The White House reports that President Trump has presented his plan on Gaza and is awaiting the plan of Arab leaders. The US military said that two B-52H bombers practiced refueling and dropping munitions in the skies of the Middle East on February 17.
Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich has again issued his threats to Hamas: “They must release all prisoners and hand over Gaza to other countries. If they do not do so, we will open hell. Either we force Hamas to submit, or they will force us to do so. The battle in the north was supposed to end with the crushing of Hezbollah and the deprivation of its ability to harm the population of the north. The enemy must not be given time to recover from the heavy blows received. The absolute victory is the destruction of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held security consultations on the evening of February 18 to discuss the situation in Syria. The Israeli presence appears to be expanding. According to Palestinian studies researcher Michael Milstein: “We must be convinced that the chances of dismantling and disarming Hamas are almost non-existent. The belief that the movement will leave Gaza or dissolve is just an illusion that we must abandon.”
Hamas announced on February 19 that it would simultaneously release all remaining Israeli hostages as part of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement, Al Jazeera reports. The agreement also includes a permanent truce and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip. Israel has officially confirmed that it will start negotiations for the second phase of the agreement and a ceasefire. Israeli journalist Amit Segal: “Officially… Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will lead the negotiations on the agreement.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz has formed a department responsible for the plans to evacuate Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and has entrusted its responsibility to Ofer Venter, former commander of the Givati Brigade. Winter is considered one of the most important officers in the Israeli army who calls for the extermination of Palestinians. He has the support of the religious Zionist movement and used biblical phrases during his leadership of the “Givati” Brigade in the aggression against Gaza in 2014.
Tensions are also rising in Lebanon. Khaajya Minister Youssef Raji for LBCI: “US Ambassador Lisa Johnson informed me that US military aid to the Lebanese Army will not stop and will be increased”. Contradicting what President Donald Trump had said. The Lebanese President, during his term in office, recognized that the Shebaa Farms are Lebanese and under Israeli occupation. The French Foreign Ministry: “We emphasize the need for the complete withdrawal of the Israeli Army from Lebanese territory as soon as possible, in accordance with the ceasefire agreement”.
President Joseph Aoun to the delegation of Arab ambassadors: “What is happening in the region does not have repercussions limited to the Palestinian people, but rather concerns all Arab countries. The current challenges cannot be addressed except through a unified Arab position”. In Lebanon, the people of Hezbollah are preparing to welcome Hashem Safi’s body in the city of Deir Qanun al-Nahr Al-Din, awaiting the funeral scheduled for February 23.
In the late evening of February 18, the Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Aerospace Force said: “the enemies do not seek war with us because the entire region will catch fire.” Also from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps comes the news of the discovery of a network of Israeli-American agents in Mazandaran, in the north of the country that has been blocked.
Bruce Riedel, former senior intelligence analyst for the CIA, for Drop Site News. Classifying the “Houthis” as a “terrorist organization” is an unrealistic and unattainable goal, and years of bombing by the Saudis, Israelis, Americans and British have failed to eliminate the capabilities of the “Houthis”. “The Saudis want to avoid war with the Houthis”.
And now a look at the military scenarios updated at 16:00 on February 19.
In Syria, artillery shelling by the Israeli army against the Yarmouk valley, west of Daraa, was recorded. Satellite images reveal seven new outposts of the Israeli army in Syria. The new sites are equipped with accommodation and command centers and aim to strengthen an indefinite Israeli presence in Syria. They are located all along the buffer zone, from Syria’s Mount Hermon, all the way south to the tri-border area with Jordan: Mount Hermon, Hader, Jubata al-Khashab, Al-Hamidiyah, Quneitra, Al-Qahtaniyah and Tel Kudna. They aim to serve as “operational hubs for troops” in Syria as part of a reorganization of the Israeli presence in the south of the country, Haaretz said. The sites include shelters, command centers, clinics, toilets and showers. Three army brigades currently operate on Syrian soil, including the 210th, an increase from the 1.5 battalions stationed in the occupied Golan Heights before October 7, 2023, army radio added. Israeli forces have recently seized valuable water sources such as the Al-Wahda Dam on the Yarmouk River basin and others.
Hundreds of Israeli air strikes also destroyed former Syrian army air and naval bases, as well as aircraft, air defense systems and missile depots.
“The IDF will remain atop Hermon and in the security zone indefinitely to ensure the safety of the communities in the Golan Heights and the north, and all residents of Israel,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said late last month during a visit to the occupied Syrian territory.
In Lebanon in the town of Aasaysit, the IDF controls part of the roads leading to the Lebanese border wall. The Lebanese army withdraws after deploying to Al-Hadab and Ruwaisat Al-Alam, on the outskirts of Aita Al-Shaab, due to IDF combing and sniping operations.
The IDF said in a statement: “We continue to temporarily control the points in southern Lebanon in order to strengthen our defense efforts in the region. We are determined to implement all the terms of the agreement and dismantle the remaining Hezbollah structures south of the Litani. We are committed to the terms of the agreement and will work to counter any attempt to circumvent or violate it.”
Lebanese sources reported that the IDF is still in the Five New Points (bases), the city of Ghajar, the Shebaa Farms, the Kfarshouba Hills and the 13 disputed points on the Blue Line: an area of 485,039 square meters.
On February 19, Israeli air strike on the border town of Aita al-Shaab. One casualty reported. Israeli soldiers launched sound bombs after exiting the border fence through one of the gates to terrorize residents of the town of Kfar Kila. They have just created a buffer zone of a few meters. An Israeli bulldozer advanced from the Maskaf Am settlement toward Khallet al-Mahafer, reaching near the destroyed gendarmerie station near the town square, and raised an earthen barrier that blocked the road to Khallet, which includes a large number of civilian homes.
IDF checkpoints and control on the Markaba-Houla road, the IDF already has the al-Abad base in the Israeli area.
602 Palestinian prisoners will be released next Saturday, including 157 prisoners sentenced to life and serious sentences, and 445 prisoners from Gaza. The Israeli army intends to bring a forensic team into the Gaza Strip after receiving the bodies of 4 prisoners. IDF vehicles stationed along the Salah al-Din “Philadelphia” axis fired at homes in the southern Gaza Strip, the bodies of the Bibas family kidnapped on October 7 and killed by Israeli bombings are expected to return. According to Israeli sources and confirmed by Palestinian sources, preparations are underway for the resumption of fighting in Gaza due to the difficulty of assessing the chances of success of the second phase of negotiations.
Three young men arrested by the IDF in the Beit Falouh area, east of Bethlehem. Arrests recorded in i Tuqu’, southeast of Bethlehem. IDF raids continue in the town of Kafr Qalil, east of Nablus, breaking into numerous homes.
The IDF stormed the town of Maithloun, Jenin district, arresting young Mahmoud Firas Dalouf from inside the town. 29 days after the attacks on Jenin and its camp, the destruction of homes continues. In the afternoon, the arrest of two young people was recorded. Clashes between resistance fighters and authorities in the eastern neighborhood of Jenin. Land confiscations have begun in Jenin in the city of Arraba, also approved by the authority of Mahmoud Abbas.
The IDF stormed the suburb of Dhanaba, east of Tulkarm. Ten days after the attack on the Nour Shams camp in Tulkarm, the IDF continues to destroy homes: In the camp, demolitions are underway on homes in the neighborhoods of Al-Manshiya, Al-Jamea, Al-Joura, Al-Shuhada and schools, and entrances to homes and shops are closed The file is only visible if previously downloaded. Those who access it now do not see it, neither article nor file, we have asked external parties.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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