Gaza cease-fire
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed efforts to extend the Gaza cease-fire and “threats posed by Iran” in a phone call Tuesday, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement.
Washington stated that the Trump administration would like to see the second phase of the Gaza cease-fire implemented, although the U.S. president recently said that this decision “rests with Israel.”
The Arab summit held in Cairo on Tuesday concluded with the adoption of the Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of Gaza, as declared by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in his closing address, according to Reuters.
The plan aims to counter President Donald Trump's proposals for a “Riviera of the Middle East” by presenting a reconstruction plan for the devastated enclave without the displacement of its population.
Hezbollah MP Hassan Ezzedine said in a statement Tuesday that “the enemy continues its crimes and repeated attacks, as today it targeted a civilian vehicle after the owner had dropped off his family at home. The owner, Khodr Hashim, was martyred in the town of Rashknenay (Sour) in the South.”
“We place this attack under the responsibility of the International Supervision Committee and the Lebanese government, urging them to put an end to this escalation in violating national sovereignty,” Ezzedine said.
“How long will the state continue to ignore these violations without taking any action or announcing a position, despite its commitment to defend its citizens and protect its people? We also note that any complacency or negligence in this regard will push our people and citizens to exercise their right to resist the enemy and expel them,” Ezzedine said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the State Department had designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization, following an executive order issued by President Donald Trump.
"Today, the State Department is fulfilling one of President Trump's first promises upon taking office, and I'm pleased to announce the Department's designation of Ansar Allah, commonly referred to as the Houthis, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization," said Rubio.
The statement added that the "action taken by the State Department demonstrates the Trump Administration's commitment to protecting our national security interests, the safety of the American people, and the security of the United States. Terrorist designations play a critical role in our fight against terrorism and are an effective way to curtail support for terrorist activities."
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief says “healthcare has been a primary casualty of the conflict in Gaza” as Israel’s blockade of aid and medical supplies from entering Gaza continues to hamper the lives of Palestinians.
“Only 18 of the [Gaza] Strip’s 36 hospitals and 11 field hospitals are still operational, most of them only partially,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“The best medicine is peace.”
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he was confident that U.S. President Donald Trump was "capable of achieving peace" in the region.
Speaking at an extraordinary Arab League summit, he also said that Egypt would host a conference for the reconstruction of Gaza next month.
Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa delivered his opening speech at the Arab Summit in Cairo.
"A lasting and just peace is the cornerstone for the Palestinian people to regain their historically legitimate right to self-determination, " he said, according to Al Jazeera. "We reject any attempt to establish illegal settlements or forcibly transfer the Palestinian people."
He also welcomed "the initiative proposed by Egypt regarding the Gaza Strip," saying it would help strengthen brotherly ties and address common challenges.
Hezbollah announced the death of its member Khodr Said Hashem from the town of Rashknenay (Sour.) He was killed earlier today in an Israeli drone strike on his car in Rashknenay, L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south reported.
Hamas called on the Arab League summit in Cairo on the future of Gaza to "thwart" any plans to displace Palestinians from the territory.
"We hope for an effective Arab role that puts an end to the humanitarian tragedy created by the occupation in the Gaza Strip ... and that thwarts the plans of the [Israeli] occupation to displace [Palestinians]," the movement said in a statement.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health confirmed the death of one person in the attack on a car in Reshknanay (Sour). This is a "provisional toll," according to the ministry, which did not report any injuries.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, will be absent from the Arab summit on the Gaza Strip in Cairo on Tuesday, where the kingdom will be represented by its foreign minister, according to the state-run Saudi news agency SPA.
"On behalf of ... King Salman ... Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Minister of Foreign Affairs, arrived today in Cairo to lead the Kingdom's delegation participating in the extraordinary Arab summit," which is due to open early this afternoon, SPA reported.
The Israeli army claimed in a statement published on X that it had killed "Aysser Saadi," presented as the "Hamas commander in Jenin," on Monday evening, as part of its military operation "Iron Wall" in the occupied West Bank.
The army added that another person was killed and three others were arrested and they had extended their assault to another neighborhood of Jenin.
Israeli Army Radio (GLZ) reported that the drone strike on a car in Reshknanay, near Sour, which left one dead, "eliminated a key figure in Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces."
However, a Hezbollah source told L'Orient Today that the victim was "a regular fighter."
The UNRWA Commissioner-General joined calls for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza again, saying the Israeli decision endangers the lives of already exhausted civilians.
“Humanitarian aid must continue to flow on a scale similar to what we have seen over the last six weeks when the cease-fire began,” Philippe Lazzarini said in a message on X. “Aid and these basic services are not negotiable. They must never be used as weapons of war.”
The disarmament of Hamas is a "red line," Sami Abou Zouhri, one of the leaders of the Palestinian movement, told AFP after Israel conditioned the continuation of the truce in the Gaza Strip on the "total demilitarization" of the territory.
"Any discussion about the weapons of the resistance [to Israel] is nonsense. The weapons of the resistance are a red line for Hamas and all resistance groups," Abu Zouhri said.
"This is a non-negotiable issue" and "any discussion about the deportation of resistance fighters or our people is rejected" in advance, he added.
The Israeli drone strike on a car in Reshknanay killed at least one person, according to L'Orient Today's correspondent.
An Israeli drone carried out a strike on a car in Rashknenay (Sour), causing casualties, according to information from L'Orient Today's correspondent in the south. Drones continue to fly over the targeted area.
Israel is demanding the "complete demilitarization of the Gaza Strip" in order to move on to implementing the second phase of the truce agreement reached in January with Hamas through international mediation, the Israeli foreign minister said.
There is "no agreement on phase two," Gideon Saar told a news conference in Jerusalem. "We demand a complete demilitarization of Gaza. Hamas and Islamic Jihad out. And give us back our hostages. If they agree to that, we can implement [phase two] tomorrow."
Syrian interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa arrived in Cairo to take part in an Arab League summit that is to discuss an alternative plan to that of U.S. President Donald Trump for the Gaza Strip, Syria's state-run news agency SANA reported.
"The President of the Syrian Arab Republic arrived in Cairo ... to take part in the extraordinary Arab summit devoted to developments in the Palestinian issue," the agency said.
Syrian security forces are carrying out a sweeping campaign in the city of Latakia, a former stronghold of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, after two soldiers were killed in an ambush, according to the state-run SANA news agency.
The agency accused "groups of remnants of Assad's militias" of having "killed two members of the Ministry of Defense staff in an ambush" in this coastal city in northwestern Syria. The security forces subsequently launched "a large security campaign" in search of the attackers, SANA added.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that armed men had "attacked a patrol" of the security forces, while it was transporting troop carriers to participate in the combing operation.
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Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz thanked U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a phone call for his support in maintaining "safe zones" inside Lebanon and Syria.
"The defense minister briefed the defense secretary on the Israeli military's operations in Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank) against terrorism in refugee camps and stressed the importance of the safe zones in Lebanon and Syria, thanking him for his support," said a statement from Israel Katz's office, relayed by The Times of Israel.
The two officials also agreed that "Iran remains the main threat in the region" and reaffirmed the desire to maintain close cooperation to "prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," the office said.
Hegseth "reaffirmed that the United States remains 100 percent committed to Israel's security and stressed the unbreakable bond that exists between the United States and Israel," reports a Pentagon report, relayed by the Israeli daily.
In early February, Donald Trump proposed a U.S. takeover of Gaza "after the fighting is over" and a move of its inhabitants to Egypt and Jordan to rebuild this territory and make it the "Riviera of the Middle East."
"My plan is the way to go. I think it's a plan that really works, but I'm not going to impose it. I'm just going to sit down and recommend it," he then said in the face of Egyptian and Jordanian refusal and international outcry.
Netanyahu, for whom Trump "is the best friend Israel has ever had in the White House," praised a "revolutionary" plan.
With the war in Gaza, "the rich have left, but the poor have remained, and are subject to the authority of Hamas which exploits them for its own ends," Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday.
"It is time to give the people of Gaza the freedom to leave," he added without explaining his thoughts.
The Israeli prime minister also threatened Hamas again, as the Gaza truce agreement that came into effect on Jan. 19 falters due to deep disagreements between the two sides.
"I say to Hamas: if you do not release our hostages, there will be consequences that you cannot imagine," he said before parliament, jeered by relatives of hostages during a rowdy session.
After the expiration of the first phase of the truce agreement on Saturday, Israel and Hamas are at odds over the continuation of the process. The first direct consequence: The Israeli blockade since Sunday of the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, which is hit by a major humanitarian crisis.
The Israeli government supports a U.S. compromise that provides for an extension of the first phase until mid-April and an acceleration of hostage releases. At its end, according to Netanyahu's office, the last captives would be freed in the event of an agreement "on a permanent cease-fire."
Hamas is sticking to the implementation of the two remaining stages of the initial agreement, providing according to it "a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire" and the "complete withdrawal" of Israel from Gaza, before "the reconstruction and lifting of the siege" of the territory.
Hamas accused Israel of working towards a "collapse" of the fragile truce agreement.
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Arab leaders are set to discuss in Cairo today an alternative plan to Donald Trump's Gaza plan, which calls for U.S. control of the territory and the expulsion of its population, amid the impasse over the truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.
At the opening of the extraordinary Arab League summit around 4:00 p.m. local time, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa are expected to deliver speeches, according to the agenda published by the pan-Arab organization. The meeting will then be held behind closed doors to finalize and approve the final declaration, according to the same source.
According to Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who met his counterparts in Cairo yesterday, Monday, an Egyptian plan, the details of which have not been made public, should be presented to the summit "for approval."
Egypt, which mediated the Gaza truce deal with Qatar and the United States, said it would "present a comprehensive vision" for Gaza's reconstruction that ensures Palestinians remain on their land.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will attend the summit in Cairo and left Riyadh this morning for Egypt.
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