By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, Wafa, NNA, The Muslim News):
LEBANON
An Israeli airstrike on Bekaa, eastern Lebanon, killed two people and injured 10 others, the Lebanese Health Ministry reported on Friday.
“At approximately 3 am (0100GMT) on Friday, Israeli enemy warplanes carried out an airstrike on the Eastern Mountain Range in the Bekaa region,” Lebanon’s National News Agency also reported.
It added that the airstrike on the town of Janta, in the Bekaa Valley, “resulted in two martyrs and 10 individuals wounded.”
On Thursday, the Israeli army committed 15 more violations of the ceasefire agreement in Lebanon.
The latest breaches bring the total number of violations since the agreement came into force in late November to 823, according to statistics compiled by Anadolu based on announcements from Lebanon’s National News Agency.
Tensions have escalated as the Israeli army remained after a 60-day deadline for its withdrawal from southern Lebanon that passed Sunday under the ceasefire agreement.
The Israeli army on Friday claimed to have intercepted an aerial “suspicious object” near the borders with Lebanon.
In a statement, the Israeli army said it launched an interceptor missile toward a “suspicious aerial target” over the Zar’it settlement area in northern Israel, close to the borders with Lebanon.
The military statement did not provide further details on the incident, but said it is under investigation.
On Thursday, the Israeli army also said it downed a surveillance drone launched by the Hezbollah group.
Hezbollah, however, did not comment on the claim.
A fragile cease-fire has been in place since Nov. 27, ending a period of mutual shelling between Israel and the Hezbollah group that began on Oct. 8, 2023, and escalated into a full-scale conflict on Sept. 23 last year.
GAZA
The UN on Friday reported that “nearly half a million people have returned to northern areas of the Gaza Strip” since the ceasefire took effect.
Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), spokesman Stephane Dujarric said during a news conference that “displaced Palestinians are also moving from north to south, though in smaller numbers.”
Humanitarian partners say displaced Palestinians are also moving from north to south, though in smaller numbers, he said, adding, “As of today, about 8,500 people have crossed from the northern areas of Gaza to the southern side.”
Noting that the UN and its humanitarian partners are intensifying their response at monitoring points along the way, Dujarric said, “This includes first aid and psychological support for the most vulnerable, including children, women, and older people. They are also expanding aid operations in northern Gaza.”
“Yesterday, an OCHA team visited two sites in the South Remal and Tel el Hawa neighborhoods in Gaza City. People there say they urgently need water, kitchen supplies, bedding, and cleaning items,” he added.
Dujarric further expressed deep alarm over the “worsening humanitarian situation in northern areas, as Israeli forces’ operation in Jenin (in the West Bank) continued for an eleventh day.”
“Repeated operations there have resulted in widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure. Nearly all of Jenin refugee camp’s 20,000 residents have been displaced over the past two months in the context of both Palestinian and Israeli operations,” he said.
North Sinai Governor Khaled Megawer announced on Friday that the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will open on Friday to transport wounded individuals once the Palestinian side is ready.
In a statement to Anadolu, Megawer also confirmed that aid trucks will continue entering Gaza through the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing before being redirected to the Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings.
The Rafah crossing, a vital route for humanitarian aid into Gaza, has been closed since May 2024 after Israel’s ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah.
Israel’s war has destroyed Gaza’s medical system with repeated and deliberate attacks on hospitals, staff and patients. Most facilities have been damaged beyond use, and the need for medical evacuations is higher than ever.
Here is a glimpse at the impact of the war on the health system, according to Palestinian officials in Gaza:
More than 111,500 Palestinians have been injured.
About 12,500 patients need to travel for urgent treatment.
At least 25,000 children have been wounded.
More than 12,500 cancer patients face the risk of death because of acute shortages of supplies.
At least one million children require immediate mental health and psychological support.
WEST BANK
Since the start of the military operation, as many as 30 Palestinians have been killed, with 17 in Jenin, three in Tulkarem, and 10 in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Tammun.
United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric has called for an end to Israel’s military operations around Jenin in the occupied West Bank.
The UN “remains deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in the northern area of the West Bank as Israeli operations in Jenin continue for the 11th day”, he told a news conference.
“Nearly all of Jenin refugee camp’s 20,000 residents have been displaced over the past two months in the context of security operations, both by the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli security forces,” Dujarric added.
In a separate statement, the Palestine Red Crescent said its teams in Ramallah dealt with 61 injuries in the town of Beitunia near Ofer Prison in the western part of the city while Palestinian prisoners were being welcomed home as part of the third batch of a prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel.
The injuries were suffered from both live and rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation. Some of the injured were transferred to the hospital, while others received field treatment.
The Israeli army continued demolishing homes and detaining Palestinians on Friday, the 11th day of its military incursion in the northern West Bank.
According to eyewitnesses, the army besieged two homes and ordered the residents by loudspeaker to evacuate their homes and surrender themselves in the towns of Iktaba and Shuweika, east of the city of Tulkarem.
Israeli army forces hit the houses with live bullets and stun grenades before arresting the two residents, eyewitnesses told Anadolu.
The Israeli army on Friday demolished several more Palestinian homes in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank amid the ongoing military offensive.
The Israeli army launched a major offensive in Jenin on Jan. 21, which later on Monday expanded to Tulkarem, killing 19 Palestinians in Jenin and three in Tulkarem, in addition to 10 more killed in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Tammun on Thursday.
The Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported that sounds of explosions were heard across the camp, particularly in the Nadi neighborhood, with plumes of smoke rising into the sky as a result of the army’s blowing up of homes and torching plastic covers.
It added that the Israeli army left large-scale damage to civilians’ properties in the camp.
Earlier, the Palestinian Red Crescent said its teams evacuated 150 Palestinians from the Tulkarem refugee camp after receiving evacuation orders from Israeli forces.
The Israeli daily Haaretz warned on Tuesday against Israeli forces transferring the violations committed in Gaza to the West Bank.
The escalation in the West Bank came after a ceasefire and prisoner exchange deal took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, following 15 months of Israel’s genocidal war that killed over 47,400 and reduced the enclave to rubble.
Reports say Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the escalation over threats from right-wing parties to bring down his government over the Gaza ceasefire, which they oppose.
The Israeli military stormed a wedding hall in Hebron causing panic among the guests, the Wafa news agency reports.
Videos from the scene show Israeli soldiers in fatigues arresting the groom, who was detained for about an hour before being released, according to Palestinian media reports.
SYRIA
The UN peacekeeping chief on Friday said the Israeli army’s presence in the demilitarized Golan Heights zone is creating challenges for the mission and called for its withdrawal.
Noting the “significant changes in Syria” following the ouster of Assad regime, Jean-Pierre Lacroix stressed during a news conference that only the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) should be present in the area of separation, also known as the Golan Heights.
He said that Israeli army’s presence “has made it difficult and challenging for them (UNDOF) to implement their mandated activities.”
[Photo: Palestinians returning to the Magrafe neighborhood after the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel, face with massive destruction of their homes by Israeli indiscriminate bombings, in Gaza Strip on January 31, 2025. Photojournalist: Hassan Jedi/AA]
