Berri refuses to allow the Israeli army to maintain five positions after its withdrawal from southern Lebanon| LIVE

Thank you for following our live coverage. We will resume reporting tomorrow morning. 

South Lebanon/Diplomacy

France has proposed that some troops from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), including French soldiers, be deployed in southern Lebanon to facilitate a "complete and definitive" Israeli withdrawal, Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Thursday.

To find out more, press here. 👈

Gaza

A top Vatican official on Thursday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal to move Palestinians from Gaza, saying "the Palestinian population must remain on its land," AFP reported. 

"This is one of the fundamental points of the Holy See: no deportations," Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said on the sidelines of an Italy-Vatican meeting, according to the ANSA news agency.

"The solution in our opinion is that of two states because this also means giving hope to the population," he said.

South Lebanon

The Israeli army conducted a large explosion in Kfar Kila, in the Marjayoun district, reported our correspondent in the region.

Syria

French President Emmanuel Macron called on Syria's transitional authorities to join the fight against the Islamic State group, still active in the country.

"The fight against Daesh [Arabic acronym for Islamic State] is an absolute priority," he said at the close of a conference on Syria in Paris. "As such, having a close partnership with the [international] Inherent resolve coalition is a very good idea," he suggested.

Lebanon, Beirut:

Lebanese authorities denied a plane arriving from Tehran permission to land at Beirut international airport, according to several sources.

To find out more, press here.👈

Lebanon: 

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said the U.S. informed him that Israel would withdraw from the villages it occupies by Feb. 18 but would maintain a presence at five points. However, Berri emphasized that he, along with the President and the Prime Minister, has strongly rejected this plan.

Berri also refused any discussion about extending the Israeli withdrawal deadline, asserting that "it is the responsibility of the Americans to impose the withdrawal; otherwise, they will have caused the biggest setback for the [newly-formed] Lebanese Cabinet."

"If the occupation persists, it is the responsibility of the Lebanese state," Berri said, adding that the Lebanese Army is fulfilling its duties in the southern Litani region. "As for the northern Litani, this matter lies with the Lebanese, who must engage in dialogue to establish a defense strategy."

Berri concluded by stating, "Hezbollah is fully committed, and if the occupation continues, it will mean that Israel will have freedom of movement in Lebanon, which is unacceptable."

South Lebanon

The Civil Defense announced that it had found another body under the rubble in Wadi Kais, in the village of Khiam in the Marjayoun district. 

Our regional correspondent added that the recovered person was killed by Israeli bombing during the war between Israel and Hezbollah. The body was taken to Marjayoun Hospital for identification.

Search operations continue in Khiam, heavily bombarded by Israel during the war and the site of violent clashes between the Israeli army and Hezbollah fighters. Since the cease-fire was announced on Nov. 27, more than 50 bodies have been recovered from the village. 

Gaza

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that it had "struck" what it claimed to be a rocket launcher in the Gaza Strip after reportedly detecting a projectile it believed had landed in the Palestinian territory.

"The Israeli army struck a rocket launcher from which a shot was identified in the Gaza Strip," it said in a statement, after announcing that a rocket fired from Gaza had landed in Palestinian territory.

Syria

The European Union is working on a "rapid" lifting of economic sanctions in various sectors of activity in Syria, announced the French Foreign Minister, while the reconstruction of the country has been estimated at over 400 billion dollars by the U.N.

"We are working with my European counterparts to initiate a rapid lifting of economic sectoral sanctions," said French diplomatic chief Jean-Noël Barrot at an international conference on Syria in Paris. "We will lift sanctions step by step," observed German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Gaza

The humanitarian catastrophe continues in Gaza despite the truce, said the head of the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS), calling for unimpeded access to humanitarian aid destined for the devastated Palestinian territory.

"In addition to immense human suffering, I also witnessed an unimaginable degree of the destruction of infrastructure and houses, and an overwhelming volume of rubble," Jorge Moreira da Silva head of UNOPS, following a visit to Gaza. He also called for a "permanent cease-fire," the "immediate release of all hostages" and "rapid," "unimpeded" access to humanitarian aid.

Gaza

A rocket fired from Gaza has landed within the territory of the Gaza Strip, Haaretz reported citing the Israeli army.

Gaza/Diplomacy

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has declared U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza a major threat to world peace.

"I view Trump's decision to make such an agreement with a murderer like Netanyahu and his threats as a major threat to world peace," Erdogan said.

"At the moment, nobody can take Gaza away from Palestinians, from Gazans. Daring to do something like is, firstly, a very different threat to world peace."

Gaza

Mediators between Israel and Hamas are trying to speed up the release of live hostages held in Gaza after receiving a request from Israel, Haaretz reported, citing the Wall Street Journal.

The Wall Street Journal also reported that Israel had informed the mediators of its willingness to increase the number of hostages to be released in the first phase of the agreement.

South Lebanon

A sergeant in the Lebanese Internal Security Forces (ISF), Khalil Ali Fayad, succumbed to his wounds on Wednesday, after coming under Israeli fire in Aitaroun, southern Lebanon's Bint Jbeil district, on Jan. 26, 2025, the police announced in a statement.

In their statement, the ISF paid tribute to the 30-year-old policeman, who was posthumously promoted to the rank of master sergeant. The victim, originally from Bint Jbeil in South Lebanon and single, had joined the security forces in 2015 and was employed there in the information division. He was also posthumously awarded several medals.

To find out more, click here. 👈

Gaza

The Israeli government has declared that Hamas is obliged to release "three live hostages" held captive in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, stating that its threats to resume war against the Palestinian movement are valid only if this clause is not respected.

The framework of the agreement "clearly stipulates that three live hostages must be released on Saturday by Hamas," said government spokesman David Mencer. "If Hamas does not respect the agreement ... if these three are not released, if Hamas does not return our hostages, by noon on Saturday, the cease-fire will end."

Gaza

Israel has said that no “heavy equipment” is being allowed into the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, where dozens of bulldozers and construction equipment are lined up for imminent entry, according to an Egyptian media report.

“There is no entry of prefabs or heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip, and there is no coordination in this sense,” said Omer Dostri, spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on X: "There is no entry of goods through the Rafah crossing." Under the truce agreement, the Rafah crossing is open for the evacuation of the wounded and sick. Humanitarian aid and goods transit through the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza.

Syria

The British government has announced its intention to ease the sanctions imposed on Syria during the time it was ruled by Bashar al-Assad, to “support the Syrian people in rebuilding their country.”

“The government will bring forward measures in the coming months to adapt the sanctions regime against Syria,” said the Sanctions Minister, Stephen Doughty, in a written statement to the House of Commons, referring in particular to the energy, transport and finance sectors.

Gaza

Egypt and Qatar have succeeded in “overcoming the obstacles” that stood in the way of finalizing the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, announced a media outlet close to the Egyptian state.

Quoting an official source, Extra News television said that Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement were now committed to fully implementing the agreement, after a series of disputes that had put its realization in doubt.

Gaza

Dozens of bulldozers and semi-trailers carrying construction equipment lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing before they entered the Gaza Strip, devastated by the war between Israel and Hamas, announced a media outlet close to Egyptian intelligence.

Al-Qahera News also reported that trucks carrying camper vans were parked at the crossing, ready to enter the Palestinian territory.

Gaza war

Denmark has announced the payment of an additional 10.2 million kroner (1.4 million euros) to the U.N. agency dedicated to the Palestinians (UNRWA). This contribution, which comes on top of 105 million kronor already earmarked for this year by Copenhagen, is intended to “strengthen UNRWA's neutrality” and its “internal reform process,” according to the government.

Since Jan. 30, Israel has banned the U.N. agency from working “on Israeli territory,” accusing it of having played a role in the Hamas attack on its soil on Oct. 7, 2023.

Gaza

Hamas declared its willingness to continue implementing the truce agreement with Israel, provided the latter also honors its obligations. A stalemate over the next prisoner exchange due to take place on Saturday threatens the cease-fire.

“We are ready to implement [the agreement] and force the occupation [Israel] to comply fully with it,” said Abdel Latif al-Qanou, spokesperson for the Palestinian movement, in a statement. “The mediators are pressing ... for the resumption on Saturday of the process of exchanging hostages” in the Gaza Strip for Palestinians held by Israel, the text added.

South Lebanon

The Israeli army has once again set fire to houses in Adaisseh, in the Marjayoun district. Smoke can be seen above the village, according to our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah.

Israeli forces also bulldozed roads and fields in the area.

Gaza

The Palestinian militant group Hamas has announced that it does not want the Gaza cease-fire agreement to fail. Mediators are pressing for the agreement to be fully implemented, for Israel to respect a humanitarian protocol and for exchanges of Israeli hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel to resume on Saturday, Hamas said in a statement quoted by Reuters.

Israel has called on military reservists to prepare for a possible resumption of war in Gaza if Hamas fails to meet Saturday's deadline for the release of more Israeli hostages.

Gaza

Colombian citizen Rebecca Gonzalez, wife of Colombian-Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot, held by Hamas in Gaza, claimed last night to have received “proof of life” and denounced the “horrible” conditions of his captivity. In an interview with Colombian radio station Blu Radio, Gonzalez revealed that this “proof of life” was given to her by Ohad Ben Ami, one of the three hostages released by Hamas on Feb. 8 in the fifth exchange during the truce in force with Israel since Jan. 19.

“He brought me proof of my husband's life. I received a message, I even received a song where he asks me to be strong,” she said. “He's alive and we have to get him out of there immediately,” Gonzalez proclaimed because, in her opinion, the "hostages are living a holocaust."

Syria

The head of Syrian diplomacy is due to attend an international conference in Paris later today on the political transition and the immense security and economic challenges facing his country following the fall of Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8.

This is Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani's first official trip to the European Union, following his participation in January, in the Davos Economic Forum in Switzerland. The Paris conference, the third of its kind after meetings in Jordan and Saudi Arabia since Assad's overthrow, illustrates the attention of the international community, which is watching the new government like a hawk and wants to encourage the Syrian transition. The meeting comes as Damascus announced yesterday that Syria would elect a government on March 1 that reflects the “diversity” of the Syrian people.

UNIFIL vehicles drive past the rubble of buildings in the village of Yarine, South Lebanon, Feb. 9, 2025. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)

Lebanon

These threats were issued at a time when Israel is pressing to extend the deadline for implementing the cease-fire terms and to continue occupying several strategic points in southern Lebanon, a move which the Lebanese presidency once again formally rejected yesterday.

Lebanon

Israel's Arabic-speaking army spokesperson Avichay Adraee last night accused Iran and Hezbollah of using Beirut's international airport to “smuggle funds to arm Hezbollah.”

"The al-Quds Force [an elite unit of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] and Hezbollah have been using Beirut International Airport for several weeks, using civilian flights to smuggle funds to arm Hezbollah and carry out attacks against the State of Israel,” said Adraee. "The Israeli army will not allow the arming of Hezbollah and deploy all the means at its disposal to guarantee the application of the cease-fire agreements and ensure the safety of Israeli citizens.”

Gaza

Two Palestinian sources close to the talks underway to end the crisis threatening the truce between Israel and Hamas this morning reported progress likely to lead to a new prisoner exchange on Saturday as planned.

“There is progress,” one of these sources told AFP, indicating that the mediators had obtained an "Israeli promise to implement the provisions of the humanitarian protocol [of the truce agreement] from this morning."

“Hamas confirmed to Egyptian officials [Egypt being one of the mediators] its commitment ... to carry out the sixth prisoner exchange on schedule, on Saturday, as soon as [Israel] honors its commitment.”

Good morning!🌤️ Welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East, more than three weeks after the Gaza truce came into effect, ending (at least temporarily) a 471-day war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

We will also be following the latest developments in Lebanon, where the application period of the cease-fire terms decided on Nov. 27 between Israel and Hezbollah has been extended by 22 days. We will also cover the situation in Syria, more than two months after the fall of the Assad regime on Dec. 8, 2024.