Posted by: John Phoenix
Ceasefire Day 28
Palestinians walk amid in the rubble of houses in Khan Younis, Gaza on February 17, 2025. (Abed Rahim Khatib – Anadolu Agency )
Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
Gaza’s hospitals lost 40% of their kidney patients, says head of Al-Shifa
Gaza’s hospitals have lost 40 per cent of their kidney patients due to the shortage of medical supplies, the director of Al-Shifa Hospital has confirmed.
“There are only three intensive care beds for [kidney] patients in the northern Gaza Strip, in addition to only 20 dialysis machines, despite the return of hundreds of thousands of displaced people from the southern governorates to the north of the Strip since the ceasefire started,” explained Dr Mohamed Abu Salmiya on Sunday. “Moreover, many patients in intensive care and premature babies are dying due to the shortage of oxygen cylinders.”
The Palestinian Information Centre reported that Abu Salmiya warned that Israel is persisting in disrupting the humanitarian protocol of the ceasefire agreement. He stressed the need to provide Gaza’s hospitals with medicines, medical equipment and disposables.
The hospitals also suffer from a severe shortage of oxygen because the Israeli occupation army has destroyed 10 central oxygen stations in its genocidal war since October, 2023.
Only 30% of expected aid trucks entered Gaza in past 2 days: Media office
The number of aid trucks entering Gaza over the past two days has not exceeded 30% of the expected volume, the Gaza Media Office said Sunday, citing Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian supplies.
Gaza received fewer than 180 trucks, far below the daily quota of 600 set under a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, according to the office’s statement.
Israel announces army agency for ‘voluntary departure’ of Gazans
Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz says a special directorate will be established for the “voluntary departure” of Gazan residents.
The announcement comes after Israel reiterated its commitment to a US proposal to take over the Palestinian territory and expel about two million of its inhabitants.
“Defense Minister Israel Katz held a meeting Monday on the voluntary departure of Gaza residents, at the end of which he decided that a directorate for the voluntary departure of Gaza residents would be established within the ministry of defense,” a statement said.
NOTE: There is nothing “voluntary” about the Trump’s scheme for removal of Gazans from their homeland. Forced population transfer is a crime against humanity, and a form of ethnic cleansing. If world leaders truly want to offer Gazans a good life outside Gaza, the just solution would be to return them to their homes in historic Palestine.
RELATED: Leaked New York Times Memo Tells Journalists To Avoid Words “Genocide,” “Ethnic Cleansing,” and “Occupied Territory”
Forced displacement of Palestinians from occupied West Bank ‘largest since 1967’
The mass displacement carried out by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank is the largest since 1967, according to experts cited by the New York Times (NYT) on 17 February.
“What makes this moment unprecedented is not only the scale of the displacement but also the accompanying discourse, which increasingly normalizes the idea of permanent forced displacement,” said Maha Nassar, a Palestinian historian at the University of Arizona.
“This represents a significant escalation in the longstanding conflict, one that threatens to fundamentally alter the political and demographic landscape of the region,” she went on to say.
At least 55 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli army began its operations in the occupied West Bank last month – which were kicked off by a massive assault on Jenin and its refugee camp that remains ongoing.
The operation quickly expanded to include other cities and towns, including Tulkarem, Tubas, and Nablus.
40,000 Palestinians have recently been displaced from the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have been destroying houses and wiping out infrastructure. Homes that have not been destroyed are being emptied out, taken over by occupation forces, and transformed into military posts.
The UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) warned last week that the forced expulsion of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is “escalating at an alarming pace.”
A spokesperson for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) said, “Repeated and destructive operations have rendered the northern refugee camps uninhabitable, trapping residents in cyclical displacement.”
Smotrich orders seizure of $90M in Palestinian funds to benefit Israeli settlers
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich signed an order on 17 February to seize NIS 320 million ($90 million) in Palestinian tax funds to use as compensation for families of Israelis affected by the war.
“There is no more moral and just signature than to prevent the Palestinian Authority from funding terrorism and to garnish its funds for the benefit of the families of terror victims.
“This is a necessary step in our national struggle against terrorism and against the Palestinian Authority that encourages it,” Smotrich stated.
In August, the finance minister confiscated NIS 100 million (nearly $27 million) from the PA in Ramallah, accusing it of supporting “terrorism.”
NOTE: The Palestinian Authority is widely seen as a collaborator with, or subcontractor for the Israeli occupation, and recently rescinded its long-standing program of payment to the families of its fallen and imprisoned resistance fighters, and cracked down on armed groups in the West Bank, in order to curry favor with Israel and the US. Smotrich’s accusation lacks credibility and amounts to economic collective punishment.
RELATED: The Legitimacy of Family Compensation for Palestinians Killed, Injured, and Imprisoned
Israel approves construction of 1,000 new settler homes in the West Bank
Israel has announced plans to build nearly 1,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, according to an anti-settlement watchdog, further entrenching its illegal occupation.
Peace Now reports that the construction of 974 housing units in the Efrat settlement, south of Jerusalem, would expand its population by 40 percent and obstruct the growth of the nearby Palestinian city of Bethlehem. Hagit Ofran, who monitors settlements for the group, warns that while construction is still at the tender stage, it could begin within a year once permits are secured.
The group, which advocates for a negotiated two-state solution, accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of aggressively advancing settlement expansion while global attention is focused elsewhere.
“While the people of Israel [set] their sights on the release of the hostages and an end to the war, the Netanyahu government is operating ‘on steroids’ to establish facts on the ground that will destroy the chance for peace and compromise,” Peace Now said in a statement.
NOTE: Israel has illegally built around 280 settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which are home to more than 700,000 illegal settlers. Israeli settlements and settlers on Palestinian land are a violation of international law, and considered by many Palestinians to be the main barrier to any lasting peace agreement.
Some settler groups, moreover, have a history of violence against Palestinians, often with the assistance of Israeli military forces.
In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, 2024, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
MORE NEWS:
Anadolu Agency: US secretary of state claims more ‘Israels’ in Middle East would make world ‘safer’
Middle East Eye: The Palestinians adopting Gaza babies with missing parents
Electronic Intifada: “Bombs Away” bigot Randy Fine is likely to join the US Congress
IMEMC Daily Reports
Over the past two days, only 30% of expected aid trucks have entered Gaza, with fewer than 180 trucks arriving, far below the daily quota of 600 Gaza Media Office cites Israeli restrictions on the entry of humanitarian supplies http://v.aa.com.tr/3484100
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – FEBRUARY 17, 2025 (ongoing count):
At least 63,319 Palestinians killed, 118,722 injured – including:
- at least 62,403 killed in Gaza (~20,600 children)
- at least 916 killed in the West Bank (~180 children)
- at least 111,722 injured in Gaza
- at least 7,000 injured in the West Bank
WAR STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 (Hamas attack) – JANUARY 19, 2025 (Ceasefire):
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 19, 2025: at least 48,143 – including at least 47,283 in Gaza (~20,600 children), and 916 in the West Bank (~183 children). Palestinian injuries: at least 118,472 – including at least 111,629 in Gaza, and 7,000 in the West Bank.
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 19, 2025: ~1,616 (or 1,590) – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 436 (or 405) military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
At least 73,355 Palestinians and 2,962 Israelis have been killed by someone from the other side since 2000.
https://israelpalestinetimeline.org/death-chart-650px/Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org
- Human rights reports on Israel-Palestine (regularly updated)
- Interview: ‘Not A Far-Off Goal’ – Salman Abu-Sitta on the Right of Return
- Israeli soldiers used an 80-year-old Gazan as a human shield. Then they killed him.
- Gideon Levy: If Anyone Should ‘Not Forget nor Forgive,’ It’s the Palestinians
- Columbia network pushing to deport and arrest student protesters
- Explosive Remnants in Gaza Cause Dozens of Casualties
- Ex-AIPAC Staffer: ‘I Woke Up to What Israel Was’
- Chas Freeman: Israel Lobby tactics plumb the depths of dishonor & indecency
- The long walk home to northern Gaza
- Released From Detention, Owners of East Jerusalem Bookstore Still Don’t Know Why They Were Arrested
- Counting the Victims of Israel’s War on Gaza Is Low on Media’s Priority List
- Israel sees terrorism in books – even coloring books, arrests Palestinian bookshop owners
- Shocking testimony: Torture in Israeli prisons, “sexual assaults even using dogs”
- Israel Just Killed a Pregnant Palestinian Woman – And Western Media Doesn’t Care
- I starred in a Super Bowl ad on Black, Jewish partnership. But Israel divided us. | Opinion
- The real reason Israel is banning UNRWA, and what it means for millions of Palestinian refugees
- Marvel heads revealed to be closely connected to Israeli intelligence
- Tom Brady & Snoop Dogg’s Super Bowl Ad Isn’t What You Think—Here’s Who’s Behind It
- A third option for Gazans: Return to their original land
- Six minutes to flee.