Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Nineteen dead reportedly arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals in the past 24 hours, including 14 recovered bodies, two people who succumbed to their wounds and three new casualties.
Hamas suspends release of Israeli captives over Israeli breach of ceasefire terms
Hamas said in a statement on Monday that it will suspend the release of Israeli captives in Gaza in response to what it called Israel’s “obstruction of the humanitarian protocol of the ceasefire deal.” The release of the next batch of Israeli captives would be delayed “until further notice,” the Palestinian movement said.
Hamas stated that Israel had been delaying the entry of important reconstruction material to the Gaza Strip, which it said was a breach of the ceasefire deal and constituted “a new war on the Palestinian people.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for an urgent meeting of his war cabinet following the Hamas statement. For his part, Israel’s war minister, Israel Katz, called Hamas’s statement a “breach of the deal,” giving the Israeli army instructions to prepare “for all scenarios.” In Gaza, Israeli drones resumed low-altitude flying over the strip for the first time in weeks.
Hamas was set to release three more Israeli captives on Saturday, in accordance with the ceasefire deal’s weekly release schedule. Hamas has until Friday to release the names of the three intended captives to be released. If Hamas fails to announce the names on Friday, it will technically be in breach of the deal.
Last week, Qatar told Israel that breaching the humanitarian protocol of the deal could jeopardize not only the second phase of the deal but the current first phase as well. The humanitarian protocol stipulates the entry of 600 aid trucks to Gaza daily, including 50 trucks of fuel, in addition to heavy public works machinery and reconstruction material.
The humanitarian protocol also states the entry of pre-made housing units and tents. Israel has been allowing only 15 trucks of fuel and very few bulldozers and tents. According to local reports, no housing units or reconstruction material has been let in.
Hamas’s statement arrived a day after Israel completed its withdrawal from the Netzarim corridor in Gaza and after the Israeli negotiating team left for Doha, Qatar, to resume talks over the second phase of the deal. The timing of the Hamas announcement gives mediators five days to resolve the issue before Hamas has to announce the names of the next batch of captives to be released.
RELATED: Israeli army cancels soldiers’ leave, heightens alert in Gaza as Hamas postpones hostage release
Truce violations have been widely committed by Israel
If there is no move by the Israelis to address the shortcomings regarding the implementation of the humanitarian protocol of the ceasefire deal, the situation in Gaza is going to get much worse.
In the terms of the agreement, 600 trucks full of aid are supposed to enter the Strip each day. At first, this exceeded expectations. But recently the number of aid deliveries has greatly dwindled to 330 trucks daily.
The United Nations humanitarian office reported over 12,600 trucks have entered over the past three weeks. This number is far less than what’s been promised.
For patients in need of medical treatment abroad, only 50 Palestinians have been sent since the beginning of this month, which completely contradicts the number agreed on in the truce deal. These violations have been widely committed by Israel.
RELATED: Gaza calls for global pressure on Israel to implement humanitarian protocol in ceasefire deal
Trump threatens ‘to let hell break out’ in Gaza if Israeli captives not released
RELATED: Trump suggests cancelling Gaza ceasefire on Saturday if all hostages not released
West Bank: outrage over raid of Educational Bookshop
On Sunday, Israeli forces raided Jerusalem’s beloved Educational Bookshop, confiscated books, and arrested some of its owners. Here’s an update on the situation:
Netanyahu Is Preparing to Sabotage the Gaza Ceasefire…Again
From the moment Israel accepted the ceasefire deal, its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his aides have characterized it as a limited agreement aimed at securing the release of as many Israeli captives as possible and not a comprehensive plan to end the war.
Now, emboldened by his recent meetings at the White House and riding a tsunami of giddiness over President Donald Trump’s proposal for the U.S. to seize control of Gaza, Netanyahu returned to Israel on Sunday ready to sabotage the already frangible agreement and expand his forces’ siege of the West Bank.
“This trip, and the conversations we held with the president of the United States, included additional incredible achievements that can guarantee the security of Israel for generations,” Netanyahu boasted. “I am not exaggerating. I’m not overstating. There are opportunities here for possibilities that I don’t think we ever dreamed of — or at least until the last few months, they didn’t seem possible, but they are possible.”
According to the terms of the ceasefire deal that went into effect January 19, Israel and Hamas were slated to begin negotiations over the details of a second 42-day phase of the ceasefire no later than 16 days into Phase 1.
The second stage envisions the release of all remaining Israeli captives in exchange for substantial numbers of Palestinians held by Israel, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the beginning of a permanent ceasefire that would pave the way for a massive multi-billion-dollar reconstruction of the Strip. Three weeks into the deal, however, those negotiations have not yet begun (continue reading here).
Israel’s Smotrich vows escalation against Palestinians in West Bank, threatens Gaza-like fate
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Monday with the fate of the people in Gaza.
“The residents of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) must understand that if they continue their acts of ‘terrorism,’ their fate will be like that of Gaza’s residents,” Smotrich said during a meeting of the parliamentary bloc of his Religious Zionism Party.
The Israeli army has launched military operations in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas in the northern West Bank since Jan. 21, killing more than 30 Palestinians and displacing thousands of people.
“Tulkarem and Jenin will look like Jabalia and Shuja’iyya. Nablus and Ramallah will resemble Rafah and Khan Younis. They will also be turned into uninhabitable ruins, and their residents will be forced to migrate and seek a new life in other countries,” Smotrich said.
Far-right Israeli politician calls for ‘massive’ attack on Gaza after Hamas delays hostage release over ‘violations’
Far-right Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday called for an all-out military assault on Gaza, including air and ground strikes, after Hamas said it was postponing the release of hostages planned for Saturday due to Israeli violations of the Jan. 19 ceasefire agreement.
“Hamas’s announcement should have one real-life response: a massive fire attack on Gaza, from the air and land, alongside a complete halt to humanitarian aid to the Strip, including electricity, fuel, and water,” the former national security minister said on X.
In January, Ben-Gvir resigned from the government in opposition to the Gaza truce deal. He has since advocated for what he calls “voluntary migration” of Palestinians from Gaza.
He called for bombing of aid packages that have already been brought in the enclave. “We must return to war and destroy,” he said.
Palestinian president stops payments to families of prisoners, martyrs
MUST-READ: The Legitimacy of Family Compensation for Palestinians Killed, Injured, and Imprisoned
‘Classic genocidal white man’s colonialism’: Genocide scholar blasts Trump’s Gaza plan
US President Donald Trump has declared to the entire world that he intends to commit a war crime in Gaza by expelling its Palestinian population, according to a prominent genocide scholar.
Trump’s remarks were made “without any conscience or compassion, as if the Palestinian people, including hundreds of thousands of children, don’t mean anything to him,” Maung Zarni, a renowned genocide scholar, educator, and human rights activist, told Anadolu.
Trump first made the comments during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited Washington last week despite a warrant from the International Criminal Court seeking his arrest for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza (continue reading here).
The Inside Story of the Super Bowl Halftime Performer Who Raised a Palestine and Sudan Flag
As the opening bars of Kendrick Lamar’s “tv off” began to fill the New Orleans Superdome on Sunday, Zül-Qarnain Nantambu, a New Orleans-based artist, knew he had a decision to make.
Here he was on one of the world’s biggest stages — with millions tuned in for the Super Bowl LIX halftime performance. “Are you going to be brave? Are you going to be a coward?” he asked himself. “Are you going to take a stand?”
With the world watching, Nantambu, 41, made his choice. As the rest of the 400 hired dancers moved in a coordinated rhythm to Lamar’s music, Nantambu reached into his clothes and unfurled a joint Palestinian and Sudanese flag.
He took off running, waving a flag adorned with the words “Sudan” and “Gaza” in black ink. After roughly 30 seconds, he was wrestled to the ground by security as the crowd watched.
Despite the mere seconds of screen time, his protest captured national attention.
“I don’t get caught up in politics or anything,” he told The Intercept, adding. “What’s going on in these places are inhumane. The civil war in Sudan, the oppression and the war and the tyranny that’s going on in Gaza, is inhumane. And these people are connected with us all as humans, and especially with me in faith” (continue reading here).
MORE NEWS:
Common Dreams: 100+ Groups ‘Decry and Oppose’ Trump Push to Ethnically Cleanse Gaza
Anadolu Agency: Israeli prime minister’s corruption trial resumes after 2-week pause
The Guardian: Revelations of Israeli spyware abuse raise fears over possible use by Trump
Informed Comment: Emory University’s Shocking Suspension of Umaymah Mohammad for Exercising her Right to Free Speech on Palestine
Palestine Chronicle: To win US approval, Abbas cancels financial support for families of prisoners
IMEMC Daily Reports
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – FEBRUARY 9, 2025 (ongoing count):
At least 63,299 Palestinians killed, 118,638 injured – including:
- at least 62,403 killed in Gaza (~20,600 children)
- at least 898 killed in the West Bank (~180 children)
- at least 111,638 injured in Gaza
- at least 7,000 injured in the West Bank
WAR STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 (Hamas attack) – JANUARY 19, 2025 (Ceasefire):
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 19, 2025: at least 48,143 – including at least 47,283 in Gaza (~20,600 children), and 860 in the West Bank (~177 children). Palestinian injuries: at least 118,472 – including at least 111,629 in Gaza, and 7,000 in the West Bank.
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 19, 2025: ~1,616 (or 1,590) – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 436 (or 405) military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
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