Wednesday, February 12, 2025
U.S./Israeli Provocations and Crimes
in Palestine and Lebanon
Hamas Responds to U.S./Israeli Zionist Plotting to Derail Gaza Ceasefire Agreement
Hamas release of captives, February 1, 2025 near the former location of the U.S. floating pier
• Hamas Responds to U.S./Israeli Zionist Plotting to Derail
Gaza Ceasefire
Agreement
• U.S./Israeli Threats to Resume Military
Attacks on Gaza
• Hamas Press Release Regarding U.S. Plans for
Displacement of
Gazans
• Extent of U.S./Israeli Zionist Massive Destruction in Central Gaza
West Bank
• Hamas Press Release on Israeli Attacks in West Bank
• Hamas Leader Supports Resistance of People of Nour Shams
Camp to Attempts to
Displace Them
• More Crimes in the West Bank
Lebanon
• U.S. Meddling in Lebanon Sparks Popular Outcry and Protests
U.S./Israeli Provocations and Crimes in Palestine and Lebanon
Hamas Responds to U.S./Israeli Zionist Plotting to Derail Gaza Ceasefire Agreement
On February 10, an announcement by Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, informed that the next release of Israeli captives scheduled to take place in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, February 15, will be postponed.
In
a post on his Telegram account, spokesman for the Brigades Abu Obeida
said that "the handover of the Zionist prisoners who were slated for
release next Saturday, February 15, 2025, will be postponed until
further notice, and until the occupation abides [by the terms of the
ceasefire agreement]
and compensates for the past weeks retroactively."
"During the past three weeks, the resistance commandership has monitored the enemy's violations and its failure to abide by the terms of the agreement, including delaying the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip, and targeting them with shelling and gunfire," Abu Obeida added.
"We affirm our commitment to the terms of the agreement as long as the occupation honours them," the spokesman affirmed.
Hamas accused Israel of actively working to derail the Gaza Ceasefire Agreement, a senior Palestinian official told Al Mayadeen.
The official stated that Israeli statements regarding the second phase of the deal signal an unwillingness to commit to a lasting ceasefire.
Moreover, Hamas, as per the official, sees Israel as relying heavily on U.S. President Donald Trump's reckless decisions to justify its policies and actions in the next phase.
Hamas says that if Israel does not adhere to the second phase of the agreement, it will pay a heavy price, the Palestinian official underscored.
Al Mayadeen
reports that Israeli media on Sunday, February 9 suggested that Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu is deliberately obstructing the ongoing ceasefire
negotiations with Hamas, aiming to derail the agreement before its next
phase.
Reports suggest that the Israeli delegation sent to Qatar lacks real authority, signaling Netanyahu's unwillingness to move forward with a deal that would secure the release of more Palestinian detainees and a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Ha'aretz cited sources stating that the delegation's presence in Doha is merely for show. According to Ha'aretz, Netanyahu's obstructionist tactics could lead to the ceasefire breaking down entirely. Analysts warn that Hamas, recognizing Israel's refusal to honour its commitments, may halt further captive releases.
"Hamas is not stupid," a source said. "They see the politicization of the negotiations, the placement of Netanyahu confidants Ron Dermer and Gal Hirsch [at the helm of negotiations], the threats by [Finance Minister Bezalel] Smotrich and the right-wing ministers that they will dissolve the government. They understand where this is going."
Channel 12 confirmed that Netanyahu sent the delegation only to discuss technicalities and not to negotiate the second phase of the ceasefire. Officials stated, "This delegation has no real mandate. It will not deal with anything related to the second phase."
Hamas officials have warned that Israel's bad-faith approach could reignite hostilities. In an interview with AFP, Hamas politburo member Basem Naim criticized "Israel's" failure to fulfill its obligations. "The delay and lack of commitment in implementing the first phase," as well as the attempts to "pressure the Palestinian negotiators upon entering the second phase, certainly exposes this agreement to danger and thus it might stop and collapse," he said.
Israel Jeopardizes Ceasefire Agreement
Freed Palestinian prisoners arrive in Khan Yunis, February 1, 2025, as part of
prisoner
exchange.
The first phase of the ceasefire which came into effect on January 19, set to last 42 days, stipulates that Hamas will release 33 women, children, and elderly captives in exchange for the freedom of hundreds of Palestinians, many of whom have been detained without charge.
The next phase, if honoured, would require Israel to release additional Palestinian detainees, halt military aggression, and withdraw from Gaza in exchange for the release of remaining captives.
Following the latest release, 73 captives out of the 251 taken on October 7 remain in Gaza, while at least 34 have been confirmed dead.
Hamas has so far handed over 21 captives under the current ceasefire, while 105 were released during a brief truce in November 2023.
Under the deal, 17 more captives should be released before the end of the first phase of the agreement.
U.S./Israeli Threats to Resume Military
Attacks on Gaza
U.S. President Donald Trump warned late on February 10 that "all bets
are off" if all of the Israeli captives being held in Gaza are not
released by the coming weekend, in an open threat to collapse the
ceasefire agreement. "If all of the hostages aren't returned by
Saturday at 12 o'clock, I think it's an appropriate time. I would
say cancel it [the ceasefire], and all bets are off. Let hell break
out.”
Zionist Prime Minister Netanyahu followed up on Trump’s threat
saying “If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the
ceasefire will end, and the IDF will return to intense fighting
until Hamas is finally defeated." The Jerusalem
Post cited Netanyahu saying that “I instructed the IDF last
night to amass forces inside and around the Gaza Strip. This
operation is underway as we speak and will be completed as soon as
possible."
Yemen is prepared to immediately resume anti-Israel operations if
the regime violates the ceasefire agreements in Gaza and Lebanon and
decides to escalate its atrocities, Ansarullah leader Abdul-Malik
al-Houthi said. He said the Israeli enemy must understand that no
matter how much it relies on the U.S., it will not achieve its
goals if it decides to escalate.
"Our fingers are on the trigger, and we are ready to escalate
immediately against the Israeli enemy if it resumes aggression on
Gaza," al-Houthi said. "If the enemy resumes escalation, it will
return to the conditions and dangers of war in security, military,
and economic terms, regardless of U.S. support."
(The Cradle, Times of Israel, Jerusalem Post)
Hamas Press Release Regarding U.S. Plans for Displacement of Gazans
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) appreciates the positions of our brothers in Jordan and Egypt in rejecting the displacement of our people, and emphasizing that there is an Arab plan to rebuild Gaza without displacing its people.
We in Hamas consider the Jordanian position to be an extension of its position in rejecting the projects of displacement, resettlement and alternative homeland, which seek to obliterate the identity of our Palestinian people and end their just cause.
We appreciate the positions of our brothers in the Arab countries and all the countries of the world that have expressed their rejection of any plans aimed at displacing our people or liquidating their national rights.
We emphasize that our people will remain attached to their land and homeland, and will not accept any solutions that diminish their legitimate rights to freedom and independence.
Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)
(Hamas Official Website; posted via Telegram. Translated from original Arabic by TML.)
Extent of U.S./Israeli Zionist Massive
Destruction in Central Gaza
The destruction caused by the Israeli occupation to all aspects of life is evident in Central Gaza where the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) deliberately destroyed all buildings and homes of citizens within the jurisdiction of three municipalities targeted during the genocide, leading to the demolition of approximately 13,200 housing units, leaving tens of thousands of citizens homeless.
The Israeli occupiers also systematically demolished 24 water wells and water tanks with a capacity exceeding 1,300 cubic metres, and destroyed water networks, resulting in a lack of water and forcing people to relocate; destroyed the sewage networks and all three sewage pumps in their areas; destroyed all educational facilities, including schools, universities, and kindergartens, estimated at 28 educational institutions; destroyed and razed all roads, estimated at more than 100 kilometres in length, along with electricity networks and internet lines, causing difficulties in communication and depriving people of freedom of movement and safe transit; and destroyed thousands of dunums of agricultural land and executed livestock on farms in the area, which was one of the most important sources supplying the local market with agricultural and livestock products.
West Bank
Hamas Press Release on Israeli Attacks in West Bank
The Israeli occupation authorities continue to implement the annexation and displacement plan in the occupied West Bank, through settlement and displacement policies based on stealing Palestinian land and its goods and offering them to the heavily armed settlers who are encroaching on our occupied lands with the support and protection of the Zionist occupation government and army.
The announcement of the theft of what is claimed to be government
property and absentee property in the occupied West Bank, not the least
of which is the theft of lands in Ramallah, Tubas and the Jordan
Valley, and their use for pastoral settlement, is a step within the
annexation and control
plans that are accelerated in light of the escalating military
aggression of the occupation against the West Bank, suffocating
Palestinian citizens, turning the lives of Palestinians into hell, and
imposing new facts on the ground in favour of the settlers.
Our just Palestinian cause is currently going through a very critical and sensitive stage, in light of an extremist right-wing government that carries great ambitions and greed to devour more lands in the West Bank, in light of the support of the United States of America and the illusions that Trump is marketing to the Zionist public.
We stress the importance of the steadfastness and resilience of our people in the West Bank and Jerusalem, who represent the safety valve to thwart the occupation's plans of annexation and displacement. We emphasize that what our occupied territories are being subjected to calls for the mobilization of all components of our people and our nation, and to confront all attempts and plans of the occupation to liquidate our cause.
Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)
(Official Hamas website; posted via Telegram. Translated from original Arabic by TML.)
Hamas Leader Supports Resistance of People of Nour Shams Camp to Attempts to Displace Them
The leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas, Abdul Rahman Shadid, confirmed that the threats of the Zionist occupation to our people in Tulkarm and Nour Shams camp to displace them will not succeed in breaking the will of our people and their resistance.
Shadid said today, Wednesday [February 12]: "The occupation's
threats to the people of Nour Shams camp to displace them through
loudspeakers and mosque speakers are an extension of the crimes of
genocide and displacement that it is committing in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip."
He praised the resistance of Tulkarm and its camp, and the heroic confrontation of its resistance through continuous clashes, detonating explosive devices and setting up ambushes, stressing that it will remain unbreakable.
He added that the occupation's continuous aggression against Jenin, Tulkarm and all areas of the West Bank is a translation of the occupation government's extremist policy and its plans to displace our people and control their land and holy sites.
He called on all our people in the West Bank to escalate the confrontation and confront the crimes of the occupation, and to stand together and support Jenin and Tulkarm and strengthen their steadfastness.
(Hamas Official Website. Translated from original Arabic by TML.)
More Crimes in the West Bank
Israeli army forces civilians to evacuate Nour Sham camp in Tulkarm, February 11, 2025.
In the West Bank, the Israeli occupation army's central command has expanded open-fire orders which has increased the number of Palestinian civilian casualties from Israeli Occupation Forces, Ha'aretz newspaper reported. To make matters worse, the Palestinian Authority (PA) announced it was "revoking" legal articles relating to a special program providing payments to the families of Palestinians martyrs or detainees.
In
the most hypocritical manner, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's decree
presented the move as a restructuring, moving the initiative from the
Ministry of Social Development to the Palestinian National Foundation
for Economic Empowerment.
The order said the families would be eligible for regular welfare payments, but Palestine Information Centre reports that it is not clear whether the allowances would stop immediately or continue in a new form.
This move on the part of the PA fulfills a longstanding U.S. demand to take punitive action of restructuring aid programs for families of those imprisoned or killed by Israel, stopping the allocations for the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded.
Hamas condemned this action of the PA as an unpatriotic act and called for its immediate reversal.
"Turning this struggling national segment, who have given the most precious of what they have, into social cases is disgraceful."
"What is required is to honour the sacrifices of prisoners, the wounded, and the families of martyrs, and to support their families instead of abandoning them," the statement added.
Lebanon
U.S. Meddling in Lebanon Sparks Popular
Outcry and Protests
Protest at Beirut Airport against remarks by Morgan Ortagus, February 7, 2025
Tensions flared in Lebanon on February 7 after the U.S. Deputy Special Envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, made provocative remarks against Hezbollah, claiming that "Israel" had "defeated" the Resistance movement and insisting that it be excluded from the country's next government.
Her statements, delivered from the Lebanese presidential palace after her meeting with President Joseph Aoun, triggered public protests and widespread political condemnation.
Outraged by Ortagus' remarks, Lebanese people rallied outside Beirut's International Airport, denouncing what they viewed as blatant U.S. meddling in Lebanon's internal affairs. Some demonstrators also blocked roads in protest, though these were later cleared.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Nabih Berri, told Ortagus when he met with her that "Israel is an absolute evil," stressing that its continued occupation of Lebanese territories must be resisted and confronted.
Berri also lauded the Lebanese Army's role and deployment in southern Lebanese lands, as part of the Ceasefire Agreement.
During the meeting, Berri reminded Ortagus of the U.S. administration's role in forcing Israel to fully implement the ceasefire agreement, given that it is part of the committee overlooking the implementation. He also noted the need for the Israeli regime to implement Resolution 1701, particularly the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from Lebanese lands.
Israel bombs Yaroun in South Lebanon, February 8, 2025, in violation of Ceasefire Agreement.
(Al Mayadeen English. Photos: Sahouraxo, AA)
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