Israeli army killed one Palestinian in Gaza despite ceasefire agreement, forcibly evicted 40,000 Palestinians in West Bank
By Abdul Adil
(AA, Wafa, Al Jazeera, NNA, The Muslim News):
WEST BANK
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Sunday that the army will remain in Palestinian refugee camps in the northern occupied West Bank for the next year to prevent Palestinian residents from returning.
The Israeli army deployed tanks in the northern West Bank early Sunday, marking the first time since 2002 amid military escalation in the occupied territory.
“The Israeli army is expanding its operations in the northern West Bank, and starting Sunday night, it will also operate in the town of Qabatiya,” Katz said in a statement.
The defense minister said 40,000 Palestinians have been evacuated from Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps.
Israeli tanks have been deployed to the occupied West Bank for the first time in more than 20 years, as 40,000 Palestinians flee Israel’s assault on refugee camps in the north.
Israeli occupation forces attacked participants at the funeral of released Palestinian prisoner Nael Obeid, 46, on Sunday night in the town of Issawiya, northeast of occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources reported that the occupation forces stormed the town and heavily fired tear gas at mourners attending Obeid’s funeral. Obeid was released from Israeli prisons last week as part of the sixth batch of the ceasefire agreement after spending 21 years in detention.
The sources added that the occupation forces fired toxic gas towards the Issawiya cemetery and nearby homes, aiming to harm those present in the cemetery, surrounding streets, and adjacent residences.
Obeid died yesterday after falling from the roof of his house in Issawiya.
He was detained in 2004 and sentenced to seven life terms plus 30 years. During his imprisonment, he was subjected to harsh interrogations that lasted for extended periods.
A number of Palestinian residents suffocated from tear gas fired by Israeli forces during a military incursion into the village of Qusra south of Nablus, according to a local activist.
Anti-settlement activist Fu’ad Hasan reported that Israeli forces stormed Qusra, firing live ammunition and tear gas canisters at homes, which resulted in several cases of suffocation among residents.
The village is subjected to daily incursions by Israeli forces, often accompanied by violent confrontations and resulting in suffocation incidents.
Meanwhile, Israeli occupation forces stormed the western part of Nablus city. Local sources reported that the occupation forces raided a commercial shop in the western area of Nablus and fired tear gas canisters at the location, however, no injuries reported.
Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Silat al-Harithiya, west of Jenin, on Sunday.
Local sources said that the occupation forces stormed the town and took up positions in several streets, forcing shop owners to close their shops.
The Israeli forces stormed the town of Yamoun, accompanied by military bulldozers, and launched an detention campaign there, while the storming of the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, continues since the early hours of today, amidst major destruction of infrastructure, streets, and citizens’ property.
Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive in northern West Bank, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from the Jenin, Tulkarm, Nour Shams, and Al-Far’a refugee camps.
The Israeli offensive on Jenin and its refugee camp has now entered its 34th day, leaving behind at least 27 fatalities, dozens of injuries, over 160 detainees, and widespread destruction, including the complete demolition of around 120 homes and the partial destruction of many more. Infrastructure in the region has also suffered severe damage.
Sunday, Israeli forces expanded their offensive to the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, deploying additional military vehicles and bulldozers. They initiated home searches while destring roads, power lines, water pipes, and civilian vehicles.
The Israeli offensive on Jenin and its refugee camp has now entered its 34th day, leaving behind at least 27 fatalities, dozens of injuries, over 160 detainees, and widespread destruction, including the complete demolition of around 120 homes and the partial destruction of many more. Infrastructure in the region has also suffered severe damage.
GAZA
A Palestinian was killed and four others were injured after Israeli tank fire in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, a medical source said.
The casualties occurred when an Israeli tank opened fire on a car guarding air trucks near the Rafah border crossing in Rafah city, causing the vehicle to overturn, witnesses said.
“The vehicle overturned as its driver attempted to escape the Israeli fire,” an eyewitness said.
A ceasefire agreement, broken several times by Israel, took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, halting Israel’s war, which has killed more than 48,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
According to Palestinian figures, nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed and over 800 others injured by Israeli army fire since last month.
Palestinian medics and rescue teams retrieved 10 more bodies from the rubble in the Gaza Strip, pushing the overall death toll from Israel’s genocidal war since Oct. 2023 to 48,339, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
A ministry statement said that 10 injured people were also admitted to hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the number of the injured to 111,753 in the Israeli onslaught.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the ministry said.
The Government Media Office updated its death toll to at least 61,709, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
An Israeli opposition leader accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of violating a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner swap agreement after delaying the release of Palestinian detainees.
“Netanyahu ordered the delay in the release of the prisoners, blatantly violating the agreement and sabotaging the first phase, just as we warned,” Yair Golan, leader of the Israeli Democratic Party, said on X.
“There are no actual negotiations for the second phase, only deceit and abandonment of the lives of the captives,” he said.
LEBANON
Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes on several towns in eastern and southern Lebanon on Sunday amid a mass funeral of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and despite an ongoing ceasefire.
The Israeli attacks targeted the towns of Zrariyeh, Zibqin, Al-Qlaiaah, Jannata, Deir Qanoun Al Naher, and Maaroub in southern Lebanon, sources said.
The state news agency NNA said a Syrian girl was injured near Al-Qlaiaah and was transferred to a hospital for medical attention.
The broadcaster said an airstrike was also reported in the Brisa area in eastern Lebanon, but no casualties were reported.
The Israeli public broadcaster KAN also reported that Israeli drones flew over the Lebanese capital Beirut. Lebanese sources, however, denied the claim, saying that the Lebanese military, not Israel, operated the drones.
The Israeli army confirmed the strikes, claiming that they targeted Hezbollah “military sites that contained rocket munitions and other weapons in Baalbek and several other locations in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah activity was detected.”
A military statement claimed that several rocket platforms were destroyed in the attacks, which coincided with the participation of 450,000 mourners in the funeral of Nasrallah and senior Hezbollah leader Hashem Safieddine in Beirut’s Camille Chamoun Sports City.
The Israeli army has continued to violate the Nov. 27 ceasefire agreement with over 1,000 breaches reported by Lebanese authorities, including the death of at least 79 people and injury of 276 others.
The public funeral, which was delayed for security reasons, was held at the Camille Chamoun Sports City Stadium in the Lebanese capital.
SYRIA
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday evening that his army will stay in Syria’s buffer zone “indefinitely.”
Addressing a press conference in Tel Aviv, Netanyahu said Israeli army forces will remain on the Syrian Hermon Mount “Jabal al-Sheikh” for “an unlimited period of time.”
“We demand full demilitarization of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime in the Quneitra, Daraa and Suweyda provinces,” Netanyahu said.
“We will not allow the new Syrian army to move into territory south of Damascus,” he said, claiming that Israel will not tolerate any threats to Druze in southern Syria.
After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.
The Israeli army also intensified airstrikes in Syria across the country.
[Photo: Israeli army enters Jenin city with tanks for the first time since 2002 following after the ceasefire and prisoner and hostages swap agreement in Gaza entered into force in Jenin, West Bank on February 23, 2025. Photojournalist: Nedal Eshtayah/AA]
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