By Marc Owen Jones

Israel does not intend to ‘evacuate’ Palestinians from Rafah to safety. It seeks to kill or deport them.

On Sunday, ahead of a planned Israeli invasion of Rafah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave an interview to ABC, a TV channel in the United States. He addressed warnings by Western officials, including Americans, that this would result in a high civilian death toll.

“We are going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave,” Netanyahu said.

Asked by host Jonathan Karl where 1.4 million Palestinians are supposed to go, he responded: “The areas that we have cleared north of Rafah, there are plenty of areas there, but we are working out a detailed plan to do so.”

Netanyahu sounded unconvinced by his own words.

A day earlier, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy spoke to London-based LBC radio and also sounded rather unconvincing. When asked by host Matt Frei four times where the Palestinians in Rafah are supposed to go, Levy could not respond. All he could muster was: “Well, there are open areas in the Gaza Strip. And one option is for UN agencies to work together with us on evacuating civilians to open areas.” The question where those open areas are remained unanswered.

The reason why Netanyahu and Levy cannot respond to a simple question is because they both know the Israeli army does not intend to protect Palestinians, as it hasn’t up until now. They know that nowhere has been safe for Palestinians and nowhere will be safe for them when the invasion of Rafah starts. They also know that ultimately, Israel is aiming to expel the Palestinians from Gaza, not to keep them there.

No safe place in Gaza

Since the start of this Israeli war on Gaza, the Israeli government has upped the ante on misinformation. Nowhere has this been more evident than in claims that the Israeli army is creating “safe passage” for the people of Gaza or is trying to protect them.

The past four deadly months provide plenty of evidence.

First, Israel told the people of Gaza that the south would be safe. When they started evacuating, they were bombed on the way in their civilian convoys. They were also bombed when they arrived. When civilians were not bombed on “safe evacuation routes”, they were shot at by snipers or detained and forcibly disappeared.

When the Israeli army invaded the previous “safe zone” of Khan Younis, it told civilians to stay put in hospitals and shelters. Its snipers shot people trying to reach hospitals and shelters and then bombed them.

When the Israeli army told Palestinians to leave Khan Younis, it targeted them while they were fleeing.

Some Palestinians made it to Rafah, another “safe zone”, only to be told that it is no longer safe. Now people are being told to flee Rafah to “open areas”. Other “open areas”, such as Mawasi, where people were previously told to go have been repeatedly targeted.

Throughout this process of telling people to evacuate only to kill them, the Israeli army and government kept making announcements in English and giving interviews to Western media claiming it was taking measures to “protect civilians”. Whether it was unsafe “evacuation routes” or confusing “evacuation maps”, they did what they could to cover up the truth that there are no safe places in Gaza.

They continued to peddle the lie even after United Nations agencies and international organisations – such as Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF), Amnesty International, etc – all agreed there is no safe place in Gaza.

Even Western media – including The New Yorker, Time magazine and Deutsche Welle – started seeing through Israeli disinformation and reported the reality that there is no safe place in Gaza.

Should the same army that killed more than 28,000 Palestinians and destroyed or damaged more than 60 percent of homes in Gaza be trusted to offer “safe passage” now?

Schrodinger’s Hamas

In the past, as in this war, Israel has repeatedly blamed the killings of civilians on Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups. It has repeatedly claimed that Palestinian fighters and their commanders use the civilian population as “human shields”.

But these claims do not quite add up with the data that the Israeli military itself has released. In January, Israel claimed that it had killed 10,000 Palestinian fighters (9,000 in Gaza and 1,000 inside Israel), wounded 8,000, arrested 2,300 and eliminated two-thirds of Hamas’s regiments. It has also said it has “struck” 30,000 targets in Gaza.

If the Israeli army – the most moral in the world per its own evaluation – “strikes” only military targets, one would have thought that at least 30,000 fighters would have been killed or wounded.

And if we go by Netanyahu’s claim that for one Palestinian civilian killed, one Palestinian fighter has been eliminated, then we get a death toll that the Israeli intelligence would reject. (The latter apparently has been using internally the Gaza Ministry of Health’s numbers, which the Israeli government repeatedly has called to question.)

In other words, Israeli army data confirm that it is striking civilian targets and Netanyahu is lying about the civilian-military death ratio in Gaza.

But there is another contradiction in the official Israeli narrative that these data are revealing.

Hamas, by Israeli estimates, had at least 30,000 fighters before the war. If we are to believe the Israeli army claims that it has cleared Hamas from the areas it has invaded in the Gaza Strip and that Rafah is the “last Hamas stronghold”, that means at least 10,000 were in Rafah in January when Palestinians were still being told this city was a safe zone.

If, as Israel likes to claim, Hamas uses human shields, then Israel is simply admitting that it is pushing the civilian population into areas where they will be targeted because Hamas is there.

It turns out, in this war on reality, that Israel can simultaneously say that they are evacuating civilians to safety while saying Hamas uses them as human shields. Somehow, Hamas is everywhere and nowhere at the same time.

Beneath these lies is the formula for the real truth that Israel operates by: Where Hamas goes, civilians go, where civilians go, Hamas goes. To defeat Hamas, we must also remove civilians.

‘Nakba is safety’

It is no secret that the Israeli government has been planning and lobbying to have Palestinians expelled to the Sinai Peninsula. As early as late October, a document from Israel’s Ministry of Intelligence emerged in which the deportation of the Palestinian population of Gaza to Egyptian territory was clearly outlined.

Netanyahu was quick to dismiss the document as a “concept paper” and downplay its contents. But one has to wonder what he was thinking of when he stumbled on the words “plenty of areas” in the ABC interview. Could it be the real estate plans that are being drawn up for development of new Jewish settlements in eviscerated Gaza or the conference his ministers attended calling for Israeli resettlement of the strip?

Over the past four months, more than two million Palestinians have been squeezed farther and farther south closer to Egypt. Meanwhile, the “safety” and “evacuation” rhetoric of the Israeli army and government has served as a convenient cover for where this is going.

Israel’s evacuation orders have been a performance for the international community to try to demonstrate that Israel is complying with its obligations under international law.

The same is true of their evacuation maps, their leaflet drops, the “precision” strikes, the “safe zones”. These all form part of the “technologies of genocide” designed to make another Nakba easier for Israel and more palatable for Israel’s allies and the international community.

Indeed, they are part of the window dressing that helps US President Joe Biden trivialise Israel’s genocidal campaign as “a bit over the top”.

In the war on reality, truth falls victim to political ideology, and disinformation conflicts with other disinformation.

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” Add to this quote from George Orwell’s classic 1984, “Nakba is safety”, for that is the reality that has been foisted upon Palestinians in Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it insists that "Israel will not yield to Hamas's imaginary demands."

Netanyahu added, "There is no new proposal from Hamas in Cairo regarding the detainees agreement, and only a change in its position will allow progress to occur."

For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that Netanyahu decided not to send the negotiating delegation to Cairo without the knowledge of the two ministers in the Israeli War Council, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to approve sending a delegation to Cairo to continue talks on a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, and denied that the movement had presented a new proposal during the talks held yesterday, Tuesday, in the Egyptian capital.

A statement issued by Netanyahu's office said, "Israel has not received any new proposal from Hamas to release the hostages. The Prime Minister, Netanyahu, insists that Israel will not submit to Hamas' unreasonable demands." He claimed that "a change in Hamas' positions will allow progress in the negotiations."

Earlier today, the Israeli Walla website quoted two informed sources as saying that Egyptian intelligence wanted to continue the talks in Cairo, tomorrow, Thursday, but Netanyahu refused the Israeli delegation’s participation in these talks.

According to Walla, the proposal to continue the talks was an Egyptian and Qatari attempt to achieve progress on issues that are not related to the number of Palestinian prisoners that Hamas is demanding to liberate, but rather in order to create “continuity and momentum in communications.”

An informed source said that the Egyptians and Qataris proposed holding talks in Cairo, tomorrow, with the participation of high levels of work in order to discuss the humanitarian elements of a possible prisoner exchange deal, such as the amount of aid that will enter the Gaza Strip and the possibility of the Palestinians returning to their homes in the northern Strip, according to what was reported by “Walla”. 

Yesterday, an Israeli delegation headed by Mossad chief David Barnea participated in talks on a prisoner exchange that took place in Cairo, with the participation of the head of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Qatari prime minister. Upon its return, the delegation informed Netanyahu of the proposal to continue the talks tomorrow.

The source said that Netanyahu did not agree to send the delegation to the talks tomorrow, claiming that “there is no point in further talks until Hamas agrees to soften its position on the issue of the number of prisoners it demands to be liberated within the framework of the deal.”

Commenting on the Cairo talks yesterday, an Israeli official said, “The main gap remaining in the negotiations is the large number of prisoners that Hamas is demanding in exchange for the kidnapped,” noting that “the talks ended without a breakthrough in the talks, but progress was recorded in understanding the gaps that must be filled” In order to enter into negotiations leading to a deal.”

In an impassioned speech on the Senate floor, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called the Israelis “war criminals” for deliberately withholding food from Gaza while children starve. But Van Hollen voted "yes" early Tuesday on the $95 billion foreign military aid bill, which includes $14 billion to support Israel's massacre of Palestinians.

“Children in Gaza are now dying from deliberate food deprivation. In addition to the horror of that news, there is something else that is true. This is a war crime. It is a textbook war crime. This makes those who organize it war criminals,” Van Hollen said.

President Biden "must demand that the Netanyahu government immediately allow more food, water and other life-saving supplies into Gaza and ensure they reach children and other people suffering from hunger," the senator said.

If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not agree to the demands, Van Hollen said President Biden should invoke Section 620-I of the Foreign Assistance Act. Section 620-i is designed to cut off arms exports to any country that restricts the delivery of U.S. humanitarian aid.

Van Hollen also tried to justify his reasons for voting to send $14 billion in military aid to people he had just described as war criminals. According to The Intercept, Van Hollen cited $60 billion in spending on the proxy war in Ukraine and $9.2 billion in humanitarian aid to Ukraine, Gaza, and other war zones around the world as reason enough to pass a bill that would give more support to Ukraine, Gaza, and other war zones around the world: More weapons for the government that has killed 12,300 Palestinian children since October 7.

The bill was approved by a vote of 70 to 29, with 20 Republicans voting in favor and only two Democrats opposed. The fate of the resolution in the House of Representatives is considered unclear, as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) indicates that he wants a border deal before it is put to a vote.

The United States gave Israel the green light to kill civilians in Rafah despite public statements from US officials calling on Israel to develop a plan to protect civilians in the city, which is home to an estimated 1.5 million Palestinians.

American officials told Politico that the Biden administration does not plan any consequences for Israel if it goes ahead with a major attack on Rafah, which will inevitably lead to the death of a large number of civilians. “No retaliation plans are in preparation, meaning Israeli forces could enter the city and harm civilians without facing US consequences,” the report said.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby explained in a press conference on Monday that the United States is not considering cutting off military aid to Israel if it goes ahead with the attack. When asked if the United States had threatened to withhold aid, Kirby said: “We will continue to support Israel...and we will continue to make sure they have the tools and the capabilities to do that.”

President Biden is also not reconsidering his full support for the Israeli massacre in Gaza despite reports that he disparages Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in private conversations.

Congress is also supportive of continuing to support the mass killing of Palestinians, as the Senate voted to pass a $95 billion foreign military aid bill, which includes $14 billion for Israel. Only 20 Republicans voted for the bill, but the opposition is due to the lack of a border agreement, with nearly all Republicans in favor of unconditional support for Israel, even more so than Democrats in Congress.

The pre-war population of Rafah was 275,000, which means that Palestinians displaced from other areas in the Strip increased the population five-fold. The majority of Palestinians in the city are sheltering in tents on the streets, making them particularly vulnerable to Israeli attack. Israeli air strikes on Rafah on Sunday night and into Monday morning led to the deaths of 27 children and 22 women.

1. Today, Wednesday, intense Israeli bombardment renewed on a number of towns in southern Lebanon.

Israeli warplanes and drones launched raids on the towns of Labouneh, Naqoura, Adshit, Gebshit, Al-Sawwaneh, Kafr Donin, Al-Shihabiya, and Basalya.

The Israeli artillery targeted the towns of Tair Harfa, Ramiya, and Jabal Balat.

Today, Wednesday, Israeli settlers attacked four families in Kisan, east of Bethlehem.

According to local sources, about 50 settlers from "Ma'ale Amos", which is squatting on citizens' lands, attacked four homes, which are mobile homes and tents belonging to citizens Mahmoud Ibrahim Abayat, Afif Hassan Abayat, Hassan Yousef Abayat, and Ibrahim Awaida Sawarka, and forced them at gunpoint. To leave their homes, without knowing the fate of those homes.

Today, Wednesday, 13 Palestinian citizens were injured by Israeli forces’ bullets during confrontations in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.

According to the Ministry of Health, the occupation forces fired bullets at the citizens, wounding 13 of them with live bullets in their lower and upper limbs, including a critical condition, and dozens were injured by rubber-coated metal bullets and suffocated due to inhaling toxic tear gas.

Gershon Baskin, Director of the Middle East Department at the Organization of International Communities, and mediator against Hamas for 17 years, revealed to the Bakra website that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want to conclude a new deal, and therefore he gave his instructions not to submit any new Israeli offer.

He added that the delegation was present in the negotiating hall only as a listener, and Netanyahu does not want the deal.

It is noteworthy that the Cairo negotiations are still continuing for the second day in a row, despite the return of the Israeli delegation. Regarding the new details, Baskin said that Hamas is demanding three things within 4 months: an end to the war, the withdrawal of the Israeli army, and an all-for-all deal, and Israel rejects that.

He continued to say that in Cairo, they are talking about an agreement with Hamas according to which the first phase will be separated from the second and third phases, which means a ceasefire for a period of 45 days, during which negotiations will continue for the second and third phase, whereby the Israeli army will withdraw from all areas and release a large number of prisoners. And not all of them.

500 life prisoners

He added, "Hamas demands the release of 500 prisoners with long life sentences, in addition to 1,500 prisoners."

Israel is prepared to release only 50 life-sentence prisoners on the condition that it determines their identities, provided that the released prisoners exceed 1,500.

It is an opportunity to take some caution during the 45 days and prevent a ground invasion of Rafah.

He added, “Israel has set 3 conditions:

1. Addressing the Philadelphia axis in cooperation with the Americans, who will provide technological assistance to Egypt in order to deal with the depths on the border, especially since tunnels are still in the region and weapons are smuggled through them.

2. Free all Israeli detainees.

3. Deporting Hamas leaders from Gaza to a country not neighboring, and the talk here is mainly about Yahya Al-Sinwar, Marwan Issa, and Muhammad Al-Deif.

Bakra website: But Hamas will not accept departure?

Baskin: This will be done through pressure from the Hamas leadership abroad on the leadership in Gaza. The war will be stopped on the condition that Hamas does not rule in Gaza.

"Salah al-Din" al-Sanwar won

Yes, Hamas will ask for an image of victory, and it will find it. It has defeated Israel and Sinwar is now being painted like Saladin, but he cannot remain in Gaza, and neither will Netanyahu remain in power after the war. This is the end of Netanyahu.

This must be accepted to prevent the next catastrophe in Rafah. Enough has happened.

I hope they reach an agreement with Hamas in Cairo on a ceasefire, and if they fail, the attack will inevitably be on Rafah.

The President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, called for working seriously to complete the prisoner exchange deal as quickly as possible, in order to spare the Palestinian people the scourge of the devastating Israeli war.

President Abbas said: “In the face of the comprehensive war being waged against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, we call on the Hamas movement and the American administration to quickly complete the deal.”

He added: "The Israeli occupation is waging an open war on the Gaza Strip, which has led to the martyrdom of hundreds of Palestinian people every day, in addition to the storming of the West Bank and Jerusalem, and other dangerous Israeli escalation. Therefore, we must bear our responsibilities in stopping this comprehensive war on Palestinian people".

President Abbas held everyone responsible for placing any obstacles from any party to disrupt the deal, saying: “Things are no longer tolerable, and the time has come for everyone to bear responsibility.”

He continued: "We want to protect our people from the repercussions of any serious disaster that will befall them, so we must make decisions that serve the interests of our people and protect them, so that we can defend our cause and our national interests, by stopping the aggression, recognizing the independent State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, and continuing our political attack." comprehensive review of the UN Security Council and the rest of the international institutions to obtain full membership for the State of Palestine in the United Nations.”

Today, Wednesday, the Israeli army forced Palestinian shepherds to leave their pastures in the northern Jordan Valley.

According to local sources, these forces chased the shepherds and their livestock while they were in the pastures in the Sakot area, forced them to leave the pastures, and threatened them not to enter them again.

This comes within the framework of a severe siege imposed by the occupation and settlers on citizens in the Jordan Valley, by closing vast pastoral areas to shepherds, as these lands have come under the control of settlers.

Israel decided to submit a report to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, relating to the decisions against it that the court issued on January 26, following its examination of the lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel, accusing it of committing genocide and demanding an end to the war on Gaza.

The Israeli public radio "Kan" reported today, Wednesday, that it is expected that the Israeli report, which will be submitted in approximately two weeks, will include Israel's response to the allegations against it and its discussion of the decisions of the International Court.

It is noteworthy that the International Court of Justice demanded that Israel submit a report on the interim measures that must be taken within a month since the hearing, and that it include the measures taken by Israel to prevent any acts related to genocide. The court also obligated Israel to prevent the destruction of evidence related to genocide, and to take measures to prevent incitement to genocide.

Kan added that it is expected that Israel will also respond, tomorrow, to another request recently submitted by South Africa to international justice, to consider Israel’s decision to expand its military operations in Rafah, and to determine whether it requires that the court use its authority to prevent further violations. for the rights of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's acquiescence to the decision of the International Court of Justice comes despite its claim that the international court does not have the authority to look into the situation in the Gaza Strip and its criticism of the decisions issued by the court.

However, following the issuance of these decisions, legal authorities recommended before the Israeli political level to implement the decisions of the International Court and submit the required report, so that Israel would not be considered as violating the decision.

The Israeli forces committed 11 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, claiming 103 killed and 145 injuries during the past 24 hours.

According to the Ministry of Health, a number of victims are still under rubble and on the roads, and the Israeli forces are preventing ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them.

The Ministry indicated that the toll of the Israeli aggression rose to 28,576 citizens and 68,291 injuries since the seventh of last October.

From yesterday evening until Wednesday morning, the Israeli forces arrested at least 18 citizens from the West Bank, including two women from Jericho, children, and former prisoners.

The arrests were concentrated in the Hebron and Qalqilya governorates, while the rest of the arrests were distributed in the Jericho, Nablus, Jerusalem, and Ramallah governorates.

The Israeli forces continue to carry out widespread incursions during arrest campaigns, accompanied by widespread abuse, severe beatings, and threats against detainees and their families, in addition to widespread sabotage and destruction of citizens’ homes, and the confiscation of vehicles and money.

Thus, the total number of arrests after October 7 rose to about (7,020), and this total includes those who were arrested from homes, through military checkpoints, those who were forced to surrender themselves under pressure, and those who were held hostage.

It is worth mentioning that these arrest campaigns constitute the most prominent consistent and systematic policies used by the occupation forces, and they are also one of the most prominent tools of the (collective punishment) policy, which also constitutes a central tool for the occupation in targeting citizens, in light of the comprehensive aggression against our people and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. , after the seventh of October.

Today, Wednesday, dozens of settlers stormed the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid heavy protection from the occupation police.

The settlers made provocative tours inside the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and performed Talmudic rituals.

Groups of settlers storm Al-Aqsa on a daily basis except Friday and Saturday.

The Israeli army introduced groups of Israeli civilians into detention centres and prisons holding Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the Gaza Strip, permitting the civilians to witness torture crimes against the detainees, with many allowed to film them on their own phones.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor received shocking testimonies from recently released Palestinian prisoners and detainees, in which they reported that the Israeli army invited a number of Israeli civilians during their interrogation sessions to witness torture and inhumane treatment, to which they were deliberately subjected in the presence of the civilians.

Arrested during ground incursions by Israeli army forces into the Strip, the prisoners and detainees were held for varying periods of time inside two detention centres: one located in the Zikim area on the northern border of the Gaza Strip, and another affiliated with the Naqab prison in southern Israel.

The released detainees told Euro-Med Monitor that the Israeli soldiers had purposefully presented them before Israeli civilians, falsely claiming that they were fighters affiliated with Palestinian armed factions and that they had taken part in the 7 October attack on Israeli towns on Gaza Strip borders.

According to testimony received by Euro-Med Monitor, groups of ten to twenty Israeli civilians at a time were permitted to watch and laughingly film Palestinian prisoners and detainees in their underwear while Israeli army soldiers subjected them to physical abuse, including beating them with metal batons, electric sticks, and pouring hot water on their heads. The detainees were also verbally abused.

This is the first time that these illegal practices have come to the attention of Euro-Med Monitor. It adds a new crime to the list of those committed by the Israeli army against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, and specifically against prisoners and detainees who are subjected to cruel torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and denials of a fair trial, among other atrocities.

Palestinian Omar Abu Mudallala, 43, told the Euro-Med Monitor team: “I was arrested at the checkpoint set up near the Kuwait roundabout, which separates Gaza City from the central region, as part of the Israeli random arrest campaigns. I was subjected to all types of torture and abuse for approximately 52 days,” pointing out that Israeli soldiers “brought Israeli civilians to watch our nude torture.”

Abu Mudallala added: “The Israeli army brought a number of Israeli civilians into our detention centres while beating us and telling them, ‘These are Hamas terrorists who killed you and raped your women on 7 October,’ while the Israeli civilians were filming us being beaten, abused, and tortured while making fun of us.”

“This happened five times while I was being held. The first time was in Barkasat Zikim, where we were blindfolded. However, one of the detainees who speaks Hebrew told us that the soldiers were interacting with Israeli civilians claiming that we were armed fighters. The other four incidents took place in the Negev detention facility, where successive Israeli groups were taken inside tents to witness our abuse and record the torture methods we were subjected to without allowing us to speak or interact with them. Since we were not wearing blindfolds at the time, I saw them all four times with my own eyes.”

Abu Mudallalasaid that “one of the detainees who speaks Hebrew tried to explain to the Israeli civilians that we are civilians and we had nothing to do with any military activities, but that also did not help. However, he was subjected to severe psychological and physical torture. It was really shameful to bring Israeli citizens to record our torture for being allegedly involved in killing and rape incidents.”

Forty-two-year-old D.H. also told Euro-Med Monitor: “Israeli civilians were brought to witness the abuse and torture that we were subjected to, which the army deliberately began when they were present. These Israelis sometimes brought their dogs with them to bark on us. They also took pictures of us and post them on social media apps, particularly “TikTok,” with the soldiers themselves did the same.”

Euro-Med Monitor was taken aback by the evident falsity of the Israeli army’s claim that the Palestinian civilians subjected to torture in the presence of Israeli civilians were fighters involved in the October 7 attack – when the subsequent release of the detainees serves as proof that this narrative is untrue and was intended as a means of exacting revenge on Palestinian civilians and attacking their dignity.

According to Euro-Med Monitor, the Israeli army’s torture and inhumane treatment of Palestinian prisoners and detainees is illegal under the Rome Statute and constitutes crimes against humanity. The army’s staging of these abuses as entertainment for Israeli civilians and subsequent photography of the victims amounts to a grave violation of the dignity of these individuals, as well as the commission of war crimes.

Euro-Med Monitor warns of the dire consequences of introducing Israeli civilians into arrest and detention centres, displaying Palestinian detainees to them during torture, and letting them use their personal phones to document these inhumane practices. This is a retaliatory approach that falls within the framework of promoting  false Israeli propaganda, perpetuating a state of extremism, fueling hatred, and inflaming Israeli public opinion to incite more crimes and rights violations against Palestinians.

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor asserts that the vast majority of those arrested from within the Gaza Strip have been subjected to arbitrary detention without being charged or brought to justice, with no legal measures taken against them. They are also denied a fair trial and are subjected to forced disappearance, torture, and inhumane treatment. Euro-Med Monitor calls on the International Committee of the Red Cross to inspect Israeli detention centres and prisons holding Palestinian prisoners and detainees, investigate the horrific violations and crimes they are subjected to, and work to bring these conditions to light immediately.

Furthermore, Euro-Med Monitor asserts that Israeli practices against Palestinian detainees are blatant violations of international conventions and standards, particularly the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, which forbids an occupying authority from transferring prisoners from the occupied territory to detention facilities on its territory, as well as torturing, attacking, or otherwise degrading the human dignity of those detained.

Israeli aircraft continued their bombing of various areas of the Gaza Strip on the 131st day of the war, with the support of tanks and gunboats, leaving dozens of killed and hundreds wounded.

The Israeli army committed 16 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, claiming 133 martyrs and 162 injuries during the past 24 hours, bringing the toll of the Israeli aggression to 28,473 killed and 68,146 injuries since the seventh of last October.

The Israeli army continued its siege of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis Governorate, south of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army asked the hospital administration to evacuate the displaced and keep only the medical staff and patients.

The Israeli soldiers executed a young Palestinian man, tied him up and sent him to ask the displaced people to evacuate before shooting and killing him.

Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, spokesman for the Ministry of Health, announced that three citizens were killed and ten others were injured inside Nasser Medical Complex by Israeli sniper bullets since Tuesday afternoon.

The Israeli helicopters opened fire towards the Al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

Rafah

The Israeli aircraft launched seven raids on Rafah during the past twenty-four hours.

It targeted the Al Jazeera channel crew in Rafah with a reconnaissance missile, seriously wounding the reporter and photographer.

It also bombed a gathering of citizens near Tal Zorob, south of Rafah, causing injuries.

Gaza City

Six Palestinians killed, including infants, died in a bombing that targeted a vehicle at the end of Al-Jalaa Street, north of Gaza City, while three others were martyred in a bombing near the Palestine Stadium after a car they were traveling in was targeted.

One Palestinian citizen was killed and one was injured as a result of reconnaissance aircraft targeting the vicinity of the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City.

The middle of the sector

Several injuries occurred as a result of an Israeli bombing that targeted a house on Al-Mazraa Street in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

The Israeli artillery shelled east of Deir al-Balah in the middle of the Gaza Strip.

Several citizens were also injured in a bombing that targeted the town of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip.

HuffPost revealed in a report on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, that the United States has been investigating possible violations of international law by Israel for months, and is continuing its efforts, despite a previous statement by the White House National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby. A month ago, he said that Washington was very confident of the attack launched by Israel against Gaza with the support of the United States, and that the United States did not need to conduct an investigation into the actions of the occupying state.

The newspaper says, according to three informed sources, that officials in the US State Department are conducting investigations into the Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip, which they believe may have violated international law.

A US State Department official familiar with the discussions that took place in recent weeks, speaking to HuffPost, explained that US State Department lawyers have been tracking such examples of violations of international law for months.

Investigations are conducted through several methods

The US State Department is investigating whether Israel, a major recipient of US aid, committed human rights violations that violate US law, according to the official. These violations may also have violated international law.

Officials say the State Department is also assessing Israeli behavior through the Civilian Injury Response Guidance (CHIRG) — a new policy announced by US President Joe Biden last fall — the official and another State Department official said. The operation aims to monitor whether foreign governments are using US-supplied weapons to harm civilians, and may uncover evidence of violations of international law, according to officials.

During a closed briefing organized by the White House National Security Council on Friday, February 9, the National Security Council said that the United States is conducting assessments on whether Israel is complying with international law, which HuffPost learned from a source who was present at the briefing.

While spokesmen for the US National Security Council and the US State Department did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

A disconnect in the American position

This revelation highlights a disconnect between the Biden administration's stated commitment to the president's policy of comprehensive military and diplomatic support for Israel's war against Gaza, and the awareness among foreign policy officials that that policy may be illegal and may even implicate US officials in war crimes.

Some experts believe that the Biden administration's assessments of alleged Israeli crimes may help create more serious conversations about holding accountable the choices of Israel and the United States during the war against Gaza, and may also help change course.

“For months, US officials have repeatedly said that the United States does not assess whether Israel is complying with international law in its operations in Gaza,” said Annie Shay, of the Center for the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict (CIVIC). Such assessments are necessary for the law to be enforced. And US policies in good faith, including the Conventional Arms Transfer Policy approved by the Biden administration itself, prohibit the transfer of weapons when the United States assesses that it is likely that such weapons will be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law.”

Annie argued that the Biden team must now provide further clarity on their understanding of the US role in causing “catastrophic civilian harm in Gaza” and the US responsibility to prevent further harm.

A number of people were killed and injured at dawn on Wednesday, including children and women, as a result of the occupation bombing of a site east of Deir al-Balah, and when Israeli reconnaissance planes targeted a house in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip.

The Al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Yunis, in the south of the Gaza Strip, came under fire from helicopters, coinciding with intense gunfire east of Al-Maghazi.

On Tuesday night, Wednesday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the death of 3 citizens and the wounding of 10 others inside the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, by Israeli sniper bullets.

Netanyahu wants a complete victory, and Gantz supports a long pause... and the fighting in Khan Yunis is intensifying

Israeli officials have begun to formulate a plan to end the war on the Gaza Strip that sets a timetable acceptable to both Tel Aviv and Washington, and includes in any case attacking the border city of Rafah, regardless of a possible agreement with Hamas on a prisoner and detainee exchange deal.

Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said that decision-makers in Israel are working on developing a strategic plan to end the war, and among the members of the limited government (the war council), at least two such plans are being drawn up, which are supposed to ensure the achievement of all the goals of the war or the absolute majority of them. The first is the plan of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his envoy to the United States, Minister of Strategic Affairs and member of the War Council as well as Ron Dermer, and the second is the plan of the two ministers in the War Council, former Chiefs of Staff Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, there are no major differences between the two plans except for the timetables, and the fact that Gantz and Eisenkot are ready in principle to reveal their position and discuss it in the Council of Ministers, while Netanyahu fears the reaction of his coalition partners, and therefore he is not ready to discuss his plan even in the future. The government is limited, and he is content with secretly negotiating it with senior officials in the Joe Biden administration, through Dermer.

The strategic plan proposed by Gantz and Eisenkot is supposed to achieve “victory” in stages, with Israel agreeing to a long cessation of fighting for the purpose of the hostage deal, and then resuming it in order to continue dismantling Hamas’ military and governmental capabilities.

Gantz and Eisenkot say: “Yes” to the deal, but “No” to the demand to commit to ending the war once and for all.

Among other things, the Gantz and Eisenkot plan aims to preserve and enhance military and political assistance from the US government, and they believe that the Israeli announcement of a long truce in the fighting for the purpose of implementing the hostage deal will significantly reduce the internal and external pressure on President Biden, and he will be able to significantly claim that He succeeded in stopping hostilities.

According to the plan of Gantz and Eisenkot, during a long pause in Gaza, the army will intensively prepare for the resumption of fighting, training its forces, replenishing weapons stocks, and updating combat methods and plans, with the war ending by June, that is, about five months before the elections. November US Presidential Day.

The plan of the former chiefs of staff includes establishing civilian rule in Gaza, maintaining security control there, and promoting Arab normalization, and in their opinion, this is the closest thing that can be achieved to “victory” after the horrors of October 7. As for Netanyahu, he wants “complete victory” within a short time.

Yedioth Ahronoth said that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant hope to achieve a complete military defeat of Hamas, and eliminate the movement’s leader, Yahya Sinwar, and the organization’s leadership in Gaza by seizing Rafah before or during the month of Ramadan.

Netanyahu and Gallant believe that entering Rafah, even if it does not immediately lead to the liquidation of Sinwar, will soften the position of the Hamas leadership and allow for a “reasonable” deal to release the hostages. It will also enable Israel to make decisions from a position of strength regarding the next day, including the Philadelphia axis with Egypt and in the north with Lebanon.

Netanyahu is pressuring Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy to complete the dismantling of Hamas in Khan Yunis and begin seizing Rafah. But Netanyahu's problem is that Halevy still needs time to finish work in Khan Yunis, and a few more weeks to implement the Rafah evacuation plan before the attack.

According to Netanyahu's plan, the fighting will end around April, after the month of Ramadan, and then the fourth phase will move to the security control of the Gaza Strip.

The revelation of Israeli plans to end the war came at a time when Israel further deepened its attack in Khan Yunis (south of the Gaza Strip), which has been witnessing fierce fighting for more than 70 days.

Israel bombed large areas in Khan Yunis, and blew up a residential square in the center of the city, while on Tuesday it surrounded Nasser Hospital and demanded its evacuation.

An Israeli army spokesman said that the forces of the 98th Division established their operational control west of Khan Yunis, killed Hamas fighters, carried out raids on infrastructure, sniper ambushes and patrols, and destroyed warehouses to store combat equipment, while fighters of the 646th Brigade (paratroopers in reserve) engaged in fierce fighting in the Abasan area in Khan Yunis, killing militants, raiding a lot of infrastructure, and discovering an underground path. They also confiscated weapons, mobile phones, hand grenades, ammunition clips, military clothing, and combat manuals.

In contrast, the “Al-Qassam Brigades” affiliated with the “Hamas Movement” said that its fighters clashed “with a Zionist foot force consisting of 7 soldiers from a distance of zero in the Abasan Al-Kabira area, east of the city of Khan Yunis, and caused them to be killed and wounded. They were also able to detonate an anti-personnel device.” A Zionist force of 5 soldiers barricaded themselves inside a house in the Abasan Al-Kabira area.

The Israeli army admitted that 3 were killed in the Abasan bombing.

The military spokesman said that during the activity of the fighters, an explosive device exploded in a booby-trapped building, and as a result of the explosion, the commander of the “630 Battalion,” Lieutenant Colonel (reserve) Nathaniel Alkobi, and the acting commander of one of the “630 Battalion” companies, Major (reserve) Yair Cohen, and a reserve fighter, were killed. Assistant (reserve) Ziv Chen belonged to the 630th Battalion, while other fighters were wounded.

Since the beginning of last December, Israel has been focusing on the fighting in Khan Yunis, hoping to reach the leaders of the last October 7 attack, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya al-Sinwar, his brother Muhammad, the commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade, and the general commander of al-Qassam, Muhammad al-Deif. And his deputy, Marwan Issa.

Israel needs to finish the battle of Khan Yunis, before moving on to attack the border city of Rafah, the last stronghold of Hamas.

Israeli leaders confirmed that they are continuing to attack Rafah, which is densely populated, where one and a half million Palestinians live, the majority of whom are displaced, despite all international warnings and demands to refrain from the attack, which will leave a sea of blood.

A UN spokesman says we will not participate in forced or involuntary evacuation. There is no plan at the present time to facilitate the evacuation of civilians..!

The Israeli government proposed evacuating the residents of the city of Rafah to spacious tent cities, before the planned Israeli military attack on the city located in the southern Gaza Strip, according to a media report.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal quoted Egyptian officials as describing Israel’s evacuation proposal, which stipulates the establishment of 15 camps.

Each camp will contain about 25,000 tents, in the southwestern part of the closed coastal area.

The newspaper added that Egypt, adjacent to the Rafah crossing, will be responsible for establishing camps and field hospitals.

The city is crowded with hundreds of thousands of internally displaced Palestinians, who seek shelter there in a very narrow space.

In the war against the “Hamas” movement, Israel is currently preparing to launch a military attack on the city, which it considers the last stronghold of “Hamas” in Gaza.

The newspaper reported that the proposal to evacuate residents was presented to Egypt in recent days.

The planned Israeli military attack on Rafah was met with strong international criticism.

The Israeli government called on United Nations organizations working in the region to help evacuate civilians from Rafah.

The spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said in New York on Monday that everything that happens in the southern part of the region on the border with Egypt must happen with full respect for the protection of the civilian population.

“We will not be a party to the forced displacement of residents,” Dujarric said. “Right now, there is no safe place in Gaza.”

In this context, the spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs announced that Israel had not communicated with the office regarding a plan to evacuate the Rafah area in the Gaza Strip, either individually or jointly, adding that the office would not participate in any forced evacuation even if Israel contacted it in this regard.

The office's spokesman, Jens Laerke, said in response to a question from Reuters about the plan to attack Rafah, "Israeli officials never communicated with us officially."

He added: "Apart from this, the United Nations does not participate in forced or involuntary evacuations. There is no plan at the present time to facilitate the evacuation of civilians."

Social media pioneers shared a scene of former CIA Director Mike Pompeo dancing with Israeli soldiers participating in the aggression against Gaza.

The footage shows Pompeo dancing with the soldiers, and commentators said that he visited the soldiers of the 75th Battalion of the Seventh Armored Brigade, who received him to the sound of religious songs and Israeli dances that he performed with them.

One of the soldiers gave Pompeo a Golani Brigade flag, which he immediately wore and continued dancing with the soldiers.

Hebrew accounts published a photo of Pompeo during a visit to a number of surrounding settlements in Gaza, as part of a tour of the occupied areas.

It is noteworthy that Israel decided to return the 7th Brigade to the fighting in Khan Yunis in Gaza, after withdrawing it from the northern areas of the Strip.

Western activists launched an attack on Pompeo, after he danced with the occupation soldiers, and said that they had committed massacres against nearly 13,000 Palestinian children in Gaza.

The toll of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has reached about 28,340 citizens and 67,984 injured, since the seventh of last October.

David Satterfield, the US special envoy for humanitarian issues in the Middle East, confirmed that “there are international parties that are holding discussions with Israel regarding the issue of deploying hospital ships, and I believe that the French government has been very public about this matter.” 

He added to Al-Ayyam: “With regard to other arrangements to supplement medical care in the south (south of Gaza), the United States is working, in cooperation with a variety of other international organizations, to see what can be done with regard to transferring field hospitals to safe areas of the south to increase the ability of hospitals there to provide medical care.” “Our focus has been on transferring humanitarian aid to meet as much as possible under the current circumstances the needs of Palestinian civilians in southern and central Gaza on as sustainable a basis as possible,” Satterfield said in a telephone interview. 

He explained: “We have now increased the level of assistance to about 100 trucks per day, and we are looking forward to a higher level of assistance to transport appropriate essential humanitarian aid - according to UN agencies - to southern Gaza.” He added: “We realize that even 150 trucks per day meets the minimum level to provide basic humanitarian assistance for survival. Much more is needed. Commercial shelves must be restocked, and bakeries must reopen.” 

He expressed his hope that "the humanitarian pauses that have been announced will allow this type of movement to be facilitated - the removal of wounded civilians and the removal of citizens." He added: "But again, everything we are doing now is just the beginning, and we realize that it will require more work, and it will be done quickly." “The future of Gazans is in Gaza and nowhere else,” Satterfield stressed. “We do not, as a matter of basic principle, support or wish to see the displacement of Gazans. 

Now, within Gaza itself, those now in the south must have every ability to Return to the north when it is safe to do so, and we do not see any ongoing displacement, even inside Gaza, from north to south.” He stressed that "we see a future in Gaza determined by the Palestinians. We see that there is an absolute need for a joint approach to the West Bank and Gaza, and not to separate them. We believe that the two-state solution is the only guarantor of a peaceful future for Israel, as well as for the Palestinians." He said: “Now, how to reach those goals is an issue that must be discussed, and it depends, of course, to a large extent on how this campaign ends, and whether Hamas will be eliminated as a threat, as a force capable of dictating things to the people of Gaza.” 

He added: "We said publicly that two things should not happen: the Israeli occupation, or Hamas remaining in power, and whether there is an international or regional shift towards a Palestinian role in Gaza and the West Bank, which we believe is necessary, all of this must be resolved." Regarding whether the United States supports the presence of Arab forces in Gaza, Satterfield said: “We are now focusing on providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza and the safe exit of Gaza for foreign citizens.” Regarding the future of Gaza after the war, Satterfield said: “We believe that there must be a fundamental Palestinian role in deciding the future of the West Bank and Gaza, and there cannot be a siege on Gaza, and there cannot be a separation of Gaza as a political issue from the future of the West Bank.” 

The two-state solution - including Gaza and the West Bank - is the surest way to meet the needs, the real needs, of both Israelis and Palestinians.” Regarding the high number of civilian martyrs, he said: “The loss of one innocent life is too many. 

The loss of thousands is simply unacceptable. We are doing everything we can to provide advice in various forms to Israel, and its army, to try to reduce the level of losses.”

The American magazine “The Nation” published an article by Jack Merkinson in which he commented on news reports that spoke of US President Joe Biden’s anger at Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister.

 On Sunday, the Washington Post published a report with a dramatic headline in which it claimed that relations between Biden and Netanyahu were terrible. It stated: “President Joe Biden and his team have reached the brink of a break with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, more than at any time since the beginning of the war in Gaza.” They no longer view him as a productive ally whom they can influence through private conversations, according to people familiar with the internal discussions. Growing frustration with Netanyahu led some of Biden's aides to urge him to publicly criticize the prime minister over the military operation in Gaza, according to six people familiar with the discussions, who requested anonymity because they were not allowed to discuss internal deliberations.

The writer comments that the newspaper’s use of the expressions “estrangement,” “more than ever” since the beginning of the war in Gaza, and “increasing frustration” gives the average reader the impression that a major shift in the administration’s position will occur soon. The average reader, who has not read about Gaza before the Washington Post report, may assume that a shift is underway in the American approach to Israel's attack on Gaza.

But the average reader who follows coverage of Gaza can discover what has become expected in reports about the manifestations of anger that appeared in the post-October 7 period: “Behind the lights, Biden is very angry at Netanyahu.” The problem with these reports is that they have absolutely nothing to do with the way Biden is managing the war.

Major television stations and newspapers have published these stories time after time since the beginning of the Israeli bombing of Gaza. On November 7, a month after the start of the war, ABC News published on its website that “there are increasing differences” between Biden and Netanyahu.

On November 15, NBC published a report in which it said that “Biden administration officials are in constant contradiction with the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.” On November 16, the British Guardian published a report in which it said, “Tensions are rising behind the scenes.” On December 14, CNN described it as “unprecedented tensions” over the war. In the same context, “The Hill” website published on December 18 what it described as an “increasingly critical” White House. On December 21, he wrote that Biden and Netanyahu were “increasing in their differences.” The New York Times was not far behind, writing on December 31 that things were fraught “between the two countries.” On January 14, Axios published a report in which it said that Biden “has become increasingly frustrated” with Netanyahu. On January 17, NBC News referred to “the Biden administration’s growing frustration.” On January 19, National Public Radio, NPR, reported what it described as a “deepening rift,” and the Associated Press wrote that “relations between the two leaders reveal growing tension.” The same words were stated in a report published by “The Hill” website on January 24. On February 8, the New York Times published that “relations between the Biden administration and Netanyahu have become increasingly fraught with problems.”

These reports were characterized by the same tone, as they were quoted by unknown figures. Their sources vary, such as a number of officials who declined to be identified in a January 17 report on NBC. The New York Times based its report on December 31 on “prominent American and Israeli figures,” and the Axios website spoke with four figures in its report on January 14. In its report published on February 11, The Washington Post quoted 19 figures inside and outside the administration, all of whom spoke in an informal manner and expressed the Biden administration’s disappointment in Netanyahu. They may have added some language, such as reducing the number of civilian deaths. An official told NBC on November 15, “We are concerned that they are not doing enough to reduce the number of civilian casualties.” The Washington Post said in its report on February 11, “American leaders warned that the high level of killing among civilians will ensure that an extremist population will live close to Israel for the coming decades.” They may have alluded to the cold calls between Biden and Netanyahu or the frustration of American officials arriving in the region with Netanyahu.

The writer emphasized that all reports tell us that frustration is mounting, that risks have increased, that tensions have become more tense, and that the rift between Biden and Netanyahu has widened. Looking at these reports, they give a picture of a president who has run out of patience and that tension has reached the point of combustion.

Whoever looks at what is happening in the reality of the American-Israeli relationship will see that the media is the only one that believed the idea of frustration and tension.

In the real world, Israeli slaughter has not stopped. On the same day that ABC News swore there was a “divergence” between Biden and Netanyahu, the Palestinian death toll was 10,812. By February 8, when the New York Times confirmed that things had become bad between them, the death toll in Gaza had reached 27,840 people.

The writer added that in the real world, Biden and his co-conspirators continued arming Israel. Democratic leadership summoned lawmakers on Super Bowl Day to vote Sunday on an aid package for Ukraine and Israel that was described as “security assistance.” In the real world, Biden blocked moves toward a ceasefire at the United Nations and refused to put pressure on Israel to agree to one. The writer pointed out that in a New York Times report on Friday about the envoys that Biden sent to the state of Michigan to reduce tensions with the Arab-American community, the president’s aides refused to comment on whether or not they had advised the president regarding the call for a ceasefire that the participants demanded. “You won't get an answer,” an official told a journalist. In the real world, Biden has refused to place any conditions on US military aid to Israel. Last week, Biden issued a presidential order “granting authority to quickly cut off military aid to countries that violate international protection of civilians,” according to an Associated Press report. Democrats were quick to portray the matter as historic and powerful, and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said, “This is a major change in the way the United States deals with military support and its impact on civilians.”

But the writer pointed out that the White House press spokesman was quick to clarify that the matter did not include American support for Israel, that the United States “does not impose standards on military support,” and that Israel assured the White House of its commitment to protecting civilians, which the press did not acknowledge, and even provided justifications for.

The Washington Post reported on Sunday, in the sixth paragraph, “For now, the White House has rejected calls to suspend military support for Israel or impose conditions because this would embolden Israel’s enemies.” But - the writer points out - some did not mention this, and even continued to help the White House portray Biden as angry in his phone calls and vague statements in press conferences, and that they were more important than his open support for Israel with weapons used to commit massacres.

The writer asserts that there will be no trace of a friend's secret anger at an ally who provides him with weapons and knows that they are being used to commit violence. This only happens in foreign policy. He adds that while Netanyahu is preparing for a disastrous military operation in Rafah, an area designed as a safe hub, Biden is expressing his dissatisfaction without working to stop the war machine. The writer stresses that there will be several other opportunities for journalists to abandon the idea of Biden exerting any pressure on Israel, and if they want to hold Biden accountable, they must start now instead of continuing to promote the hollow fantasy about his anger and the wide breach between him and Netanyahu, time after time.

The administration of US President Joe Biden does not plan any punitive steps towards Israel and the government of Benjamin Netanyahu, if it decides to move forward with its plans to launch a large-scale military aggression in the Rafah area, south of the Gaza Strip, without “ensuring the safety of Palestinian civilians,” according to officials in the United States.

Three American officials said on Wednesday that “there are no reprimand plans in preparation, which means that Israeli forces could enter the city and harm civilians without facing American consequences.”

Public comments from senior Biden administration officials made it clear that “there will be no change in approach,” although the United States said it wanted to see a credible plan to protect civilians before launching a ground invasion of the city, which has become very densely populated.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden revealed that an agreement to release prisoners detained in Gaza with a cessation of “at least six weeks” of fighting between Israel and Hamas is currently being discussed.

Biden's statements came during a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah at the White House, where discussions covered the Israeli invasion of southern Gaza and the threat of a humanitarian catastrophe among Palestinian civilians.

The US President claimed that he was keen on "the necessity of protecting Palestinian civilians in Rafah in the event that Israel launches a ground invasion into the city located in the southern Gaza Strip."

According to American media, in his recent talks with his election campaign, Biden expressed his frustration with the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he is "trying to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire, but Netanyahu is the obstacle."

According to the White House, Biden told Netanyahu in a phone call that he believes that “the military operation in Rafah should not continue without a reliable and implementable plan to protect the Palestinians who were displaced there.”

American journalists and observers of American affairs confirm that the pressure on the Biden administration due to its open support for the war on Gaza is a key factor in the American discourse becoming more stringent with the Netanyahu government in recent weeks, as several fears that his election campaign would be affected by the results of the genocide in Gaza began to intensify. .

A round of talks was held in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Tuesday evening, with the participation of the Director of the US Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, the head of the Mossad, David Barnea, on Tuesday, and Egyptian officials, to discuss a deal. New prisoner exchange with Hamas.

Commenting on the Cairo talks, an Israeli official said, “The main gap remaining in the negotiations is the large number of prisoners that Hamas is demanding in exchange for the kidnapped,” noting that “the talks ended without paving the way, but progress was recorded in understanding the gaps that must be filled in order to enter into a peace agreement negotiations leading to a deal according to what was reported by the Walla website.

According to the Israeli official, “the main gap relates to the number of prisoners that Hamas demands for each Israeli kidnapped, especially the captured male and female soldiers,” explaining that “the meeting was good and in-depth in understanding the remaining gaps, especially with regard to the prisoners, and all participating parties are making a great effort in an attempt to bridge the gap.” 

He considered that "if Hamas does not significantly reduce the number of prisoners it requests, there will be no progress in the negotiations, as Egypt and Qatar are scheduled to hold talks with Hamas in the coming days and understand whether they are willing to be flexible in order to enter into further negotiations." 

The talks in Cairo ended this evening and the Israeli delegation left Egypt, while Al-Arabi TV quoted an Egyptian source as saying, “The current round of negotiations in Cairo regarding the truce in Gaza will last two or three days.”

Meanwhile, the official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported on Tuesday evening that the Cairo meetings ended amid Hamas’s insistence on its position to end the war on the Gaza Strip.

According to the Commission, the Israeli delegation left Cairo on its way back to Tel Aviv, while no statement was issued by the parties to the meeting or by the Hamas movement.

The authority quoted an unnamed Israeli political official as saying, “Hamas’ position has not changed and the movement still insists on stopping the war, which Israel has not accepted,” without further details.

The commission said that, during the past few days, Netanyahu rejected a framework for a new prisoner exchange agreement presented to him by the heads of Mossad and Shin Bet, without clarifying its details.

It continued: "This is why the Israeli delegation went to Cairo empty-handed."

For its part, the private Hebrew Channel 13 quoted an unnamed Israeli official, saying that a dispute broke out last night between the political and security elite in Israel over the delegation’s participation in the Cairo talks.

It pointed out that this dispute prompted Coordinator of Prisoners and Missing Persons Nitzan Alon to remain in Israel and not travel to Egypt.

According to the same official, the Israeli delegation’s arrival in Cairo was aimed at holding “courtesy talks at the request of US President Joe Biden.”

It indicated that Netanyahu sent his political advisor to ensure that the Mossad chief did not exceed his powers in Cairo.

We, the undersigned Israel-based civil society and human rights organizations, call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and demand the immediate release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip. An immediate ceasefire will prevent further loss of civilian lives and facilitate access to vital aid for Gaza to address the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe there.

In more than 120 days of war in Gaza, following Hamas’s egregious attack on October 7 which killed some 1,200 Israelis and internationals, we have witnessed Israeli bombardments and siege policy causing unfathomable death and destruction in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, some 27,000 people have been killed, over 66,000 people have been injured, and thousands more are still buried under the rubble. The healthcare system has been almost totally decimated by military assaults, electricity blackouts, the enormous number of medical staff killed or displaced, and shortages of medications and medical equipment. Only 14 out of 36 hospitals are partially operational and are on the verge of collapse due to extreme overload and lack of supplies. Food supply and clean drinking water are lacking throughout Gaza, with the entire population at imminent risk of famine and dehydration.

Some 1.7 million people – about 75% of the population – have been displaced. IDP shelters are overcrowded and lack basic conditions, with extreme shortages of food, water, and other necessities. Large areas in the Strip are no longer habitable. Thousands of homes have been heavily damaged or destroyed by Israeli bombardments, while critical civil infrastructure, public buildings, cultural institutions, places of worship, and heritage sites lie in ruins.

The shortage in supplies and the active hostilities prevent an effective humanitarian response. Some necessary humanitarian items and medical equipment are being blocked from entry by Israel. Heavy rains, cold weather, and extreme overcrowding in tent encampments and shelters, have significantly increased the incidence of illness and disease. The distribution of what little aid is entering is significantly hindered by the lack of safe access within the Strip. Nowhere in Gaza is safe for civilians.

We thus call on all parties to reach an immediate ceasefire and we call upon Israel to allow unfettered entry and delivery of humanitarian aid and goods into and throughout Gaza, as directed to do by the International Court of Justice. Hamas must unconditionally release all people taken hostage on October 7. We call on the international community to uphold its legal obligation to restore respect for international humanitarian law and protect civilians. The international community must ensure that all those responsible for grave violations of international humanitarian and human rights law be held accountable. These steps are vital for ensuring human rights and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Signed by:

Akevot Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research | Amnesty International Israel | The Association for Civil Rights Israel (ACRI) | Bimkom – Planners for Planning Rights | Breaking the Silence | B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories | Combatants for Peace | Emek Shaveh | Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement | Green Olive Collective | HaMoked: Center for the Defence of the Individual | Haqel –  In Defense of Human Rights | Ir Amim | Isha L’isha Haifa Feminist Center | Israeli Palestinain Bereved Families for Peace | Jordan Valley Activists | Looking the Occupation in the Eye | Machsom Watch | Mothers Against Violence Israel | Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Equality | New Profile – The Movement to Demilitarize Israeli Society | Parents Against Child Detention | Peace Now | Physicians for Human Rights Israel | Policy Working Group | PsychoActive – Mental Health Professionals for Human Rights | Rabbis for Human Rights | The School for Peace| Social Workers for Peace and Welfare | Solidarity of Nations – Achvat Amim | Standing Together | This Is Not An Ulpan | Torat Tzedek | Yesh Din | Yesh Gvul | Your Neighbor As Yourself | Zazim – Community Action

Emek Shaveh thanks the organizations, foundations, states and individuals who support our efforts to create a future where tolerance, equality and democracy prevail. Most of our funding comes from foreign countries, as noted on our website and by the Registrar of Charities. The opinions expressed in the newsletter are the sole responsibility of Emek Shaveh and do not necessarily reflect those of our donors.

The Israeli Channel 13 said that the army obtained a video recording of the leader of the Hamas movement in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, with his wife and children inside one of the tunnels in Khan Yunis, before he left after learning that his whereabouts had been revealed.

The channel reported that Sinwar was shown in the footage walking, directing the fighting, and leading the forces from that tunnel.

He left the place after realizing that his whereabouts had been revealed and that Israeli army forces were pursuing him.

The channel explained that according to the video recording, Al-Sinwar was not injured during the ongoing Israeli raids on Khan Yunis. The Israeli army has not published the video or a statement about it until this moment.

How did the video get into the hands of the Israelis?

Channel 13 says that the video reached the Israeli army when its forces examined the strategic tunnel and found a security camera in it - where Al-Sinwar was recorded walking with his wife and children, without them appearing to be injured.

Now, the Israeli army and Shin Bet are conducting an in-depth analysis of videos of the Hamas leader in Gaza in order to extract new information.

Israeli army officials said they did not know when the video was filmed.

Six citizens, including children and women, were killed this evening, Tuesday, in a raid launched by Israeli aircraft on a civilian vehicle on Al-Jalaa Street, north of Gaza City.

A citizen was also killed and another injured, in a bombing by Israeli drones that targeted the vicinity of the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City.

A citizen was killed and two others were injured in an Israeli raid that targeted a gathering of citizens at the Lababidi Junction, west of Gaza City, while a number of citizens were injured in the Israeli aircraft’s bombing of a house in the industrial area.

Earlier, 4 citizens were killed as a result of the Israeli army targeting a civilian vehicle in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood, north of Gaza City.

Occupation artillery bombed the vicinity of the university college and the Sheikh Ajlin area, southwest of Gaza City. Ambulance crews also recovered a dead body and an injured citizen from the Al-Nada Towers area, north of the city.

In Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli forces continued their siege of the Nasser Medical Complex, and demanded that the displaced people inside it evacuate and keep only the patients and health personnel, while firing bullets at everyone who moved in the place, and also demolished the northern wall of the complex.

The Israeli forces executed a young man after they arrested him and forced him to enter the Nasser Medical Complex while he was handcuffed to inform the displaced citizens of his evacuation. Upon his return, they shot and killed him.

A child who was receiving treatment inside the complex was killed after the generators stopped due to a lack of fuel.

A number of displaced citizens were also killed and injured by occupation sniper bullets as they were leaving the complex.

Ambulance and rescue crews recovered the body of the child Khaled Abu Taima, who was shot dead by Israeli snipers in front of Al Amal School in Khan Yunis, while Israeli artillery bombed the Abasan Al Kabira area east of Khan Yunis.

In Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, a number of citizens were injured in raids launched by Israeli army on the Tallet Zuroub area in the west. The Israeli aircraft also bombed a house in the town of Al-Shouka in the east. A number of citizens were injured after they were targeted by Israeli drones, while the Israeli artillery continued to bomb the eastern areas of the city.

The Israeli aircraft also bombed agricultural land near the town of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip.

In an infinite toll, the number of killed in the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7 has risen to 28,473, in addition to 68,164 wounded. A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, as the Israeli army prevents ambulance and rescue crews from reaching them.

A Palestinian source in Ramallah told Sky News Arabia on Tuesday that Qatar conveyed to President Mahmoud Abbas the approval of the Hamas movement to form a technocratic government, whose mission is to reconstruct Gaza and restore security to it after the war.

According to the source, Hamas does not require any names to head this government or any of its ministers.

Doha also conveyed Hamas's initial acceptance of entry into the Palestine Liberation Organization, on the condition that this is linked to a clear political horizon leading to a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders.

These developments came after the return of Abbas and a number of Palestinian officials from Doha at dawn on Tuesday, after a three-day visit.

The source confirmed the agreement on an Arab principles paper led and followed by Saudi Arabia, which has been delegated by Palestinians and Arabs to do so.

The principles paper includes 3 points:

First: stopping the war in Gaza and establishing a political horizon for a two-state solution.

Second: Post-war reconstruction of Gaza through a technocratic government leading this stage.

Third: Following up on the internal Palestinian situation, completing reconciliation, and Hamas’ entry into the PLO within a single Palestinian-Arab vision.