In the West Bank, Israeli settlers graze their sheep on Palestinian farmland in Fasayil. Israeli forces raid Jenin and Jenin refugee camp for the 15th day in a row, demolishing 2 homes, notifying another a family that their home will be demolished, and arresting a Palestinian. The Civil Defense finds a woman and 3 children trapped alive under rubble in Jenin refugee camp. Israeli forces also raid Tulkarm and Tulkarm refugee camp for the ninth day in a row, damaging homes and seizing others for military outposts. Elsewhere, Israeli forces raid Tammun and al-Far’a refugee camp for the third day in a row, bombing 8 sites in Tammun, detaining 20 Palestinians, and bulldozing streets. Israeli forces also shoot and kill a Palestinian man at the Tayasir checkpoint after he shoots and kills 2 Israeli soldiers and injures 8 other soldiers. Meanwhile, Israeli forces demolish a home and 2 agricultural structures in Kafr ad-Dik, a house under construction in Idhna, and several agricultural structures in Aqabat Jaber refugee camp. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces issue a demolition notice for a home in Silwan. In Lebanon, Israeli forces demolish a sewage treatment plant and destroy trees and agricultural lands in Marjayoun and set fire to homes in Hula. (AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, NYT, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/4; WAFA 2/5; UNOCHA 2/6)
More than 47,540 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 17,881 children and 12,287 women, and around 111,618 have been injured since 10/7/2023. In addition, 14,222 Palestinians who have been missing are presumed dead. 902 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 180 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 2,485 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. (UNOCHA 2/4)
The Palestinian Prisoners Society says Israel has arrested 380 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza ceasefire was implemented. (AJ, WAFA 2/4)
The PA cabinet establishes a task force for the management of Gaza. (WAFA 2/4)
Hamas announces that negotiations for the second phase of the ceasefire have begun. (AJ, HA, REU, REU 2/4)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets U.S. president Donald Trump at the White House, the first foreign leader to meet with Trump since his inauguration on 1/20. Trump says that the U.S. “will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” suggesting it could be developed into “the Riviera of the Middle East” for the people of the world. He says the Palestinians living there should be forcibly transferred to other countries and live in “various domains,” paid for by countries in the Middle East. Trump suggests that the population of Gaza is 1.8 million, insinuating that around 500,000 Palestinians have been killed or displaced from Gaza since 10/7/2023. Trump also says the only reason why Palestinians want to go back and live in Gaza is because they have no other alternative, calling Gaza a demolition site. Additionally, Trump says Gaza should not go through a rebuilding period, as stipulated in the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and that he has not taken a position on Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Trump also states that he believes more countries will join the normalization deals with Israel brokered by the U.S., calling them economic development transactions. Netanyahu retells lies about events on 10/7/2023, including about beheadings, rapes, and burned babies. Netanyahu also gifts President Trump a golden pager, a reference to Israel’s terror attack in Lebanon last year. (AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AX, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, REU 2/4; AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AX, HA, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU 2/5; AP, NYT, NYT, NYT 2/6; AJ, HA 2/7)
President Trump also signs executive orders withdrawing the U.S. from the UN Human Rights Council, which he calls “anti-Semitic,” and withdrawing funding for UNRWA, which he claims has funneled money to Hamas. Former president Joe Biden withdrew funding for UNRWA last year. (AJ, HA, NYT 2/4; AJ, AP 2/5)
In response to President Trump’s shocking statements, the PA says it strongly rejects the calls by the president, calling them a “serious violation of international law.” Hamas calls Trump’s remarks “ridiculous and absurd.” The Saudi Foreign Ministry issues a statement shortly after the press conference at 4 a.m. Saudi time, saying that it completely rejects “any infringement on the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, whether through Israeli settlement policies, annexation of Palestinian lands or attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land.” The Saudi statement also says that there will be no normalization with Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state. Spain, Ireland, Turkey, China, the UK, Russia, Egypt, Jordan, France, Iran, Germany, Brazil, Malaysia, Oman, Kuwait, the UAE, Peru, the EU, the OIC, and other countries also issue statements rejecting the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. Human Rights Watch calls the plans a “moral abomination” and Amnesty International calls them “outrageous.” (AP, NYT, NYT 2/4; AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AP, AX, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/5; AJ, AJ, AP, HA, REU, REU, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 2/6; AP, NYT 2/7)
The Israeli Supreme Court rules that Israel must allow Palestinians to return to Zanuta and protect them from settler attacks. (AJ, HA 2/4)
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan says at a press conference in Ankara alongside Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty that the international community must take a unified stance against Israel restarting the war in Gaza, saying “there are questions around the world about how the Netanyahu government will behave after the release of the Israeli prisoners.” Fidan also says he spoke with members of the Hamas Political Bureau in Doha on 2/2 and that 15 Palestinian prisoners released in the ceasefire prisoner exchanges have arrived in Turkey. (AJ, AP, REU 2/4)
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II speak in a phone call, discussing the need for the full implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and the need to accelerate the reconstruction of Gaza. (WAFA 2/4)