By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, Wafa, NNA, The Muslim News):
GAZA
Despite the ceasefire, at least three Palestinians have been killed and 11 injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry says.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has confirmed 48,297 Palestinian deaths in Israel’s war on Gaza, while 111,733 people have been wounded. The Government Media Office updated its death toll to at least 61,709 people, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
According to the ministry, 11 injured people were also admitted to hospitals, taking the number of the injured to 111,733 in the Israeli onslaught.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the ministry said.
An Israeli army drone Wednesday evening killed a Palestinian and injured others in Shweika town, east of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, according to medical sources.
They said that an Israeli army drone conducted an airstrike that targeted a gathering of people in the town, killing one and injuring several others.
WEST BANK
Israeli authorities say undercover police officers killed three Palestinian fighters in the Far’a camp, south of the occupied West Bank city of Tubas, northeast of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.
The three were involved in smuggling arms, Israel’s army alleged. Two other people were detained in the raid.
They added that the occupation forces were withholding their bodies.
Since the start of an Israeli military campaign on January 21 – targeting the Jenin refugee camp and its adjoining city – the raids have expanded to other areas of the occupied territory.
Several refugee camps – including Jenin, Tulkarem, Nur Shams and Far’a – have been “nearly emptied of their residents”, the UN said, describing the incursion as “the single longest in the West Bank” since the second Intifada.
Meanwhile, medical sources said that following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, ambulance crews and paramedics entered the house and found body parts scattered along with traces of blood inside.
The occupation forces barged their way into the camp to reinforce special forces who sneaked their way earlier into a house and fired ENERGA anti-tank missiles at it.
Israel has been launching a massive onslaught on the refugee camp for the 18th consecutive day, conducting house-to-house raids, forcing out the families, ransacking the houses, turning them into outposts, and causing the stock of foodstuff to run out.
The Israeli army has prevented thousands of displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, residents said on Wednesday.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the main entrance of the camp after reported calls by the Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority for residents to return to the camp, according to an Anadolu reporter.
“We gathered here at the entrance of the camp to return and see what has happened to our camp, but the Israeli army prevented us and chased us away,” Basma Masharqa, a Palestinian resident, told Anadolu.
“We know that our house had been demolished. I want to return, despite my heartbreak, just to see even the ruins,” she said.
“We say to the occupation: Enough! Get out of our camp. There is nothing left that you haven’t done.”
The Israeli army has been conducting military operations in the northern West Bank since Jan. 21, killing at least 56 Palestinians and displacing thousands.
At least 30 more Palestinians were detained in Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups on Wednesday.
Children were among the detainees in the raids that targeted several areas across the West Bank, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
According to Palestinian figures, at least 175 Palestinians were arrested by the Israeli forces in Jenin and 150 others in Tulkarem in the northern West Bank since Jan. 21.
The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli army in the West Bank since October 2023 to over 14,500, including those who were released after being arrested, according to Palestinian figures.
The figure does not include those arrested from the Gaza Strip whose numbers are estimated to be in the thousands.
The Israeli army has completely destroyed some 50 homes and 280 shops in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank as part of its ongoing military operation in the occupied northern West Bank, a Palestinian official said.
Speaking to Anadolu on Tuesday, Tulkarem Deputy Governor Faisal Salama said the Israeli army is “working to reshape the features and geography of the Tulkarem camp through extensive demolition of Palestinian properties.”
He added that what’s happening in Tulkarem camp is “a systematic occupation plan, through which new roads are opened on the ruins of the buildings.”
Salama described the Israeli military operation in Tulkarem as “a massacre and an illegal plan carried out amid Arab and international silence.”
“We are living in tragic conditions and a real catastrophe that has targeted women, children, the elderly, and everything,” the Palestinian official said, adding that only 50 families are still in the camp amid a lack of water and electricity.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army destroyed 16 homes in the Tulkarem refugee camp, the largest demolition operation in the occupied West Bank since last month.
Israeli occupation forces Wednesday evening brutally beat up several Palestinians in the Arroub refugee camp, north of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, according to local sources.
They said that the occupation forces stormed the refugee camp and physically assaulted several youths.
They added that the soldiers briefly held another youth and fired barrages of tear gas canisters toward houses, exposing the occupants to tear gas.
A number of Palestinians Wednesday evening suffocated in an Israeli army raid in Qusra town, south of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, according to local sources.
They said that Israeli occupation forces barged their way into the town and fired barrages of concussion and tear gas bombs, causing a number of Palestinians to suffocate from excessive tear gas inhalation.
Meanwhile, several others suffocated due to tear gas fired by the occupying forces in Husan village, west of Bethlehem.
Israeli occupation forces Wednesday ransacked several houses in the northern occupied West Bank city of Qalqiliya, according to local sources.
They said that the occupying forces barged their way into the city, where the soldiers broke into several houses.
There was no immediate information on any confrontations or detention cases.
LEBANON
One person was killed and two others were injured in fresh Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
An Israeli drone struck a vehicle in the town of Aita al-Shaab, leaving one person dead, the ministry said in a statement.
Two more people were injured when Israeli forces opened fire in the town of Wazzani in Hasbaiyya district, it added.
A fragile ceasefire has been in place in Lebanon since Nov. 27, ending months of mutual shelling between Israel and Hezbollah that escalated into a full-scale conflict last September.
Despite this, Israel has violated the agreement nearly 1,000 times, killing at least 79 people and injuring 276, according to an Anadolu tally based on official Lebanese data.
The Israeli army said that that it killed a “Hezbollah operative” in an airstrike in southern Lebanon.
“An Air Force aircraft operated to remove a threat with a strike on a Hezbollah operative identified handling weaponry in the area of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon,” a military statement said.
The state news agency NNA also said that Israeli forces conducted a sweep in the town of Shebaa and Israeli drones flew at low altitudes over several areas in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli army also fired stun grenades at a group of civilians in the town of Kfarkela, southern Lebanon.
Additionally, Israeli forces conducted sweep from Tallat El Hamames using machine guns, further heightening tensions along the border.
Meanwhile, an Israeli bulldozer raised a new earthen embankment in the Khallat al-Mahafir area, near the Odaisseh town square.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army withdrew from southern Lebanese towns but maintained a military presence at five border outposts.
Lebanese Civil Defense said Wednesday it recovered 11 more bodies and remains from towns in southern Lebanon following the Israeli army’s withdrawal under the November ceasefire agreement.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces pulled out from villages and towns they had occupied during the recent offensive but remain stationed at five key posts along the border inside Lebanese territory.
In a statement, the Civil Defense said its rescue teams retrieved “the bodies of seven victims in the town of Meiss El Jabal, one in Khiam, one in Markaba, and the remains of two others in Deir Seryan” in southern Lebanon.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun emphasized the need for Israel to end its occupation of the remaining border posts in southern Lebanon, during a phone call with US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Wednesday.
Meanwhile according to a statement from the Lebanese presidency, Aoun told Waltz that it is “essential to end the Israeli occupation of the remaining posts” in southern Lebanon, “implement Security Council Resolution 1701,” and “complete the ceasefire agreement to ensure stability in the south.”
Adopted in 2006, UN Resolution 1701 mandates a ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel, and establishes a weapons-free zone between the Blue Line, a de facto border, and the Litani River, with exceptions for the Lebanese army and UNIFIL peacekeeping forces.
The Israeli army had withdrawn on Tuesday from the villages and towns it occupied in southern Lebanon during the recent war. However, Israeli forces remain stationed at five points along the border inside Lebanese territory.
Israel was initially expected to complete its full withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Jan. 26, in line with the ceasefire agreement, but requested an extension until Feb. 18.
Aoun also reiterated to Waltz the urgency of securing the release of Lebanese detained by Israel.
On Oct. 22, 2023, a Hezbollah official confirmed the presence of “prisoners” from the group in Israeli custody, though he did not specify the number.
For his part, Waltz assured Aoun that the US government is closely monitoring developments in southern Lebanon following the partial Israeli withdrawal and continued occupation of border points. He praised the role of the Lebanese Army in securing positions previously vacated by Israeli forces.
The US national security adviser also reaffirmed the US commitment to Lebanon, emphasizing efforts to solidify the ceasefire and resolve outstanding issues through diplomatic means.
He highlighted the importance of strengthening Lebanese-American partnerships across various sectors.
[Photo: Palestinians struggle to survive their daily lives under difficult conditions in makeshift tents after the ceasefire agreement wit Israel in Khan Yunis, Gaza on February 19, 2025. Photojournalist: Ashraf Amra/AA]
