Three newborns in Gaza die of cold, as Israel seeks to back out of truce – Ceasefire Day 35

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Three newborns in Gaza die of cold, as Israel seeks to back out of truce – Ceasefire Day 35
A body of a Palestinian baby, is brought to the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital following an Israeli attack at Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, Gaza on November 12, 2024 (Mahmoud İsleem – Anadolu Agency)

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

A total of seven fatalities were recorded in Gaza over the past 24 hours, of whom two were newly killed, while five bodies were recovered. Six others were wounded over the past day.

Three Newborns Die Due To Extreme Cold At Gaza Hospital

Three Palestinian babies have died due to severe cold in the Gaza Strip, and others are in critical condition, as reported by the director of the “Friends of the Patient” hospital in Gaza, late Monday evening.

Dr. Sa’id Salah, the medical director, confirmed the unfortunate deaths and added that many patients, especially children, could face the same fate.

Dr. Salah also stated that the deceased newborns were from one to two days of age and said that three children are in critical condition at the medical facilities.

Dr. Salah also appealed to relevant authorities to supply caravans, tents, and fuel to ensure warmth for the community and protect children, especially with an approaching cold front.

NOTE: Israel had agreed under the terms of the ceasefire to allow 60,000 mobile homes and 200,000 tents into Gaza, but so far only 20,000 tents have been allowed in and no mobile homes.
70% of the victims in Israel's bombardment of Gaza have been women and children
70% of the direct victims in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza have been women and children. This child is covered with shrapnel wounds. (Euro Med Monitor)

Ha’aretz: Netanyahu poised to back out of three-stage ceasefire deal

With the return of all the living hostages included in the first stage of the agreement with Hamas, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed himself to be much more direct about the second stage. In fact, as far as Netanyahu is concerned, there is no second stage.

The minister of strategic affairs and Netanyahu’s personal representative to the United States, Ron Dermer, met with U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff twice in Florida, and this was the message: Israel is not committed to the three-stage plan of the Biden administration, even if it signed it.

Netanyahu’s plan, as Dermer presented it to Witkoff, is as follows: release all the remaining hostages in one big, single stage. Hamas will receive prisoners in return.

Netanyahu’s plan B is a version of the so-called “generals’ plan“: Israel will return to intense warfare, establish areas of shelter for civilians, and will allow food to be distributed by international organizations in these areas alone.

Palestinians warn of health, environment crisis as garbage piles up in Gaza City

Hamas says ‘no new talks’ until Israel respects Gaza ceasefire terms

Hamas spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou said on Monday, “The resistance will not engage in any new negotiations unless the occupation abides by the agreement and implements the first stage requirements. The failure to implement the humanitarian protocol and the postponement of the release of the seventh batch of prisoners is evidence of the occupation’s intentions to disrupt the agreement and its lack of seriousness in continuing it,” said 

“[This] failure to implement all the provisions of the first stage will not serve moving forward towards completing the release of the remaining Israeli prisoners,” he added.

Since the agreement was reached last month, Israel has consistently impeded the entry of desperately needed equipment and mobile homes into the Gaza Strip in stark violation of the ceasefire.

Israel has refused to release the over 600 Palestinian prisoners who were supposed to be let out of prison on Saturday as part of the seventh round of exchanges – which saw Hamas release six Israeli captives that day. 

Netanyahu is now demanding that the bodies of four additional captives be released before the Palestinians are let out, in violation of the agreement. He also demanded that no ceremony be held by Hamas during the release of the bodies.

RELATED: Israel’s Netanyahu appears in court for 12th time in his corruption trial
Trucks carrying mobile homes are lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on February 13, 2025.
Trucks carrying mobile homes are lined up on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on February 13, 2025. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinian prisoner from Gaza dies in Israeli custody

In a joint statement, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said that they had received confirmation from the Israeli military that Gazan detainee Musab Hani Haniyeh had died in Israeli detention on January 5.

Haniyeh, 35, originally from Khan Younis, Gaza, had been detained since March 3, 2024. According to his family, Haniyeh had no health issues prior to his arrest.

With Haniyeh’s death, the number of Palestinian prisoners who have died in Israeli custody since the start of the genocide on Oct. 7, 2023, has risen to 59, with at least 38 of them from Gaza, the statement added.

NOTE: Israel is currently holding about 10,000 Palestinian prisoners in inhumane conditions where many are systematically tortured – 365 of them are children, 15 are women, and over 3,300 are administrative detainees – being held without charge or trial.
Administrative detention is intended to be used only in “exceptional” circumstances, but Israel uses it widely. Read more here.
RELATED: Hostages of Israeli revenge in the Gaza Strip: Testimonies of 100 released Palestinian detainees reveal crimes of torture, cruel treatment.
Screen image from an Israeli Channel 12 report on the sexual assault and rape of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison.
Screen image from an Israeli Channel 12 report on the sexual assault and rape of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison. (screen image)

Israeli Prison Guards Force Palestinian Prisoners to Erase ‘Jerusalem is Arab’ Slogan

Israel’s recently resigned National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted a video showing Israeli Negev prison guards raiding Palestinian prisoners’ cells, forcing them at gunpoint to kneel and paint over the walls.

Ben-Gvir wrote on his X account:

“In Ktsiyot Prison (Negev), it was found that in the security sections, there were markings on many of the prison walls bearing phrases such as ‘We will not forget, we will not forgive, we will not kneel, Jerusalem is Arab.’

Under the direction of the prison commander, Menachem Bibas, the prison forces raided the cells, forced them (Palestinian prisoners-PC) to kneel, and painted over the walls.”

The Palestinian prisoners had written phrases like “We will not forgive… We will not forget… We will not kneel” on the walls of the prison before being released as part of the seventh batch of the prisoner exchange deal between the Gaza resistance and the Israeli occupation.

Israel, however, had canceled the release of the Palestinian detainees, forcing hundreds of imprisoned activists back to their cells, as their families waited for their arrival in various parts of the West Bank and Gaza (continue reading here).

Shades of Gaza: Palestinians in West Bank struggle to access basic necessities, Red Cross says

Palestinians forcibly displaced by Israel in the occupied West Bank are struggling to access basic needs such as clean water, food, medical care and shelter, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday.

The ICRC said it “is deeply concerned with the impact of ongoing security operations on the civilian population in Jenin and Tulkarem, Tubas and other locations in northern West Bank,” adding that “many people have fled their homes to take shelter, including in crowded mosques and schools”.

Israel sent tanks to Jenin on Feb. 23, the first time it has done so in the West Bank since the second intifada in 2002.
Israel sent tanks to Jenin on Feb. 23, the first time it has done so in the West Bank since the second intifada in 2002. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP/Getty Images)

NYTimes coverage of ceasefire leaves out major facts

Both sides have accused each other of breaking the terms of the existing deal, which have allowed for the exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. Over the weekend, Israel delayed the release of several hundred prisoners, protesting the humiliating manner in which Hamas had paraded hostages before handing them over.

In reality, while Israel has accused Hamas of breaking the agreement, Hamas has fulfilled its obligations.

Israel, on the other hand, has violated the agreement hundreds of times, including killing at least 92 Palestinians in Gaza and injuring 822 others since the ceasefire began.

Israel has also delayed Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza, obstructed much-needed aid including temporary shelters, food, and medical supplies. In addition, Israel has refused entry of heavy equipment for clearing debris, retrieving bodies, and beginning the work of reconstruction.

Regarding Hamas alleged “humiliating” treatment of the Israeli hostages before their release, this allegation has no basis in fact. Hamas’ treatment of its hostages has been overall respectful; deceased hostages’ remains were returned in caskets with pall bearers (they were killed by Israeli airstrikes, not Hamas). Living hostages have also, with some exceptions, returned home in fair health, especially considering that Israel has been withholding food and medicine from all residents of Gaza for many months.

Palestinian prisoners, meanwhile, have been beaten and tortured up until the moment of their release, humiliated, starved, and killed. Last weekend, Israel at the last minute refused to release over 600 Palestinian prisoners. All of this is in breach of the agreement.

Twice, Israel has dumped unnamed bodies of Palestinian prisoners – 84 on August 5, 2024 and 88 on September 25, 2024 – many of which were unidentifiable due to decomposition. This is a crime.

Under International Humanitarian Law, those who have died during an armed conflict must be handled with dignity and be properly managed. The law requires that they be searched for, collected and evacuated, which helps ensure that people do not go missing, the ICRC statement added.

Photos below show the handover of remains of Israeli bodies in marked caskets (although one may have been misidentified) and the remains of Palestinians, wrapped in tarps, decomposed and unidentified.

Members of Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, carry a coffin believed to contain the remains of one of the Bibas children, who were taken captive along with their parents during the group's Oct. 7, 2023 resistance operation, Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Feb. 20, 2025.
Members of Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, carry a coffin believed to contain the remains of one of the Bibas children, who were taken captive along with their parents during the group’s Oct. 7, 2023 resistance operation, Khan Younis, southern Gaza, Feb. 20, 2025. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty)
Israel sent the 80+ bodies in a container truck. The rolled-up blue sheets of tarp contained bodies and body parts in various states of decomposition.
Israel sent the 80+ bodies in a container truck. The rolled-up blue sheets of tarp contained bodies and body parts in various states of decomposition. (screenshot)
MORE NEW YORK TIMES MEDIA BIAS AND WEAK REPORTING ON PALESTINE AND ISRAEL:

Israeli deputy Knesset speaker calls for killing of all Palestinian men in Gaza

The Deputy Speaker of Israel’s parliament (Knesset) called for executing all Palestinian men in Gaza on Sunday, as well as the destruction of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Nissim Vaturi, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, called for separating the women and children in Gaza and executing the men.

“Who is innocent in Gaza? Civilians went out and slaughtered people in cold blood,” Vaturi told ultra-Orthodox radio station Kol BaRama. “We need to separate the children and women and kill the adults in Gaza, we are being too considerate.”

The Israeli lawmaker said that “no one in the world wants the civilians in Gaza, everyone is pushing them into Israel, they know that these are scum and subhumans”.

NOTE: It is statements like this by Nissim Vaturi, that enabled the International Court of Justice to find, with an overwhelming majority, that Israel is plausibly committing genocide. (Go here to read more statements by Israelis that are considered incitement to genocide.)
Numerous experts and human rights organizations have joined in declaring Israel’s actions against Gaza (and the West Bank) to be genocide, while the US government is nearly alone in denying it. American mainstream media have tried to hide this from readers.
Judges at the International Court of Justice attend a hearing of the genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa in The Hague
Judges at the International Court of Justice attend a hearing of the genocide case against Israel brought by South Africa in The Hague. (photo)

Washington Post: Trump repeals Biden directive linking U.S. arms to human rights

The Trump administration has rescinded a Biden-era regulation that sought to ensure American allies don’t use U.S.-made weapons in violation of international humanitarian law, current and former officials said Monday.

The White House’s repeal of the February 2024 directive, which President Joe Biden imposed as his administration struggled to reconcile its support for Israel’s war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and its alarm about the civilian toll of that fight, comes as President Donald Trump puts his “America First” mark on U.S. foreign policy.

An order Friday from national security adviser Michael Waltz, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, relays Trump’s decision to immediately rescind Biden’s National Security Memorandum, known as NSM-20. The repeal was also confirmed by several current and former U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that has not been made public.

“The only thing the Trump administration does by eliminating NSM-20 is signal to U.S. partners that the administration simply doesn’t care how these governments use U.S. arms, no matter how immoral or illegal their conduct,” he said.

In an NSM-mandated assessment in May, the Biden administration found it was “reasonable to assess” that Israel had used U.S.-made weapons to violate international law but said it lacked sufficient information to make specific determinations about Israel’s legal compliance. And despite its repeated complaints about the pace of aid deliveries into Gaza, where civilians lacked shelter, food and medicine, the Biden administration found that Israel was not blocking aid.

With the exception of one shipment of 2,000-pound bombs that the Biden administration withheld last spring, the U.S. government continued to provide large amounts of military support to Israel through the Gaza conflict. Trump released that shipment shortly after returning to office.

MORE ON TRUMP’S PRO-ISRAEL, PRO-GENOCIDE POLICIES:
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint press conference at the White House on Feb. 4, 2025
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint press conference at the White House on Feb. 4, 2025 (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Int’l Criminal Court: Investigate Biden, Blinken and Austin for Aiding and Abetting Israeli Crimes in Gaza

Trump Administration Sanctions against Court, Plans for Forced Displacement of Palestinians, Also Constitute International Crimes

The International Criminal Court (“ICC”) should investigate former U.S. officials President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin for their accessorial roles in aiding and abetting, as well as intentionally contributing to, Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, said DAWN in a 172-page communication to the ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan made on January 19, 2025.

Prepared with the support of ICC-registered lawyers and other war crimes experts, the submission details a pattern of deliberate and purposeful decisions by these officials to provide military, political, and public support to facilitate Israeli crimes in Gaza; this support included at least $17.9 billion of weapons transfers, intelligence sharing, targeting assistance, diplomatic protection, and official endorsement of Israeli crimes, despite knowledge of how such support had and would substantially enable grave abuses.

“There are solid grounds to investigate Joe Biden, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin for complicity in Israel’s crimes,” said Reed Brody, DAWN board member and veteran war crimes lawyer. “The bombs dropped on Palestinian hospitals, schools and homes are American bombs, the campaign of murder and persecution has been carried out with American support. US officials have been aware of exactly what Israel is doing, and yet their support never stopped” (read full article here).

MORE ON THE BIDEN-BLINKEN WEAPONS PIPELINE TO ISRAEL:
President Joe Biden (C), Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L), and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (R)
President Joe Biden (C), Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L), and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin (R) (Alex Wong / Getty Images)

Sanders Again Aims to Torpedo Trump’s Weapons Sales to Israel

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that he had moved to block the sale of $8.56 billion in offensive American weaponry to Israel, citing the country’s deadly and destructive assault on the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (Wikimedia Commons)

The Trump administration earlier this month notified Congress that [it] had approved four sales: $6.75 billion for joint direct attack munition (JDAM) guidance kits and thousands of small diameter and 500-pound bombs; $688 million for additional JDAM kits and small diameter bombs; $660 million for 3,000 Hellfire air-to-ground missiles; and $312.5 million for high explosive artillery shells.

Sanders (I-Vt.)—who also battled the Biden administration’s efforts to arm Israel as it waged an assault on Gaza widely decried as genocidal—revealed that he responded to the Trump approvals last week by filing joint resolutions of disapproval (JRDs).

That move started a clock, giving the Senate Foreign Relations Committee just 10 calendar days to consider the JRDs, after which Sanders can force a floor vote on a motion to discharge the resolution from the panel.

Both that motion and final passage would require a simple majority in the chamber, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans (continue reading here).

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IMEMC Daily Reports

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – FEBRUARY 24, 2025 (ongoing count):

  • At least 63,319 Palestinians killed, 118,753 injured – including:
  • at least 62,403 killed in Gaza (~20,600 children)
  • at least 923 killed in the West Bank (~180 children)
  • at least 111,753 injured in Gaza
  • at least 7,000 injured in the West Bank

WAR STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 (Hamas attack) – JANUARY 22, 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 916 in the West Bank (~183 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.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

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