The Lebanese news agency Ani reported today that an Israeli attack hit southern Lebanon for the second day in a row, despite a ceasefire in place since late November between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.
"An attack by a hostile drone" hit a house that had been destroyed in a previous attack in Johmor al-Shaqif, in southern Lebanon, the agency reported.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said on Tuesday that 24 people were injured in two Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon.
Israeli authorities said they targeted two Hezbollah weapons vehicles.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati condemned "another violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement."
Mikati added that he had contacted US General Jasper Jeffers, who heads the committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement, demanding "a firm stance to ensure that Israel respects its obligations under international law."
Under the agreement that ended the war between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah on November 27, the Israeli army was supposed to complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon on Sunday, where only the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers can now be deployed.
However, that deadline has been extended until February 18, according to US authorities who are part of the ceasefire monitoring committee.
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8, 2023, the day after the Lebanese movement's ally Hamas attacked Israel, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
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Five Thai nationals and three Israelis will be released on Thursday, Netanyahu's office said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said a total of eight hostages, three Israelis and five Thai nationals, would be released from Gaza on Thursday.
The office also released the names of the Israeli hostages: Arbel Yehud, Agam Berger and Gadi Moses.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Hamas leader Muhammad Ismail Darwish and other Hamas officials in Ankara, Erdogan's office said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin also attended the meeting, Al Jazeera reports.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said today that any forced displacement of Palestinians would be an injustice in which his country could not participate.
This is an unequivocal rejection of US President Donald Trump's proposal to relocate Gaza Strip residents to Jordan and Egypt.
"There can never be any compromise on the basic principles of Egypt's historical position on the Palestinian issue," Sisi said at a news conference in Cairo with Kenyan President William Rutte.
The Egyptian president said his country's principles include "the establishment of a Palestinian state and the preservation of its essential components, especially its people and territory."
He added that Egypt is "determined to work with President Trump" on achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
"We believe that Trump is capable of achieving this long-awaited goal of establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East," Sisi added.
The US president recently proposed sending Gaza Strip residents to Jordan and Egypt.
His proposal sparked a wave of condemnation in the Arab world and Europe.
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Israel has received a list of the next hostages to be released
The Israeli government has received a list of Israeli hostages who will be released from Gaza tomorrow, according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's office, reported by Israeli media.
Three hostages are expected to be released tomorrow, in the third exchange under the current Gaza ceasefire deal.
In northern Gaza, water and food are available in very limited quantities, insufficient for the large number of people returning to their destroyed homes.
We saw people standing in long lines, waiting for a gallon of water. In some areas, there is no access to water, so those who have already walked for hours have to travel again to a neighboring district to get some water, Al Jazeera reports.
Some are returning to [central Gaza]. They say they will be displaced there too, but at least there is some water available in the central part.
In the entire northern part of Gaza, we don't know how long people can survive in these difficult conditions.
Germany is considering sending a contingent to monitor the Rafah crossing.
The German interior and foreign ministries are holding consultations on sending a German contingent to the European Union's civilian mission to monitor the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, spokespeople in Berlin said on Wednesday.
"We are in good consultations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said at a regular government press conference, Reuters reported.
"These missions always start with an assessment phase to determine the need and how many people are needed," the spokesperson added. The Foreign Ministry spokesperson stressed that the general conditions must be taken into account and the safe deployment of the contingent must be ensured.
The EU's foreign minister said on Monday that the bloc would relaunch a civilian mission to monitor the border crossing.
The Italian foreign and defense ministries announced that Rome would send seven carabinieri to the Rafa mission, adding that the international force would be joined by Spanish Guardia Civil members and French gendarmes.
Egypt has said it will not participate in the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, the Guardian reports.
This statement comes after former President Donald Trump suggested that Gaza residents should be resettled to Jordan and Egypt.
A statement from the office of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Wednesday said such a policy would be an "act of injustice" and that Egypt would work with Trump on a two-state solution.
A number of other countries – notably Qatar, which helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as well as Jordan – rejected Trump's proposal.
The EU has pledged €3 billion in funding and investment to Jordan as part of a new “strategic” partnership, according to the Guardian.
European Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen said the package, which covers the period from 2025 to 2027, would “enhance our cooperation on issues of common interest,” including “peace, security, human rights, economic resilience and trade, as well as support for refugees.”
“Our €3 billion financial and investment package reflects the urgency and scale of the challenges Jordan faces in the region,” she said.
"Europe stands firmly with you."
Jordan has long been considered a key pillar of stability in the Middle East, but conflicts in the region have hampered its economic growth in recent years.
Jordan has hosted around 2,3 million Palestinian refugees.
The Turkish ship arrived at the port today, the AFP news agency reported, citing a Turkish official and the Egyptian Red Crescent.
Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the ship was carrying 871 tons of humanitarian aid, 300 power generators, 20 portable toilets, 10.460 tents and 14.350 blankets.
These supplies join hundreds of aid trucks that entered Gaza during the ceasefire, a significant increase from the pre-truce period, but still not nearly enough to meet the needs of the war-torn population, aid workers warn.
Local UNRWA staff can still continue to work in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem [despite the Israeli ban coming into effect tomorrow], but passage through Israeli checkpoints will be very difficult.
According to analysts, the most devastating consequences will be in Gaza. Already, more than a million tons of humanitarian aid are waiting outside Gaza to be delivered to the Gaza Strip, according to Al Jazeera.
Packages with the UNRWA logo will not be allowed, so much of the aid will have to be repackaged under the labels of other UN agencies.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz arrived in the Jenin refugee camp, a stronghold of Palestinian resistance fighters in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli troops have been conducting a military operation for the second week.
"We have declared war on Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria," Katz said, according to Israeli media outlet Israel Hayom, using biblical terms for the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera.
“The Jenin refugee camp will not return to what it was – after the operation is over, [the Israeli army] will remain in the camp to ensure that terrorism does not return,” he claimed.
The mayor of Jenin, Muhammad Jarrar, said that around 15.000 residents had already been forced to leave the city of Jenin and its refugee camp due to the Israeli operation.
Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 884 Palestinians have been killed across the occupied West Bank in attacks by Israeli forces and settlers. Another 6.700 have been wounded, while at least 14.400 have been detained.
Hamas sources confirmed to Agence France-Presse today that Israel is blocking the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, warning that this could affect the release of hostages stipulated in the ceasefire agreement.
"We warn that persistent delays and non-compliance with these points will affect the implementation of the agreement, including the prisoner exchange," a Hamas official said.
Another official also specified that the Palestinian movement had sought the intervention of Qatari and Egyptian mediators to "force the occupiers to adhere to the agreement and avoid creating crises."
The delays concern permits for fuel, tents, caravans, heavy machinery, hospital equipment, bakeries and water stations, the first official said. He added that there is discontent among "resistance groups" over the delay by Israel, which he calls an "occupier".
After 15 months of war in the Gaza Strip, Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement, the first phase of which came into effect on January 19 and is set to last 42 days.
Under the deal, six hostages are to be released this week, three on Thursday and three on Saturday. Seven women have already been released in exchange for 290 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
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At least 14 civilians were killed and 29 wounded in attacks by Turkish-backed forces in northern Syria on Monday and Tuesday, a US-backed Kurdish militia said.
Russia said it had held "open" talks with Syria's new de facto leader as it seeks to retain its two military bases in the country, but declined to comment on what he is seeking in return, Reuters reported, while a source familiar with the talks said Damascus is asking Moscow to hand over former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and pay compensation.
Five people were wounded in an Israeli drone attack on the southern Lebanese town of Majdal Selm, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, Reuters reports.
On Tuesday evening, Israeli airstrikes wounded 24 people in Nabatieh, the largest city in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said in a statement that it targeted Hezbollah vehicles carrying weapons on the outskirts of the city.
Following the attack on Nabatiya, senior Hezbollah official Mohammed Rad stated that the Lebanese people's right to resist Israeli attacks is a "sacred and legitimate right."
He stressed that this right should be exercised at a time and place deemed necessary to protect the country's security.
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel reached a ceasefire agreement in late November, ending a conflict that has claimed thousands of lives since the Gaza war began in 2023.
The US said on Sunday that the agreement between Lebanon and Israel, which includes an initial 60-day period for the withdrawal of Israeli troops, will remain in effect until February 18, an extension of the deadline previously agreed to for January 26.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Tuesday called on US General Jasper Jeffers, who chairs the committee overseeing the ceasefire, to pressure Israel to implement the ceasefire in accordance with international law.
Israeli forces killed at least 24 people and wounded at least 141 in southern Lebanon on Sunday and Monday, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, as thousands of people tried to return to their homes despite Israeli military orders.
An explosion hit a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship as it sailed through the Red Sea, sparking a massive fire that forced the crew to abandon ship, shipping industry officials said.
The ship was floating in flames about 225 kilometers off the coast of Hodeidah, a port city in Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebel group, shipping company Diaplous Group said, without disclosing the name of the vessel.
It is not yet clear what caused the fire in the Red Sea, where the Houthis often attack ships, the AP reports.
The rebels said last week they were limiting attacks after a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have not yet claimed any connection to the explosion on the cargo ship, the AP reported.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank overnight and on Wednesday, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
A 23-year-old man was killed in Tulkarm, while a 25-year-old man died in an attack on Jenin, where Israel launched a major military operation earlier this month.
The Palestinian Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its reports. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incidents.
AFP reports that the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Wednesday that a 25-year-old man, whom it identified as Osama Abu al-Hijjah, was killed late Tuesday in Jenin "as a result of an Israeli airstrike."
The Israeli army is in its eighth day of an intensive military operation in Jenin, which it says aims to eradicate Palestinian militant groups. On Monday, it said it had "eliminated more than 15 terrorists" and arrested 40 wanted individuals during the offensive.
According to AFP, Abu al-Hijjah was the sixteenth person killed during the operation, which led many residents of the Jenin refugee camp to leave the area after the army called for citizens to evacuate last week.
Just after midnight on Wednesday, the health ministry also announced that a 23-year-old Palestinian, identified as Ayman Naji, was killed in the northern city of Tulkarem "after being shot with live ammunition" by Israeli forces.
The Israeli military told AFP it was investigating the details of both deaths.
In a phone call, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelati that it was important to work closely to ensure that Hamas can never again rule Gaza, the State Department said.
Donald Trump has invited Benjamin Netanyahu to be the first foreign leader to visit the White House, a significant concession to an American ally wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, the Guardian reports.
In a letter from the US president, the Israeli prime minister was invited to come to the White House on February 4 to "discuss how we can bring peace to Israel and its neighbors, as well as efforts to confront our common enemies."
"I would be honored to host you as my first foreign leader during my second term," the letter states.
Trump and Netanyahu have had a complicated personal relationship, but Israel remains the US's closest ally in the region. Steve Witkoff, Trump's Middle East envoy, reportedly had a tense conversation with Netanyahu days before a hostage exchange deal was reached for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the day before Trump's inauguration.
Since then, Trump has lifted a ban on the delivery of nearly a ton of bombs to Israel that the Biden administration had withheld due to opposition to the excessive use of force against Gaza.
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