Radical Israeli settler group claims dozens of anti-Palestinian attacks in the West Bank
A radical Israeli settler movement, known as the Hilltop Youth, has claimed responsibility for dozens of violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, describing them as a “summary of the struggle against the Arab enemy.”
In a list of violent acts published Wednesday evening on its Telegram channel, the group reported more than 60 attacks over the course of one month in 33 Palestinian villages.
Five attacks were reported in the village of Mikhmas, near Ramallah, where a neighboring Bedouin community left the area in February, saying it had faced harassment.
The Palestinian Health Ministry, based in Ramallah, stated that a 19-year-old man died from his injuries after being shot by settlers in Mikhmas on Wednesday.
The reported toll includes 12 homes burned, 29 cars set on fire, 40 Palestinians injured, as well as “hundreds of car windows smashed” and “hundreds of olive trees uprooted.”
Norway won't join Trump's Board of Peace, to host donor meeting for Palestinians
Norway plans to host a meeting this spring of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee for Palestinian aid, which the country has led for decades, but is not joining Donald Trump's Board of Peace, the Norwegian foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday, according to Reuters.
Five countries commit troops to Gaza international security force, commander says
Five countries have committed troops to an international security force for Gaza, the force’s commander said on Thursday during a Board of Peace meeting in Washington.
“I’m incredibly pleased to announce today that the first five countries have committed troops to serve in the ISF – Indonesia, Morocco, Kazakhstan, Kosovo and Albania. Two countries have committed to train police – Egypt and Jordan,” International Stabilization Force commander Army Major General Jasper Jeffers said.
Gaza high representative says recruitment begins for post-Hamas police force
Recruitment has begun for a new police force in Gaza intended to assume security responsibilities from Hamas, the newly appointed US high representative for the territory announced.
Nickolay Mladenov said applications opened on Thursday for what he described as a transitional Palestinian police force.
“Just in the first few hours, we have 2,000 people who have applied to join a new transitional Palestinian police force,” Mladenov said at the inaugural meeting of U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace.”
Trump says US will give UN money to make it stronger and more viable
The United States will give the United Nations money to strengthen it and help make it viable, President Donald Trump told the opening meeting of his Board of Peace on Thursday.
The U.S. is the biggest contributor to the U.N. budget, but under the Trump administration it has refused to make mandatory payments to regular and peacekeeping budgets, and slashed voluntary funding to U.N. agencies with their own budgets.
"We're going to strengthen up the United Nations. We're going to make sure its facilities are good. They need help ...we're going to help them money-wise, and we're going to make sure the United Nations is viable," said Trump.
"I think the United Nations has great potential, really great potential. It has not lived up to (that) potential."
Rubio says ‘no plan B’ for Gaza
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that there was "no plan B" for Gaza other than President Donald Trump's Board of Peace effort, as the new body met for the first time in Washington to discuss efforts to build on a fragile ceasefire that began in October.
"We have to get this right. There is no plan B for Gaza. Plan B is going back to war. No one here wants that," Rubio said.
Trump: Board of Peace created because Gaza war was 'impossible to solve' with UN
U.S. President Donald Trump said his Board of Peace was created because the Gaza war was "impossible" to solve through the United Nations.
"This Gaza situation was impossible to solve under orthodoxy under existing structures. So what we did is they went to the U.N., and got the U.N.'s approval to put this group out and bring these nations together, to come up with very specific solutions to a very unique and specific problem," Trump said.
"We have a long way to go. There's a lot of work that remains. It will require the contribution of every nation state represented here today," he added.
"We have to get this right. There is no plan B for Gaza. Plan B is going back to war. No one here wants that. The only path forward is one that rebuilds Gaza in a way of enduring and sustainable peace where everyone can live there side by side with one another, and never worry again about returning to conflict to war, to human suffering and to destruction."
Trump: Countries contributed $7 billion to rebuilding Gaza; US to send $10 billion
U.S. President Donald Trump said Board of Peace member states have contributed $7 billion to the reconstruction of Gaza, adding that the United States will contribute another $10 billion.
Gaza is "no longer a hotbed of radicalism and terror," he said. "Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, UAE, Morocco, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan and Kuwait have all contributed more than $7 billion to the relief."
The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) "is raising $2 billion for the support of Gaza," Trump continued.
"Additionally, Japan has just committed to host an aid fundraiser ... which will be attended by other nations, and the region, including South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, and others. I know that China is going to be involved and I think Russia is going to be involved."
He added that the United States "is going to make a contribution of $10 billion to the board of peace."
Trump calls Gaza situation ‘very complex’ at Board of Peace meeting
Speaking at the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the United States Institute of Peace, President Donald Trump described the situation in Gaza as “very complex.”
He thanked U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, as well as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance, calling them “the best team ever assembled.”
“So today’s a tremendous honour to welcome you all to the United States Institute of Peace for the inaugural meeting of the board of peace,” Trump said.
“I believe it’s the most consequential board certainly in terms of power and in terms of prestige. There’s never been anything close because these are the greatest world leaders – almost everybody’s accepted, and the ones that haven’t will be,” he added.
Trump opens ‘Board of Peace’ meeting, claims progress on ending ‘8 wars’
President Donald Trump opened the “Board of Peace” meeting by praising what he described as a record year in conflict resolution, saying peace is “an easy word to say but a hard word to produce.”
He claimed that during his first year, his administration had helped settle eight wars, with a ninth potentially close to resolution, though he acknowledged that effort has proven more difficult, Al Jazeera reports.
Trump described the Board of Peace initiative as one of the most important and consequential efforts he has been involved in, highlighting cooperation with leaders present at the meeting in working to end conflicts in their respective countries.
German military withdraws troops from Iraq amid regional tensions
Germany's military has "temporarily" moved some troops out of Erbil in northern Iraq because of "escalating tensions in the Middle East," a German defense ministry spokesman told AFP on Thursday.
Dozens of German soldiers had been relocated away from the base in Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.
"Only the personnel necessary to maintain the operational capability of the camp in Erbil remain on site," the spokesman said.
Read more here.
Iran’s diplomatic window is closing, says IAEA chief Grossi
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said in an interview with Bloomberg that Iran’s diplomatic window is closing, warning that the country has little time left to reach an agreement with the United States.
Grossi cautioned that opportunities for diplomacy with Iran are narrowing rapidly amid escalating tensions.
The decision regarding Iran 'has been made:’ Lindsey Graham to Sky News Arabia
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said that a decision regarding Iran “has already been made,” noting, “All these ships aren’t coming here just because the weather is nice this time of year.”
Speaking in an interview on the program The Truth with Hadley Gamble, to be broadcast on Sky News Arabia, Graham said: “We need military action” against Iran.
He added that “We will change the situation one way or another. Help is coming and will become a reality for the Iranian people.”
Russia says it detects 'unprecedented escalation of tension in the region,' urges 'restraint and prudence'
The Kremlin said that it was seeing an unprecedented escalation of tension around Iran as the United States moved military assets into the Middle East, and that it urged both Tehran and "other parties" to exercise prudence and restraint, Reuters reported.
The Kremlin said naval drills between Iran and Russia were planned well in advance of the current tensions.
Southern Lebanon: Israeli army blows up house in Khiam after infiltrating area
Israeli soldiers blew up a house at dawn in the town of Khiam, in southern Lebanon, after infiltrating the area, our local correspondent reported.
The explosion occurred in the Wadi al-Asafir area, opposite the town’s slaughterhouse. The incident follows the overnight destruction of another house in Yaroun.
The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incidents.
Polish citizens must leave Iran immediately, Tusk says
Polish nationals currently in Iran must leave the country immediately, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday, warning that a potential armed conflict could make evacuation impossible within hours, according to Reuters.
"Everyone who is still in Iran must leave immediately, and under no circumstances should anyone plan to travel to that country," he said at a press conference.
He added that "the possibility of heated conflict is very real, and in a few, a dozen or several dozen hours, evacuation may no longer be an option."
WSJ: US gathers the most air power in the Mideast since the 2003 Iraq invasion
The United States is deploying a significant number of fighter jets and support aircraft to the Middle East, assembling its largest concentration of airpower in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Wall Street Journal reported.
According to the newspaper, Washington is prepared to take action against Iran, but President Donald Trump has not yet decided whether to order strikes — or whether any potential operation would aim to dismantle Iran’s already weakened nuclear program, destroy its missile capabilities, or seek to topple the regime.
US-Iran: No Gulf country wants an 'increase in tension. Everyone understands this is playing with fire,' Lavrov says
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview on Wednesday that any new U.S. strike on Iran would have serious consequences, urging restraint and a solution that would allow Tehran to continue a peaceful nuclear program.
"The consequences are not good. There have already been strikes on Iran on nuclear sites under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency. From what we can judge there were real risks of a nuclear incident," Lavrov said in the interview published on his ministry’s website and reported by Reuters.
He added that he was closely monitoring reactions in the region from Arab countries and Gulf monarchies, which, he said, do not want an escalation. “Everyone understands this is playing with fire," he said. Lavrov warned that rising tensions could undo recent positive developments, including improved relations between Iran and some neighboring countries, notably Saudi Arabia.
The interview, given to the Saudi television channel al-Arabiya, aired a day after U.S. and Iranian negotiators held indirect talks in Geneva aimed at averting a growing crisis between Washington and Tehran.
No country can deny Iran its right to nuclear enrichment, Iranian official says
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, said on Thursday that no country can deprive Tehran of its right to nuclear enrichment, amid tensions with Washington and talks aimed at reaching an agreement.
"The basis of the nuclear industry is enrichment. Whatever you want to do in the nuclear process, you need nuclear fuel," Eslami said in a video published by the daily Etemad, as cited by AFP.
He added that "Iran's nuclear programme is proceeding according to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and no country can deprive Iran of the right to peacefully benefit from this technology."
Overnight strikes in southern Lebanon: Israeli army says it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure
The Israeli army said on Thursday that it carried out overnight strikes against Hezbollah infrastructure in “several areas of southern Lebanon,” including “weapons depots, rocket launchers, and military sites,” according to a post on X by the army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee.
Israeli warplanes struck the area known as “Tebna” on the outskirts of the village of Bissariyeh, south of the city of Saida (Saida district), with two missiles overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
CBS News: US military ready' to strike Iran 'as early as Saturday, but Trump has yet to make a final decision
Senior U.S. national security officials have informed President Donald Trump that the U.S. military is prepared to carry out strikes against Iran “as early as Saturday,” according to sources familiar with the discussions cited by CBS News on Wednesday. However, Trump has “not yet made a final decision” on whether to launch an attack, the officials said.
The discussions were described as “fluid” and “ongoing.”
Over the next three days, the Pentagon will temporarily redeploy some personnel out of the Middle East — primarily to Europe or the United States — in preparation for possible action or potential Iranian retaliation should Washington decide to proceed, several officials told the U.S. network.
Israel pursuing a 'de facto gradual annexation' of the West Bank, warns senior UN official
A senior United Nations official said Wednesday that measures taken by Israel to strengthen its control over areas of the West Bank administered by the Palestinian Authority amount to a “de facto gradual annexation.”
“We are witnessing a de facto gradual annexation of the West Bank, as unilateral Israeli measures progressively transform realities on the ground,” said Rosemary DiCarlo, U.N. under-secretary-general for political and peace-building affairs, during a meeting of the U.N. Security Council devoted to the Palestinian issue, AFP reported.
South Lebanon: Israeli army strikes area in Saida district, blows up house in border village
Israeli warplanes struck the area known as Tebna, on the outskirts of the village of Bissariyeh, south of the city of Saida (Saida district), with two missiles overnight from Wednesday to Thursday, our South Lebanon correspondent reported. No damage has been reported so far. Israeli aircraft also carried out intensive overflights of southern Lebanon overnight.
At around 3 a.m., Israeli army soldiers infiltrated the town of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil district) and blew up a house, according to our correspondent. Such operations in south Lebanon’s border villages have been recurrent since the cease-fire that came into force in late November 2024.
Separately, an Israeli drone dropped two stun grenades on Wednesday evening near a house in one of the neighborhoods of Houla (Marjayoun district). The owners of the targeted house were forced to evacuate earlier on Wednesday after it was hit on Tuesday by several projectiles that caused significant damage, our correspondent said.
US-Iran tensions: Rubio to visit Israel on Feb. 28, US official says
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel on Feb. 28 amid heightened tensions with Iran, a U.S. official told AFP on Wednesday.
Rubio is scheduled to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the source said on condition of anonymity.
The visit comes a week after the inaugural meeting in Washington of President Donald Trump’s “Peace Council,” and as the U.S. says Iran would be “well advised” to strike a deal to avoid potential U.S. strikes.
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the news in the Middle East
We will be following the evolving tensions between the United States and Iran, as well as the situation in southern Lebanon and Gaza, which continue to be bombarded by Israel despite cease-fires in place.
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