LIVE UPDATES
- 10m ago(12:30 GMT)
Ten Palestinians detained in central, northern West Bank: Israeli army
A military statement says two Palestinian suspects were detained overnight for allegedly wounding two Israelis in the central occupied West Bank.
The suspects were arrested in the village of Dayr Dibwan near Ramallah, according to the military.
The army also said it detained eight Palestinians during operations in Jenin and Qaffin overnight.
Israeli forces have arrested more than 13,500 Palestinians during almost daily raids across the West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
- 25m ago(12:15 GMT)
Palestinian presidency condemns Israeli attacks on northern West Bank
Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh has slammed Israel’s “destructive aggression” in the occupied Palestinian Territory.
He said the Israeli forces have been blowing up homes and neighbourhoods, and systematically destroying infrastructure, especially in Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas and al-Fara.
The spokesman warned that Israel is trying to complete the “genocide” it started in Gaza by storming Palestinian neighbourhoods, expanding settlements, and killing and arresting citizens in the occupied West Bank, according to the official Wafa news agency.
- 40m ago(12:00 GMT)
Israel’s Saar meets EU official, claims PA continues ‘pay-for-slay’ policy
Israel’s foreign minister has met European Parliament President Roberta Metsola during his visit to Brussels.
In a post on X, Saar called Metsola a “true friend of Israel.”
He also claimed that “the Palestinian Authority continues its ‘Pay-for-Slay’ policy” towards the families of the Palestinians killed or jailed by Israel.
“The EU must ensure that their funds do not contribute to these purposes,” he added.
Earlier in February, the PA announced an end to the programme providing payments to such families, a longstanding demand by the United States and Israel.
Both countries claim so-called Martyrs’ Fund rewards attacks against Israel, dubbing it “pay-for-slay”.
- 55m ago(11:45 GMT)
LISTEN: Will US trial bring justice for slain Palestinian child Wadea?
The trial for six-year-old Palestinian Wadea al-Fayoume’s murder is taking place in Chicago.
Joseph Czuba faces hate crime charges, but the killing of the boy reflects a growing wave of anti-Palestinian hate in the US.
Our podcast series The Take examines whether the trial will deliver justice – listen below:
In this episode:
- Ahmed Rehab (@ahmed.m.rehab) – Executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Chicago
- 1h ago(11:30 GMT)
Nearly 1,200 new illegal Israeli settlement units expected to be approved: NGO
Israeli authorities will discuss the approval of the construction of 1,170 housing units in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to an Israeli anti-settlement group.
Peace Now said Israel’s Higher Planning Council (HPC) is expected to approve the units across four illegal settlements – Gvaot, Itamar, Shaarei Tikva and Givat Zeev.
“Of these, 756 units are planned for Gvaot, a settlement adjacent to the Palestinian village of Nahalin, where approximately 50 families currently reside,” the group said.
It also reminded that the council approved the deposit of 250 housing units in Gvaot in July 2024, adding: “With the expected approval on February 26, 2025, the settlement is set to expand twentyfold.”
Israel has continuously expanded its settlements in the occupied Palestinian Territory.
Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.
- 1h ago(11:15 GMT)
Destruction in Jenin and Tulkarem – a snapshot
- The mayor of Jenin says 120 homes have been completely destroyed in the Jenin refugee camp, with dozens of other homes and structures partially destroyed in the ongoing Israeli military offensive that started 35 days ago.
- Meanwhile, the Tulkarem and Nour Shams Camp Committee has told Al Jazeera that the Israeli army has displaced more than 20,000 residents of the camps and completely demolished more than 60 homes in them.
- More than 530 homes and public facilities have been partially destroyed in the two camps.
- The Israeli army has also extensively destroyed the infrastructure there, including water networks, electricity, sewage, streets, and public facilities.
- The Israeli forces continue to close the Tulkarem governorate with checkpoints surrounding the city of Tulkarem and prevent entry to the two camps.
- 1h ago(11:00 GMT)
If you’re just joining us
Here’s a quick recap of recent developments:
- Israel intensifies its assault on the occupied West Bank, raiding homes and destroying roads and buildings.
- Hamas official Basem Naim tells Al Jazeera that the group will not engage in further ceasefire talks until Israel frees the 620 Palestinians who were supposed to be released on Saturday.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says the “precarious” ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas must be kept intact.
- The Human Rights Watch says EU representatives meeting Israeli officials in Brussels on Monday should use the opportunity to condemn Israel’s atrocity crimes.
- UN rights chief Turk has called for an investigation into “grave violations of international law” in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territory.
- 1h ago(10:45 GMT)
WATCH: Search continues for remains of Palestinians killed in Gaza
People across the enclave are searching for the bodies of their loved ones, buried under the rubble of destroyed homes.
Israel’s 15-month-long war has left much of the Strip unrecognisable with an estimated number of 10,000 people still missing and presumed dead.
Watch our video report from Khan Younis in southern Gaza below:
Gaza’s civil defence team search the rubble for remains of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks - 2h ago(10:30 GMT)
Hamas ready to hand over Gaza gov’t to any Palestinian body representing all Palestinians: Official
In his interview with Al Jazeera, Bassem Naim has also expressed Hamas’s condemnation of the Israeli offensive in the northern part of the West Bank and “unfortunately the silence of the international community towards what’s happening there”, referring to “the continuous killing and the destruction against our refugees in the different refugee camps in the north”.
Asked about what role does Hamas wants to play in terms of the running of Gaza in the future, Naim replied that the group even before the October 7, 2023 attack has stated many times to it was “ready to give up” governing the territory.
“We are ready to hand over the government in the Gaza Strip to any Palestinian body representing all Palestinians, a unity government, a technocratic government, a special body formed only to run the Gaza Strip in cooperation or in coordination or as a reference with the government in Ramallah – we are ready to do it,” he said.
“Unfortunately, all these proposals are rejected from the PA leadership in Ramallah. And we have said they can come and they can have all the facilitation to run everything inside the Gaza Strip.”
- 2h ago(10:20 GMT)
‘All options on the table’ about future of ceasefire: Naim
We have more comments from the interview with Hamas’s Naim.
Asked about the immediate future of the ceasefire and whether the Palestinian group would release the bodies of four Israeli captives as scheduled this week, he responded that “all options are on the table”.
“Before going to the next step, we have to be sure that the past step, which was releasing 620 prisoners, are already released,” the member of Hamas’s political bureau told Al Jazeera.
“Because Netanyahu is clearly sending strong messages that he is intentionally sabotaging the deal, he is preparing the atmosphere for returning back to the war. Therefore, what are the guarantees that he might take the other four bodies and again not release the agreed-upon number of Palestinians plus the 620 Palestinians?”
Naim reiterated: “All options are on the table, not only what should happen on Thursday but even the other elements of the deal.”
Basem Naim, a senior Hamas official [File: Murad Sezer/Reuters] - 2h ago(10:10 GMT)
No further negotiations until 620 Palestinian prisoners released: Hamas official
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Basem Naim, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, says the Palestinian group will not engage in further ceasefire discussions until Israel releases the 620 Palestinians who were supposed to be released on Saturday.
Here are some more of his comments:
- Hamas has fulfilled all its obligations according to the ceasefire, which went into effect in January.
- Unfortunately, Netanyahu and his government have been trying throughout to undermine and sabotage the deal.
- Israel has committed a lot of violations, including killing more than 100 Palestinians, preventing basic necessities for Palestinians to enter the Gaza Strip and refusing to release the more than 600 Palestinian prisoners.
- Hamas has conveyed a clear and strong message to the mediators: We cannot continue talking or discussing any further steps if these 620 Palestinians are not released.
- 2h ago(10:00 GMT)
UN calls for probe into ‘grave violations of international law’ in Israel, occupied territory
We have some remarks delivered by Volker Turk during the 58th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“In Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, where the suffering has been unbearable, I repeat my call for an independent investigation into grave violations of international law, committed by Israel in the course of its attacks across Gaza, and by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups,” the UN rights chief said.
“Any sustainable solution must be based on accountability, justice, the right to self-determination, and the human rights and dignity of both Israelis and Palestinians,” he added.
Referring to US President Donald Trump’s plan to ethnically cleanse Gaza, Turk said: “Any suggestion of forcing people from their land is completely unacceptable.”
- 2h ago(09:50 GMT)
Hamas in contact with mediators about Israel’s ‘repeated violations’
Abdul Latif al-Qanou, a spokesman for Hamas, says Israel’s failure to implement all the provisions of the first phase of the ceasefire “does not serve to move forward towards completing the release of the remaining Israeli captives”.
“The resistance will not engage in any new negotiations unless the occupation adheres to the agreement and implements the requirements of the first phase,” he said in a statement on Telegram.
“The failure to implement the humanitarian protocol and the postponement of the release of the seventh batch of prisoners show the occupation’s intentions to disrupt the agreement.”
Al-Qanou added that the movement is in contact with the mediators about Israel’s “repeated violations”.
His statement comes as questions grow over the future of the ceasefire after Israel failed to release the 620 Palestinian prisoners who were due to be freed under the agreement on Saturday.
The Palestinian group released six Israeli captives in line with the agreement hours before Israel announced its decision.
Israel also prevents temporary shelters and heavy machinery from entering Gaza – another clause of the ceasefire deal with Hamas.
- 2h ago(09:45 GMT)
Brazil urges Israel to stop military raids on occupied West Bank
The Foreign Ministry of Brazil has expressed “deep concern” over the “intensification, in recent weeks, of Israeli military operations in the refugee camps” of Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams in the northern occupied West Bank.
In a statement, it condemned “the recent use of tanks and military occupation” and denounced “the forced displacement of approximately 40,000 residents from these camps, in violation of international law and international humanitarian law”.
The ministry stressed the need for uninterrupted humanitarian aid in the region, urging Israel to allow UNRWA to continue its mission “for the benefit of the refugee population”.
Referencing a 2024 advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice, which deemed Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful, it also demanded an end to military operations.
“Brazil urges Israel to fully suspend its military operations in the West Bank,” the statement said.
- 3h ago(09:30 GMT)
Merz to invite Netanyahu to Germany: Israeli PM’s office
Friedrich Merz, who is likely to become Germany’s next chancellor following yesterday’s election, has had a phone conversation with Israel’s prime minister, according to Netanyahu’s office.
The leader of the Christian Democrats said he would invite Netanyahu to Germany, the prime minister’s office said.
This apparently suggests Germany under Merz intends not to enforce the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against Netanyahu.
Last November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for him and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
What do the ICC arrest warrants mean for Israel and its allies? | Inside Story - 3h ago(09:15 GMT)
‘New low’: Iran condemns Israeli flyover at Nasrallah funeral
The spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned Israel’s “vicious act of terrorism against civilians” after its fighter jets flew over an area in Lebanon’s capital, where the funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his heir apparent Hashem Safieddine was being held on Sunday.
“The Israeli regime hit a new low today when its jet fighters flew over the funeral ceremony at extremely low altitude, trying wickedly, though futilely, to intimidate hundreds of thousands of brave Lebanese and others who had gathered to pay tribute to their Martyred heroes,” Esmail Baghaei wrote on X.
He said the flyover was a serious violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and called on the UN Security Council to condemn it.
Israeli fighter jets fly over Nasrallah funeral - 3h ago(09:00 GMT)
Israeli forces storm occupied West Bank towns in expanded offensive
- The Israeli army has expanded its offensive on the Jenin governorate in the northern West Bank.
- Israeli forces have deployed tanks and stormed Jenin from the west, besieging the refugee camp and the areas adjacent to it.
- Meanwhile, a curfew on the town of Qabatiya, south of the city of Jenin, continues for a second straight day.
- Witnesses tell Al Jazeera Israeli soldiers have blocked the entrances to the town with mounds of earth.
- They have also arrested a number of residents and seized homes, turning them into military sites, including for sniper teams.
- Separately, the Israeli army has stormed the towns of al-Yamoun and Burqin, adjacent to Qabatiya.
- In Burqin, Israeli forces have bulldozed and destroyed streets as well as facilities and other infrastructure.
- 3h ago(08:45 GMT)
UN chief says resumption of Gaza fighting must be avoided ‘at all costs’
Antonio Guterres has told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that the “precarious” ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza must be kept intact.
“We must avoid at all costs a resumption of hostilities. The people in Gaza have already suffered too much,” he said.
The UN secretary-general also voiced alarm at rising Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank.
“I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation,” Guterres said.
- 4h ago(08:30 GMT)
Al-Quds Brigades reports fighting with Israeli forces in Jenin
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad says in a statement on Telegram that an explosive device placed in advance targeted Israeli soldiers in the Silat al-Harithiya neighbourhood.
It added that fighters engaged in gun battles with Israeli forces in the same area of Jenin, claiming that several Israeli soldiers were wounded.
The fighting comes as the Israeli army continues its massive military operation in the northern West Bank, using tanks and other heavy military vehicles.
- 4h ago(08:15 GMT)
Israeli army reportedly planning to create corridors in northern West Bank
Al Jazeera is reporting from Amman because it is banned from Israel and the occupied West Bank by the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority.
The situation is terrifying for the residents of Jenin as many do not remember the last time tanks entered the territory.
The move is also ominously foreshadowing what is to come in the weeks and months ahead for the residents nearby.
Israel is not only assaulting Tulkarem and Jenin, where large refugee camps are located, it is also raiding cities all across the occupied West Bank.
It is destroying infrastructure in the towns near Jenin, where 40,000 Palestinians uprooted in the northern occupied West Bank are taking shelters.
The situation in terms of damage is very extensive, but it is also serious in terms of the message of what is coming next.
The Israeli media is quoting sources close to the prime minister saying that the army is intending to create large corridors in Tulkarem and Jenin – reminiscent of the so-called Netzarim Corridor in Gaza – in order to allow free movement for its forces and heavy equipment.
- 4h ago(08:00 GMT)
‘They don’t want the families of the Palestinian prisoners to feel joy’
As we’ve been reporting, Hamas has called Israel’s failure to release the 620 Palestinian prisoners a “blatant violation” of the ceasefire.
The group upheld its side of the deal by releasing six Israeli captives on Saturday.
Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, many of whom had been expecting to see their loved ones on Saturday, were left distraught.
“They don’t want the families of the Palestinian prisoners to feel joy. They want to torture them,” Mazen Bakri, a resident of Hebron, said. “They want to deprive them of joy.”
Nadem Emam, another Hebron resident, said the Israeli authorities’ decision to not allow the release of the prisoners “was purely because of the hatred they have” for Palestinians. “This is because they’re war criminals,” he added.
Why has Israel suspended the release of Palestinian prisoners? - 4h ago(07:45 GMT)
A moderate authority needs to be brought into Gaza: Israel’s Golan
Yair Golan, the leader of the centre-left Democrats party, has told Israel’s army radio: “It can only be the Palestinian Authority or an element on their behalf who will take responsibility.”
He added: “The ones who need to lead this are the wealthy Sunni countries that can allocate funds for this. Without a process, Hamas will not disappear.”
- 5h ago(07:30 GMT)
Israel arrests two Palestinians in central West Bank: Report
Two men have been arrested at dawn during Israeli army raids in the Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate, according to the Wafa news agency.
Local sources told Wafa that a 19-year-old was taken by Israeli forces when they stormed his home in the town of Silwad, northeast of Ramallah city.
A 48-year-old Palestinian man was also arrested in the town of Kobar, located in the northwest of the governorate, the agency added.
- 5h ago(07:15 GMT)
Footage shows more destruction in West Bank town of Burqin
As we reported earlier, the Israeli military destroyed a main intersection in the occupied West Bank town of Burqin, west of Jenin, overnight.
New footage emerging from the town, published by the Quds News Network, shows puddles forming after Israeli forces tore up roads with heavy machinery.
Watch below:
- 5h ago(07:00 GMT)
Trump UN envoy nominee condemns ‘terrorist sympathisers’ at anti-Israel rally
Elise Stefanik, Trump’s nominee to be the US ambassador to the UN, has condemned a pro-Hezbollah rally that took place in New York City on Sunday.
About protesters gathered at Washington Square Park in lower Manhattan to mark the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, which was held in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, the same day.
“Radical pro-Hezbollah terrorist sympathisers and anti-American extremists have taken to the streets of New York to glorify and praise Hezbollah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose reign of terror resulted in the butchering of thousands of innocents around the world,” Stefanik said on X.
“It has never been more important to condemn this moral depravity, demand accountability, and implement President Trump’s America First peace through strength agenda. As President Trump has made clear, anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hate will never be tolerated,” she added.
- 5h ago(06:45 GMT)
HRW says EU officials should condemn ‘crimes against humanity’ at Israel meeting
Human Rights Watch (HRW) says European Union representatives meeting Israeli officials at the EU-Israel Association Council meeting in Brussels on Monday should use the opportunity to condemn Israel’s atrocity crimes.
“There can be no business as usual with a government responsible for crimes against humanity, including apartheid, and acts of genocide, and whose sitting prime minister is wanted for atrocity crimes by the International Criminal Court,” said Claudio Francavilla, associate EU director at HRW.
“The only purpose of this Association Council meeting should be to call out those crimes and to announce long-overdue measures in response,” Francavilla added.
- 6h ago(06:30 GMT)
WATCH: Families of Palestinian detainees ‘devastated’ after Israel postpones release
We have been reporting on Israel’s decision on Sunday to indefinitely postpone the release of 620 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, despite Hamas freeing six captives from Gaza a day earlier as stipulated by the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The decision caused anguish for hundreds of family members who had gathered in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, waiting for hours to receive their loved ones, before being told they weren’t coming.
Watch below:
Families of Palestinian detainees ‘devastated’ after Israel postpones release - 6h ago(06:15 GMT)
Hamas condemns Israel’s operations in occupied West Bank
The Palestinian group says Israel’s decision to expand its operations in Jenin governorate and other parts of the northern occupied West Bank reveals its “dangerous intention to persist [in] the war of extermination”.
Hamas also called for a “unified front” against “Israel’s forced displacement campaigns” that have affected more than 40,000 residents from the Jenin, Tulkarem, Nur Shams and Far’a refugee camps.
The group also dismissed a statement by Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz – who said the Israeli army will stay in the West Bank’s refugee camps for the next year – as “an illusion that will not come true”.
On Sunday, the Israeli military announced it would deploy tanks to the occupied West Bank for the first time since 2002.
- 6h ago(06:00 GMT)
Palestinian Foreign Ministry says Israeli tanks ‘grave escalation’ in West Bank
In a statement shared on X, the ministry said deploying tanks in the occupied West Bank is a continuation of Israel’s “genocide, displacement and annexation”.
It said the tanks, alongside the forcible displacement of 40,000 Palestinians and Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz saying that Palestinians would not be able to return to their homes, represented a “grave escalation”.
“The Ministry renews its urgent calls on the international community to intervene immediately to curb Israel’s unchecked aggression,” the statement added.
- 6h ago(05:45 GMT)
UN experts appeal for Israel to repeal laws banning UNRWA
Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on the promotion of human rights and counterterrorism, has called on Israel to repeal two laws preventing the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from “fulfilling its international mandate to provide humanitarian relief and essential services”.
In October last year, Israel’s parliament passed two widely condemned bills, effectively banning UNRWA operations in Israel.
In a report published on February 19, Saul and 24 other independent UN experts said “certain provisions in these laws” – which came into effect at the end of last month – may violate international law.
The report also warned that “dismantling UNRWA outside a political process that includes an orderly conclusion of the Agency’s mandate” could risk “undermining the ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.
- 7h ago(05:30 GMT)
Photos: Children return to school in Gaza after months without classes
A Palestinian teacher uses a puppet to entertain children during the first day of classes at a school in Gaza City on Sunday [Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP] 
Students have begun returning to schools across the Gaza Strip after Israel’s war on the enclave saw school suspended for more than 16 months [Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP] 
Many school buildings were damaged by Israeli bombardment while others were used as shelters during the war [Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP] 
[Omar Al-Qattaa/AFP] - 7h ago(05:15 GMT)
WATCH: Israeli settlers burn Palestinian property in occupied East Jerusalem
Israeli settlers attacked and set fire to property in Jaba, a Palestinian Bedouin community in occupied East Jerusalem, on Saturday.
Israel’s army and settlers have launched nearly 3,000 attacks on the Bedouin community in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2024, according to the Al-Baidar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, a local rights group.
Watch below:
Israeli settlers burn Palestinian property in occupied East Jerusalem - 7h ago(05:00 GMT)
If you’re just joining us
These are the main developments:
- Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has described a flyover by Israeli military jets at the Beirut funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Sunday as a “violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty”.
- US President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who is set to travel to the region as he attempts to secure “an extension of phase one” of the ceasefire, has claimed no one will be able to live in Gaza for “15 … 20 years” as it is rebuilt.
- Mustafa Barghouti, the secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, has said Israel is “threatening to drive the situation into a full-scale war” in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
- Senior EU officials are set to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar in Brussels on Monday, reviving direct dialogue between the bloc and Netanyahu’s government.
- A new report on global internet shutdowns has found that Israel restricted internet access in Gaza six times in 2024, the most of any country in the Middle East and North Africa.
- 7h ago(04:45 GMT)
Iran’s foreign minister says Israel violated Lebanon’s sovereignty with funeral flyover
As we have been reporting, hundreds of thousands of people attended the Beirut funeral of Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in September.
We also reported that several Israeli fighter jets flew over the stadium in which the funeral was being held on Sunday, in an apparent taunt to the Iran-backed group.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was in attendance at the funeral, has now described the act as a “violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty”.
“[It was a] pitiful attempt to terrify people who gathered only to mourn. If that is not an act of terror, then what is?” he wrote on X.
- 8h ago(04:30 GMT)
Israeli forces ‘systematically shut down Gaza’s internet’: Rights group
A new report on global internet shutdowns from Access Now has found that Israel restricted internet access in Gaza six times in 2024, the most of any country in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
“Despite international condemnation, Israeli forces systematically shut down Gaza’s internet while destroying internet and telecommunications infrastructure,” the report said.
The restrictions coincided “with numerous documented atrocities and war crimes, including mass displacement, military targeting of shelters and hospitals, cutting off humanitarian aid, and constant bombardments of civilians”, the report added.
A Palestinian woman talks on her phone as she sits in the rubble of her home in the wake of an Israeli air and ground offensive in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on May 31, 2024 [Enas Rami/AP Photo] - 8h ago(04:15 GMT)
Photos: Tanks flying Israeli flags roll into West Bank’s Jenin
A Palestinian rides a bicycle as Israeli tanks enter the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday [Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo] 
Some Palestinians threw stones as Israeli tanks were deployed to the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than two decades [Raneen Sawafta/Reuters] 
[Nedal Eshtayah/Anadolu] - 8h ago(04:00 GMT)
Trump envoy declines to say whether Palestinians would be allowed to return to Gaza
We have been reporting on comments by US President Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to CNN on Sunday, in which he said he will travel to the region this week to try and secure “an extension of phase one” of the ceasefire deal.
In separate comments to CBS on Sunday, Witkoff has also refused to comment on whether Palestinians would be allowed to return to Gaza under President Trump’s proposed reconstruction plan.
“Nobody can really live there [in Gaza] in a safe environment for probably 15 … 20 years,” he said.
Witkoff argued last week that Trump’s proposal to permanently remove Gaza’s population – decried as “ethnic cleansing” by critics – is “not an eviction plan”.
Palestinians continue their daily life under difficult conditions in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on February 22, 2025 [Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu] - 8h ago(03:45 GMT)
WATCH: ‘Toughest negotiations’ yet surrounding Gaza captive exchange
Sami Al-Arian, a public affairs professor at Istanbul Zaim University, has told Al Jazeera that ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas are reaching a critical juncture and these will be the toughest negotiations yet.
“Netanyahu… wants to continue the war. He wants to resume the war. He wants to get as many of the hostages back without paying the price for it,” he said.
Listen to his comments in full below:
"Toughest negotiations" surrounding Gaza hostage exchange - 9h ago(03:30 GMT)
Mustafa Barghouti says Israel pushing towards ‘full-scale war’ in Gaza, West Bank
The secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative says Israeli escalation in both the occupied West Bank and Gaza is “threatening to drive the situation into a full-scale war”.
Mustafa Barghouti said the presence of Israeli tanks alongside its largest military presence since 2002 means that “practically, Israel is reinvading the West Bank and re-establishing full military occupation, completely marginalising the Palestinian Authority and its presence”.
Barghouti also said that by refusing to release more than 600 Palestinians in an exchange deal on Saturday, Israel has also committed a “very grave violation of the ceasefire agreement”.
“It could mean that Israel is preparing to go back to full-scale war in Gaza … which has been subjected already to genocide, collective punishment, and ethnic cleansing,” he said.
“If Netanyahu is allowed to continue with the invasions in the West Bank and blocking the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, that could mean the end of the two-state solution forever,” he added.
- 9h ago(03:15 GMT)
West Bank town left in ruins as Israeli forces destroy intersection
Footage published by the Quds News Network and the Palestinian Information Center shows destruction wrought by Israeli forces tonight after they stormed the town of Burqin, west of Jenin, and destroyed a key intersection.
The Israeli military deployed heavy machinery to Burqin, where they were recorded digging up roads at the al-Abarah roundabout, leaving large mounds of dirt behind and the intersection unusable.
Watch below:
Translation: Occupation bulldozers destroy infrastructure surrounding the Al-Abarah roundabout in Burqin town, west of Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank.
Translation: The effects of the occupation bulldozers’ destruction of the infrastructure surrounding the Al-Abarah roundabout during the storming of the town of Burqin, west of Jenin.
- 9h ago(03:00 GMT)
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian farmland in the West Bank
Footage published by the Palestinian Information Center shows a Star of David and Hebrew graffiti scrawled on a wall in the Abu Shaban area, east of Yatta in the Hebron governorate, as a fire burns in a farmhouse.
The attack comes as the Israeli military substantially increased its presence in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, including deploying tanks for the first time since 2005.
Translation: Settlers burn an agricultural room in the Abu Shaban area, east of Yatta, Hebron.
- 9h ago(02:45 GMT)
What might Germany’s election mean for Gaza?
Provisional results show Germany’s opposition conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party has won Sunday’s national election.
The CDU’s leader, Friedrich Merz, has been a strong and vocal supporter of Israel, criticising Social Democrat Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition’s restrictions on arms exports and promising to remove them if his party returns to government.
“In the future, whatever Israel needs to exercise its right to self-defence will be given to Israel,” he said in a speech at the Koerber Foundation in Berlin in January.
“Israel’s security is part of Germany’s reason of state, and this will again be measured by actions, not just words,” he added.
In the same speech, Merz also criticised the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu, saying: “I think it is inconceivable that a prime minister from Israel can no longer visit Germany … because he is in danger of being arrested”.
German military equipment and weapons exports to Israel rose sharply to 326.5 million euros ($353.7m) in 2023 but reportedly dropped off in 2024, following accusations Germany was complicit in genocide in Gaza.
Germany, which is home to some 100,000 people of Palestinian descent, has seen significant repression of pro-Palestinian protests.
Pro-Palestinian protests have faced crackdowns from police in Germany [File: Sean Gallup/Getty Images] - 10h ago(02:30 GMT)
Editor’s Choice: What to read and watch right now
Here are a few highlights of the pieces we’ve published about the war over the past day:
- Watch: Israel halts release of Palestinian prisoners in breach of ceasefire deal
- News: Netanyahu playing ‘dirty games’ to sabotage Gaza truce deal – Hamas
- From the West Bank: Israeli settlers burn Palestinian property in occupied East Jerusalem
- Watch: Can Arabs stop Trump’s Gaza displacement proposal?
And there’s plenty more here.
- 10h ago(02:15 GMT)
WATCH: Students in Gaza return to school amid destruction, as fragile ceasefire holds
The 2024-2025 academic year in Gaza has begun amid severe challenges, with the majority of schools in the besieged enclave destroyed by Israeli air raids since October 2023.
Many young students have also lost their homes, families, and even parents during the ongoing conflict.
Despite this, more than 300 children were in attendance at one school in Gaza City – repeatedly targeted by Israeli forces over the past 15 months – as it reopened amid the ceasefire.
Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif reports:
Gaza students return to school amid destruction, loss, as ceasefire halts Israel’s devastating war
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