Live: Israel delays release of 602 Palestinian prisoners

Israeli attacks on towns and villages in southern Lebanon are preventing tens of thousands of displaced people from returning home, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reports.

“Israel’s deliberate demolition of civilian homes and infrastructure and its use of explosive weapons in populated areas are making it impossible for many residents to return to their villages and houses,” said Ramzi Kaiss, HRW’s Lebanon researcher.

Kaiss added that even if some homes remain standing, the lack of essential services - water, electricity, telecommunications, and healthcare - makes their return unfeasible.

HRW researchers documented widespread destruction, including an Israeli strike on a water filtration and pumping station in Tyre on 18 November, which disrupted water access for around 72,000 people.

While emergency repairs restored some supply within a month, the facility - Tyre’s primary water source - must be completely rebuilt, said Kassem Khalifeh, the utility’s chief supervisor.

An Israeli drone has dropped a hand grenade in the main square of Kfar Chouba, a town in southern Lebanon near a school, the country’s National News Agency (NNA) reports.

Footage from the border town shows Israeli soldiers advancing towards the centre, escalating tensions despite the ceasefire with Hezbollah.

NNA also reports that Israeli forces have been setting fire to homes in Odaisseh, another town near the border, continuing a pattern of destruction seen in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Lebanese sources say an explosion has been heard in Yaroun, further raising concerns over Israel’s ongoing violations.

Two Palestinians have died from wounds inflicted by Israeli forces in southern Gaza, two days after they were attacked, according to Wafa news agency. One was shot in Rafah, while the other suffered injuries in an air strike on Khan Younis.

Despite the ceasefire declared last month, Israel has repeatedly violated the agreement. In addition to carrying out deadly assaults, its forces have also blocked the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid.

Israel has announced plans to build nearly 1,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, according to an anti-settlement watchdog, further entrenching its illegal occupation.

Peace Now reports that the construction of 974 housing units in the Efrat settlement, south of Jerusalem, would expand its population by 40 percent and obstruct the growth of the nearby Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Hagit Ofran, who monitors settlements for the group, warns that while construction is still at the tender stage, it could begin within a year once permits are secured.

The group, which advocates for a negotiated two-state solution, accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of aggressively advancing settlement expansion while global attention is focused elsewhere.

“While the people of Israel [set] their sights on the release of the hostages and an end to the war, the Netanyahu government is operating ‘on steroids’ to establish facts on the ground that will destroy the chance for peace and compromise,” Peace Now said in a statement.

Israeli forces strapped explosives around the neck of an elderly Palestinian man in Gaza and forced him to act as a human shield before killing him and his wife, an investigation by the Israeli news website HaMakom has revealed.

The Palestinian man, who has not been named but is believed to have been well above the age of 80, was told that if he did not carry out the searches Israeli forces would detonate the explosives and "blow off his head."

According to HaMakom, the incident took place in May last year when Israeli soldiers from several different brigades amassed near the house of the Palestinian couple, both aged in their 80s, in Gaza City's Zeitoun neighbourhood.

At the time, Israeli forces had launched their third ground assault on the area after engaging in intense fighting with Hamas and other Palestinian movements.

HaMakom said that the Nahal Brigade, the Carmeli Brigade and the Multidimensional Unit, decided to use the elderly Palestinian man, who used a walking stick to get around, as the human shield.

Read more: Israeli forces used 80-year-old Palestinian as human shield before killing him

Israeli settlers have launched attacks on Palestinians and their properties in the villages of Duma, Jurish, and Lifjam, located south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, reported Al Jazeera Arabic.

These assaults are part of a broader pattern of settler violence, often carried out with impunity under the protection of Israeli forces. Such attacks aim to intimidate Palestinian communities, displace families, and seize land, further entrenching Israel’s occupation.

An Israeli court has upheld the government’s decision to prolong the closure of Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office and extend its work ban for another 60 days, further restricting press freedom.

In September, Israeli forces raided Al Jazeera’s office in Ramallah under a military order, shutting it down and seizing all equipment and documents. Journalists were also barred from using their vehicles, effectively crippling their ability to report.

Israel has been escalating its crackdown on the network.

In May, the government approved a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi to permanently shut down Al Jazeera’s offices inside Israel.

The move was authorised under the so-called “Al Jazeera Law” and will take effect as soon as Karhi signs the order.

At least 20 Palestinians, including four schoolchildren, were wounded by Israeli fire on Sunday during a military raid of Nablus and al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank.

The raids took place in the afternoon, a time when streets were crowded and students were getting ready to return home from school.

Israeli special forces stormed the Old City of Nablus and surrounded a house, backed by additional military reinforcements in the area.

A widely circulated video shows a student, wearing his backpack, wounded on the ground and unable to get up. He is then seen crawling across the floor, while another person drags a bleeding individual past him.

Journalist Samer Khuwaira, from the city, told Middle East Eye that Israeli forces raided the eastern market, immediately occupying more than 20 houses. They conducted field investigations with the homeowners and restricted them from having any contact with others.

Read more: Four Palestinian schoolchildren wounded by Israeli fire in Nablus raid

Hezbollah’s leader declared that Israeli forces must fully withdraw from Lebanese territory by 18 February, insisting Israel has “no pretext” to maintain a military presence in southern Lebanon.

Under a US-brokered truce in November, Israel was given 60 days to pull out of southern Lebanon, where its forces had launched a ground assault against Hezbollah fighters in October. The deadline was later extended, but Israeli officials have reportedly requested to keep troops stationed at five military posts.

In a recorded speech, Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem dismissed Israel’s demands, stating, “Israel must withdraw completely on 18 February, it has no pretext, no five points or other details... this is the agreement.” He warned that any Israeli military presence beyond that date would be considered an occupation.

“Everyone knows how an occupation is dealt with,” Qassem said, though he stopped short of explicitly threatening renewed attacks on Israel.

Mordechai Brafman, 28, a staunch pro-Israel supporter, fired 17 rounds at a father and son in Miami Beach, wounding both. Believing he had killed them, he reportedly told police, “I killed two Palestinians.”

Brafman was arrested and charged with two counts of attempted murder for the unprovoked attack on Saturday night.

Surveillance footage showed that he then pulled up in the right lane, stepped out, and opened fire as the father and son passed.

One victim was shot in the left shoulder, while the other suffered a bullet graze on his forearm. Police confirmed that the victims had no prior connection to Brafman, and their accounts aligned with the surveillance footage.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reinforced Washington’s full support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, declaring that “Hamas must be eliminated. It must be eradicated.” He insisted that Hamas could not continue to exist as a military or political entity.

Rubio praised Donald Trump’s stance on Gaza, calling it “very bold” and “unambiguous,” despite the fact that the US president’s proposal to forcibly remove Palestinians from the enclave has drawn widespread condemnation.

He also attempted to shift blame for instability in the region onto Iran, claiming it was the driving force behind conflicts in Lebanon, the West Bank, Syria, and Iraq.

The secretary of state repeated Washington’s long-standing opposition to Iran’s nuclear programme, insisting that Tehran must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.

He also condemned Hamas for holding captives and the remains of deceased individuals, calling it an example of their “sick depravity,” while ignoring Israel’s ongoing detention of thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including children.

Some key quotes from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking next to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the press conference:

• “President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us. We have a common strategy, and we can’t always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell would be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them.”

• “We will eliminate Hamas’s military capability and its political rule in Gaza. We will bring all our hostages home, and we will ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel.”

• “The unequivocal support of the United States on Gaza will help us achieve these objectives faster and set us on a path for a different future.”

• “Israel and America stand shoulder-to-shoulder in countering the threat of Iran. We agreed that the ayatollahs must not have nuclear weapons, and we also agreed that Iran’s aggression in the region has to be rolled back.”

The Hind Rajab Human Rights Foundation in Belgium has submitted a formal complaint to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, accusing Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar of complicity in genocide in Gaza.

The move comes as global criticism of Israel’s actions intensifies, with increasing demands for accountability over war crimes committed against Palestinians.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are some of the latest updates on Israel's war on Gaza:

• Steve Witkoff, an envoy for Donald Trump, claimed that the second phase of the truce deal “will absolutely begin” and insisted that the US president wants it to proceed if it leads to hostage releases and lives being spared.

• A Palestinian man succumbed to his injuries four days after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency, as mourners buried three policemen killed in a separate Israeli attack on Sunday.

• Growing Israeli violations of the ceasefire, including fatal assaults and the deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid, have left Palestinians in Gaza increasingly anxious about the future of the truce.

• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed a joint statement from the African Union, which called for an end to all cooperation with Israel until it ceases its occupation of Palestinian land.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers, 

Our blog will soon be closing for the day. Here are some of today's main developments:

• Karim al-Madhoun, an 8-year-old Palestinian child suffering from severe malnutrition and cerebral palsy, died in Gaza on Sunday, Eye on Palestine reported.

• Israel has received a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs from the US, after Trump lifted a block imposed on the export of the munitions by the Biden administration, the defence ministry said.

• The Hind Rajab Foundation said on Sunday that it has filed a complaint with the ICC against Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar ahead of his Brussels visit.

• The Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a petition to publish the full text of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, ruling that the government is entitled to conduct secret diplomacy, The Times of Israel reported.

• At least 20 Palestinians, including four schoolchildren, were wounded by Israeli fire on Sunday during a military raid of Nablus and al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank.

• An Israeli negotiating team will fly to Cairo on Monday to discuss continuing the implementation of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Sunday.

• The Palestinian health ministry is reporting severe oxygen shortages in hospitals across Gaza, adding that this is hampering intensive care and other vital operations.

• Lebanese media is reporting that Israeli forces shot and killed a woman in a southern Lebanese border town, as residents were returning home.

• The Palestinian health ministry has said that a total of seven deaths and five injuries were recorded at hospitals in the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.