The United States plans to build a $500 million military base near the Gaza border, according to Israeli officials. The base will house several thousand American and international soldiers tasked with “maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.” U.S. intelligence intercepts in late 2024 recorded Israeli officials discussing the use of Palestinians as human shields in Gaza tunnels suspected of containing explosives.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has ordered the complete closure of Galei Tzahal, better known as Israel Defense Forces Radio, with its last broadcast scheduled for March 1, 2026. It is a national public radio station that has been in operation for over 75 years, broadcasting programs in English and Hebrew and operated by the Israel Defense Forces, whose first broadcasts date back to September 24, 1950.
The closure follows criticism from both the left and right of the political spectrum in Israel in recent years, accusing Galei Tzahal of supporting the opposing faction. The latest accusations come from the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has accused the station of attacking the Israel Defense Forces and publicly criticizing the government’s actions during the Gaza war.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Times of Israel: “My trial harms both American and Israeli interests. I will not submit an official request for clemency if it means admitting my guilt.”
Reserve Forces General Yair Golan: “Jewish terrorists are coming out night after night to attack Palestinian property in the West Bank, and the police and Shin Bet must intervene to stop them. The lenient and encouraging way in which Ben-Gvir and Smotrich are handling the situation is leading to dangerous security consequences.”
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, these terrorists even have a name: “A new extremist settler group known as ‘Hilltop Youth’ has emerged, comprising dozens of settlers who have turned the Palestinian territories in the West Bank into a theater of terror.”
The Al-Quds Brigades claim to have found the body of one of the Israeli prisoners discovered during search and excavation operations in the areas controlled by the Israeli army south of Khan Yunis, and are completing the procedures for its handover in accordance with established protocols.
And now a look at the military scenario. Renewed bombing in Lebanese territory: artillery shelling targeted the western outskirts of the city of Mays al-Jabal, in the Hoshin area of southern Lebanon. Artillery strikes also targeted the outskirts of Hula. The town of Aitaroun, in the border area, was attacked. A wave of attacks was recorded on the Al-Litani River, damaging a park and cutting off the river. This park and the adjacent valley were searched several times by the Lebanese army, as directed by the Mechanism on Israeli orders, but found nothing and presented them with evidence. A car was targeted in the town of Toul, in Nabatieh.
Sirens are sounding again in the northern Gaza Strip, possibly due to an error in the interception system. Throughout the night, Gaza journalists documented controlled demolitions by the IDF in the Tufah neighborhood of Gaza City, as part of ongoing efforts to eliminate Hamas positions. The IDF continues to clear the Yellow Zone of terrorist buildings and infrastructure.
Palestinian sources report two Israeli airstrikes in the past few hours in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. The Civil Defense in the Gaza Strip warns: “With the approach of climate change and the arrival of low-pressure systems, we warn of the dangers faced by tens of thousands of displaced persons living in dilapidated tents in destroyed areas and homes in eastern Khan Yunis, on the outskirts of Rafah, and along the beach, lacking basic protection from the cold and rain. We call on stakeholders, emergency teams, and various institutions to increase their humanitarian intervention and intensify their efforts, despite limited capacities, to avert an imminent humanitarian catastrophe.”
The IDF assaulted the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah. Two youths were killed in Karmi Tsur while trying to throw Molotov cocktails at IDF troops in the Beit Ummar area, north of Hebro.
Palestinian sources complained: “The Israeli authorities are carrying out the largest wave of settlements in Jerusalem, building thousands of housing units and confiscating land to isolate Palestinian neighborhoods. This escalation aims to impose a new demographic reality, Judaizing the city and erasing its Arab identity.
A settler bulldozer attacked the Khallet al-Sedra gathering and closed the road connecting Khallet to the town of Mikhmas, northeast of Jerusalem. The IDF demolished the “Kamel” car dealership near the Arraba station, southwest of Jenin. At dawn today, settler militias attacked and burned greenhouses in the Khallat al-Luz area, east of Bethlehem.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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