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The live blog has now ended and will be back tomorrow at 9am GMT. You can read more of °®Âþµº's coverage of Israel's war on Gaza here. 

A Palestinian has been injured by Israeli fire in a confrontation with Israeli forces in the village of Tal, south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera citing the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

The Israeli military is continuing its assault on Tulkarm and its adjacent refugee camp, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA, which is reporting that the military has sent reinforcements, heavy machinery and bulldozers into the city.

The Israeli military said jets fired on a vehicle in central Gaza against "suspicious vehicles" going north via a "route that is not approved for vehicle traffic, without passing through the checkpoint route, contrary to the agreed outline." 

Israel is preparing to receive the bodies of four captives from Gaza on Thursday and is working on bringing back six living hostages on Saturday, an Israeli security official said on Monday.

If the two handovers are successful, only four hostages, all presumed dead, would remain in Gaza of the 33 due to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire agreement reached last month.

(Reuters)

Qatar's Foreign Ministry has expressed "deep concern" over an Israeli airstrike that killed a Hamas leader in south Lebanon.

In a statement issued on X, the ministry said "The State of Qatar expresses its deep concern over Israeli occupation airstrike on southern Lebanon, and calls on all parties to strictly adhere to the ceasefire agreement and avoid escalation to ensure the security and stability of the region." 

| Qatar expresses deep concern over Israeli occupation airstrike on southern Lebanon

— Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was meeting on Monday with Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the State Department said, during the top diplomat's first Middle East tour.

The meeting in Riyadh began just before 6 pm (1500 GMT), a State Department official said. Rubio was expected to discuss President Donald Trump's widely criticised plan for the United State to take control of the Gaza Strip and move its Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere.

Lebanese authorities said on Monday they had extended the suspension of inbound and outbound flights to Iran indefinitely, after originally barring Iranian planes from landing in Beirut until 18 February.

Authorities have decided to "mandate the Minister of Public Works and Transport to extend the suspension period of flights to and from Iran," the Lebanese presidency's spokeswoman Najat Charafeddine told reporters, without specifying when flights would resume.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has told reporters that he will demand a vote on implementing US President Donald Trump's Gaza displacement plan, according to Times of Israel, as well as on demanding that Hamas immediately release all Israeli captives held in the enclave.

If not done, "Israel will open the gates of hell: a complete occupation of the Gaza Strip, a complete cessation of aid - no water, no electricity, no fuel; the entire population will be moved to the Mawasi [humanitarian zone] and from there Israel will immediately begin the migration of Gaza's residents to other countries," he was quoted as saying.

He added that Israel must annex the northern Gaza Strip as well as the Philadelphi Corridor, among other areas, and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "occupy ten percent of the territory of the Gaza Strip, establish full control over it, and apply Israeli sovereignty over it."

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Monday against what he called "soft war" tactics employed by enemies in a bid to sow discord within the Islamic republic.

"Today, we have no concerns regarding hard defence or the enemy's military threats. Islamic Iran possesses strong capabilities to counter such threats, ensuring a high level of security for its people," said Khamenei during a speech in Tehran.

He said Iran's "enemies" - referring to Israel and the United States - sought to create problems through "soft war threats" aimed at "manipulating public opinion, creating discord and casting doubt over the foundations of the Islamic Revolution".

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country had dealt a "mighty blow to Iran's terror axis" and vowed to "finish the job" against Iran with US support.

Israel will leave small numbers of troops at five strategic locations in southern Lebanon after the expiration of a 18 February deadline for the troops to withdraw, an Israeli military spokesperson said on Monday.

"We need to remain at those points at the moment to defend Israeli citizens, to make sure this process is complete and eventually hand it over to the Lebanese armed forces," military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told a briefing with reporters, adding that the move was in accordance with the mechanism of the ceasefire agreement.

(Reuters)

Far-right Israeli Minister of Settlements and National Missions, Orit Strook, warned ahead of the security cabinet meeting that she will resign if the war ends.

A member of the Religious Zionism party, Strook stated that such an outcome would mean “Israel gives up on subduing and destroying Hamas, and we will crash into a major disaster,� according to public broadcaster Kan.

“We will not remain in the government if that happens. The terrible mistake we made will have severe consequences for people’s lives due to the strengthening of Hamas,� she added

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he was "committed" to US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, which involves displacing more than two million inhabitants of the Palestinian territory.

"Just as I have committed to, on the day after the war in Gaza, there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority. I am committed to US President Trump's plan for the creation of a different Gaza," Netanyahu said in a statement.

Gaza's Ministry of Health has said that the bodies of 13 Palestinians have arrived to hospitals in the enclave over the past 24 hours, with nine being pulled out of the rubble and four being killed. 16 injuries were also recorded over the time period.

The Israeli army is preparing to withdraw from Lebanon tomorrow, the date of the end of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, according to an official speaking with the Times of Israel. 

"We intend to leave and fulfill the agreement", the official was quoted as saying, adding "and of course, enforcement will continue."

The official added however that Israel would continue with "determined enforcement", citing the killing of a Hamas commander on Monday as an example of said enforcement.

The Israeli military on Monday killed a Hamas leader in southern Lebanon's Sidon area, it said in a statement.

The army said Muhammad Shaheen was the head of the operations department of Hamas in Lebanon and that he had recently been involved in promoting "terrorist plots" with Iranian direction and funding from Lebanese territory against Israeli citizens.

An Israeli strike on a car in Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon targeted an official in the Palestinian militant group, two Lebanese security sources told Reuters earlier.

(Reuters)

A meeting of Arab leaders in Riyadh in response to US President Donald Trump's plan to take control of Gaza has been postponed till Friday and expanded, Arab diplomats said.

"The mini Arab summit in Riyadh has been postponed from Thursday to Friday, February 21," a Saudi source said, adding "it will include the leaders of the six Gulf Cooperation Council countries along with Egypt and Jordan to discuss Arab alternatives to Trump's plans in the Gaza Strip."

Three Arab states had been expected to attend the summit, whose postponement was confirmed by a second Arab diplomatic source.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday voiced concern that Israeli troops may not fully withdraw by a truce deadline the following day, saying the issue of Hezbollah's weapons was a matter for the Lebanese.

"We are afraid that a complete withdrawal will not be achieved tomorrow," Aoun said according to a statement from the presidency, adding that "the important thing is to achieve the Israeli withdrawal, and Hezbollah's weapons come as part of solutions the Lebanese agree on."

The United Nation's Population Fund (UNFPA) has said that "women [and] girls' lives in Gaza have been torn apart".

"Amid freezing temperatures, needs remain high for food, winter clothes, shelter & access to health," it said in a statement on X, adding "a lasting ceasefire [and] the continued support of the international community are critical to help them rebuild their lives."

Women & girls' lives in have been torn apart.

Amid freezing temperatures, needs remain high for food, winter clothes, shelter & access to health.

A lasting ceasefire & the continued support of the international community are critical to help them rebuild their lives.

— UNFPA Arab States (@UNFPA_ASRO)

An Israeli strike on a car in Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon on Monday targeted an official in the Palestinian militant group Hamas, two Lebanese security sources said.

Lebanon's state news agency said rescuers had extracted one body from the car but did not identify the victim.

Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike Monday on a vehicle in the southern city of Sidon killed one person, a day ahead of a deadline in a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"A body... was retrieved from the car that was targeted by the Israeli strike" in Sidon, "after firefighters extinguished the fire", the official National News Agency said.

Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike on Monday targeted a vehicle in the southern city of Sidon, on the eve of a withdrawal deadline under a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"An Israeli enemy drone targeted... a vehicle on the seaside highway" in Sidon, the official National News Agency said, adding that "information indicated that the driver was still inside".

Iran said on Monday that it will take part in this weekend's funeral of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah movement, with a senior delegation.

"We will participate in this ceremony at a high level," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told reporters, without specifying who would attend Sunday's ceremony in Beirut.

Iran has defended its nuclear programme and will not be hesitant to continue doing so, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Monday, a day after Israel and the US vowed to counter Iran's nuclear ambitions.

"Iran's peaceful nuclear programme is ongoing, and has been for the last three decades, based on Iran's rights as a member in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons... definitely we will not show any weakness in this regard," he said.

Israel and the United States are determined to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions and its influence in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday after meeting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem.

Rubio said: "Behind every terrorist group, behind every act of violence, behind every destabilising activity, behind everything that threatens peace and stability for the millions of people that call this region home, is Iran."

(Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed on Monday in Saudi Arabia, the second leg of his first Middle East tour since President Donald Trump took office, an AFP journalist said.

Rubio is due to hold talks with Saudi officials on Trump's proposal for a US takeover of Gaza.