Several patients evacuated Nasser Hospital while dozens remain trapped under the Israeli siege of Khan Younis. Meanwhile, Palestine called on the ICJ to end the Israeli occupation, and Brazil’s Lula likened Israel’s Gaza genocide to Nazi Germany.
Casualties
- 29,195+ killed* and at least 69,170 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 380+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
- Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147.
- 575 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.**
*This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on Telegram channel. Some rights groups put the death toll number closer to 35,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.
** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.”
Key Developments
- Palestine’s Foreign Minister presents case at ICJ, accuses Israel of apartheid in Gaza, West Bank, and Jerusalem.
- ICJ expected to render a non-binding legal opinion on Israel’s occupation.
- Israel avoids sending representative to ICJ, files five-page written statement saying ICJ case “aimed at harming” Israel.
- U.S. circulates Security Council resolution supporting temporary ceasefire in exchange for release of Israeli captives held by Hamas.
- Israeli forces commit nine massacres overnight in various areas of Gaza, according to Ministry of Health, killing at least 103 Palestinians and injuring 124 others.
- Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra says 18 patients evacuated from Nasser medical complex to field hospitals, 118 patients remain inside it.
- Israeli forces build fortified east-to-west corridor south of Gaza City, cutting Gaza Strip in two halves and blocking Palestinians from traveling north on Salah al-Din Street.
- Israel demolishes buildings to make way for 1-kilometer buffer zone around Netzarim Corridor, including the Turkish Hospital, Al-Aqsa University’s campus, and the entire villages of Mughraqa and Juhor al-Dik.
- UN experts conclude Israeli forces carried out violations and sexual abuse against Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and occupied West Bank.
- Brazil recalls ambassador from Tel Aviv after Brazilian president’s comparison of Israel’s actions in Gaza to Nazi Germany.
Palestine presents case at ICJ to end Israeli occupation . The International Court of Justice (ICJ) held a hearing for the second day on Tuesday to look into Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s Genocide War in Gaza Continues
Representatives of the Palestinians argued at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday that Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories had violated international law and subjected Palestinians to a choice among “displacement, subjugation or death.” The arguments began six days of hearings over the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories beginning in 1967, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The proceedings were scheduled months before the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7 but have gained added urgency since. Israel is not participating in the arguments and has said it does not recognize the court’s jurisdiction over its activities in the West Bank. Marlise Simons and Ephrat Livni report for the New York Times.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said yesterday they apprehended “hundreds” of Hamas militants hiding in the Nasser Medical Complex in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, including some of whom they say had been posing as medical staff. The military added that they found medicines with the names of Israeli hostages on them during their raid on the medical complex. Kareem Khadder, Alex Stambaugh, Richard Allen Greene, and Kareem El Damanhoury report for CNN.
Israeli troops have turned Nasser Medical Complex, the main hospital serving the southern Gaza Strip, into a “military barracks” and are “endangering the lives of patients,” according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Israel will allow Ramadan prayers at Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque during the upcoming holy month, but limits will be set according to “security needs,” Netanyahu’s office said yesterday. Hamas denounced the proposed restrictions, and the top Palestinian Islamic council called on all Muslims to visit Al Aqsa regardless. Reuters reports.
A far-left Israeli lawmaker, Ofer Cassif, has narrowly avoided being expelled from Parliament after he backed efforts to charge Israel with genocide at the ICJ. Out of 120 of Israel’s lawmakers, 85 voted to expel Cassif – just shy of the 90 required to oust a member of the Knesset, the country’s parliament. Right-wing lawmakers began proceedings against Cassif after he signed an online petition that accused Israel of taking “systematic and thorough steps to wipe out the population in Gaza.” Patrick Kingsley reports for the New York Times.
REGIONAL RESPONSE
At least two air strikes hit an area near the coastal Lebanese town of Ghaziyeh on Monday, witnesses said, after the Israeli military said it had struck weapons depots near the port city of Sidon. Israel’s chief military spokesperson said the air strikes on weapons depots near Sidon were carried out in response to a drone launched into Israel by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Reuters reports.
DIPLOMATIC FLURRY FAILS TO QUELL GRADUAL ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH ESCALATION. Bottom Line Up Front:
* Israel and Hezbollah have continued to escalate their cross-border attacks that began after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, although the two sides remain short of full-scale warfare.
* U.S. and French diplomats are seeking to develop a formula to de-escalate the skirmishing, modeled on some of the past agreements that ended Israel-Hezbollah hostilities.
* The U.S. and French proposals are reportedly advancing but contain provisions both Israeli and Hezbollah leaders find objectionable.
* Israel is threatening a significant use of force, if diplomacy fails, to compel Hezbollah to pull back, and Hezbollah is warning it will respond in kind.
Israel puts Qatar in the crosshairs as Hamas reasserts itself in Gaza. With the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange talks stalled, Israel and its hardline US supporters have stepped up long-standing efforts to discredit Qatar, the main mediator between Hamas and the Israeli government.
The anti-Qatar campaign accuses the Gulf state, of forging relations with problematic groups and supporting the likes of Hamas and the Taliban as part of its conflict mediation policy, even though those relationships were encouraged by the United States and, in the case of Hamas, Israel.
The stepped-up efforts coincide with Israel effectively walking away from Qatari, Egyptian, and US efforts to negotiate a pro-longed ceasefire in the four-month-old Gaza war and a prisoner exchange that would free the remaining 136 Hamas-held Israeli hostages and the bodies of captives killed during the war. Read the full text here.
Israel puts Qatar in the crosshairs as Hamas reasserts itself in Gaza.
With the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange talks stalled, Israel and its hardline US supporters have stepped up long-standing efforts to discredit Qatar, the main mediator between Hamas and the Israeli government.
The anti-Qatar campaign accuses the Gulf state, of forging relations with problematic groups and supporting the likes of Hamas and the Taliban as part of its conflict mediation policy, even though those relationships were encouraged by the United States and, in the case of Hamas, Israel.
The stepped-up efforts coincide with Israel effectively walking away from Qatari, Egyptian, and US efforts to negotiate a pro-longed ceasefire in the four-month-old Gaza war and a prisoner exchange that would free the remaining 136 Hamas-held Israeli hostages and the bodies of captives killed during the war. Read the full text here.
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
All European Union countries except Hungary warned Israel yesterday against launching an offensive in Rafah they said would exacerbate the crisis of some 1.5 million displaced civilians crammed into the city. A joint statement signed by all but Hungary, a close ally of the Israeli government, called for “an immediate humanitarian pause that would lead to a lasting ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages and the provision of humanitarian assistance.” Bart H. Meijer and Charlotte Van Campenhout report for Reuters.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil recalled his ambassador to Israel yesterday, as tensions escalated between the countries over the Brazilian president’s comments comparing Israel’s actions in Gaza to the holocaust. Lula summoned the ambassador back to Brazil “for consultations,” according to a statement from the country’s foreign ministry, and also summoned the Israeli ambassador for a meeting in Rio de Janeiro yesterday. Israel’s foreign minister, Israel Katz, said Lula is not welcome in the country until he takes back his remarks. Ana Ionova and Paulo Motoryn report for the New York Times.
Russia has invited all Palestinian factions, including Hamas, to meet in Moscow on February 26, according to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh.Shtayyeh said the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by the Fatah political faction, is still seeking unity with Hamas, adding that “If Hamas is not ready to come to ground with us that’s a different story. But we need Palestinian unity.” Alex Stambaugh reports for CNN.
U.S. RESPONSE
“I think I speak on behalf of many Arabs and Muslims in the US in saying: we never experienced more intimidation, bullying, harassment and doxing, and yet: we never felt freer and more liberated in expressing ourselves on Palestine.” @asadabukhalil
Jim Clyburn Says He And Biden Both Think Netanyahu’s Leadership Is ‘Not Good’ For Israel. The influential South Carolina Democrat later clarified that Biden had “accepted” his assessment of Benjamin Netanyahu but had not explicitly agreed or disagreed with it.
Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) suggested that both he and President Joe Biden feel that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership is not good for Israel.
“I’ve talked to the president about this. And, of course, he is not going to be public with everything he says to Netanyahu,” Clyburn told CBS’ Robert Costa on “Face the Nation” Sunday. “But I know this. He feels about the way I feel when it comes to Netanyahu. He is — his leadership has not been good for Israel.”
The U.S. vetoed an Arab-backed resolution in the United Nations that demanded an immediate cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-1 with the United Kingdom abstaining, reflecting the wide global support for ending the more than four-month war.
The United States plans to veto an Arab-sponsored resolution in the U.N. Security Council that calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages. On Saturday, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said in a statement that ongoing negotiations for a six-week fighting pause and the phased release of Hamas-held hostages represent the “best opportunity” for their freedom and an increase in humanitarian aid. On Monday, the United States circulated a draft resolution calling for support of that plan, including what it calls a “temporary ceasefire,” in a future vote. Karen DeYoung reports for the Washington Post.
The US has proposed a rival draft U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and opposing a major ground offensive by its ally Israel in Rafah, according to the text seen by Reuters.
IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS
Iranian-backed Houthi fighters claimed yesterday that they had launched one of their most damaging attacks yet on a ship, saying that a strike put a British cargo ship at risk of sinking in the Gulf of Aden. U.S. Central Command said two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward a British owned ship on Sunday, but that only one missile struck the ship. The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations said the crew abandoned the vessel, later confirming the vessel was at anchor and all crew members were safe. Sammy Westfall report for the Washington Post.
The IDF said its fighter jets hit two Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah weapons storage facilities in Lebanon yesterday. The IDF said the strike was in response to an unmanned aerial vehicle launched toward northern Israel earlier in the day, which they believe was most likely launched from Lebanon by Hezbollah. ABC News reports.
A History of Not Seeing Palestinian Society. Israel’s long-standing strategy of ignoring the agency and lived reality of millions of men, women and children has taken on horrific new dimensions.
The Strange Resurrection of the Two-State Solution
How an Unimaginable War Could Bring About the Only Imaginable Peace. “There is a complete disconnection between renewed international calls for a two-state solution and the fears and desires currently shaping Israeli and Palestinian society,” writes. @martin_Indyk
A Fanatical Israeli Settlement Is Funded by New York Suburbanites. But recent US sanctions against violent West Bank settlers have put them — and their connections to America — back on the agenda.
“A whole bunch of upper- middle-class Long Island suburbanites are funding Beit El, one of the most fanatical settlements in the West bank. Their donations are tax-deductible. Why does New York State allow this?”
Read the full story here.
The Two-State Mirage. How to Break the Cycle of Violence in a One-State Reality
Israel’s devastating response to Hamas’s shocking October 7 attack has produced a humanitarian catastrophe. During the first 100 days of war alone, Israel dropped the kiloton equivalent of three nuclear bombs on the Gaza Strip, killing some 24,000 Palestinians, including more than 10,000 children; wounding tens of thousands more; destroying or damaging 70 percent of Gaza’s homes; and displacing 1.9 million people—about 85 percent of the territory’s inhabitants. By this point, an estimated 400,000 Gazans were at risk of starvation, according to the United Nations, and infectious disease was spreading rapidly.
Will Egypt suspend the Camp David Accords? Since October, Egypt has joined most of the international community in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. With Egypt being the only Arab country to border Gaza, Cairo’s stakes are high. The longer Israel’s war on the besieged enclave continues, the threats to Egypt’s economy, national security, and political stability will become more serious.
Can Marwan Barghouti Be the Palestinian Nelson Mandela?
A well-known and widely respected Palestinian leader might soon be released from an Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire deal with Hamas. A look at his record – including the leadership he has shown from behind bars – suggests that he could well be the key to reviving the two-state solution.
RAMALLAH – Hamas leaders have declared that any ceasefire deal in Gaza must include the release of Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian leader who has been in an Israeli prison since 2002. In fact, Barghouti might be the key to more than a ceasefire; he may well be the best hope of reviving the two-state solution. Now 64 years old, Barghouti has been a member of Fatah, the dominant faction within the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), since he was a teenager. He co-founded Fatah’s shabiba (youth movement) decades ago, before rising to lead theTanzim, Fatah’s grassroots cadres that uphold the organization’s local-level leadership. Though he has spent more than two decades in an Israeli prison, he remains well-known and widely respected among Palestinians. Read the full text here.
A History of Not Seeing Palestinian Society
When Israeli representatives speak about Palestinians, they often use language that is chillingly dehumanizing, as South Africa’s application to the ICJ documents. Just as frequently, Israel simply does not see Palestinian society at all. Israeli leaders, and Western discourse generally, have long reduced the Palestinian national struggle to particular leaders or factions. Palestinian people, according to this perspective, are little more than puppets manipulated by those leaders, human shields behind which they hide or — as indicated by current demands to evacuate the city of Rafah in southern Gaza — objects for Israel to clear away as part of an invasion. Read the full text here.