Continuation of military escalation in the Palestinian territories

Four Palestinians, including a woman, were martyred in the past 24 hours as a result of airstrikes launched by the occupation army on the town of Bani Suhaila east of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip, and the civil defense has not yet been able to extract them from the targeted areas, according to Palestinian media sources.

Occupation aircraft carried out attacks on several areas in the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing military escalation in the Palestinian territories.

Palestinian sources reported that the attacks targeted the eastern areas of Gaza City in the north of the Strip, in addition to the northern and eastern areas of Khan Yunis in the south of the Strip.

In Khan Yunis, the airstrikes coincided with artillery shelling that hit several areas, amid loud explosions, while sporadic gunfire continued from military vehicles since dawn hours.

The warships also fired their machine guns towards fishing boats in the sea off the west of Khan Yunis, while the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City witnessed rising columns of smoke following the airstrikes, and the nature of the targets hit by the airstrikes and artillery shelling has not yet been clarified.

Continuous violations and a high reconstruction bill

The Gaza Strip continues to record repeated violations of the ceasefire since October 10 last year, and the operations have resulted in the martyrdom of hundreds of Palestinians, and extensive destruction of infrastructure, where the United Nations estimated the cost of reconstruction at around 70 billion dollars.

A Palestinian youth was injured on Friday morning with fractures in his feet after being run over by an Israeli settler in the city of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.

Local sources reported that settlers stormed the eastern area of the city with their vehicles, and one of them deliberately ran over the youth while he was passing through Oman Street, resulting in fractures in his feet, after which he was taken to the hospital.

Eyewitnesses added that two settler vehicles stormed the area in an attempt to reach the shrine of "Joseph's Tomb", noting that one of the vehicles overturned during its escape, while the settlers fled on foot outside the city.

Setters usually storm the shrine of "Joseph's Tomb" located in the eastern part of the city of Nablus, within an area under Palestinian control, under the protection of the Israeli army, to perform religious rituals.

"Joseph's Tomb" is located in the eastern part of Nablus within an area under Palestinian control, and Jews consider it a religious site since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, while researchers and scholars indicate that the shrine is not linked to the Prophet Joseph, suggesting it is the tomb of a Muslim sheikh named Yusuf Dweikat.

Since October 8, 2023, the Israeli army and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians, injured about 11,000, in addition to arresting more than 21,000.

Lebanon is witnessing a week full of Arab and international diplomatic activity, focusing on supporting the army and enhancing stability in the south of the country, amid the continuation of daily Israeli aggressions despite the ceasefire agreement in effect since late November 2024.

This diplomatic activity, according to political analysts who spoke, combines efforts to strengthen the national legitimacy of the Lebanese army and raise challenges against any possible military action by Israel.

However, analysts' opinions differed on future scenarios, between one who rules out war because it would legitimize "Hezbollah" by justifying any response it might issue, another who is certain that war is inevitable due to Lebanon's slowness in implementing commitments to monopolize arms in the hands of the state, and a third who sees the possibility of war but not its inevitability.

On Monday, the diplomatic week began in the south with a tour of Arab and foreign ambassadors accompanied by the Lebanese army commander Rudolph Hikel, set to end on Friday with the conclusion of the 15th meeting of the "Mechanism" committee during 2025.

The "Mechanism" committee was established pursuant to the ceasefire agreement between Israel and "Hezbollah", and monitors its implementation, comprising military representatives from Lebanon, France, Israel, the United States, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon "UNIFIL".

In parallel with the diplomatic activity inside Lebanon, the capital Paris hosted, on Thursday, expanded talks that brought together French, Saudi, and American officials with the Lebanese army commander, and concluded with "renewing their support for the Lebanese army and the government's plan aimed at disarming non-governmental actors", in reference to "Hezbollah's" arms.

Paris also announced in an official briefing following the meeting that France, Saudi Arabia, and the United States "will hold an international conference in February 2026 to support the Lebanese army", without specifying the venue or the exact date.

Within the same diplomatic activity framework, Beirut was visited on Thursday by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, who will meet on Friday with the presidents of the republic Joseph Aoun, the ministers Nawaf Salam, and the parliament Nabih Berri.

Political analyst and journalist Ghassan Rifai says that "Lebanon is receiving a large number of diplomats and international envoys, but these visits do not translate practically on the ground, amid Israel's continuation of its daily aggressions without paying attention to these movements".

He believes that "the world has become convinced that Lebanon has done everything required of it, whether at the government level that implemented international conditions, or at the level of the Lebanese army that performed the tasks entrusted to it according to available capabilities".

Rifai points out that "the diplomatic tour organized by the Lebanese army in the south to inspect the measures taken confirmed this, and left a positive impression on Arab and foreign ambassadors about what the army is doing".

But this positive picture is not complete because "the party obstructing the work of the Lebanese government and army is Israel, which still occupies the five points in the south, preventing the Lebanese army from deploying there".

Rifai notes that the Lebanese army's entry into the five hills occupied by Israel during the last war, in addition to areas it has occupied for decades, means either clashing with the Israeli forces there or normalizing with them in case of no confrontation, and in both cases, there is no (Lebanese) decision on that".

Regarding the chances of a new aggression erupting, Rifai rules out Israel launching a war at the present time, considering that it would legitimize "Hezbollah" if it responds after its long commitment to the ceasefire.

He believes that any war would lead to inciting global public opinion against Israel, amid international conviction that "Hezbollah" has not violated the ceasefire agreement, that the Lebanese government has complied with the conditions, that the army has fulfilled its duties, and with the testimony of ambassadors.

For her part, political analyst and journalist Misa Abdel Razek estimates that "Lebanon remains exposed to the possibility of intensifying Israeli aggressions or a new war, despite adopting the diplomatic option, especially after appointing Ambassador Simon Karam as head of the Lebanese delegation in the Mechanism committee, to be the first non-military official assigned to a similar mission".

The Lebanese presidency's assignment of the chairmanship to Karam came after Joseph Aoun's confirmation in October last year that "there must be negotiation" with Israel to resolve the "pending" problems, a step criticized by "Hezbollah" and considered "a slip for the government and a violation of all statements that said involving any civilian is conditional on stopping hostile actions".

In this context, Abdel Razek points out that "the official Lebanese position, as expressed by the president of the republic, affirms that the negotiation option is the alternative to war".

She confirms that "Lebanon has committed to the ceasefire agreement, while Israeli violations have exceeded 10,000 violations".

Abdel Razek points out that "Israel justifies its violations with Hezbollah's arms despite the Lebanese government's decision in August last year to monopolize arms in the hands of the state, and the measures implemented by the Lebanese army, where it completed more than 90% of the mission south of the Litani River".

She goes further, seeing that "despite what has been achieved, a new Israeli aggression cannot be ruled out under the pretext of (targeting) Hezbollah's arms".

She considers that the visit of the Egyptian Prime Minister to Lebanon on Thursday "carries diplomatic messages in the context of calming and preventing escalation".

As for political analyst and journalist George Akouri, he sees that Lebanon faces "always playing on the edge of the abyss", pointing out that "it is living today the killer time period, not the wasted time".

Akouri speaks of "delays by Hezbollah in doing what it committed to when it supported the oath speech (of President Aoun), the ministerial statement, and the ceasefire agreement".

He points to "the party's insistence on clinging to its arms and boasting about rebuilding its arsenal", and touches on "the blatant Iranian support for Hezbollah through positions and meetings held in public".

The writer warns of "the danger of Lebanon being subjected to a major Israeli strike despite the efforts of the army and the Lebanese state, due to the slow pace (of monopolizing arms) in the face of regional developments", in reference to fundamental changes in the scene, the most important of which is the fall of the Baath regime in Syria and the decline of Iran's influence in the region.

He also points out that "the diplomatic visits and delegations that went to Lebanon carried clear warning messages that time is not in the country's favor, and that there is a real threat from Israel".

Akouri sees that "the decisive phase will be linked to the meeting of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with US President Donald Trump at the end of this month, which may determine the possibility of granting Lebanon a short time period to catch up on the delay in confronting Hezbollah's arms".

He says that "the United States, through its officials, demanded the end of the party's arms before the end of the year, but it is unknown whether it will succeed in convincing Israel to grant Lebanon additional time".

Under American-Israeli pressures, the Lebanese government approved on August 5 the monopolization of arms in the hands of the state, including what "Hezbollah" possesses, before announcing in September last year its welcome to the plan prepared by the army to implement the decision, consisting of 5 stages.

However, it did not specify a time frame for its implementation, although the first stage includes withdrawing "Hezbollah's" arms from south of the Litani until the end of this year.

In contrast, Hezbollah's Secretary-General Na'im Qassem said on more than one occasion that the party rejects that and demands the withdrawal of the Israeli army from all Lebanese territories.

This comes while Hebrew media has been talking since last week about "completing" the Israeli army's preparation of a plan to launch a "wide attack" against sites affiliated with the party, if the Lebanese government and army fail to implement their commitment to dismantle its arms before the end of 2025".

Israel killed more than 4,000 people and injured about 17,000 others during its aggression on Lebanon, which it began in October 2023, before turning it into a comprehensive war in September 2024, which stopped with a ceasefire agreement that entered into force on November 27 of the same year.

It also violated the ceasefire agreement more than 4,500 times, resulting in hundreds of deaths and injuries, in addition to its occupation of 5 Lebanese hills it controlled in the last war, in addition to other areas it has occupied for decades.

The US envoy Steve Witkoff meets officials from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey in Miami on Friday to discuss the next phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, according to a White House official.

Mohammed Badeen quoted a senior White House source as saying that the meeting will be attended by Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati.

Recently, Qatar and Egypt, the mediators and guarantors of the truce in the sector devastated by a war that lasted two years, called for moving to the second phase of the agreement based on the plan of US President Donald Trump, which includes in particular the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the deployment of an international stabilization force.

In this context, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a small security meeting today, Thursday, to discuss developments in the second phase in the Gaza Strip, and the possible scenarios in light of the regional and international political movements related to the file.

Regarding what is expected from the meeting in Miami on Friday, our correspondent said that the international stabilization force will be on the table to reach a vision of its form or an agreement on the principles from which it should start, especially since the US efforts are now heading towards approving agreed principles by the mediators and parties regarding the roles of the international force.

The correspondent pointed to the words of Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani yesterday, that there is no comprehensive vision for all parties regarding this international force, as Doha sees it as necessary for it to be a separation force and not to protect one party at the expense of another.

He explained that the meeting seeks to achieve a breakthrough in the matter, especially since there is frustration among the mediators, including the United States, with the stagnation of matters and holding both sides responsible for not implementing all the clauses as agreed.

The mediators, according to the correspondent, seek to push the Israeli side and "Hamas" to move forward towards the subsequent phases by reaching a final vision before the meeting that is supposed to be held later in Mar-a-Lago between the Israeli Prime Minister and US President Donald Trump.

In the same context, the channel affiliated with the official broadcasting authority reported that the small Israeli security meeting discussed the possibilities of a change in the US position, including a scenario of Washington's withdrawal from direct engagement in the Gaza file or supporting solutions that do not enjoy the approval of Netanyahu's government, in addition to the repercussions of that on the security and political situation in the region.

The channel quoted a senior Israeli official as saying that the chances of Trump abandoning the de-escalation path in Gaza remain limited, noting that the US administration is concerned with maintaining the existing calm in the sector.

However, he confirmed that the Israeli security establishment also discussed alternative options, including carrying out a new military maneuver inside the Gaza Strip, claiming to completely dismantle the "Hamas" movement, in case of a radical change in the US position or the failure of the current political efforts.

A comment by US Vice President JD Vance on distinguishing between criticizing the occupation and antisemitism has raised questions in Israeli circles, especially since the ready-made accusation for attackers on the occupation and its critics is antisemitism.

JD Vance said that one should not confuse disliking Israel or criticizing it with antisemitism.

These statements have raised questions in Tel Aviv regarding the direction of US policy, and whether the interests of the occupation and the United States might clash in the near future.

Anna Barsky, political correspondent for the Maariv newspaper, said this message is alarming in Tel Aviv. She added: "This is a major warning sign for Israel. Vance wrote that one should not link disliking Israel or criticizing it with antisemitism. These are trends that go beyond being just a passing statement, and when they come from the Vice President of the United States, it is something not to be taken lightly."

Barsky also addressed the prevailing perception among the occupation, specifically in certain right-wing circles, towards the Trump administration, saying: "There was a perception that it was an absolutely pro-Israel administration, to the extent that it would fulfill the dreams of the right. I have a feeling that we might see indications of a reversal in approach."

Regarding the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, scheduled in Florida on the 29th of this month, Barsky noted that Trump is operating from a broad perspective: "He does not necessarily want Turkey to be part of the international stabilization force in Gaza. He is thinking of the big picture."

And for him, the logic is: "Hey guys, move forward. I want to move to the next goal, including the Nobel Peace Prize. There's no time."

Nevertheless, Barsky confirmed that the gap between the two approaches might complicate things for Israel. She explained: "For Israel, it doesn't work that way. Netanyahu will come and say: For us, this is a matter of life or death. We can't just give in to keep up with your pace."

A Palestinian official report documented, on Thursday, the damage to nearly 3,413 trees, most of them olive trees, in scattered areas of the West Bank, as a result of Israeli assaults in the period between December 11-18 of the current month.

The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture explained, in a report published on the American platform "Facebook", that last week witnessed a noticeable escalation in assaults by the Israeli army and settlers, which caused severe damage to the agricultural sector.

The ministry indicated that its teams documented the damage to 3,413 trees, most of them olive trees, with the governorates of Ramallah and Al-Bireh (center) and Nablus (north) accounting for the largest share of the damages resulting from Israeli assaults.

The report clarified that those assaults during the mentioned period included land leveling, tree uprooting, destruction of hundreds of meters of irrigation networks, killing and stealing sheep, destroying fodder, and demolishing poultry farms.

According to the report, the total value of damages during the mentioned period exceeded two and a half million dollars.

The ministry stated that "Israel continues its policies of land seizure, issuing demolition notices, and forcing farmers to uproot their trees with their own hands, in an attempt to cause psychological and moral breakdown, in a direct targeting of the olive tree that represents a symbol of Palestinian identity and steadfastness".

Previously, a report by the Palestinian governmental Anti-Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission revealed Israel's seizure of 2,800 dunams (a dunam equals 1,000 square meters) of lands owned by Palestinians during the past month of November, through orders of "land seizure and expropriation and modification of state land boundaries".

Meanwhile, the commission's data indicated that Israel has issued, since the beginning of 2025, a total of 53 orders for land seizure for military purposes, in a noticeable intensification of the use of this type of orders that pretext military reasons to control Palestinian lands.

Since the start of the genocide war in Gaza, the Israeli army and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians, injured nearly 11,000, in addition to arresting more than 21,000.

Meanwhile, Israel's genocide war in Gaza has left more than 70,000 Palestinian dead and 171,000 injured, mostly children and women, along with immense destruction with a reconstruction cost estimated by the United Nations at about 70 billion dollars.

On Thursday, Israeli Finance Minister and extremist Bezalel Smotrich approved a plan to establish a new settlement city east of Jerusalem, comprising approximately 3,380 housing units.

It indicated that Smotrich approved the establishment of a new settlement city named "Mishmar Yehuda" east of Jerusalem, including 3,380 housing units.

In turn, Smotrich claimed in a post on the American company "X" platform that "the new settlement city is considered a strategic stronghold to protect Jerusalem from the eastern side as part of the ongoing policy of strengthening control over the area".

Despite the illegality of settlement, the extremist minister added that the new city "will provide tens of thousands of housing units and will contribute to strengthening the eastern ring around Jerusalem".

The project was considered "an additional step in consolidating sovereignty over the land, and will contribute to thwarting the idea of establishing an Arab (Palestinian) state in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank)".

On December 11 of this month, the Israeli mini-cabinet "Cabinet" approved a plan to legalize 19 settlements.

The announcement of the new project comes on Thursday amid growing international criticism of expansionist settlement policies, which are considered violations of international law, amid warnings of their implications for political solution opportunities and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

This also comes amid escalating attacks by the army and settlers in the West Bank and Jerusalem coinciding with the start of the Israeli genocide war in Gaza on October 8, 2023, which lasted for a year and ended with a ceasefire agreement that entered into force on October 10 last year.

Since the start of the Israeli genocide, the army and settlers have killed 1,094 Palestinians in the West Bank and injured about 11,000 others, in addition to arresting more than 21,000.

The Committee to Protect Journalists expressed deep concern over the horrifying testimony given by the independent Palestinian journalist Sami Al-Sa'i during a public event organized recently by the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms "Mada", where he described being subjected to torture and sexual violence during his detention in an Israeli prison.

The journalist Al-Sa'i recounted harsh details about being raped during his administrative detention between February 2024 and June 2025, particularly in Majd and Ramon prisons in the north and south of the occupied territories.

Al-Sa'i said that the Israeli guards beat him, blindfolded him, shackled him, humiliated him, sexually assaulted him, and raped him with a stick.

In one incident, he detailed, saying "A group of at least 4 soldiers took me to an area with a foul smell, while they were beating me and humiliating me continuously", adding that he was forced to "sit in a prostration position", and continued "I initially thought it was part of their usual routine for humiliation, until I felt them inserting a hard object into my rectum".

The regional director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Sarah Kaddah, said "The account given by journalist Al-Sa'i is extremely troubling and tragically aligns with the testimonies received by the Committee to Protect Journalists from his colleagues detained in Israeli prisons".

Kaddah called for urgent and independent investigations to hold accountable all those responsible for these systematic violations.

The treatment of Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons has resurfaced again after repeated talk of unprecedented torture and horrifying violations faced by prisoners at the hands of Israeli guards.

A leaked video clip showed 5 soldiers brutally assaulting, sexually and physically, a Palestinian prisoner from the Gaza Strip with his hands tied, in the infamous Sde Teiman camp last year.

The leak of the clip led to the dismissal of the Israeli military prosecutor Yafit Tomer Yerushalmi, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, described it as "the biggest public relations attack" Israel has faced since its establishment.

The Committee to Protect Journalists said that Al-Sa'i's account - who noted that what he experienced was accompanied by a threat of a similar fate for all journalists - aligns with what human rights organizations have mentioned regarding the treatment of Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

To this day, about 30 Palestinian journalists are behind bars in Israeli prisons, according to the international committee.

About two weeks ago, the Palestinian Journalists Protection Center revealed that a Palestinian journalist was subjected to rape and sexual torture using a trained dog during his detention in the Israeli Sde Teiman camp, resulting in severe psychological trauma that deprived him of his mental balance for more than two months.

The center conveyed horrific details from the testimony of the journalist who did not disclose his real name to protect the safety of his family members, during his 20-month detention in occupation prisons, including 3 months in Sde Teiman and one month in Ofer prison.

The center detailed in a statement what it considered one of the most serious documented crimes against detained journalists, where the journalist, along with 7 other prisoners, was subjected to group sexual assaults lasting about 3 minutes, after being shackled, blindfolded, and dragged to an isolated area inside the infamous camp.

The journalist in his testimony indicated that what he faced was not an isolated incident, pointing to a systematic torture policy through which Israel sought to break the will of the prisoners and humiliate them psychologically and physically.

Israeli and Palestinian human rights data revealed mid-last month the death of 98 Palestinians during their detention in Israeli prisons and detention centers since October 7, 2023, a figure described by human rights organizations as unprecedented, reflecting a widespread collapse in detention standards and almost complete absence of legal and medical oversight.

According to the data obtained by the organization "Physicians for Human Rights-Israel", and published by the Israeli magazine (972+), a large part of the victims were civilians not suspected of involvement in combat activities.

An Israeli channel said on Monday that the White House informed the occupation government’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the assassination of Hamas leader Raed Saad constitutes a violation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

On Saturday, the occupation army carried out a raid on a vehicle west of Gaza City, resulting in the martyrdom of 4 Palestinians, and the army stated in its announcement that among them was Saad, the commander of the manufacturing wing in the Qassam Brigades, and one of the engineers of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7th.

The private channel quoted American officials as saying: "The White House sent strong messages to Netanyahu over the past two days, stating that the assassination of the prominent Hamas leader Raed Saad in Gaza was a violation of the agreement reached to end the war through the mediation of US President Donald Trump."

The two officials, unnamed by the channel, said that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House envoy Steve Witkoff, and Trump's advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner "are deeply frustrated with Netanyahu and his decisions."

The channel noted that "the angry message from the White House came amid escalating tensions between the Trump administration and Netanyahu's government regarding the next phase of the agreement to end the war in Gaza and Israel's policy in the region in general."

American officials say that "the Israeli government did not inform the United States in advance of its intention to assassinate Saad and did not consult with the White House on this matter in advance," according to the channel.

An American official told the channel: "The White House expressed its anger over the attack and clarified to Netanyahu that it constitutes a violation of the ceasefire agreement."

The official added: "The White House's message to Netanyahu was: If you want to destroy your reputation and show your lack of commitment to agreements, do as you wish, but we will not allow you to destroy President Trump's reputation after his success in reaching an agreement in Gaza."

The channel confirmed the escalation of tensions between Netanyahu and the Trump administration due to the occupation's policy in Gaza, just two weeks before an upcoming meeting between Netanyahu and the American president at Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

It pointed out that the tensions surrounding the assassination of Raed Saad "are just the latest episode in a series of disputes between the White House and Netanyahu's government in recent weeks."

The channel indicated that "the White House sees Netanyahu acting shortsightedly on many issues related to the implementation of the agreement in Gaza, especially regarding the transition to the second phase, which includes additional Israeli withdrawal."

The channel said that "the White House has been focusing in recent weeks on strengthening the ceasefire, reducing tensions in the region, and transitioning from the Gaza war to rebuilding relations between Israel and the Arab world, and expanding normalization agreements."

However, high-level American officials say they "have faced significant distrust towards Netanyahu in the region, and strong opposition in many Arab countries to cooperating with him," according to the same source.

It was reported that Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar is seriously considering closing the Israeli embassy in the Norwegian capital Oslo, which has been operating without an ambassador since May 2024.

This consideration comes in the context of increasingly strained relations between the two sides, where disagreements have escalated regarding Israeli policies in the occupied Palestinian territories.

It considered that Norway is among the most hostile countries towards Israel since the Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7, 2023, rivaled only by Ireland and Spain.

This comparison reflects the intensity of the tension in relations, placing Norway at the forefront of European countries criticizing Israeli policies.

Norway recently filed a lawsuit before the International Court of Justice in The Hague regarding Israeli measures against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), in an international legal step representing a qualitative escalation in the Norwegian position.

This lawsuit is like the straw that could break the back of official diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In another matter, writer Alexander Langlois addressed the Arab Spring revolutions in an article in the 'National Interest' magazine, considering that the West did not realize that supporting authoritarian regimes was no longer a sustainable option after 15 years of the Arab Spring.

He affirmed that the peoples of the region still suffer from the burden of authoritarianism, and that the frustrations that ignited the uprisings persist amid the destruction.

The writer emphasized that real change must be led by the people in pursuit of their hopes and dignity, and that values can remain part of the state's interests and foreign policy, while recognizing the painful lessons of the Arab Spring on its 15th anniversary.

In the context of the Ukraine war, it was revealed that the United States warned European leaders against seizing frozen Russian assets and using them to finance Ukraine.

It clarified that Washington is pressuring the European Union and Britain to back down from plans to seize about 210 billion euros in Russian assets.

It added that the upcoming meeting of European leaders may open a political confrontation with US President Donald Trump, at a time when Russia threatened a harsh response to any such step.

This American position reflects a shift in approach towards the war and mechanisms of pressure on Moscow.

Cairo affirmed today, Thursday, that the gas deal with Israel is a "purely commercial deal concluded based on purely economic and investment considerations, and does not entail any political dimensions or understandings."

This statement comes the day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the approval of the gas deal with Egypt, which he said is "the largest in Israel's history," valued at about 35 billion dollars, allowing the export of gas from Israel's Leviathan field to Egypt until 2040.

Diaa Rashwan, head of the General Authority for Information affiliated with the Egyptian Presidency, said in a statement that what happened is a commercial contract subject to market rules and international investment mechanisms, far from any political exploitation or interpretation.

He emphasized that Egypt's position on the Palestinian issue "is steadfast and will not change, and is based on supporting the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, rejecting forced displacement, and adhering to the two-state solution."

Rashwan added that this agreement achieves "a clear strategic interest for Egypt, manifested in strengthening its position as the only regional center for gas trading in the Eastern Mediterranean, relying on advanced infrastructure and huge investments."

He pointed out that "what happened is a commercial contract subject to market rules and international investment mechanisms, far from any political exploitation or interpretation."

He added that the parties to the agreement are well-known international commercial companies in the energy sector, including the American company "Chevron," alongside Egyptian companies specialized in receiving, transporting, and trading gas, without any direct government intervention in concluding these contracts.

He emphasized that the timing of the announcement does not change the fact that the agreement is the result of commercial negotiations that took place during a previous period.

A White House official said on Thursday that US President Donald Trump and his special envoy Steve Witkoff will meet on Friday with Qatari, Egyptian, and Turkish officials in Miami, Florida, to discuss the Gaza agreement.

The meeting, which was initially announced to bring together Witkoff with officials from those countries, a White House official mentioned that President Trump will also attend.

For his part, Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani said that the meeting will aim to develop a complete vision for how to transition to the second phase of the agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip.

During his visit to Washington, Al Thani stated in a statement that he agrees with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on doubling efforts to reach the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

Al Thani said there was an opportunity to discuss the ceasefire agreement and the urgent need to move to the second phase of the agreement and form the Palestinian civilian administration as soon as possible, because the current situation endangers the agreement with each passing day, as he put it.

Since the signing of the ceasefire agreement on October 10th, the occupation army has committed daily violations that have resulted in hundreds of martyrs, in addition to deaths due to the severe cold due to the deterioration of humanitarian conditions, and the prevention of importing sufficient quantities of fuel and gas.

Cinemas are preparing to welcome the film "Hind Rajab's Voice" by the Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, as part of the "Sinamad" initiative dedicated to screening films participating in international festivals and forums in cinema halls.

The film is scheduled to be shown in about "167 cinemas" in various parts of the Arab world, including "22 cinemas in Egypt", "51 in Saudi Arabia", "37 in the UAE", "12 in Qatar", "12 in Iraq", "9 in Oman", "8 in Kuwait", "9 in Bahrain", "6 in Jordan", in addition to "one cinema in Syria".

The film, which won the "Silver Lion" award from the Venice Film Festival 2025, was recently screened in Ankara under the patronage of the Presidency, according to a statement issued by the Turkish Ministry of Culture, where the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan received members of the family of the martyred child Hind Rajab, who was killed by the Israeli occupation army

The wife of the Turkish President, Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, interacted with the film and wrote on her account on the "X" platform that the work "awakens consciences and keeps memory alive", noting that she watched its screening "with a lump in the throat".

She said that the voice of the Palestinian child Hind Rajab (6 years old), who was brutally snatched from life in Gaza, was like a "cry for help heard by the whole world but no one responded to it".

The wife of the Turkish President praised the film, considering it "did not allow that cry to fade into darkness", praying for the soul of the child Hind and all Palestinian martyrs, and expressing hope that the "unfinished story of Hind" will continue to awaken the world, congratulating the team and those responsible for producing the film.

The American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscar) has announced the inclusion of the film "Hind Rajab's Voice" in the shortlist for the 98th edition of the Oscar Awards, where it competes in the Best International Film category dedicated to works produced outside the United States, alongside three other Arab films: "What's Left of You" by director Sherine Dabbas, "Palestine 36" by director Annemarie Jacir, and "The President's Cake" by Iraqi director Hassan Hadi.

This nomination is the third in five years for a film directed by Kaouther Ben Hania to enter the Oscar race, after the films "The Man Who Sold His Skin" and "Four Daughters".

Ben Hania expressed her happiness at the film's entry into the shortlist, through a post on her Facebook page, saying that the nomination represents a moment of pride and gratitude for everyone who believed in the film and contributed to its support, and considered it the beginning of a new journey.

The film "Hind Rajab's Voice" tells the story of the killing of the Palestinian child Hind Rajab (5 years old) in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli war on the sector. The film witnessed its world premiere within the official competition of the Venice Film Festival 2025, where it won the Silver Lion award.

A martyr falls and fires break out, in addition to significant material damages, due to the explosion of 3 explosive devices.

The Civil Defense Department in the Gaza Strip announced the martyrdom of a martyr and the outbreak of fires, in addition to significant material damages, due to the explosion of 3 explosive devices from occupation remnants in scattered areas of the sector.

The Civil Defense in its statement held the occupation and the American Coordination Center fully responsible for the lives of civilians who lose their lives as a result of the explosion of these dangerous remnants.

It indicated that these unexploded ordnance pose a continuous threat to the lives of residents in the sector.

A tourist facility in the Japanese city of Nagano refused bookings for Israelis who had applied through a travel company.

After reviewing the booking request by the management of ski facilities in Japan, which had received inquiries about accommodation and reservations in the winter season, the response was rejection.

The facility justified this with 'the treatment Palestinians are subjected to'.

The facility manager said: 'We have decided not to accept requests from Israeli citizens from now on. We are disturbed by what your government imposes on the Palestinian people, and we do not see it right for you to think about spending a vacation while residents of a neighboring country have no place to stay and suffer from hunger.'

The incident prompted the Israeli ambassador to Tokyo, Gilad Cohen, to send a message to the governor of Nagano Prefecture in Japan, protesting what happened and demanding an investigation into the matter.

The investigation resulted in a verbal warning to the facility manager and a demand not to 'refrain from any discriminatory practices'.

This incident is not the only one in Japan, as a hotel operating company in Kyoto previously imposed in May 2025 on its Israeli clients to sign a pledge not to be involved in war crimes before allowing them to stay.

The International Criminal Court expressed today, Thursday, its rejection of the sanctions imposed by the United States on two members of the Court's body, considering it "a blatant assault on the independence of an international judicial body."

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the two judges, from Mongolia and Georgia, voted earlier this week against Israel's challenge to the Court's jurisdiction in the investigation "into crimes allegedly committed in the Gaza Strip."

This step comes after previous US sanctions in March last year, which included two judges from France and Canada and two prosecutors in the Court, on the grounds of their participation in investigation efforts or issuing arrest warrants against American or Israeli citizens.

Earlier this month, the President of the International Criminal Court, Judge Tomoko Akane, said that the US sanctions imposed on senior officials and judges of the Court directly affected the personal lives of the targeted judges and officials.

Akane emphasized, in the opening of the meetings of the Assembly of States Parties in The Hague, that the judicial body "will not accept any pressure of any kind."

Previously, the Appeals Chamber in the International Criminal Court rejected Israel's objection to the arrest warrants issued against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, in November 2024. After the Court accused them of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the green light to a bill that allows the trial of Palestinian prisoners accused by Tel Aviv of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported on Thursday that Netanyahu "gave the green light to a bill presented by Knesset members Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) and Yulia Malinovsky (Israel Our Home), which allows the trial of detained Palestinians who carried out the October 7 attacks".

It noted that "Netanyahu thereby rejected the request of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to include them in the death penalty law he is promoting".

It added: "The bill is expected to be voted on in its first reading next week".

It further stated: "The law will also apply to those who held hostages (Israeli prisoners) in Gaza".

It explained that the trial will take place before a military court established for this purpose, authorized to try what it calls "crimes of genocide, violation of state sovereignty, incitement to war, and aiding the enemy, which are punishable by death".

Any bill must be voted on in three readings before becoming an effective law.

Israel has not disclosed the number of Palestinian prisoners it accuses of participating in the October 7, 2023 attack.

However, "Yedioth Ahronoth" indicated that the talk is of more than 300 detainees.

It is recalled that on October 7, 2023, "Hamas" attacked military bases and settlements adjacent to the Gaza Strip, killing and capturing Israelis, in response to "the daily crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people and its sanctities, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque", according to the movement.

Since then, Israel, with American support, has waged a war of extermination in Gaza that has left more than 70,000 dead and over 171,000 injured, mostly children and women, and caused massive destruction, with the United Nations estimating the cost of reconstruction at around $70 billion.

On Thursday, the occupation army launched a series of intense aerial raids and artillery bombardment on the Gaza Strip, targeting the eastern and northern areas of the sector's cities.

Palestinian sources reported that the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City witnessed fierce artillery bombardment, while warplanes carried out raids on the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, leading to rising columns of smoke from the targeted areas. Military vehicles also opened fire from their heavy machine guns towards several areas east of Gaza City and Rafah.

The sources did not specify the nature of the targets hit by the raids, while the occupation continues its ongoing violations of the ceasefire with Hamas since October 10 last year, recording about 738 violations, resulting in the martyrdom of more than 394 Palestinians, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza last Tuesday.

The effects of the genocide war launched by the occupation on Gaza since October 2023, which lasted for two years, continue, leaving more than 70,000 dead and more than 171,000 injured Palestinians, mostly children and women, in addition to massive destruction in the infrastructure, with the United Nations estimating the cost of reconstruction at about 70 billion dollars.

Two political experts believe that the Palestinian National Authority will face harsh and complex conditions if offered participation in what is known as the "Peace Council" for managing the Gaza Strip.

On November 18, 2025, the UN Security Council adopted by majority an American draft resolution on ending the Israeli genocide war in the Gaza Strip, authorizing the creation of a temporary international force until the end of 2027.

According to the resolution, Gaza is managed through a transitional Palestinian technocratic government, operating under the supervision of an executive "Peace Council" led by US President Donald Trump according to his plan launched to stop the ceasefire between the "Hamas" movement and Israel on September 29 last year, consisting of 20 points and entered into force on October 10 last month.

The Israeli genocide war in Gaza, which began on October 8, 2023, with American support and lasted two years, left more than 70,000 dead and over 171,000 injured, mostly children and women, and destruction affecting 90% of the civilian infrastructure.

The Security Council resolution presented by Washington received approval from 13 countries, while Russia and China abstained from voting, and both Israel and the "Hamas" movement expressed opposition to some aspects of the plan.

On November 23 last month, Palestinian Vice President Hussein Al-Sheikh and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed in Ramallah developments in the Palestinian situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank after the Security Council adopted a resolution on ending the war.

In an interview, Hani Al-Masri, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy Research and Strategic Studies "Masarat", says that Blair's visit to Ramallah came in the context of exerting pressure on the Authority to agree to the American-Israeli conditions regarding the Peace Council in Gaza.

Al-Masri points out that there is regional welcome for the Council, and that there are countries ready to participate in the peace force in Gaza.

He adds: "But this does not mean that all views are equal, the American administration has the upper hand, and the American president is the one who decides in the end."

He adds: "The Peace Council, despite its existence being approved by the Security Council, its reference and control over its work is not from the Security Council, to the extent that it does not send reports to it about its work."

Al-Masri warns that "as long as there is no trusted international reference in the Security Council, there will remain the risk of extending the Council's term, and the text clearly indicates the possibility of renewal, and thus Palestinians outside self-rule for a period that may be long, and this weakens them more and serves American and Israeli plans."

Regarding the nature of the conditions imposed on the Palestinian Authority, Al-Masri explains: "There are those who want the technocratic committee that will manage the Gaza Strip under the Peace Council to be the (Palestinian) government, there are those who want the Peace Council to be the direct rule, and there are those who want to merge the two, and this disagreement is not between equal forces, the American administration has the upper hand, and decides what serves Israel's interests."

He notes that "the decision to form the Peace Council does not contain any commitment to a real political horizon or a Palestinian state, but may obligate the Authority to the conditions set for participation, and this may be just throwing dust in the eyes, and if clear agreements are not implemented, how about if they are unclear?"

Al-Masri indicates that among the conditions that may be placed before the Palestinian Authority if it wants to have a role in the Gaza Strip "stopping prisoners' salaries, changing curricula, stopping media incitement against Israel, recognizing Israel as a state for the Jewish people, stopping pursuing Tel Aviv in the United Nations and international courts, and stopping unilateral recognitions of the Palestinian state."

He continues: "The issue of the Peace Council is very complex, and it is not certain that it will succeed, and the danger is great, but there are opportunities as well, and the solution is to agree on one vision and one program and a unified Palestinian partnership, because there is a shared danger that one Palestinian side accepts and the other opposes."

Al-Masri concludes: "If the Peace Council succeeds in Gaza, its influence can later extend to the West Bank, so the risks are great, but the Palestinian cause is just and has broad international support, as 160 countries have recognized the Palestinian state, and there is a global popular uprising against Israel, which provides an opportunity to bet on international resistance."

For his part, Suleiman Bisharat, director of the "Yabus" Center for Studies, says that the Palestinian Authority "may be the weakest party in the equation of managing the Gaza Strip", noting that several unnamed parties "are trying to practice political blackmail in exchange for involving it (the Authority) in managing the sector in the future."

Bisharat explains in his speech that "the weakness of the Palestinian Authority's position stems from its absence from the Gaza Strip in recent years (since Hamas took control in 2007), which made any future role for it conditional on a series of political bargains, represented by a set of preconditions."

He clarifies that the first of these preconditions "relates to the nature of the Palestinian Authority's presence in Gaza, so that it is not a clear political presence, but is limited to an administrative and executive role related to managing service and logistical aspects, without possessing the political decision related to the sector's future."

Bisharat adds that "another precondition may be linked to attempts to retreat from some Palestinian demands, especially those related to recognition of the Palestinian state, in light of the recent recognitions made by several European countries."

He considers that Israel "seeks to keep the political designation of the Palestinian Authority within the framework of local administration, without transforming into a state designation."

Bisharat indicates that "the reference of any administrative committee or potential government for managing the Gaza Strip will not be, according to these proposals, subject to the Palestinian Authority's decision, but may be subordinate to what is known as the Peace Council, which deprives the Authority of decision-making independence."

He adds: "These preconditions intersect with previous demands related to reforming the Palestinian Authority, including files on elections, financial and administrative corruption, the structure of the Authority, and perhaps going towards comprehensive Palestinian elections within a specified timeline."

Bisharat addresses other preconditions "related to Israeli behavior in the West Bank, especially in the northern camps, where the demand is raised to hand over the administration of the camps to the Palestinian Authority, which includes removing the refugee status from their inhabitants."

He indicates that this "may be accompanied by changes in dealing with the file of Palestinian refugees or with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which affects the essence of the right of return."

Bisharat concludes by warning that "these paths collectively herald an attempt to transform the Palestinian issue in the Gaza Strip into a primarily political-security equation, with the removal of the political cover and content, which poses a real danger to the political status of the Palestinian Authority and to the future of the Palestinian state."

Samar Al-Mahr cries bitterly as she leaves Nour Shams camp east of Tulkarm city in the northern West Bank, after the Israeli occupation allowed her to enter with her sister and brother on Wednesday morning to remove their belongings from their home, which the occupation notified for demolition at the beginning of this week.

"I wish I hadn't entered and hadn't seen what I saw" says Samar (40 years old) as she wipes her tears, while her sister tries to gather some belongings she managed to take out of the house, arranging them in a large blue bag, to transport them to Samar's house in Nablus in the northern West Bank, where her mother and the families of her brother and sister have been displaced for about a year.

Samar adds, "Our memories in my family's home, all our gatherings, evenings, and photos, all ended. The house is ashes, everything is broken and burned, even my sister's house, we tried to enter it and take out some belongings, but everything is broken, the house is like animal manure and waste, the electrical appliances are broken".

At the eastern entrance to the camp, a number of residents stood waiting for permission to enter their homes, which the occupation's bulldozers will begin demolishing this Thursday morning, while the occupation forces allowed another group to enter the southern area of the camp last evening.

Samar speaks about what she saw: "The destruction in the camp cannot be described in words, the houses are demolished or burned, the streets are bulldozed, and the occupation has built new streets and paved them on the ruins of our homes. None of us knows how our problem will be solved, and how long we will remain without shelter".

She adds, "The crisis has lasted for a very long time, and throughout all these months, we have not heard any reassuring news about the fate of all these families displaced from their camps. Returning to our homes in this way is only to bid them farewell. What can we take with us? Most of the displaced now live in one room. How can we move a two-story house into one room? Does it fit!"

On the other side of the street, Ahmed Al-Masri (59 years old) stood regretfully after the occupation soldiers prevented him from entering the camp, despite obtaining coordination to enter, and he says, "My house is among the houses notified for demolition, and I got an entry permit, but the soldiers at the gate prevented me. My building will all be demolished, and it consists of 5 floors. There is no greater bitterness than this".

He describes his situation after his displacement with his family for about 11 months, saying, "I displaced with 30 people to Shuweika suburb, I live with my wife in a house unfit for habitation, and the rest of the family members are scattered in different places, my young sons with their families, and since the beginning of the crisis, they have not found work, and rents are high. I hoped to take some necessities from the house before its demolition, but I was prevented".

The Israeli occupation had announced its intention to demolish 25 additional housing units in Nour Shams camp, meaning the loss of homes for about 100 new families in the camp.

For the residents, the continuation of demolition operations represents the actual end of Nour Shams camp and the camps of the northern West Bank, especially with leaks indicating that Israel conditions several matters for withdrawal from the camps and ending the "Iron Wall" operation that it started at the end of January/February last year, including removing the term "refugee", and ending the role of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees "UNRWA" in them.

From time to time, a number of residents returned from deep inside the camp carrying small plastic bags containing some clothes, while others carried photos of their loved ones and family members that were hanging on the walls of the houses threatened with demolition.

However, the limited time allowed to the families prevented them from transporting their electrical appliances, bedroom furniture, and blankets from inside the houses, as they only had three hours, and the abundance of rubble in the camp hinders the entry of trucks that could transport the heavy furniture.

Among the waiting residents was Nahida Al-Jundi, a member of the Nour Shams camp services center, trying to reach her home from which she was displaced and had not entered since the moment she was forced to leave it on February 9th last year.

She explains her situation and that of about 13,000 displaced people from the camp's residents, saying, "We were forced to leave the camp and were not allowed to enter it, even my official and identity papers, I could not, until today, take them out of the camp, and until today, after 300 days of our displacement, the occupation does not allow me to enter to check on my home and my family's home. The situation of the displaced is very difficult, and their condition is difficult, and all of Nour Shams is demolished".

According to Al-Jundi, 3,500 families are now homeless in Jenin city and its suburbs, living in mosques and shelters, and she says, "Our Nakba has not ended since our exit from our lands in 1948, it is renewed and repeated in different forms".

Al-Jundi confirms that the efforts made by official institutions and the relief agency do not exceed being relief only, and that they must be developed and focused on finding solutions for housing the displaced, and pressuring landlords to reduce house rents, or paying rent allowance to families living in residential apartments in the city.

The Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" revealed an increase in mental disorders among soldiers of the occupation army following their participation in the war on Gaza.

It quoted six reserve soldiers interviewed by the newspaper, who spoke about their suffering from severe mental disorders after participating in the war in the Gaza Strip.

The scenes of killing and destruction that lasted for two years led to some Israeli soldiers suffering from panic attacks and mental disorders, according to what they told the newspaper, while one of them said that the thoughts that haunted him reached the point of thinking about burning himself.

On Tuesday, the number of Israeli soldiers who committed suicide since the start of the genocide war on October 8, 2023, rose to 61, after one soldier committed suicide inside a military base in the north of the country.

The soldiers spoke to "Haaretz" about their suffering from "acute post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms" as a result of what they experienced during the war.

Tomer Badani (48 years old), a reserve soldier who served in the army's body identification unit, described the horror of the scenes he faced during his mission, saying, "You don't see a person who died with his eyes closed as in the movies, but you see parts of corpses, unfamiliar things."

Badani added, "In high temperatures, flesh and bones stick to the structures of tanks and armored personnel carriers."

He continued, "I held a soldier's liver after separating his body from the armored vehicle."

He pointed out the presence of insects and the arrival of burned bodies that were difficult to identify, noting that "after an incident where 21 soldiers were killed, he did not speak a word for three days."

He confirmed that his mental state reached a point where he saw that "the only salvation" might be "burning himself at the entrance to the rehabilitation wing."

In a second story, Naveh Amsalem (31 years old), who worked as a medic in the 551st Brigade of the army, said that the feeling of fear has become constant with him.

He added that "every time I leave the house, it is accompanied by fear, I don't know what might trigger a violent outburst or a psychological dissociation in me, it could be a sound or just a suspicious person, but what I fear most is hearing someone speaking Arabic."

Amsalem indicated that "the matter is very difficult for me, because I am not racist and I do not hate Arabs, but after what happened, I cannot risk losing control."

He also mentioned that he once experienced a psychological dissociation that made him lose consciousness for a few minutes, during a walk he took with his dog in August last year, after seeing "an Arab person bleeding on the sidewalk."

In turn, Liyam Haika, a soldier in the Rescue and Relief Brigade under the Home Front Command, said that her ability to sleep and live normally disappeared after witnessing horrific scenes during the war.

Haika continued, "I was in Jabalia and Beit Lahia (northern Gaza), and participated in evacuating the wounded. I saw dead soldiers, amputated limbs, blood everywhere, people screaming for help, chaos and terror."

She added, "It was expected that we would continue our lives as if everything was normal, as if we had not been in a battlefield moments ago, but I felt severe distress, and I could no longer sleep."

She pointed out that the Israeli authorities ignored her requests for help, and that she now suffers permanently from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms.

Haika continues, saying, "I dreamed of militants approaching me from a close distance carrying an RPG and I was shooting at them without them dying."

She added: "In another nightmare, I saw myself searching for the bodies of my family members."

In turn, the newspaper quoted Asaf Azer, a reserve soldier in the engineering corps, saying that he witnessed the killing of soldiers in northern Gaza, moments he said formed a deep psychological shock for him.

Azer narrates, "We were stationed in a house in Beit Hanoun, and one of our soldiers went up to the roof and was hit by a bullet and fell at our feet with moderate injuries, then we started demolishing one house after another."

He added that after about two weeks, he saw soldiers and an officer running in one of the alleys towards a house, before returning after half an hour carrying the officer on a stretcher.

He continued, "We were standing there, a group of men around a stretcher crying. The scene was unreal, amid explosions and gunfire in the background."

He also confirmed that the next day he himself was injured in an explosion caused by an operation carried out by the army, continuing "I and another soldier were standing near a house, and the house exploded above us. Our forces blew up the site without knowing we were there."

For his part, Henri Ben Shabat, a specialist in equipment in the reserve forces of the Fifth Brigade, said that he has begun suffering from severe anger outbursts as a result of the sounds of explosions and scenes of buildings collapsing on their inhabitants.

He added, "The forces planted explosives in two buildings in preparation for demolishing them, but an RPG rocket launched by militants who came out of a tunnel led to the detonation of the explosives, causing the two buildings to collapse on everyone who was inside them."

He continued, "21 soldiers were killed, and we entered to help in the evacuation operations, and there were scenes that are difficult to describe in words, as we participated in evacuating parts of bodies to identify them."

He added, "I started suffering from anger outbursts, and I became terrified of the simplest sounds, and I could no longer sleep."

The Israeli occupation army arrested, late Wednesday evening, two Palestinian youths, and assaulted two others, while carrying out raids at dawn today in scattered areas of the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli occupation army arrested, late Wednesday evening, two Palestinian youths during raids on the towns of Anabta and Kafr al-Labad, east of Tulkarm city.

It added that occupation soldiers forced a number of shop owners in the town of Kafr al-Labad to close their shops under threat of weapons, stopped vehicles and citizens, and subjected them to field interrogations.

In the south of the West Bank, it stated that an Israeli force raided Khirbet Deir Razih south of Hebron city, spread out around citizens' homes, and assaulted two youths from the area with beatings and tortured them.

It added that another force raided the southern area of Hebron city, and deliberately rammed its vehicles into a Palestinian vehicle, causing material damage to it without reporting any injuries.

It also reported that armed settlers attacked a vehicle in the north of Hebron city with stones, resulting in shattering its glass and causing material damage to it.

Since January 21st, the Israeli army has continued its aggression in the north of the West Bank, starting with Jenin camp, then moving to Tulkarm and Nour Shams camps, resulting in the destruction of thousands of homes and the displacement of more than 50,000 people, according to official Palestinian figures.

Since the genocide war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the Israeli army and settlers have intensified their crimes in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, resulting in the martyrdom of about 1,100 Palestinians, injury to about 11,000, in addition to arresting more than 21,000.

The United Nations announced that approximately 55,000 Palestinian families were affected by the recent rains and storms in the Gaza Strip, and their properties and shelters were damaged.

This was stated by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, during a press conference held at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Wednesday.

Haq added: "The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates that approximately 55,000 families across Gaza have been affected so far by the recent rains, and their properties and shelters have been damaged or destroyed due to the storm."

He noted that the storms and rains also caused damage to dozens of child-friendly spaces in Gaza, leading to disruptions in child protection activities, which affected approximately 30,000 children throughout the sector.

Haq also warned that ongoing Israeli obstacles continue to hinder the efforts of humanitarian relief organizations to expand their intervention in the sector more quickly.

The heavy rains that Gaza experienced in recent days have exacerbated the harsh living conditions in an area devastated by intense Israeli bombing, leading to the flooding of tents made of rudimentary materials.

The heavy rains in some areas of Gaza have made problems with urban infrastructure, which was damaged during Israeli attacks, more evident, as many sewage networks and water pumping stations have stopped functioning.

The Israeli economic expert Shir Hever, who studies the economic aspects of Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, explains how the mobilization for the war on Gaza supported a 'zombie' economy that appears to be functioning but lacks any future prospects.

The writer at the Israeli website '972+' Amos Brison conducted an extensive interview with Hever, who holds the position of director of the 'Alliance for Justice between Israelis and Palestinians,' covering various aspects of the Israeli economy.

And below is a summary of the most important things Hever said about the deterioration of the economic situation in Israel:

The war on Gaza caused economic shocks and related crises; tens of thousands of families were displaced from border areas with Gaza and Lebanon, and direct rocket and shell strikes damaged those areas, affecting productivity.

About 300,000 reservists were drafted for long periods, leading to a significant shortage in the workforce, and many training days that were invested in these workers were lost.

The educated middle class in Israel has begun to consider emigration, and many families and educated talents have already emigrated due to the impossibility of raising their children there.

Among the manifestations and indicators of the economic crisis in Israel is that many citizens have transferred their savings abroad, fearing inflation and currency devaluation, and the decline in Israel's credit rating and increased investment risks.

Revenues have been diverted to fund the war, which led to the deterioration of public services and higher education quality, and Israel approached falling into the debt trap.

Israel's reputation internationally has become toxic, and it faces an unprecedented level of boycott, divestment, and sanctions.

The Zombie Economy: Hever described the Israeli economy as a zombie economy, saying he described it that way because it is an economy that moves but is unaware of its crisis state or imminent end.

The Israeli economy heavily relies on massive military spending and foreign credit without a sustainable plan for the future.

The government passed a budget that does not reflect the actual reality of expenditures, leading to debts spiraling out of control.

Large deals in the technology sector give a false impression of economic strength, but what is happening is that technology sector workers own shares and sell them to foreign companies and transfer the money abroad. Technological innovations and investments in this sector are declining significantly.

How did Hever respond to the booming stock market and the stability of the shekel?

And in his explanation for the booming stock market and the stability of the shekel's price, Hever said that the increase in reservists' salaries had a significant impact on the stock market and the shekel's stability. These soldiers invest their money in stocks because they cannot spend it in Gaza. They try to protect their savings by investing in the rising stock market, contributing to the economic bubble.

The Israeli Central Bank was managing the crisis by selling large amounts of dollars to give the impression that everything is under control, but it is nothing more than market manipulation.

Deterioration of living conditions and increasing poverty rate. The cost of the war greatly affected most families, contributing to the increase in their debts, and the 'Latet' report - which is an Israeli non-governmental organization that issues an annual report covering various economic and social indicators related to poverty, food insecurity, social inequality, and other issues facing vulnerable groups in Israel - indicated that the percentage of people suffering from food insecurity has risen significantly, and many Israeli families are living in hardship with debts increasing on them during the war.

When the Ministry of Finance announces the real costs of the war compared to its commitment in the 2025 budget, it is expected to lead investors and international institutions to lose confidence.

At a time when the Prime Minister of the occupation, Benjamin Netanyahu, is preparing to hold his summit with President Donald Trump, the Syrian file appears as one of the files they will discuss, in light of the fact that the reality on the ground in Syria primarily serves Turkey and its president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in addition to the occupation's fears of Turkish entry into the Gaza file.

General Yisrael Ziv, the former head of the Operations Branch in the occupation army, claimed that "the Americans do not understand the depth of the knot happening under their noses in Syria, especially after the recent incident in which two of their soldiers were killed, because the Syrian army being rebuilt consists of remnants of the previous army, but mainly of reinforcements from opposition militants, who will form part of the new Syrian forces, which have not yet been able to control more than half the territories."

And he added in an article that "the Israeli assessment of the Syrian situation is that Ankara has a clear agenda and wants a return on investment in exchange for its support for the revolution, and sees Syria as part of Greater Turkey, and has obtained Trump's blessing for that, especially since Erdogan is taking charge of it step by step, as he brings in military forces and intends to build a large base near Damascus, and encourages and creates economic participation everywhere in Syria, at the forefront of which are economic assets from oil, minerals, and ports."

And he explained that "the Israeli reading of Erdogan is that he has a regional strategic vision for Turkish influence, as he wants to be the main player in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and wants to influence the occupation in the Golan and Gaza, and invests heavily in enhancing his defensive and offensive military capabilities compared to the occupation, and does not hide his desire to confront it, and feels strong and supported when NATO is behind him and Trump's embrace on his right, and his strategy will be tested very soon in the matter of the presence of his security forces in Gaza."

And he affirmed that "if Trump decides in favor of Turkish soldiers entering Gaza, it will not only be a great victory for him over Israel, but a clear sign of his growing strength against the Americans at our expense, and it will greatly contribute to strengthening his regional leadership, and for us it will be a major political and security failure, and therefore there is not only fear of losing freedom of military action in Gaza and Syria, but Turkey will become a leading regional leader, and as an entity opposed to us, it will be more dangerous to it than Iran, because of its political power capable of driving a wedge and distancing the United States and Europe from Israel."

And he affirmed that "another difficult problem that Netanyahu will face in his meeting with Trump is that he does not fulfill the conditions of the ceasefire he committed to, and made it unilateral in practice, this is the case in Lebanon, where he attacks small and large targets there every day, and similarly in Gaza, where the dose is less, but the attack on Raed Saad constitutes a clear violation of the ceasefire, and the reason he provided did not really convince anyone."

And he explained that "it should be said that in the case of eliminating Saad and al-Tabtabai specifically, Israel had a very valid reason to eliminate them given their importance, even at the risk of reprimand from the United States, but even if some attacks were justified, it is unjustified on the other hand that the occupation does nothing to strengthen the political side of the agreement, which is a fundamental party for the agreement to become stable."

And he pointed out that "Netanyahu is working against the stability of the agreements to benefit politically from Erdogan's renewed narrative, the new master who learned from October 7, and attacks everything that moves, and above all does not want to show withdrawals to the international borders, because withdrawal looks bad."

And he concluded by saying that "it is clear that this approach contradicts sound security policy, because it deceives the public that from now on it can attack every day until the end of time, a kind of endless war, and this unrealistic illusion will bring reverse results on normalization, and will harm tourism, the economy, and reserves, and will be impossible in the budget, and will harm Israel's political position and more."

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced on Wednesday that mediators will hold a meeting next Friday to outline the transition to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement on the Gaza Strip.

This came according to televised statements made by the Qatari Prime Minister during his indefinite visit to Washington, which began on Tuesday.

And the Prime Minister said that he discussed in Washington the importance of doubling efforts to transition to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement on Gaza.

He added that preparations are underway with the American side and all mediators for a meeting of all mediators on Friday to outline how to transition to the second phase, without further details.

The Prisoners' Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said on Wednesday that the Israeli judiciary closed the investigation file into the death of the child prisoner Walid Ahmed (17 years old) inside Megiddo prison north of Israel, accusing the judicial system of "collusion" in crimes committed against prisoners.

The two institutions explained that following legal follow-up on the file of the death of the child prisoner Walid Ahmed (17 years old) from the town of Silwad, north of Ramallah city (central West Bank), the Israeli court in Haifa north of Israel decided to close the investigation file, claiming that all avenues had been exhausted.

They added that the child died in March 2025 inside Megiddo prison north of Israel, while the court claimed "the absence of direct crime based on autopsy results issued by the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir" (Tel Aviv).

According to the final autopsy report, the death was attributed to acute pulmonary embolism caused by a blood clot, claiming long-term health deterioration, which the court adopted in its decision, without addressing the effects of deliberate starvation and deprivation of treatment as central causes of death, according to the institutions.

The institutions continued that the Israeli decision "with its disregard for the clear indicators on the martyr's body that prove torture through starvation and deprivation of treatment, is nothing but a blatant attempt to conceal the actual causes that led the child Walid to this catastrophic health condition."

They pointed out that "the course of judicial follow-up since the moment of the child's martyrdom revealed the extent of deliberate procrastination and delay by the Um al-Fahm police (north) and the occupation prosecution, and the refusal of both parties to provide serious updates to the court."

They clarified that this "reflects the lack of genuine will to investigate, and the ongoing effort to dispel suspicions and remove responsibility from the real perpetrators whose practices led to this result, especially since the child Walid Ahmed did not suffer from any health problems before his arrest."

The institutions also spoke of systematic disregard for documented data and confessions issued by Israeli agencies regarding punitive and starvation policies imposed on prisoners since the start of the Israeli genocide war on Gaza, considering that this confirms "the involvement of the judicial system in protecting these policies."

They considered the case of Walid Ahmed "a glaring example of what they described as policies of slow killing of prisoners inside prisons."

Israel detains in its prisons about 9,300 Palestinians, most of them detainees and administrative detainees, including 51 female prisoners and 350 children and about 350 administrative detainees, according to data from prisoners' institutions until the beginning of December.

Administrative detention is a decision to imprison by an Israeli military order claiming a security threat, without issuing an indictment, and it extends to 6 months renewable, and the intelligence provides the court with what is called a secret file that the lawyer and/or the detainee are prevented from accessing.

According to the institutions, the identities of 86 prisoners and detainees who died inside prisons since the start of the genocide war in Gaza have been identified "while dozens of martyrs from Gaza detainees remain under forced disappearance until now."

With American support, Israel launched a genocide war on Gaza since October 8, 2023, which lasted two years and left more than 70,000 dead and about 171,000 injured Palestinians, most of them children and women.

Simultaneously, its army and settlers escalated incursions into the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the killing of about 1,100 Palestinians, injuring about 11,000, in addition to arresting more than 21,000.

At least 15 homes collapsed over the heads of their residents in Gaza during the weather low last week, as residents of the sector endure a tragic winter amid a worsening humanitarian crisis with the occupation preventing the entry of necessary aid to protect against heavy rains and strong winds.

In the context of monitoring the dimensions of the escalating humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, the "Sind" verification agency documented the complete or partial collapse of at least 15 homes, resulting in casualties including children.

Satellite images also showed severe damage to displaced persons' tents due to heavy rains and strong winds, especially in Gaza City and the northern part of the sector, areas that have been subjected to intensive and systematic bombing over two years of Israel's genocidal war.

The map prepared by the "Sind" agency shows the collapses concentrated in Gaza Governorate with 11 homes, in addition to 4 other homes in the northern sector.

The data analysis relied on reports from Gaza Civil Defense, journalists' reports and photos, and satellite images. All this information was concentrated in the period from December 12 to 16, the days when the sector faced a harsh weather low.

According to the analysis results, December 12 recorded the harsh peak of the weather low on the northern areas, with more than 68% of the total observed complete and partial collapse incidents occurring on that day alone during that period.

By comparing satellite images taken before the low with those documented on December 13, the day after the low's peak, the extent of the severe damage to the tents due to rains, floods, and strong winds that uprooted and swept away several of them and flooded entire camps becomes clear, which coincides with Civil Defense statements and field footage broadcast by activists and journalists.

The Ministry of Interior in the Gaza Strip confirmed on Friday the death of 14 Palestinians due to the low, some of whom died from the effects of the weather low and due to partial and complete collapses of homes and buildings on the heads of their residents because of the rains, and 3 children died from cold.

For its part, the Government Media Office in Gaza stated that the weather low, named "Birun", revealed the depth of the entrenched humanitarian catastrophe in the sector, estimating initial losses at about 4 million dollars.

The office also recorded damage and flooding of more than 50,000 displaced persons' tents, in addition to widespread destruction in infrastructure, road networks, water lines, and damage to huge quantities of food supplies, as well as flooding of vast agricultural areas and damage to field medical points.

The office issued an urgent distress call, emphasizing the need to urgently introduce shelter materials, tents, mobile homes (caravans), and emergency supplies, in compliance with humanitarian protocols and the provisions of the ceasefire agreement that came into effect on October 10, which stipulate securing civilians' needs in such circumstances.

The occupation did not commit to entering 600 aid trucks daily as stipulated in the agreement, according to the Government Media Office in Gaza, which confirmed that the average number of trucks allowed by Israel to enter the sector since the agreement came into effect did not exceed 234 trucks daily.

Israel prevents the entry of materials needed by Gaza Strip residents to protect against winter rains or repair their homes that were bombed, amid uncertainty about the timing and mechanism for starting reconstruction.

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani announced today, Wednesday, an agreement with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to double efforts to reach the second phase of the Gaza agreement, confirming that a meeting will soon be held between the mediators on this matter.

During a visit by Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to Washington, he stated that preparations are underway with the American side to hold a meeting between the mediators next Friday to outline how to transition to the second phase of the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip, which came into effect on October 10 last year.

He said there is an urgent need to move to the second phase of the agreement in Gaza, as well as "to form the Palestinian civil administration in Gaza as soon as possible".

He emphasized that his country does not want the stabilization force in Gaza, as stipulated in the UN Security Council resolution last November, to protect one party over another, as he put it.

He clarified that the stabilization force in Gaza should protect the agreement to end the war, noting that "there are many elements in the agreement to end the war in Gaza that must be completed".

He affirmed Qatar's commitment to working with the United States to protect the agreement to end the war in Gaza, noting that his talks in Washington raised the issue of violations of the ceasefire in Gaza.

Commenting on the ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire, Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister said that violations of the ceasefire in Gaza put the mediators in an embarrassing position, as he described.

He also confirmed that the humanitarian situation in Gaza occupied a large part of the discussions he held in Congress, where he emphasized the need to deliver aid to the sector unconditionally.

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister warned that the current situation in Gaza exposes the agreement to danger every day.