In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attack a Palestinian vehicle traveling near Nahalin, causing damage. Israeli settlers also set fire to an agricultural structure in Ya’bad. Israeli forces shoot...
In the West Bank, Israeli forces shot and killed 1 Palestinian minor and injured 2 others with live ammunition during a raid in Jenin. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian...
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In the West Bank, Israeli settlers attack a Palestinian vehicle traveling near Nahalin, causing damage. Israeli settlers also set fire to an agricultural structure in Ya’bad. Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian child, claiming he tried to stab soldiers at a checkpoint near al-Eizariya. Israeli forces also demolish a Palestinian home in al-Burj, displacing 7 people. Elsewhere, Israeli forces erect a surveillance tower and place caravans near Beit Umar. Israeli forces also arrest 28 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Silwad, Ramallah, Tulkarm, Hebron, Jenin, Tubas, and Nablus. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers tour the Haram al-Sharif compound. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Dayr al-Balah, Khan Yunis, Gaza City, and Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 113 people. Israeli naval forces bomb an UNRWA aid truck. Israeli forces abduct al-Amal Hospital general manager Haider al-Qaddura and administrative director Maher Atallah as 8,000 people are evacuated from the hospital in Khan Yunis, which has been under an Israeli siege for 2 weeks. In Beershaba, Israeli police shoot and kill a Palestinian citizen of Israel after he allegedly tries to grab an Israeli police officer’s weapon. In Lebanon, Hezbollah attacks 2 Israeli military positions in Shebaa Farms and 1 in Yiftah. Israeli forces kill 3 members of the Amal Movement in an airstrike. In Yemen, U.S. forces bomb a drone launch site. (AJ, HA, HA, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/5; UNOCHA, WAFA 2/6)
More than 27,478 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 11,500 children and 7,200 women, and around 66,835 have been injured since 10/7. At least 8,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 375 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7, including 95 children. More than 4,415 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 223 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,300 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 70,000 housing units have been destroyed and 290,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7, constituting over 60% of all housing units. UNOCHA says Palestinians sheltering in and around Khan Yunis and Rafah need 50,000 cold weather tents, 200,000 bedding sets, 200,000 sealing kits, and 200,000 winter clothing kits. 218 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza via the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossings. Jordanian and Dutch forces airdrop aid to the Jordanian Field Hospital in Gaza for the second day in a row. (AJ, UNOCHA, UNOCHA 2/5; AJ, UNOCHA 2/6)
The Israeli military issues evacuation orders for parts of Gaza City and Rafah. The military also says at least 540 Israeli soldiers have been injured in friendly fire since the ground invasion of Gaza began. (AJ, UNOCHA 2/5)
PA prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh says Israel has not transferred the PA tax funds to Norway and that the PA has not received any of the money. President Mahmoud Abbas meets with French foreign minister Stephane Sejourne in Ramallah, calling on France to recognize the state of Palestine. Sejourne meets Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz earlier in the day, with Katz thanking Sejourne for suspending UNRWA funding. (AJ, WAFA, WAFA 2/5)
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid says he told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would enter the emergency government to provide a safety net in favor of a ceasefire deal to get the remaining captives released. A no confidence motion against the government at the Knesset gets 21 votes in favor, failing to obtain the 61 votes required. (HA 2/5)
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres appoints an independent review group led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colanna to assess UNRWA’s neutrality and Israeli allegations against the agency. UK’s Channel 4 reports, after seeing the 6-page dossier Israel used to accuse 12 UNRWA staffers of taking part in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, that Israel “provides no evidence” to back its claim. Instead, the dossier states that “from intelligence information, documents, and identity cards seized during the course of the fighting, it is now possible to flag around 190 Hamas and PIJ terrorist operatives who serve as UNRWA employees. More than 10 UNRWA staffers took part in the seventh of October.” The New York Times reports that UNRWA will lose $65 million by the end of February due to funding suspensions by Germany, Japan, and Sweden. Spain says it will donate $3.8 million in aid to UNRWA. (AJ, AJ, HA, HA, NYT, REU, WAFA 2/5; NYT 2/6; HA 2/7)
U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken meets with Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, discussing humanitarian aid to Gaza and regional diplomacy. After the meeting, Blinken says that Saudi Arabia has a strong interest in pursuing normalization with Israel but that it requires “an end to the conflict in Gaza, and a clear, credible, time-bound path to the establishment of a Palestinian state.” Blinken also announces that the U.S. will cancel visas for employees of companies that provide spyware that is used against political activists, human rights defenders, and journalists. (AJ, AX, HA, HA, NYT, REU 2/5; AJ, HA, NYT 2/6)
At the UN Security Council, China and Russia criticize the U.S. for its airstrikes on Iraq and Syria on 2/3. (AJ 2/6)
Amnesty International says Israeli killings of Palestinians in the West Bank since 10/7/2023 show “a chilling disregard for Palestinian lives” and “are in blatant violation of international human rights law.” (AI, AJ 2/5)
A man on a motorbike attacks a Palestinian American man driving in Austin, Texas, stabbing and wounding him and pulling a Palestinian flag from the car. (AJ 2/6)
The Japanese company Itochu Corporation’s aviation unit announces it will end its strategic cooperation with the Israeli defense company Elbit Systems, citing the ICJ ruling from January. (AJ, REU, WAFA 2/5)
In the West Bank, Israeli forces shot and killed 1 Palestinian minor and injured 2 others with live ammunition during a raid in Jenin. Israeli forces also violently dispersed Palestinian protesters in Abu Dis, injuring 4 with baton rounds and 71 with tear gas. Elsewhere, Israeli forces issued stop work orders for agricultural projects and seized 3 trucks near Jericho and issued stop-work orders for 2 agricultural structures in Jayyus. In East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers toured the Haram al-Sharif compound. Israeli forces sealed the family home in al-Tur of 1 Palestinian man who rammed a car into 3 Israeli settlers on 2/10. (ABC, ALM, AP, HA, HA, MDW, MEE, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/12; PCHR 2/13; PCHR 2/16; UNOCHA 2/21)
The Israeli security cabinet approved the legalization of the 9 settlement outposts Avigail, Asael, Shacharit, Givat Arnon, Givat Harel, Givat Haro’eh, Malachei Hashalom, Mitzpe Yehuda, Beit Hogla, and Sde Boaz. The security cabinet also approved the connection of other settlement outposts to Israeli infrastructure. In addition, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the cabinet approved building permits for nearly 10,000 new Israeli settlement units, with the final number to be decided by the civil administration planning and zoning committee. The PA condemned the decisions and called on the international community to intervene. U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken called the decisions “deeply troubling.” (AX, MEE, REU, WAFA, WAFA 2/12; AJ, AN, AP, BBC, GDN, HA, HA, TOI, WAFA, WAFA 2/13; WAFA 2/14; AX, HA, REU, WAFA 2/15; WAFA, WAFA 2/16; WAFA 2/17)
The Israeli Civil Administration issued a new directive prohibiting Palestinians from the West Bank under the age of 22 from participating in organized peace-building activities in Israel. Married Palestinians over the age of 22 will be allowed to participate as will single Palestinians over the age of 27. The civil administration also limited the number of permits for peace-building activities to 500. (HA 2/12)
Arab leaders met at the Arab League Conference in Support of Jerusalem in Cairo. The conference was attended by Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, PA president Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian king Abdullah II, and foreign ministers from other Arab League members. The final communique condemned Israeli actions at the Haram al-Sharif compound and urged the ICC to investigate Israeli war crimes. (AJ, AJ, AP, F24, HA, TOI, TOI, WAFA, WAFA 2/12)
Israeli president Isaac Herzog gave a televised address urging the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government not to continue with its plans to change the balance of powers by overhauling the judicial system and proposed a compromise instead. Justice minister Yariv Levin said that he and the government coalition will not delay its plans. (AP, AX, HA, HA, REU 2/12; HA 2/13)
