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US President Donald Trump has stated that Israel will determine the next steps in the Gaza ceasefire, but only after consulting with him. Speaking to reporters in Daytona, Florida, Trump was asked about the ongoing truce and whether the US would continue to support Israel’s actions in Gaza. He responded that it was up to Israel, but emphasised his role in the process, stating that any decisions would be made in consultation with him.

Trump was also asked about his administration’s decision to send heavy munitions, including MK-84 bombs, to Israel despite the fragile ceasefire. Trump defended his stance, arguing for "peace through strength" and criticised the Biden administration for not delivering the weapons earlier, despite Israel’s prior contract for the munitions. 

In a related development, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reaffirmed his unwavering support for Israel’s military actions, stating that Hamas must be "eradicated". This endorsement aligns with the US’s continued backing of Israel amid mounting tensions in Gaza.

Israel has escalated its use of indefinite detention against Palestinians, with over 3,000 held without charge or trial, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has said.  

Milena Ansari, an HRW researcher on Israel and Palestine, told Al Jazeera that 3,369 Palestinians are under administrative detention, with no formal charges or trial.  

Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, the number of detainees under Israel’s "combat law" has surged from 10 to 1,800. Ansari condemned the practice as unlawful, calling it a blatant violation of detainees’ rights.

Israel has received a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs from the United States, after US President Donald Trump lifted a block imposed on the export of the munitions by the administration of predecessor Joe Biden, the defence ministry said on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said he lifted a Biden-era block on the export of the bombs to Israel despite a ceasefire agreement being in place because he believed in "peace through strength."

"They contracted for the weapons a long time ago with the Biden administration, and then Biden wouldn't deliver the weapons. But I look at it differently. I say, 'peace through strength,'" Trump told reporters after returning to West Palm Beach, Florida, after a short trip to Daytona Beach. "They were sitting there. Nobody knew what to do with them. They bought them."

The MK-84 is an unguided 2,000-pound (907-kg) bomb, which can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.

The Biden administration declined to clear them for export to Israel out of concern about the impact on densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has dismissed former US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to relocate Gaza’s 2 million residents and rebuild the war-ravaged enclave under American control.  

"We strongly oppose such proposals," Fidan told TRT World in Munich, reaffirming Ankara’s commitment to a regional solution.  

Fidan also condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for stalling the next phase of the ceasefire, warning that only sustained US pressure could prevent further escalation in Gaza. He emphasised Turkey's ongoing coordination with Arab partners on Gaza’s future.

Israeli forces shot and killed a woman in southern Lebanon’s Hula as tensions rise ahead of a Hezbollah truce deadline.

Lebanese media reported the fatal gunfire came after residents entered the border town. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel would take action to enforce the ceasefire and urged Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, unrest has gripped Lebanon following a government move to block Iranian flights from landing in Beirut, with Hezbollah supporters attacking a UN peacekeeper convoy during protests.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Hamas of "sick depravity" for retaining the bodies of captives in Gaza, urging the immediate return of all abductees.

He specifically called for the release of Israeli-American Edan Alexander and the remains of four Israeli-Americans. Rubio warned Hamas leaders they are "playing with fire" and urged international pressure for their release.

Meanwhile, Israel has also been criticised for withholding Palestinian bodies, often returning them without full identification details, raising further tensions over the handling of war casualties.

Israeli soldiers arrested multiple Palestinian men and subjected them to interrogation in the centre of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

It comes after Israel’s army launched a major assault in the Jenin area, dubbed the “Iron Wall”, after a ceasefire was declared in Gaza last month.

Egyptian officials expressed their frustrations with Israel's handling of the Gaza ceasefire during a meeting between officials from the countries on Saturday, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported.

������'s Arabic-language sister site said that the discontent in Cairo came to a head after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to allow the entry of temporary houses and heavy equipment to Gaza.

Hamas had previously threatened to postpone the release of the sixth batch of Israeli captives on Saturday, citing Israeli violations of the ceasefire deal mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar.

The Palestinian group went ahead with the captive release, after which Israel was due to allow the entry of heavy equipment and temporary dwellings.

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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has reaffirmed Beijing’s support for a two-state solution, calling Palestine the "core of the Middle East issue".

Speaking with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar at the Munich Security Conference, Wang stressed that ending Gaza’s humanitarian crisis is urgent.

He argued that implementing the two-state solution would enable "peaceful coexistence" between Palestinians and Israelis while fostering Arab-Jewish ties.

China, he added, remains committed to "upholding justice" and playing a "constructive role" in securing a lasting resolution to the Palestinian issue.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Gazans should be given the choice to leave the enclave if they wanted to.

Speaking at an event in Jerusalem, he said that U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza was "right on the dot".

Israeli warplanes launched multiple airstrikes on Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley earlier today.  

Verified footage shared online shows flames and thick smoke rising over Harabta, one of three targeted areas.  

Despite the ceasefire agreement reached in November, Israel has repeatedly carried out attacks on Lebanese territory.

عاجل | غارة اسرائيلية على في

— Al Modon - المدن (@almodononline)

Sagui is home! American Sagui Dekel Chen and two more hostages were released by Hamas in Gaza thanks to ' strength and leadership. STAY STRONG EDAN - we will have you home soon!

— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to escalate military action in Gaza should Israeli captives not be freed, warning that the "gates of Hell" would be opened if all hostages are not returned.  

Speaking alongside US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his first official visit to Israel, Netanyahu said Israel was working in "full" coordination with Washington on its Gaza strategy.  

"We have a common strategy, and we can’t always share its details with the public—including when the gates of Hell would be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released, until the last one of them," he said.

The Israeli military has confirmed that its fighter jets struck military sites in eastern Lebanon, targeting rocket launchers and weapons depots allegedly linked to Hezbollah.  

The strikes come just days before a key deadline for the implementation of a ceasefire agreement that ended last November’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Under the deal, Israel is required to fully withdraw from Lebanese territory by 18 February, while Hezbollah has agreed to pull back beyond the Litani River in southern Lebanon.  

Tensions have been rising in the lead-up to the deadline, with Israel insisting on maintaining a presence in five southern Lebanese locations— a demand backed by the US but firmly rejected by Lebanese authorities.

A riot has broken out at Israel’s Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli reports.

The Israel Prison Service confirmed the ongoing unrest, stating that officers had used force to enter prisoners’ cells.  

Ofer Prison has been at the centre of scrutiny in recent months, with hundreds of Palestinian detainees released under the Gaza ceasefire deal recounting harsh treatment and dire conditions inside the facility.  

Munthir Amira, a Palestinian political activist from the occupied West Bank who was recently detained at Ofer, described routine physical abuse by prison guards. He said detainees were often beaten arbitrarily as a form of punishment. 

Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said Sunday that Lebanon's government was responsible for making Israel honour a withdrawal deadline under a fragile ceasefire agreement, while also blaming Israel for a stoppage on flights from Iran.

"It is the responsibility of the Lebanese state... to make Israel withdraw on February 18," Qassem said in a televised address, adding that the government's decision to halt flights from Iran was "implementing an Israeli order". He also called for broad participation in the 23 February funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as a show of the party's strength.

 An Israeli negotiating team will fly to Cairo on Monday to discuss continuing the implementation of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said on Sunday.

(Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold a meeting of the security cabinet on Monday to discuss the second phase of the ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal, his office said.

Netanyahu informed US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, about the meeting, the office said in a statement on Sunday, adding that "he will convene the security cabinet meeting tomorrow to discuss the second phase of the agreement".

French President Emmanuel Macron called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas  to discuss the ongoing situation in the occupied Palestinian Territories including Gaza and the West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

According to the report, France is participating with Saudi Arabia to to organise an international peace conference in June on the issue.

US Middle envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that talks on phase two of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas would continue this week "at a location to be determined" to figure out how to reach a successful conclusion.

He told Fox News that he had "very productive and constructive" calls on Sunday with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt's director of intelligence.

Witkoff said they spoke about "the sequencing of phase two, setting forth positions on both sides, so we can understand... where we are today, and then continuing talks this week at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of phase two successfully."

(Reuters)

Hamas said an Israeli air strike that killed three of its policemen Sunday near the southern Gaza city of Rafah constitutes "a serious violation" of the ceasefire in effect since 19 January in the Palestinian territory.

"The treacherous firing carried out by a Zionist drone this morning east of Rafah city, targeting police elements tasked with securing the entry of aid... is considered a serious violation of the ceasefire agreement", the Palestinian Islamist movement said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday Israel would "finish the job" against Iran with US support, during a Jerusalem news conference with visiting Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"Over the last 16 months, Israel has dealt a mighty blow to Iran's terror axis. Under the strong leadership of President (Donald) Trump and with your unflinching support, I have no doubt that we can and will finish the job," Netanyahu said.

Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said he hopes that the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza could begin within, according to Haaretz citing an interview Smotrich gave with Israel's Channel 12.

Smotrich said that preparations for the plans were already underway alongside the Trump administration in the US. 

Lebanese aviation officials have told Iran that Iranian flights to Beirut are suspended until Tuesday, Hossein Pourfarzaneh, head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization, was quoted as saying on Sunday by the Iranian state news agency IRNA.

(Reuters)

The United States will keep a close watch on Syria, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday during a press briefing with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

"While the fall of Assad is certainly promising and important, Syria replacing one destabilising force for another is not a positive development, and that is something that we will watch very carefully," the top US diplomat said, referring to the December toppling of president Bashar al-Assad by Islamist-led rebels.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to "open the gates of hell" in Gaza if Palestinian militants do not return all hostages held in the territory.

"We have a common strategy, and we can't always share the details of this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not released until the last one," Netanyahu said in a joint statement with visiting US top diplomat Marco Rubio, adding: "We will eliminate Hamas's military capability and its political rule in Gaza."

Lebanese official media said Israeli forces killed a woman in a south Lebanon border town on Sunday as residents sought to return to home, two days ahead of an Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire deadline.

Israeli "occupation forces shot in the direction of Hula neighbourhoods after residents entered", the official National News Agency (NNA) said, "leading to the death of a woman and the wounding of other people", adding that "three citizens were kidnapped by Israeli forces in the town".

Gaza's Ministry of Health has said that in the last 48 hours it has received the bodies of six people who were pulled out o the rubble, meaning its death toll since the start of the war has risen to 48,271 people killed.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told the head of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder on Sunday that the establishment of a Palestinian state is "the only guarantee" for lasting peace in the Middle East.

During his meeting with Lauder in Cairo on Sunday, Sisi called for starting the reconstruction of war-battered Gaza "without displacing its residents from their land", according to a statement from his office.

The Egyptian leader's remarks come as Arab countries are scrambling to come up with an alternative to a controversial plan floated by US President Donald Trump to take over Gaza, redevelop the coastal territory and turn it into the "Riviera of the Middle East".

Trump's proposal envisages permanently displacing Palestinians from Gaza elsewhere, including Egypt and Jordan, drawing widespread condemnation from Arab and world leaders.

"The establishment of a Palestinian state... is the only guarantee to achieve lasting peace," Sisi told Lauder on Sunday.

According to the Egyptian presidency statement, Lauder praised Egypt's "wise efforts" to restore stability in the region.

The leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are set to met in Riyadh on Thursday to discuss Trump's proposal, ahead of an emergency Arab League summit in Cairo a week later to discuss the same issue.

Seven Palestinians have been wounded by Israeli fire during a raid on Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera citing the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Two of those injured suffered moderate to serious injuries, the report said.

The chief of Amnesty International, Agnes Callamard, issued her support to the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor Karim Khan following the placement of US sanctions on him.

"I met with ICC Prosecutor [Karim Khan] at the Munich Security Conference. I reaffirmed [Amnesty International's] full support and commitment to a strong and independent ICC and its Prosecutor," she said in a post on X.

"[Amnesty] calls on States around the world to rise and reject firmly the US sanctions," she added.

I met with Prosecutor at the Munich Security Conference. I reaffirmed ⁦⁩ full support and commitment to a strong and independent ICC and its Prosecutor. ⁦⁩ calls on States around the world to rise and reject firmly the US sanctions.

— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard)

20 ultra-Orthodox Israelis were detained by the Israeli army and handed over to police after entering Lebanon, according to a report from the Times of Israel.

The men were reportedly attempting to reach the tomb of Rav Ashi, and could face up to four years in prison.

The outgoing head of the Israeli military, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, will travel to the United States on an official visit from 17-20 February, the Israeli military said on Sunday.

Halevi, who is due to step down on 6 March, will meet senior US commanders "to discuss key strategic and operational issues," the statement said.

(Reuters)

Top US diplomat Marco Rubio arrived for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office in Jerusalem on Sunday, as he launched his first Middle East tour, an AFP journalist reported.

On his visit to the region, Rubio is expected to push US President Donald Trump's widely condemned proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip and relocate its more than two million residents.

Hezbollah on Sunday condemned an attack on a United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) convoy in Beirut on Friday which UNIFIL said had injured the force's outgoing deputy commander.

Lebanese authorities have detained more than 25 people as part of an investigation into the attack, which the U.S State Department said was carried out "reportedly by a group of Hezbollah supporters".

In Sunday's statement, the Iran-backed militant group expressed firm rejection to any targeting of UNIFIL forces.

Meanwhile the group also urged the Lebanese government to reverse a decision blocking Iranian flights from landing in Beirut, following US warnings.

The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it "demands that the government reverse its decision to ban Iranian planes from landing at Beirut airport and take serious measures to prevent the Israeli enemy from imposing its dictates", after the United States warned Israel might strike the airport.

(Reuters & Agencies)

Israel's defence ministry said Sunday that a shipment of "heavy" US-made bombs arrived overnight in Israel.

"A shipment of heavy aerial bombs recently released by the US government was received and unloaded overnight in Israel," the ministry said in a statement, referring to MK-84 munitions recently authorised by President Donald Trump's administration.

"The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel, released by the Trump administration, represents a significant asset for the air force and the [military] and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States," Defence Minister Israel Katz said in the statement.

The Trump administration had earlier in February approved the sale of more than $7.4 billion in bombs, missiles and related equipment to Israel.

The sale "improves Israel's capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defence, and serves as a deterrent to regional threats", the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said at the time.

An Israeli airstrike killed three policemen east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday, the enclave's interior ministry said, calling it a breach of the fragile 19 January ceasefire.

It said the policemen were deployed in the area to secure the entry of aid trucks into Gaza.

"The ministry...condemns this crime and calls upon the mediators and the international community to compel the occupation to stop targeting the police force, which is a civil apparatus," the ministry said in a statement.

The Israeli military said the strike targeted several armed individuals who were moving toward forces deployed near the area and "hits were identified".

It called on all residents of Gaza to adhere to army instructions and refrain from approaching Israeli troops deployed in the area.

(Reuters)