoner who was released along with more than 40 Palestinian minors and women into Gaza today, has been met by her children in Khan Younis.

    Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency has verified the footage below of Shatat and her children crying while embracing each other.

    https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGlCc_qs54O

    Palestinian boy meets father for first time following prisoner release

    We have been reporting on joyous scenes in the occupied West Bank over recent hours after Israeli authorities began releasing hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire deal.

    At one reunion in the city of Jenin, footage published by the Quds News Network shows freed prisoner Louay Saabneh meeting his son Jabal for the first time after several years of incarceration.