Live blog: 11 more bodies found in south Lebanon after Israeli withdrawal

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

1850 GMT — Lebanese Civil Defense said it recovered 11 more bodies and remains from towns in southern Lebanon following the Israeli army's withdrawal under the November ceasefire agreement.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces pulled out from villages and towns they had occupied during the recent offensive but remain stationed at five key posts along the border inside Lebanese territory.

In a statement, the Civil Defense said its rescue teams retrieved "the bodies of seven victims in the town of Meiss El Jabal, one in Khiam, one in Markaba, and the remains of two others in Deir Seryan" in southern Lebanon.

The bodies will undergo necessary medical and legal examinations, including DNA testing, under the supervision of relevant authorities to confirm their identities, it added.

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1906 GMT — Doctors Against Genocide urges US Senate to take action on ending Gaza genocide

Doctors Against Genocide (DAG) gathered in Washington, DC to urge the Senate to take action to end the genocide in Gaza.

The global coalition of healthcare workers mobilised more than 100 doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals on Capitol Hill.

"We are here because our duty as medical professionals does not stop at the hospital doors. It is our responsibility to protect life and to sound the alarm when we witness crimes against humanity.

1803 GMT — Any degrading treatment during prisoner release 'unacceptable': ICRC

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that any degrading treatment during hostage release operations between Israel and Hamas is "unacceptable."

"As we prepare for the next release operation, we once again call for all releases to be conducted in a private and dignified manner, including when they tragically involve the deceased," the ICRC said in a statement.

ICRC stressed it would continue to fulfil the role assigned to the committee by the parties. "This work is a fundamental humanitarian duty. We must be clear: any degrading treatment during release operations is unacceptable," it said.

1732 GMT — Hamas names fourth captive whose body it is to hand over on Thursday

Hamas has released the name of the fourth captive whose body it is set to hand over on Thursday as part of the ongoing Gaza truce.

Israeli authorities have not confirmed the name, nor have they verified the names of the three other hostages whose remains are to be handed over on Thursday.

1720 GMT — Israel PM says Thursday to be 'heartbreaking day'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Thursday would be a "heartbreaking day" for Israel as it receives the bodies of four hostages set to be handed over by Hamas as part of the ongoing Gaza truce deal.

"Tomorrow will be a very difficult day for the State of Israel - a heartbreaking day, a day of grief. We are bringing home four of our beloved hostages - fallen heroes," Netanyahu said in a statement.

1450 GMT — Israel blocks thousands from returning to their homes in Jenin

The Israeli army has prevented thousands of displaced Palestinians from returning to their homes in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, residents said.

Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the main entrance of the camp after reported calls by the Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority for residents to return to the camp, according to an Anadolu reporter.

"We gathered here at the entrance of the camp to return and see what has happened to our camp, but the Israeli army prevented us and chased us away,” Basma Masharqa, a Palestinian resident, told Anadolu Agency.

"We know that our house had been demolished. I want to return, despite my heartbreak, just to see even the ruins,” she said. "We say to the occupation: Enough! Get out of our camp. There is nothing left that you haven’t done.”

1450 GMT — US halts funding for Palestinian security forces

The US halted funding to Palestinian Authority security forces as part of a broader freeze on foreign aid, officials said.

According to a report by The Washington Post, the funding cut by US President Donald Trump’s administration comes as the Palestinian Authority struggles to maintain security in the occupied West Bank and prepare for a potential role in governing Gaza.

Brig. Gen. Anwar Rajab, spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority security forces, told the Washington Post that the US was a key donor supporting security training programmes. Despite the freeze, a former Israeli official said the US Security Coordinator's office in Jerusalem remains operational and "other donors have committed to make up the shortfall."

1310 GMT — Spanish premier calls Trump's Gaza relocation plan 'immoral, contrary to international law'

Spain's prime minister reiterated Madrid's rejection of US President Donald Trump's controversial plan of forcibly resettling Palestinians living in Gaza to other countries, calling it "immoral" and "contrary to international law."

At a joint press briefing in Madrid with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi, Pedro Sanchez said: "I would like to reiterate, as I have said to you (el Sisi) privately, and also to the delegation of Egyptian ministers, the absolute rejection of Spain and of your government to the proposal to move the Palestinian population out of Gaza."

"Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is part of the future Palestinian state. Its expulsion would not only be immoral and contrary to international law and the resolutions of the United Nations but would also have a destabilising effect at a regional and global level," Sanchez said.

1300 GMT — Hamas ready to release all captives in one swap under Gaza truce

A senior Hamas official told AFP that the Palestinian resistance group is prepared to release all remaining captives in a single swap during the second phase of the Gaza truce.

"We have informed the mediators that Hamas is ready to release all hostages in one batch during the second phase of the agreement, rather than in stages, as in the current first phase," said Taher al-Nunu.

1238 GMT — More bodies found in Gaza rubble as death toll close to 48,300

Palestinian medics and rescue teams retrieved two more bodies from the rubble in Gaza, pushing the overall death toll from Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023 to 48,297, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said that the toll also included three Palestinians killed by Israeli army fire and another who succumbed to his wounds in the last 24 hours.

According to the ministry, 11 injured people were also admitted to hospitals, taking the number of the injured to 111,733 in the Israeli onslaught.

1235 GMT — One killed, two injured in Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon

One person was killed and two others were injured in fresh Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.

An Israeli drone struck a vehicle in the town of Aita al-Shaab, leaving one person dead, the ministry added in a statement.

Two more people were injured when Israeli forces opened fire in the town of Wazzani in Hasbaiyya district, the ministry said. The state news agency NNA also said that Israeli forces conducted a sweep in the town of Shebaa and Israeli drones flew at low altitudes over several areas in southern Lebanon.

1215 GMT — Gaza should be rebuilt without displacing Palestinians: Egypt

Egypt's president called on the international community to adopt a plan to rebuild war-torn Gaza without displacing Palestinians, after a proposal by US President Donald Trump angered Arabs with his own vision for the enclave.

"We stressed the importance of the international community adopting a plan to reconstruct Gaza without displacing Palestinians -- I repeat, without displacing Palestinians from their lands," President Abdel Fattah el Sisi told a press conference with Spain's prime minister in Madrid.

Sisi added that the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), which provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories and neighbouring Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, was indispensable for Palestinians.

1207 GMT — Israeli army arrests 30 Palestinians in West Bank raids

At least 30 more Palestinians were detained in Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

Children were among the detainees in the raids that targeted several areas across the West Bank, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The arrests came amid military escalation in the northern West Bank, where at least 56 people have been killed and thousands displaced since last month.

According to Palestinian figures, at least 175 Palestinians were arrested by the Israeli forces in Jenin and 150 others in Tulkarem in the northern West Bank since January 21.

1204 GMT — WHO to launch mass polio vaccination campaign in Gaza on Saturday

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that a mass polio vaccination campaign will begin in Gaza on Saturday, targeting over 591,000 children under the age of 10.

"A mass polio vaccination campaign is planned to start in #Gaza this Saturday, 22 February, aiming to cover more than 591,000 children under 10 years old," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X.

Tedros stated that the campaign follows the recent detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples, indicating its circulation in the environment and posing a risk to children.

1142 GMT — Israel advances 6 settlement projects in occupied East Jerusalem since Trump’s inauguration: Report

The Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has advanced six new settlement projects in occupied East Jerusalem since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump last month, an Israeli group said.

"The accelerated pace of settlement expansion shows that the Israeli government views Trump’s return to office as a greenlight to revive and expedite plans that were previously frozen due to international criticism,” the Jerusalem-based NGO Ir Amim said in a statement.

It said the Israeli government revived plans to build the Atarot settlement, locally known as the Qalandia Airport area north of East Jerusalem, which includes 9,000 housing units.

1102 GMT — Israel indicts five reservists over alleged prisoner abuse

The Israeli military prosecutor has filed indictments against five reservists, alleging severe abuse and injury of a Palestinian prisoner at Sde Teiman prison, that included cracked ribs, a punctured lung and a torn rectum, the military has said.

The incident took place on July 5th, 2024, while the five reservists were serving in the prison in the Negev desert.

According to the indictment, the soldiers are accused of carrying out the abuse during a search of the victim, in which he was cuffed at the hands and ankles and blindfolded.

"The indictment charges the accused with acting against the detainee with severe violence, including stabbing the detainee’s bottom with a sharp object, which had penetrated near the detainee's rectum," the military said in a statement.

1037 GMT — UAE tells US it rejects displacement of Palestinians

The United Arab Emirates leader told the United States' secretary of state that his country rejects a proposal to displace Palestinians from their land, the Emirati state news agency WAM has reported.

President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan's comments came after US President Donald Trump proposed a US takeover of Gaza and displacing its Palestinian inhabitants in Jordan and Egypt, prompting widespread opposition among Arab countries and Western allies.

Nahyan told US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a meeting in Abu Dhabi that it was important to link the reconstruction of Gaza to a path leading to "a comprehensive and lasting peace based on the two-state solution" to the Israel-Palestinian issue.

1036 GMT — Palestine calls on US to stop Israel's military escalation in West Bank

Palestine has called on the US to halt the ongoing Israeli military escalation in the occupied West Bank.

“The (Israeli) occupation forces are waging a campaign of systematic destruction of homes and displacement of citizens,” Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.

The Israeli army has been conducting military assaults in the northern West Bank since January 21, killing at least 56 Palestinians and displacing thousands, according to Palestinian officials.

0855 GMT — Netanyahu appoints advisor with Trump ties to lead ceasefire talks

An Israeli official has said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appointed a close confidant to lead negotiations for the second stage of the ceasefire with Hamas.

The official says that Cabinet Minister Ron Dermer will head the Israeli team. Previous talks have been led by the heads of the Mossad and Shin Bet security agencies.

Talks have not yet started on the second stage, which is meant to include an end to the war, the return of all hostages and the Israeli pullout from Gaza.

0825 GMT — Israel denies entry of heavy machinery for Gaza rubble removal

Israel has only allowed six small machines to remove rubble from Gaza while preventing the entry of hundreds more that are desperately needed for the coastal enclave devastated by Israeli forces during their genocidal war against Palestinians, an official has said.

Ismail Thawabteh, director of the Palestinian Media Office in Gaza, said that Israel allowed only six small machines into Gaza, some of which required maintenance and spare parts to function.

"The Gaza Strip needs 500 heavy equipment units, including bulldozers, excavators, cranes, and others," he added.

0801 GMT — Israel destroys dozens of Palestinian homes, shops in West Bank

The Israeli army has completely destroyed some 50 homes and 280 shops in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank as part of its ongoing military offensive, a Palestinian official has said.

Speaking to Anadolu, Tulkarem Deputy Governor Faisal Salama said the Israeli army is "working to reshape the features and geography of the Tulkarem camp through extensive demolition of Palestinian properties."

He added that what's happening in Tulkarem camp is "a systematic occupation plan, through which new roads are opened on the ruins of the buildings."

Salama described the Israeli military raid in Tulkarem as "a massacre and an illegal plan carried out amid Arab and international silence."

0248 GMT — Lebanon recovers 23 bodies following Israeli withdrawal

Lebanon's civil defence said that it recovered the bodies of 23 people from towns in its southern region following the partial withdrawal of the Israeli army under a ceasefire agreement.

In a statement, the civil defence said its rescue teams, working in coordination with the Lebanese army, are conducting search and field assessment operations in areas affected by Israeli attacks.

The teams recovered 14 bodies in the town of Meiss El Jabal, three in Markaba, three in Kfarkela and three in Odaisseh, according to the statement.

0225 GMT — Hamas rejects disarmament, expulsion from Gaza amid ceasefire talks

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas said that it rejects any efforts to disarm it or remove it from besieged Gaza, emphasising that any future arrangements for the territory must be decided through a national Palestinian consensus.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem called Israel's objective to expel the group from Gaza "silly psychological warfare."

"The removal of the resistance from Gaza or its disarmament is unacceptable," he said in a statement.

0001 GMT — Israel's genocidal war on Gaza fuels record level of anti-Muslim hatred in UK

The number of anti-Muslim incidents in Britain rose to a new high in 2024, according to data compiled by monitoring organisation Tell MAMA, which said the war in Gaza had "super-fuelled" online hate.

Tell MAMA said it verified 5,837 anti-Muslim hate cases - a mix of both online and in-person incidents — last year, compared with 3,767 cases the year before and 2,201 in 2022.

2134 GMT — Less than 7% of pre-conflict water levels accessible in Rafah, North Gaza: Report

Palestinians in Rafah and North Gaza have access to less than 7 percent of their pre-war water levels due to Israeli attacks, exacerbating the spread of waterborne diseases, a UK-based charity said.

Oxfam, along with its partners, revealed that more than 80 percent of water and sanitation infrastructure across besieged Gaza has either been partially or entirely destroyed, including all six major wastewater treatment plants.

The charity's assessment also showed that 85 percent of sewage pumping stations (73 out of 84) and their networks have been destroyed. While some facilities have been repaired, there is an urgent need for fuel to keep them operational.

2011 GMT — Israel abducts 30 Palestinians in occupied West Bank raids

Israeli forces have abducted 30 Palestinians in multiple raids in the occupied West Bank, WAFA news agency has reported.

They said that Israeli occupying forces rounded up six Palestinians from Ramallah and al Bireh governorate, the agency said.

They also took four from Jenin, including two minors, and three in Qalqiliya governorate.

For our live updates from Tuesday, February 18, 2025, click here.