The clear will’ of more than 70% of Israelis for ceasefire to survive

Eran Etzion, a former deputy head of Israel’s National Security Council, expressed pessimism that the truce in Gaza will last much longer.

“The Israeli prime minister is doing everything in his power – both internally and vis-à-vis the Trump administration and mediators and on the ground in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon – to prevent the restoration of calm, end the war, and secure the release of the hostages,” he told Al Jazeera.

Etzion said “it’s the clear will” of more than 70 percent of Israelis to keep the ceasefire going so the remaining captives can return home from Gaza.

“So we have a prime minister who is acting in direct contradiction to the will of his own people, and he’s doing it for political, personal, and sometimes criminal interests.”


Ceasefire must be ‘extended’ so aid flow continues: UN

Olga Cherevko, a staff member with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told Al Jazeera “the importance of the ceasefire cannot be overstated.”

“The only thing that matters right now is that it is extended and that it holds so that we can continue delivering assistance,” she said. “Over these past six weeks, we have seen just how important this ceasefire is for everyone. For us to be able to deliver is a sense for the people to get some reprieve.”

Cherevko said since Israel began its war on Gaza, the truce was the first time she heard people express “a sense of hope and a sense of relief and that they’ve been able to grieve for the first time since the bombs stopped falling”.

“In these six weeks, we have managed to increase our assistance on a remarkable level,” she said.


_{A truck carries humanitarian aid in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip}

Gaza ceasefire must hold: World Food Programme

The World Food Programme says it has reached one million people across Gaza – restoring distribution points, reopening bakeries and expanding cash assistance.

“The impact of safe & sustained humanitarian access is evident,” it said in a post on X. “The ceasefire must hold. There can be no going back.”

‘On a pause from genocide, Israel turns its focus to ethnic cleansing’

On Sunday, Israel deployed tanks in the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than two decades. It was the latest in a series of bellicose stunts that escalated in January in tandem with the implementation of the tenuous ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz instructed the army to prepare for an “extended presence in the cleared [West Bank refugee] camps for the next year and not to allow the return of residents”.

There is nothing like ethnic cleansing to pave the way for annexation, the chief fantasy of the Israeli right wing.

Israeli bulldozers demolish homes in Nur Shams; residents told to leave

On the first day of Ramadan, Israeli military bulldozers have entered the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, demolishing homes and tearing up roads.

Nihad al-Shawish, head of the camp’s Popular Committee, told the Anadolu news agency “several military bulldozers stormed the al-Manshiya neighbourhood” and destroyed residential buildings.

Israeli soldiers forced residents to evacuate, saying they were preparing for “large-scale detonations”, he said.

“The army has ordered all residents of the camp to leave,” al-Shawish said.

According to the UN, at least 55 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been killed since the incursion was launched in January. The assault has displaced more than 40,000 Palestinians.

Hamas calls on UN to stop Israeli violations in occupied West Bank

Hamas says the demolition of homes in the Nur Shams camp by Israeli soldiers who forced residents to flee is “a war crime”.

In a statement, the group said the destruction along with remarks made by Israeli politicians affirms “Israel’s systematic intention to displace our people” from the camps in the northern West Bank.

“We warn of the consequences of continued international silence on the crimes of the fascist occupation government against our people,” a statement said.

“We call on the United Nations and its institutions to take immediate action to stop the occupation’s horrific and ongoing violations of international laws.”

_{A Palestinian woman walks out of the Nur Shams camp in the occupied West Bank}

Ambiguous US position on Gaza needs to be clearly stated, analyst says

All eyes will be on the Arab League summit on Tuesday in Egypt as it tries to tackle what to do in Gaza after Trump suggested the Strip be emptied of Palestinians so reconstruction can begin.

Arab nations, who have vehemently denounced Trump’s plan, are to come up with a counterproposal to keep Palestinians on their land while reconstruction gets under way.

“The problem is, there’s not a clear vision from the American side, while the Israelis say they don’t want to see the Palestinian Authority or Hamas governing the Strip,” said Tamer Qarmout, a professor at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies.

Meanwhile, Eran Etzion, a former Israeli diplomat and a former deputy head of the National Security Council, joins Al Jazeera’s live from Mevaseret Zion on the outskirts of West Jerusalem.

Thousands protest in Israel for completion of ceasefire deal

Thousands of Israelis are protesting on Begin Street in Tel Aviv, demanding the release of the remaining captives in Gaza and the completion of the second phase of the ceasefire deal.

Israel agrees on US plan for temporary ceasefire in Gaza: PM office

Israel will adopt the proposal by US President Donald Trump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza for the Ramadan and Passover periods, the Prime Minister’s Office has said.

The announcement came as the first phase of the previously agreed ceasefire was set to expire.

Residents of Rafah unable to return to their homes despite truce

Al Mezan, a Palestinian advocacy group, says Israeli forces are continuing to demolish private and public property in Rafah, six weeks since the ceasefire came into effect, and preventing residents of the southern city from returning to their homes.

Israeli forces “have not kept within the designated areas outlined in the ceasefire agreement and continue to maintain positions deep inside Rafah – more than one kilometer inside the city centre, extending to the eastern garage area, the Palestinian-Egyptian border to the south, and the eastern perimeter fence”, it said.

Israeli forces have also declared some 60 percent of the city’s area a “restricted and highly dangerous zone”, it said.

“These areas remain highly dangerous, where any movement is met with artillery fire, sniper attacks, and aerial bombardment.”

Nearly half of the 111 people killed and 916 wounded by Israeli forces since the ceasefire were in Rafah as residents attempted to check on their homes and farmland, the group said.

Some 200,000 of the city’s 300,000 residents are still unable to return, it added.

Netanyahu’s office admits of signs October 7 attack was coming

For the first time, Israel’s prime minister has admitted that there was some forewarning of Hamas’s deadly attacks on Israel in October 2023.

“The intelligence officer in the Military Secretariat received a message that presented telltale signs – and passed it on to the Military Secretary”, a statement from Netanyahu’s office, carried by Israeli news outlet Ynet, reads.

An Israeli army probe into the incident revealed that the situation assessment, containing evidence pointing to a coming attack, was passed on to the joint chiefs of staff of the army, but was disregarded.

Netanyahu has frequently denied that Israeli authorities had any warning of the attacks, which were used as the justification for a deadly 15-month war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 48,000 people.

US plan calls for a truce extension until at least April 20

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office released a lengthy statement saying it has agreed to implement the US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s idea of a ceasefire extension.

What it will mean is that the ceasefire, the pause in the fighting, will go through for the entire month of Ramadan, which is the entire month of March, and also through the Jewish Passover, which begins in mid-April and ends on April 20.

This also stipulates that half of the captives inside of Gaza would be released on the first day.

It’s worth mentioning that 59 captives are still being held in Gaza, half of whom are alive and half of whom have been confirmed deceased by Israeli forces.

It’s still unclear exactly what’s next, because Israel says that they’re ready to continue the fighting at any time.

But the Americans say that more time is needed to negotiate phase two of this deal, so half of the captives would be released in the meantime and then the other half would be released if they can come to a conclusion on the end of the war.

Of course, it is [still early morning here], so there hasn’t been any comment from Hamas just yet.

What does US-backed plan propose?

Netanyahu’s office said the plan was put forward by US President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff.

According to its statement:

US is backing Israeli efforts to extend phase one

Trump is on the record as stating repeatedly that the ceasefire is in Israel’s hands.

He has sent the signal that there will be no pressure from the US in terms of moving from phase one to phase two, saying repeatedly that that is up to Israel.

So in terms of any pressure from the US for Israel to move forward on this publicly, at least, there is none.

The fact that Witkoff would appear, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, to have a plan on the table, whether this constitutes pressure, that’s an open question.

What Witkoff’s plan does appear to provide for is an extension of phase one and not allowing the movement to proceed into phase two, at which stage there would be discussions about phase three, which Israel is deeply reluctant to get into because that involves the governance of Gaza and the rebuilding of it.

So, it does appear to be as though from the US, at least, there is an agreement with Israel to get an extension of the first phase rather than move forward.

All the efforts from the US and from Steve

US’s latest proposal shows it cannot be an impartial mediator

Stephen Zunes, the director of Middle Eastern studies at the University of San Francisco, says the US has put forth a proposal that favours Israel.

“This is typical,” he told Al Jazeera from the US city of San Francisco.

“Hamas and Israel will agree to something. Then Israel will try to revise it in their favour and then the US will put forward a new proposal that is in Israel’s favour and then the US will blame Hamas for not accepting that proposal,” he said.

“We have seen this pattern from the beginning of the conflict. And even for that matter, we’ve seen this pattern in Israel’s negotiations with other Arab parties for decades,” Zunes added.

“This goes back to the US being the chief mediator in the conflict and the chief military, economic and financial supporter of the more powerful of the two parties in the conflict.”

Israel again warns Hamas of a return to war

Here’s more from the statement issued by Netanyahu’s office.

“According to the agreement, Israel can return to fighting after the 42nd day if it feels that the negotiations are ineffective,” it said. “This clause was supported by a side letter from the previous US administration and has also received the support of the Trump administration.”

It also claimed it has fully complied with the ceasefire deal and accused Hamas of repeatedly violating the truce.

However, Israel has continued to launch attacks on Gaza despite the truce, killing some 100 Palestinians. It was also Israel that refused to begin talks on the second phase of the deal, which were supposed to begin 16 days into phase one.

UN officials meanwhile say Israel has restricted the entry of humanitarian aid, including mobile homes and heavy equipment, in violation of the truce deal.

BEIRUT/WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - Israel is lobbying the United States to keep Syria weak and decentralised, including by letting Russia keep its military bases there to counter Turkey's growing influence in the country, four sources familiar with the efforts said.

Turkey's often fraught ties with Israel have come under severe strain during the Gaza war and Israeli officials have told Washington that Syria's new Islamist rulers, who are backed by Ankara, pose a threat to Israel's borders, the sources said.

The lobbying points to a concerted Israeli campaign to influence U.S. policy at a critical juncture for Syria, as the Islamists who ousted Bashar al-Assad try to stabilise the fractured state and get Washington to lift punishing sanctions.

Israel communicated its views to top U.S. officials during meetings in Washington in February and subsequent meetings in Israel with U.S. Congressional representatives, three U.S. sources and another person familiar with the contacts said.

Exclusive: Israel Lobbies US to Keep Russian Bases in a 'Weak' Syria, Sources Say | Reuters

Of course they are, how long before Israel invents some bullshit excuse for a full scale invasion of Syria?

Israel aiding Russia, America aiding Russia, Israel threatening Syria and land grabbing, constant destabilisation.

‘Free Syrians must be cautious of Israel’ says Lebanese Druze leader

Walid Jumblatt added at a news conference on Sunday that he would visit Syria soon, and accused Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sowing sectarian division in the country.

“In Syria, there is a plot for sabotage. There is a plot for sabotage in the region and for the Arabs’ national security,” Jumblatt said.

Israel has expanded into southern Syria since the December overthrow of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, and Netanyahu recently said that Israel would not allow Syrian forces into areas south of Damascus.

Israel has used the security of Syria’s minority Druze population as a pretext for its most recent threats, particularly after clashes between Druze fighters and Syrian security forces in a suburb of Damascus. Many Syrian Druze have rejected Israel’s attempts to speak on their behalf, and protests have been held in the Druze-majority province of Sweida against Israeli air strikes in Syria.

Israel has its own Druze minority, who are largely pro-Israel, with the men conscripted into the Israeli military. However, the vast majority of Druze in neighbouring countries, such as Syria and Lebanon, are pro-Palestinian.

Syrian security forces enter Damascus suburb after Israeli threats

A convoy of Syrian security forces has entered Jaramana – a city where the majority of the population is Druze – after days of unrest following the killing of a security officer during clashes between local residents and security forces.

Video from Jaramana verified by Al Jazeera shows locals gathered around the convoy and appearing to celebrate its arrival.

As we mentioned earlier, the Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, has threatened to intervene in Syria “in defence” of the Druze minority, although religious leaders from the community denounced the killing of the officer as the actions of “an undisciplined mob”.

One killed as Israel launches drone attack on north Gaza

Israeli forces have launched a drone attack on Beit Hanoon in northern Gaza, killing at least one person and wounding another, according to Al Quds Today and the Shehab Agency.

Israeli tank fire wounds woman in southern Rafah

The attack took place in Rafah’s al-Jnaina neighbourhood, injuring at least one woman, report our colleagues on the ground.

Four Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, citing medical sources, report that four Palestinians have been killed and five injured in Israeli attacks on the Palestinian enclave this morning.

Gaza’s Civil Defence also says there has been Israeli shelling near the southern city of Khan Younis.

Hamas demands US halt support for ‘war criminal’ Netanyahu

The Palestinian group has urged the US government to act more like a neutral mediator in the ceasefire process.

“We call on the US administration to stop its bias and alignment with the fascist plans of the war criminal Netanyahu, which target our people and their existence on their land,” Hamas said in a lengthy statement.

“We affirm that all projects and plans that bypass our people and their established rights on their land, self-determination, and liberation from occupation are destined for failure and defeat.

“We reaffirm our commitment to implementing the signed agreement in its three stages, and we have repeatedly announced our readiness to start negotiations on the second stage of the agreement,” it said.