Arab Leaders Meet in Cairo to Discuss Rebuilding Postwar Gaza
One proposal would sideline Hamas and rely on administrative bodies run by Arab, Muslim-majority, and Western countries; a senior Hamas official said the group rejects the imposition of a non-Palestinian administration but that “we are keen for the success of the summit” (Reuters)
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers killed a Hamas commander and an additional Hamas fighter and arrested three others in a West Bank operation in Jenin (Reuters)
Israeli Forces Demolish and Clear Nur Shams Refugee Camp in West Bank
Israeli bulldozers cleared a roadway for military vehicle access through the camp, and the head of the camp stated that nearly all of its thirteen thousand Palestinian inhabitants had left (Reuters)
Israel Announces Freeze on All Aid Flowing Into Gaza
Israel said Hamas had not accepted a new U.S. proposal to extend phase one of their cease-fire; that proposal would see Hamas release half of its remaining hostages at the start of a seven-week extension (NPR)
Hamas accused Israel of “blackmail” and of attempting to evade the original cease-fire agreement; negotiations on its second phase have barely started (BBC)
Mediators Egypt and Qatar said Israel was violating humanitarian law, while a U.S. National Security Council spokesperson said Washington supports Israel’s decision on next steps (AP;ABC)
Israel and Hamas Conduct Another Exchange of Hostages and Prisoners as Phase One of Truce Nears Its End
Hamas released the bodies of four Israeli hostages yesterday while Israel by this morning had released more than six hundred Palestinian prisoners (FT;Times of Israel)
The January cease-fire deal said negotiations on the second phase were slated to have wrapped up by last Sunday, but formal talks have yet to start in earnest (NYT)
Phase two was envisioned to include additional releases of Hamas-held hostages and Israeli-held prisoners, as well as Israeli withdrawals from more zones of Gaza; that includes an area called the Philadelphi Corridor, though an unnamed Israeli official told news outlets today that Israel plans to stay there (CNN)
Hamas said today it was ready for talks on phase two (France24)
Israel, for its part, seeks an open-ended extension of phase one rather than a new phase that aims to lay the foundation for a more lasting settlement, unnamed sources close to the negotiations told the Financial Times(FT)
A restart to the war would end a six-week period in which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been able to return to their homes and increased aid has flowed into Gaza (AP)
Netanyahu is seeking domestic political support to pass a budget; some of his coalition members said they would leave his government if he agreed to end the war (WaPo)
U.S. President Donald Trump campaigned saying he would end the war in Gaza and pushed hard to secure the truce deal. But in recent weeks he has proposed a takeover of Gaza that Palestinians and Arab countries have rejected, saying it would violate international law and work against the prospect of sustainable peace (Anadolu Agency)
Hamas Will Release Four Bodies of Israeli Hostages, Israel Will Release Around Six Hundred Palestinian Prisoners
Israel had delayed the prisoner release, which was originally scheduled for last Saturday, saying Hamas violated the truce agreement and mistreated hostages (Times of Israel)
The first phase of the cease-fire deal is due to expire this weekend (AP)
Hamas Hands Over Six Hostages While Israel Declines to Release More Than 600 Palestinian Prisoners as Scheduled
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu justified the move by accusing Hamas of repeatedly violating the truce and making hostage releases into “humiliating ceremonies” (FT)
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said that he expects phase two of the cease-fire deal to move forward and that he will visit the Middle East in the coming week (Times of Israel)
Meanwhile, journalists in the West Bank spotted Israeli tanks entering Jenin for the first time since 2002, furthering the displacement of Palestinians from refugee camps in the territory; Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz stated that its forces will remain in the West Bank for a year, adding that Israeli forces must remain to prevent residents from returning to the camps to prevent terrorism (AP)
Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against any movement of Syrian forces “south of Damascus,” indicating Israel’s attempt to use its forces currently deployed in southern Syria to create a demilitarized buffer zone (AP)
Netanyahu Vowes Response to “Cruel and Malicious Violation” of Cease-Fire With Hamas
Israel says a body returned yesterday was not that of Shiri Bibas, as Hamas claimed (AP)
Hamas said it would “conduct a thorough review” of information about the body and that Bibas’ remains appear to have been mixed with those of other people in a bombed building (Reuters)
Separately, Arab leaders are meeting in Saudi Arabia today to discuss a plan for postwar Gaza (Le Monde)
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested he will only “sit back and recommend” a Gaza takeover plan; this comes as Egypt and Jordan, who would accept the refugees from Gaza under President Trump’s proposed takeover plan, voiced opposition to the idea (Al Jazeera)
Hamas Returns Bodies of Four Hostages It Abducted From Israel in Its October 7, 2023 Attack
Israel’s military plans to confirm their identities, while Hamas said they were a mother and her two young children as well as an elderly peace activist; they are the first deceased hostages released as part of the ongoing truce deal (FT)
Three Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank
Palestinian state news said Israeli soldiers attacked the Palestinians in their homes in the al-Faraa camp, while the Israeli military stated that the targets were “wanted terrorists;” the operation was part of Israel’s “Iron Wall” counterterrorism offensive (Reuters)
Israel Agrees to Start Negotiations on Second Phase of Gaza Cease-Fire and Hostage Release Deal
The announcement from Israeli foreign minister Gideon Sa’arcame as Hamas said it would release three living hostages ahead of schedule on Saturday, a move that mediators said was designed to get negotiations moving (WSJ)
Phase two talks were meant to begin on February 4—but the truce saw a near-breakdown earlier this month as both sides accused each other of violating its terms (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has swapped his lead negotiator for phase two, choosing close political ally and Israeli strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer instead of the head of the Mossad intelligence service, who led previous negotiation rounds (CNN)
A Hamas spokesperson said that in phase two, the group is ready to release all of its remaining hostages at once in exchange for a permanent truce and full withdrawal of Israeli forces (WaPo)
Additionally, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who said the UAE rejects the potential displacement of Palestinians from their land (Reuters)
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio Discusses Gaza With Netanyahu
After the conversation on Sunday, Netanyahu appeared to endorse U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to resettle Gazans and have the U.S. take over the territory (BBC)
Rubio discussed Gaza and other issues on Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, after which both affirmed their support for a cease-fire (NYT)
Palestinians and Arab countries continue to voice alarm about President Donald Trump’s proposal to expel Gazans, which international legal scholars say would be a war crime if enacted (NYT)
In response, Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza that would keep Palestinians living there, unnamed Egyptian, Arab, and Western officials told the Associated Press (AP)
Arab countries are planning to hold an emergency summit on Gaza on March 4 (Reuters)
Hamas Greenlights Saturday Hostage Release
The announcement walked back the group’s threat to pause the releases—which had prompted an Israeli threat to resume fighting; after talks with mediators, Hamas said it was in contact with Qatari leadership about increasing humanitarian supplies into Gaza (AP)
President Trump Gives Ultimatum to Hamas Over Postponed Hostage Release
Trump stated that he would like Hamas to release all of its currently held hostages by noon on February 15, or else he would support an end to the ceasefire and “let hell break out;” Trump added that Netanyahu could “override him on the issue” (Reuters)
Netanyahu Says Israel Will Resume Fighting in Gaza If Hamas Does Not Release Hostages by Saturday
Hamas had said Monday it would delay Saturday’s incremental release due to alleged Israeli violations of the truce (Times of Israel)
Separately, Trump met with Jordan’s king, who said he rejected the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza; Jordan agreed to accept two thousand sick children from the territory, and Trump suggested he was backing off a previous threat to withhold aid from Jordan (AP)
Hamas Announces Indefinite Postponement of Hostage Release to Israel
Hamas leadership cited Israeli violations of the ceasefire terms, namely a continuation of attacks on Palestinian civilians returning to the Gaza strip as well as the blocked entry of humanitarian aid; Israel claims that Hamas is responsible for violating the ceasefire deal, with Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz stating that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will be put on high alert and prepare for “any possible scenario in Gaza” (BBC)
Hamas originally planned to release the hostages on February 15 (Reuters)
Israeli Forces Begin Pulling Back From Netzarim Corridor, Which Bisects Gaza
The move is part of the ongoing cease-fire and hostage release agreement, which saw three Israeli hostages and 183 Palestinian prisoners freed on Saturday (WSJ;NYT)
An Israeli delegation arrived in Qatar for talks on the potential next phase of that deal, while Egypt said it will host a summit of Arab leaders this month regarding “new and dangerous developments in the Palestinian issue” (Reuters;NPR)
Israel Prepares for Removal of Palestinians From Gaza
Israel’s defense ministry announced its plans to facilitate the mass relocation of Palestinians, despite international condemnation of President Trump’s mass removal and reconstruction plan; Trump suggested that upon removal of Palestinians from Gaza, Israel would hand over the land, all without deploying U.S. troops (Time)
Egypt condemned any forced removal as a violation of international law, with Cairo warning that a U.S. takeover of Gaza could incite further instability across the region and threaten its peace treaty with Israel (AP News)
Trump Suggests United States Would “Take Over” Gaza
In what would be a shocking break from decades of U.S. policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the president further suggested that the nearly two-million-strong population of Palestinians in Gaza be permanently removed to other countries and refused to rule out deploying U.S. troops (Reuters;WaPo)
The comments came amid a White House visit from Netanyahu that was slated to focus on a cease-fire deal in the territory (NBC)
Earlier in the day, Trump said the United States would continue the Joe Biden administration’s policy of withholding funding for the UN agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees (AP)
Trump defended his new proposal because much of the territory has been destroyed in the current war, but it flew against the stances of Palestinians and many U.S. Arab allies, and international law prohibits attempts to forcibly transfer populations (NYT)
Netanyahu said the idea was “worth paying attention to,” and Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, praised Trump for his “out of the box ideas” on Gaza, saying that the enclave “in its current form has no future” (NYT)
The Palestinian Authority rejected “all calls for displacement of Palestinian people from their homeland,” a senior advisor to its president said; Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey condemned Trump’s remarks and reiterated their support for a Palestinian state (NYT)
Netanyahu Becomes First Foreign Leader of Trump’s Second Term to Visit White House
The pair will discuss the next phase of the Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal; Trump has said he hopes to end the war, but some in Netanyahu’s coalition have pushed for it to continue (NPR)
Netanyahu Arrives in Washington for Talks on Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss the second phase of the Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal in a meeting today with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Netanyahu’s office said (NYT)
Hamas released three hostages and Israel released over 180 prisoners on Saturday (NYT)
U.S. Contractors to Staff Gaza Checkpoint During Truce
A U.S. security firm is hiring almost one hundred U.S. special forces veterans to assist in vehicle inspection in Gaza during the ongoing cease-fire, a company spokesperson told Reuters; an unnamed Palestinian official close to the talks said that U.S. contractors would be deployed away from Gaza residents (Reuters)
After yesterday’s hostage and prisoner exchange was completed, albeit delayed, the next stage of hostage releases is set for tomorrow (Times of Israel)
Latest Round of Hostage, Prisoner Releases Begin in Gaza, Israel
Hamas released three Israelis and five Thai nationals this morning in the day’s scheduled trade of hostages for 110 Palestinian prisoners (Times of Israel, CNN)
Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is in Israel to oversee the latest phase of the deal and made a rare visit to Gaza yesterday; the second, complex phase of the deal will confront questions over Gaza’s political outlook and the Palestinian Authority’s role (WaPo)
Netanyahu to Meet With Trump Envoy, Invited to White House
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to meet today with U.S. Mideast envoy Steven Witkoff, Netanyahu’s office said; the talks are expected to cover the unfolding Gaza cease-fire and hostage deal (NYT)
Israel Announces Indefinite Suspension of Collaboration With UNRWA
Israel’s envoy to the United Nations, Danny Daron, announced a ban on all activities with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Palestine (UNRWA), which calls for a cessation of UNRWA operations in Gaza by January 30 (Al Jazeera)
The move, which Washington has backed, comes as Jerusalem claims that Hamas is utilizing UNRWA sites to hold Israeli hostages (DW)
Palestinians Return to Northern Gaza After Truce Overcomes Strain
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians began returning to northern Gaza today as part of the cease-fire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas (AP)
After extra mediation raised doubts of resolution yesterday, Hamas said it would release Arbel Yehud and other Israeli hostages this week, too (NYT)
Much of northern Gaza is now rubble, and aid groups urged the continued flow of humanitarian assistance to support returnees (UNICEF)
U.S. President Donald Trump over the weekend downplayed the cease-fire’s commitment to Palestinian return, suggesting that “we just clean out” Gaza, and that Egypt and Jordan could accept its residents either temporarily or “long term” (WSJ)
That’s a sharp departure from most U.S. presidents, who have viewed Gaza as part of an eventual Palestinian state; Egypt and Jordan rejected Trump’s suggestion (NYT)