Gaza
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi reiterated at the Munich Security Conference his country's position regarding Trump's controversial plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza and have the U.S. "take over" the Strip.
“To answer you unequivocally, 35 percent of our population are refugees, we can't take in any more, we can't have Palestinians coming to Jordan. They don't want to come to Jordan, and we don't want them to come to Jordan,” Safadi said.
Gaza
A Hamas official told AFP he expected the second phase of indirect negotiations on the truce agreement in the Gaza Strip with Israel to begin “early next week.”
“We expect the second phase of the cease-fire negotiations to begin early next week, and the mediators are continuing talks on this,” said the official, Taher al-Nounou. Another source close to the negotiations told AFP that “the mediators informed Hamas that they hoped to start the second phase of negotiations next week in Doha” in Qatar, one of the three mediating countries along with the USA and Egypt.
Region
Saudi Arabia will host leaders from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday to discuss U.S. President Donald Trump's proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and expel the over two million Palestinians who live there, a source familiar with the matter told AFP. The meeting comes ahead of an Arab League gathering in Cairo next week on the same issue.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, another source said Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas would also attend.
Trump threw the region into a state of shock following his surprise announcement during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington that the U.S. would "take over" Gaza, expel its inhabitants to Egypt and Jordan, and develop the largely destroyed enclave.
Occupied West Bank
An Israeli left-wing activist was detained in the occupied West Bank for attending a joint Israeli-Palestinian tree planting event, Haaretz reports. Several buses of protestors were en route to the site of the protest when the Israeli army issued a curfew order for the area, a common occurrence ahead of Palestinian protests.
The curfew order was issued specifically for the bus in which Hait Ofran was riding. Upon leaving the protest, she and the bus driver were arrested by the police force affiliated with National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir Yehudit party, know for its fervent support for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Southern Lebanon
Israeli warplanes have been flying over the city of Sour, our correspondent in the South, Muntasser Abdallah, reports. Occupying Israeli troops have also carried out controlled demolitions on several houses in Yaroun and Maroun al-Ras, in the Bint Jbeil district. A loud explosion was also heard in Mais al-Jabal, in the Marjayoun district.
Southern Lebanon
Israel rejected France's proposal for United Nations peacekeepers, including French troops, to replace Israeli forces at certain strategic points in southern Lebanon in order to guarantee an Israeli army withdrawal on Feb. 18, The Jerusalem Post reports.
"Israel is instead choosing to remain in these five crucial locations," the Israeli outlet reports. Israel's public broadcaster said on Wednesday that the U.S. had authorized "long term" Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon following news from Reuters that Israel had requested another extension to the deadline for fulfilling the cease-fire's terms.
The Israeli army was originally meant to withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory by Jan. 26, then requested and was granted an extension until Feb. 18.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the United States was making a "miscalculation" in the Middle East, rejecting President Donald Trump's recently proposed "unacceptable" plan for Gaza.
"Unfortunately, the United States is making a miscalculation in our region. We should not be in an approach that does not take into account the history, values and heritage of this geography," Erdogan told reporters on a flight from Pakistan to Turkey.
He strongly condemned any forced displacement of Palestinians, referring to Trump's proposal for the future of Gaza.
"It is absolutely unacceptable to approve this forced displacement. It would be a pure atrocity," the president said.
The Palestinian Prisoners Bureau announced that 369 Palestinian detainees will be released in exchange for the three Israeli hostages who will be released this Saturday.
Separately, Israel confirmed that it had received the identities of the three captives, two of whom are held by Hamas and one by Islamic Jihad, according to Reuters.
Three hostages, including a U.S. citizen, will be released tomorrow, Saturday, a senior Hamas official was quoted as saying by Reuters, in accordance with the terms of the cease-fire.
The Israeli army is ready to withdraw from Lebanese territory and transfer areas to the Lebanese army within the time frame set by the cease-fire agreement reached under French-American mediation, according to a senior Israeli security official quoted by AFP. The latter said that the withdrawal of the Israeli army was underway and that "the next stage of the agreement stipulates that we will withdraw to the Blue Line and that we [will cede] to the Lebanese army, in an orderly manner, [control of] the area from which we withdraw," the source said.
Initially set for Jan. 26, the duration of the cease-fire agreement was extended by three weeks at the Israeli request.
"We are still deployed in accordance with the agreement [whose implementation is] monitored by the United States and we are working closely with the United States to ensure that the transfer of responsibilities to the Lebanese army will be done within the planned time frame," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity. His statements were authorized for publication on Friday, the agency said.
Israeli soldiers advanced towards the area called Khallet Ashour, northeast of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil). The patrol fired intensively in the area during this combing operation, according to L'Orient Today correspondent.
Israeli forces have stormed the town of Hizma, northeast of Jerusalem, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.
About 20 vehicles were seized by the soldiers who entered the town from its western entrance, the report quoted local sources as saying.
Saudi Arabia is drawing up a plan for the future of the Gaza Strip to counter U.S. President Donald Trump's ambition to create a "Riviera of the Middle East" free of Palestinian residents, Reuters reports, citing Saudi and regional diplomatic sources.
The draft ideas will be discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month with Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The proposals include the idea of a reconstruction fund led by several Gulf states and an agreement to remove Hamas from running the Palestinian enclave.
The U.N. refugee agency (UNRWA) says the Israeli military used its health center in Arroub camp, near Bethlehem, as a temporary detention site during a raid on the area on Feb. 12, even though U.N. facilities are protected by international law.
“[The army] forcibly entered the health center and used it to detain and interrogate dozens of Palestinian residents arrested in the camp,” the agency said in a statement. UNRWA condemned the action as “a flagrant disregard for the sanctity of United Nations facilities.”
“Unfortunately, this recent incident is part of a pattern of forced intrusions into UNRWA facilities in the West Bank since October 2023, by both Israeli security forces and Palestinian armed groups,” the statement said.
The Israeli army has killed 25 Palestinians and injured dozens more after 25 consecutive days of military operations against the city and refugee camp of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa. Citing local sources, the Palestinian agency said that 470 facilities and homes were completely or partially destroyed due to the ongoing ground and airstrikes, and that residents are deprived of electricity and water.
Schools and health services have been closed and Israeli forces have prevented water from reaching the four main hospitals, Wafa added.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which facilitated the exchange of Palestinian hostages and prisoners between Israel and Hamas, said it was "very concerned" about the situation of the hostages held for more than 16 months in the Gaza Strip.
"The latest rescue operations reinforce the urgent need for the ICRC to have access to the people held hostage. We are very concerned about the living conditions of the hostages," the Red Cross said in a statement published on X.
The Pentagon began pressuring Egypt to accept Donald Trump's plan to expel Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, raising the possibility of cutting its annual $1.4 billion in military aid, according to Israeli public radio Kan.
On Monday, Donald Trump suggested that the United States could reduce its aid to Egypt and Jordan, following their respective refusals to accept new Palestinian refugees.
U.S. military aid to Egypt began in 1979 after the signing of the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said yesterday that it was "unacceptable" for Israel to extend its presence in south Lebanon beyond the Feb. 18 deadline or for its army to remain positioned indefinitely at several strategic points, as Tel Aviv has informed the United States. He made these statements after talks with the U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Lisa Johnson, and the chairman of the ceasefire monitoring committee, U.S. General Jasper Jeffers, who was in Tel Aviv the day before.
"The Americans informed me that the Israeli occupier will withdraw on Feb. 18 from the villages it still occupies, but will remain in five strategic points. I told them, in my name, in the name of President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, that we categorically reject this," said the leader of the Amal Movement.
During the night, after 11 p.m., the Israeli army demolished several houses in Houla (Marjayoun), according to information from L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south. Drones also flew over Harouf, Toul and Jibsheet, according to residents.
Shortly before, the Israeli air force had carried out a series of strikes in south Lebanon, despite the cease-fire in force since Nov. 27, 2024. The Israeli army carried out strikes targeting the course of the Litani River, near the town of Yahmor al-Shqif (Nabatieh), where three explosions were heard by residents. Strikes also targeted an area between Yater (Bint Jbeil) and Zibqin (Sour), where four explosions were heard.
The Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson told X that the army had carried out "strikes against military sites belonging to Hezbollah, which contained combat equipment and missile platforms."
Expelling Gaza's residents would be "extremely dangerous," French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the Financial Times this morning. "For me, the solution is not a real estate solution. It's a political solution."
Donald Trump threatened Egypt and Jordan with reprisals if they do not agree to take in the 2.4 million Gazans who would be displaced under his plan, which has been criticized around the world but applauded by Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is about to embark on a Middle East tour, said yesterday that the United States was open to any other proposal from Arab countries. "Right now the only plan – they don't like it – but the only plan is Trump's. So if they have a better one, now is the time to present it," he said.
"The war will not resume because no one has an interest in it," Abdel Nasser Abu al-Omrain told AFP. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people have already returned to the north of the Palestinian territory, only to find their homes in ruins.
For Abou al-Omrain, "Gaza has become an unbearable hell, and we cannot live there." The fate of the Palestinian territory is at the center of questions, after the announcement by American President Donald Trump of a project to place it under American control to make it a "Riviera of the Middle East" from which the Palestinians would be expelled and would not have the right to return.
Good morning!
Thank you for joining us for our live coverage.
Hamas is expected to announce to the Israeli authorities during the day the names of the three hostages it plans to release tomorrow, Saturday, in exchange for Palestinian detainees, after exchanges of threats between the two camps that have raised fears of a resumption of fighting. After several days of uncertainty, the Palestinian movement has said it is ready to respect the timetable agreed in the truce agreement, suggesting a new exchange of prisoners for hostages, which will be the sixth since the guns fell silent on Jan. 19.
According to Extra News television, which is close to the Egyptian state, mediation led by Egypt and Qatar has made it possible to "overcome the obstacles" that were endangering the cease-fire.
The agreement "clearly states that three live hostages must be released by Hamas terrorists on Saturday," Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer said Thursday. "We have already amassed forces in and around Gaza, so if these three are not released ... by Saturday noon, the cease-fire will end," he warned.
According to Palestinian sources quoted by AFP, the mediators obtained an "Israeli promise to implement the provisions of the humanitarian protocol" provided for, which should allow the entry into Gaza of prefabricated buildings, tents, fuel, heavy equipment, medicines and hospital renovation materials.
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