In the West Bank, Israeli settlers throw stones at a garbage truck in Bethlehem, injuring a Palestinian municipal worker. forces raid Jenin and Jenin refugee camp for the 27th day in a row, causing damage. Israeli forces also raid Tulkarm, Tulkarm refugee camp, and Nur Shams refugee camp for the 21st day in a row, demolishing homes in Nur Shams. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shoot and injure 12 Palestinians during a raid in Nablus. Israeli forces also shoot and injure a Palestinian child with a baton round in al-Bireh. Meanwhile, Israeli forces assault Palestinian prisoners at the Ofer Prison, saying a riot had broken out. Israeli forces also arrest 15 Palestinians during late-night raids in Yatta, Halhul, Jalazone refugee camp, Ni’lin, and Husan. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb and kill 3 police officers working on securing aid trucks in Rafah. In Lebanon, Israeli forces shoot and kill a Lebanese woman in Hula. Israeli forces also bomb Halbata and Harbata in the Bekaa Valley. (AJ, AJ, HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/16; AP 2/17; UNOCHA 2/20)
More than 48,271 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 17,881 children and 12,287 women, and around 111,693 have been injured since 10/7/2023. In addition, 14,222 Palestinians who have been missing are presumed dead. 910 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 182 children. More than 6,500 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 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 408 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 2,579 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. 92% of all housing units in Gaza have been destroyed or severely damaged since 10/7/2023. (AJ, WAFA 2/16)
Human Rights Watch says Israel is currently holding 9,846 Palestinians in prisons and detention centers, including 3,369 who are held in administrative detention and 1,800 under the “combat law.” (AJ 2/16)
+972 Magazine and the Hottest Place in Hell report that Israel used an 80-year-old Palestinian man as a human shield, forcing him to enter homes in Gaza with an explosive cord tied around his neck. The man and his wife were then shot and killed by Israeli forces after 8 hours of being forced to scout homes. (AJ, AJ, HA 2/16)
The Israeli Civil Administration publishes tenders for 974 new settlement housing units in the Efrat settlement near Bethlehem. (PCN 2/16; AJ, HA 2/17)
Sky News Arabic reports that Hamas has agreed to transfer control of Gaza to the PA and the Governmental Committee for the Administration of Gaza. (HA 2/16)
PA president Mahmoud Abbas speaks with French president Emmanuel Macron, discussing the Gaza ceasefire and a Saudi French plan to present a roadmap for the 2-state solution. PA president Mahmoud Abbas also meets with World Jewish Congress president Ron Lauder in Amman, discussing the 2-state solution. (AJ, WAFA, WAFA 2/16)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio meet in Israel, discussing Iran and Gaza. Netanyahu says he is working in full cooperation with the U.S. on Gaza and that the 2 countries “have a common strategy and we cannot 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.” Netanyahu’s office says he met with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and that the Israeli Security Cabinet will discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire on 2/17. Witkoff tells Fox News that the second phase is “absolutely going to begin.” Rubio says Hamas “must be eradicated” and later releases a statement calling on Palestinian groups to release all remaining captives, saying the “fact that these terrorists continue to hold hostages and even dead bodies reflects their sick depravity.” Rubio does not mention Israel’s official policy of holding the bodies of dead Palestinians. Netanyahu tells a coalition of American Jewish organizations that Palestinians in Gaza should be given the choice to leave Gaza. President Donald Trump says it is up to Israel what will happen next in the Gaza ceasefire and says Israel is consulting with him on next steps. Rubio does not meet with Palestinian officials during his Middle East trip. Rubio is also not planning trips to Jordan, Qatar, or Egypt but will travel to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. (AP 2/15; AJ, AJ, HA, HA, HA, HA, NYT, REU 2/16)
Israel announces that 2,000-pound bombs, held back under the Biden administration but released by President Trump, have arrived in Ashdod port. (AJ, HA, REU 2/16)
The Knesset Ministerial Committee for Legislation approves a bill that would impose an 80% tax on foreign contributions to Israeli non-profit organizations. (HA 2/17; HA 2/19)
Hezbollah secretary-general Naim Qassem says Israel must fully withdraw from Lebanon by the deadline tomorrow, saying “[e]veryone knows how an occupation is dealt with.” Hezbollah also condemns the attack on a UNIFIL vehicle near Beirut International Airport on 2/14. (AJ, HA, REU, REU 2/16)
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi meets with Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, saying the “humanitarian disaster in Gaza must be brought to an end as soon as possible” and that the only way to end violence in the Middle East is with a 2-state solution. (AJ, WAFA 2/16)
The Hind Rajab Foundation files a legal complaint with the ICC against Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar ahead of his planned visit to Brussels next week. The foundation accuses Saar of being responsible for “mass displacement, starvation, and persecution of Palestinians.” (AJ 2/16)
A Jewish American man shoots and injures 2 Israelis in Miami Beach after misidentifying them as Palestinians. The man tells the police that he “saw 2 Palestinians and shot and killed both.” (HA, TOI 2/17)