By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, Wafa, NNA, The Muslim News):
GAZA
Two Palestinians were killed Thursday following an Israeli military strike targeting them in the southern Gaza Strip.
According to local sources, the incident occurred in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood west of Rafah. The Israeli occupation army targeted the two individuals, leading to their killing.
Palestinian medics retrieved the bodies of 120 people from under the rubble in Gaza, pushing the overall death toll from Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023 to 47,283, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.
A ministry statement added that 306 injured people were also transferred to hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the number of injuries to 111,472 in the Israeli onslaught.
“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
The first six-week phase of a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, halting Israel’s war on the enclave.
More than 38,000 Palestinian children have been orphaned by Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, a Health Ministry official said on Thursday.
“At least 13,901 women were also widowed by the war,” Zaher al-Wahidi told Anadolu.
The Palestinian official explained that some 32,151 children lost their fathers, 4,417 lost their mothers, and 1,918 lost both parents.
“These figures reflect the extent of the pain that the people of Gaza have suffered, which requires everyone to work urgently to alleviate the suffering of orphans and affected families and rebuild their lives,” he added.
Meanwhile, two Palestinians were killed and others injured on Thursday in Israeli attacks in the southern and central Gaza Strip despite a ceasefire agreement.
Casualties occurred in an Israeli artillery strike targeting a house in the Tel Al-Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah, southern Gaza, a medical source told Anadolu.
The neighborhood is designated a “safe” area under the deal between Israel and Hamas, allowing Palestinians to return.
Another medical source said an injured Palestinian was transferred to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza after being shot by Israeli forces stationed in the eastern areas of the Al-Bureij refugee camp.
The UN on Thursday reported a significant improvement in aid operations amid the implementation of a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Citing the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said at a news conference that “aid, cargo and humanitarian personnel are moving into areas that were previously hard to reach.”
“Our humanitarian partners on the ground say the operating environment has improved significantly,” he added.
Noting an increase in the amount of humanitarian aid delivered and the restoration of law and order, Haq said: “Yesterday, humanitarian organizations on the ground in Gaza transported 118 trucks of food parcels and flour from the UNRWA (UN agency for Palestinian refugees) warehouses to more than 60 distribution points across southern Gaza.”
WEST BANK
Israeli soldiers killed two more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as they continue a military assault that has rendered the Jenin refugee camp “nearly uninhabitable”.
Palestinian rights groups accused the Israeli army on Thursday of conducting field executions and arrests in the West Bank city of Jenin amid an ongoing military operation in the area.
“The (Israeli) occupation forces continue their military operation in Jenin, arresting dozens of people, alongside field executions, harassment, and destruction of infrastructure, vandalism and home demolitions,” the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
The Israeli army rounded up at least 22 more Palestinians in fresh Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Thursday.
A woman and former prisoners were among the detainees in the raids that targeted East Jerusalem, Hebron, Nablus, Tulkarem, and Ramallah, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
The raids came as the Israeli army continued a military operation for the third day in a row in the northern city of Jenin, killing at least 12 people and injuring 40 others.
The Israeli army continued for the third day in a row on Thursday a deadly military offensive in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, killing at least 12 people and injuring 40 others.
Israeli media said the Jenin assault is part of a political maneuver by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appease far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who opposed the recent Gaza ceasefire. Reports suggest that Netanyahu promised the attack to prevent Smotrich from resigning, which could collapse the government.
The rights groups said that at least 22 Palestinians were detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since Wednesday evening.
The Israeli army burnt several homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, witnesses said.
“Five homes were set ablaze in the Al-Ghaber neighborhood in Jenin camp,” an eyewitness told Anadolu.
An Israeli military statement said that the operation in Jenin, code-named “Iron Wall,” is expected to last several days.
Israeli media said the Jenin assault is part of a political maneuver by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appease far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who opposed the recent Gaza ceasefire.
The Al Jazeera Network has issued a statement saying the arrest of its West Bank correspondent Muhammad al-Atrash by Palestinian security services “can only be explained as an attempt to block the media coverage of the occupation’s attack in Jenin”.
Israeli occupation forces closed the Jabara military checkpoint at the southern entrance of Tulkarm this evening, Thursday.
According to eyewitnesses, as reported by WAFA correspondent, Israeli forces stationed a military vehicle near the checkpoint, accompanied by infantry soldiers, and prevented Palestinian vehicles from entering or leaving the city.
Since the ceasefire in Gaza took effect last Sunday, Israeli occupation authorities have intensified movement restrictions across the West Bank. This has included setting up checkpoints and installing iron gates at the entrances to Palestinian villages and cities.
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reports that the number of military checkpoints and iron gates installed by the Israeli forces in the West Bank has risen to 898. Of these, 18 gates have been installed since the beginning of 2025, and 146 gates have been set up following October 7, 2023.
Wafa reports an Israeli court in occupied Jerusalem has issued rulings mandating the forced eviction of hundreds of Palestinians from their homes in the Batn al-Hawa neighborhood of Silwan, occupied Jerusalem, as part of an ongoing campaign of forced displacement targeting the area.
In a statement released Thursday evening, the Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Governorate revealed that the settler organization Ateret Cohanim secured court decisions over the past two weeks authorizing the eviction of 26 Palestinian families, totaling 154 individuals, from their homes in Batn al-Hawa. The group claims these properties were built on land allegedly owned by Jews prior to 1948.
The court rulings, which pertain to five cases, stipulate that the evictions must be carried out within the next six months. Additionally, the Palestinian families have been ordered to pay court fees amounting to 50,000 shekels (approximately $13,000) for each case.
The forced evictions in Batn al-Hawa are part of a broader pattern of dispossession and settlement expansion by Israeli occupation authorities and settler organizations in occupied East Jerusalem. Since 1967, Israel has implemented policies aimed at altering the demographic and geographic landscape of Jerusalem to reinforce its control over the city, despite international condemnation.
Silwan, a historic Palestinian neighborhood located near the Old City, has been a focal point of settler activities. Organizations like Ateret Cohanim and Elad have sought to establish Jewish settlements in the area under the pretext of historical claims, often using Israeli courts to legitimize their actions.
These efforts have led to the displacement of hundreds of Palestinian families and the destruction of their homes, exacerbating tensions in one of the world’s most contested cities.
Under international law, East Jerusalem is considered occupied territory, and Israeli settlements are deemed illegal. The latest court rulings in Batn al-Hawa underscore the ongoing plight of Palestinian citizens in occupied Jerusalem, as they face the dual threats of displacement and settlement expansion.
Israeli occupation forces demolished six commercial establishments today in the village of Al-Jib, located northwest of occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of lacking building permits.
According to a statement by the Jerusalem Governorate on Thursday, the demolished establishments were owned by brothers Mahmoud and Mousa Mustafa Alqam.
These businesses, which included a butcher shop, a restaurant, a supermarket, a glass shop, and a stone workshop, had been a source of livelihood for approximately 30 Palestinian families. The structures had been standing since 2004.
The statement added that the demolition took place on Tuesday when Israeli forces, accompanied by bulldozers, raided the neighborhood. The area was cordoned off, and residents were prevented from approaching as the demolitions were carried out.
Israeli occupation authorities often carry out these demolitions, citing the lack of building permits as the reason. However, rights groups argue that obtaining permits is nearly impossible for Palestinians due to the racist Israeli policies, leaving many with no choice but to build without authorization.
The demolitions not only displace families but also impact the broader community, cutting off critical sources of income and intensifying economic hardships.
Meanwhile, illegal Israeli settlers cut down 30 olive trees today in the town of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.
Jamal Assi, a resident of the town, stated that settlers from the Netafim colony, built on Palestinian-owned land, cut down 30 olive trees that belonged to the heirs of the late Ahmad Mustafa Assi. The trees were estimated to be 50 years old.
This area has been the target of repeated attacks over the past months, including the installation of barbed wire fences, land leveling, and tree planting by colonists in an attempt to seize the land.
In a separate incident, settlers stormed the Bir Abu Ammar area northwest of the town earlier today to graze their cattle. Local youth confronted them and forced them to leave.
LEBANON
Israeli army burnt a house in southern Lebanon on Thursday, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement.
The Lebanese state news agency NNA said the house was set ablaze in the eastern neighborhood of Qantara town in the Marjayoun district.
It came after at least 11 Israeli violations of the Nov. 27, 2024 ceasefire agreement were reported on Wednesday, bringing the total violations to 633 since the deal came into force.
Hezbollah called on Lebanon’s political leadership on Thursday to act effectively to guarantee the complete Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
A 60-day deadline for Israeli troop withdrawal under a ceasefire agreement with Lebanon is set to expire on Jan. 26.
“The 60-day deadline for the complete withdrawal of the (Israeli) enemy from Lebanese territories is about to expire, necessitating full and comprehensive implementation as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement,” Hezbollah said in a statement.
This “requires everyone, especially Lebanon’s political leadership, to pressure the countries sponsoring the agreement to act decisively in these final days to ensure a complete withdrawal, the deployment of the Lebanese army to every inch of Lebanese land, and the swift return of residents to their villages,” it added.
Hezbollah warned that any extension beyond the 60-day period “would be a blatant violation of the agreement and an encroachment on Lebanese sovereignty.”
“Hezbollah will monitor developments in the coming days, expecting a complete withdrawal, and will not accept any violation of the agreement or commitments, nor any attempt to evade them under false pretenses.”
According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, the Israeli army informed members of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that it will not be able to fully withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon under the deadline set by the ceasefire agreement.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place between Israel and Lebanon since Nov. 27, ending a period of mutual shelling between Israel and Hezbollah that began on Oct. 8, 2023, and escalated into full-scale conflict on Sept. 23, 20.
Meanwhile, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan affirmed on Thursday his country’s continued support for Lebanon during his first visit to the Arab country in 15 years.
Addressing a joint press conference in Beirut with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, bin Farhan expressed confidence in the new leadership’s ability to initiate reforms.
“I assured Aoun of Saudi Arabia’s ongoing stance with Lebanon and its people, and our trust in him and (designate-Prime Minister Nawaf Salam) to begin the reforms,” he said.
The top diplomat said that Saudi Arabia “looks optimistically to Lebanon’s future” and believes that “implementing reforms will enhance global confidence in the country.”
[Photo: A view of the ruble of destroyed residential buildings, the streets and avenues after the ceasefire agreement reached between Hamas and Israel as Palestinians continue to return to their homes in Rafah, Gaza on January 23, 2025. Palestinians returning faced heavy destruction and debris caused by Israeli attacks. Photojournalist: Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]
