Senior doctors report enduring months of physical abuse as the UN urges the release of those still in detention. | At least 160 healthcare workers from Gaza, including over 20 doctors, remain in Israeli detention, as the World Health Organization (WHO) voiced grave concerns over their safety and well-being. ● Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), a Palestinian medical NGO, reported that 162 medical staff are still being held, among them some of Gaza’s most senior physicians, while another 24 remain missing after being abducted from hospitals during the war. ● Muath Alser, HWW’s director, condemned the mass detention of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other medical personnel as a violation of international law, emphasizing that it exacerbates civilian suffering by depriving them of critical medical care.

■ US bypassing law to fund 'Israel' despite rights abuses, lawsuit says (Al Mayadeen)
⚡ WELCOME TO HELL: The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps (B'Tselem)
■ Horrendous photos from Megiddo Concentration Camp (10/14/24)
■ 1,200 Palestinians endure systematic torture in Israeli prisons (09/26/24)
■ 'Everyone was naked and bleeding': Israeli torture of Palestinians exposed (08/07/24)
■ 'Israel' used waterboarding, unleashed dogs on Gaza detainees: UN (08/02/24 )
■ Israeli lawmaker defends anal rape of Palestinian captives (08/01/24)
■ Mohammad Al-Sabbar 8th Palestinian Detainee Martyred behind ‘Israeli’ Bars since Oct.7 (02/09/24)

Hamza Yusuf | Journalists from five British media outlets have criticised the way their own organisations cover Israel-Palestine. | Journalists working at Britain’s most prestigious newspapers and TV channels have expressed concern at pro-Israel bias inside their organisations. Speaking exclusively to Declassified, half a dozen current and former staff at the BBC, Sky, ITN, the Guardian and the Times have disclosed the extent of anti-Palestinian prejudice in their newsrooms.

The MK-84 bombs, produced by Boeing, have been a controversial weapon due to their wide blast radius and devastating impact when used in urban settings. | A shipment of 1,600 MK-84 heavy munitions, each weighing 2,000 pounds, has arrived in Israel from the United States following a reversal of an arms freeze by the Trump administration. The delivery, which was swiftly transported to Israeli Air Force bases, is part of Washington’s ongoing and uncritical military support for Israel, despite international concerns over civilian casualties in Gaza and the broader humanitarian impact of explosive weapons in populated areas.

■ APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE IN THE GAZA STRIP (ORDER OF 26 JANUARY 2024) (.pdf) + APPLICATION INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS (.pdf)
■ THE EXPRESSION OF HATRED FOR GENTILES (Richard Edmondson/Nahida Izzat) (10/04/14)

🚨 Statement from Ahmed Al-Qudra, Director of the Prisoners’ Media Office: The severe condition In which the prisoners are released exposes the scale of crimes and violations inside prisons, as the marks of torture and oppression are evident on their bodies. This demands a firm… pic.twitter.com/GiUX701g37

— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) February 15, 2025

The Palestinian Resistance handed over three Israeli captives in Khan Younis, with Resistance fighters from the al-Qassam Brigades and al-Quds Brigades present, clad in military gear. Meanwhile, 369 Palestinian detainees are set to be liberated. | The Palestinian Resistance released three Israeli prisoners—Alexander Tropanov, Sagi Dekel Chen, and Yair Horn—in Khan Yunis on Saturday, located in the southern Gaza Strip. This release is part of the sixth batch in the prisoner exchange process outlined in the ceasefire agreement. ● The event saw hundreds of fighters from the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and the al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad, stationed in the square where the captives were released. ● At the prisoner handover site, the Resistance showcased around ten different weapons captured from the Israeli occupation during the battles, as reported by Al Mayadeen’s correspondent in Khan Younis.

■ Freed but Scarred: Palestinian Prisoners Expose Occupation’s Brutality (Palestinian Chronicle)
■ Hamas expects new round of indirect ceasefire talks with 'Israel' (Al Mayadeen)

This song goes out to young people all over the world who have been leading the way in defending the dignity of humanity over this past year. Website: https://www.mistahi.com

Michael Lesher | Because here’s the thing: Israeli soldiers captured during a military operation – one launched, please remember, by the victims of Israel’s brutal, decades-long occupation and the criminal blockade that has crippled Gaza since 2007 – are not “hostages.” They are captured soldiers who (in my view) are lucky not to have been put on trial for complicity in crimes against humanity. | Dear fellow religiously-observant Jews, I have a request to make of all of you. ● Please, please – in the name of minimal decency – spare me another round of weepy propaganda over the release of some Israeli captives formerly held by inmates of the concentration camp you helped to create in Gaza. ● I cannot bear your misplaced sentimentality over the freed Israelis – many of whom actually wore their IDF uniforms as they left behind the ruins of what used to be Khan Younis – any more than I can tolerate your hypocrisy about the Israeli genocide you have applauded for over a year. [...] I am only asking you to begin to call things by their right names. Can you at least do that much – before making another sanctimonious speech? Before posting another self-pitying comment on Facebook about “our hostages”?

Israel and Hamas have accused each other of ceasefire violations amid a US ultimatum | US President Donald Trump has issued an ultimatum to Hamas, demanding the release of all remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza by midday Saturday, and warning that failure to comply would result in “all hell” breaking out. ● On Monday, Hamas threatened to halt the release of additional hostages, accusing Israel of violating the terms of the fragile ceasefire agreement by preventing displaced Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza, restricting the delivery of humanitarian aid, and delaying negotiations for the second phase of the deal. ● In response, Israel alleged that Hamas’s actions constituted a complete breach of the agreement, under which the militant group pledged to initially release 33 hostages in several batches in exchange for 1,904 Palestinian prisoners held by Israeli authorities.

Paul R. Pillar | Calling for the deportation of all Palestinians and takeover of the territory — and with US military assistance — may be bluster, but what if it's not? | President Trump’s most recent pronouncement about the Gaza Strip and the people who live there brings to mind Abraham Lincoln's definition of a hypocrite as a man who murders his parents and then pleads for mercy on grounds that he is an orphan. ■ Trump is correct in saying that the residents of Gaza are “living in hell.” But in the same breath he supports the policies and actions of the foreign state that has turned the Gaza Strip into hell. Trump is comfortable with the United States helping Israel to “murder” the Gaza Strip — and is increasing the supply of weapons to do so — while pretending to be merciful and compassionate toward the remaining people of Gaza who so far have survived the Israeli onslaught but are suffering immensely. The hypocrisy only adds a further gloss to what already was morally indefensible support for ethnic cleansing.

The Palestinian Resistance will release three Israeli captives today as part of the fifth round of the ceasefire agreement, while 183 Palestinian "detainees" hostages will be liberated in return. | The fifth round of the prisoner-captive exchange deal began this Sunday morning, as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which facilitates the exchange of prisoners between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli occupation. As per the terms of the agreement, the Palestinian Resistance will release three Israeli captives: Eliyahu Datsun Yosef Sharabi, Or Avraham Lisha Levyi, and Ohad Ben Ami.

■ Live blog: 183 Palestinians freed for 3 Israeli captives amid truce deal (TRT World)
■ Casualties from Israeli genocide near 160,000 in Gaza (Al Mayadeen)

Simplicius | Trump stunned the world today with his blithely unapologetic plans for the mass ethnic cleansing and terraforming of Gaza, after receiving a “golden pager” memento from a smirking Netanyahu—a more cretinous tableau could hardly be imagined | The amount of contradiction leaves one’s head spinning like a dreidel. “No one can live there, the place is hell,” a hangdog, puffy-eyed Trump explains, only moments before triumphantly declaring that the place will be turned into a casino-like ‘Levantine Riviera’ for “the people of the world”; might those be chosen people, mayhaps? ■ Trump argues that Palestinians deserve to live where they aren’t going to ignominiously “die”, so that’s why an artificial refugee camp—sorry, town—should be erected in Jordan, yet he forgets to mention that the man beside him is the reason those natives-to-the-land are ‘mysteriously’ dying in droves. ■ The whole press conference smacked of a surreal theater-of-the-absurd, like watching ‘cute’ Munchkins from the Land of Oz ravenously tear into a carcass with blood-soaked mouths.

✅ Video: “Wiping Gaza Off the Map”: Big Money Agenda. Confiscating Palestine’s Maritime Natural Gas Reserves (GR)

The White House said Palestinians would only be relocated 'temporarily' after Trump called for them to be removed permanently | On Wednesday, Trump administration officials defended the president’s surprise announcement on Tuesday night that he wants the US to “take over” and “own” the Gaza Strip but appeared to walk back some aspects of the plan. ● Trump made the announcement after calling for Palestinians to be removed from Gaza “permanently,” which would mean ethnic cleansing, although he later suggested some Palestinians could live there along with “people of the world” after it was rebuilt by the US. ● When asked for clarification on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, “They need to be temporarily relocated out of Gaza for the rebuilding.” She said the president had made it “very clear” that he expects Egypt and Jordan to take Palestinian refugees despite their strong opposition. ● Leavitt added that it was “evil” to expect Palestinians to live in Gaza under the current conditions, which were created by the US-backed Israeli bombing campaign and siege.

■ Israeli party leader calls Trump ‘messenger of God’ (RT)
■ US won’t finance Gaza reconstruction after proposed takeover – White House (RT)
■ Trump’s Gaza proposal for ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ sparks global condemnation (The Kathmandu Post)
■ Report: Jared Kushner Behind Trump’s Call for the US To ‘Take Over’ Gaza (Antiwar)
✅ Donald Trump’s Gaza Mirage (Larry C. Johnson)
✅ Video: “Wiping Gaza Off the Map”: Big Money Agenda. Confiscating Palestine’s Maritime Natural Gas Reserves (GR)

Murad Sadygzade | The US president has kicked off his new term with another ‘peace initiative’ that is really just a gift for Israel | Once again, US President Donald Trump has waded into the Palestinian issue, proposing radical solutions from a staunchly pro-Israel stance. The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on January 19, is set to last 42 days, during which both sides have committed to negotiating further steps towards a resolution. However, the US president expressed skepticism about its longevity, noting the scale of destruction in Gaza. ■ According to Trump, Gaza has been so thoroughly devastated that it needs to be rebuilt in an entirely different manner. He suggested that Arab nations such as Egypt and Jordan should take in more Palestinian refugees to help bring order to the region. During discussions with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Trump conveyed his desire for the kingdom to accommodate more people, describing the situation in Gaza as “a complete mess.” He also intends to raise the issue with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. ■ Trump views the relocation of Gaza’s residents to Arab countries as a temporary or even long-term solution. He believes it could offer Palestinians a “fresh start” and contribute to regional stability. However, official Jordanian sources, when commenting on his statement, did not mention the refugee issue – an omission that reflects the reception of Trump’s proposals in the Arab world.

■ Member of US Holocaust Memorial Council Says the People of Gaza Are ‘Collectively Guilty’ and Don’t Deserve Mercy

Israeli military analyst Amos Harel explains Benjamin Netanyahu's fantasy of a total victory in Gaza has vanished with the return of Palestinians to the north. | The scenes of Palestinians returning to northern Gaza through the Netzarim crossing "demolish the illusion of an absolute victory," Israeli media said, referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's vow of a total victory in Gaza. ● According to Haaretz's military analyst, Amos Harel, the Palestinians' return to northern Gaza and what remains of their homes on foot, particularly through the Netzarim route, asserts the end of the war between "Israel" and Hamas to a great extent. ● Footage of their return taken on Monday invalidates Benjamin Netanyahu and his backers' vow of a total victory in Gaza, Harel also added.

JOHN McEVOY | Two RAF surveillance planes have flown over the eastern Mediterranean during the ceasefire, as campaigners demand inquiry into UK intelligence sharing with Israel. | Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) has dispatched two surveillance planes towards Gaza since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began, Declassified can reveal. Both flights took place while hostages were in the process of being exchanged. ■ The Foreign Office says the surveillance aircraft are “unarmed” and “tasked solely to locate hostages”, raising serious questions about why spy planes are still being sent to the region while hostages are being released. ■ Zaki Sarraf, a legal officer at the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) told Declassified:

💬 “For months, the government has said that RAF planes flying around Gaza are used solely for locating hostages, so why are these flights still happening now that hostilities have paused?”

The first spy flight departed from RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s airbase in Cyprus, at 15:32 and returned at 20:59 local time on 19 January – the day the ceasefire went into effect. ■ The aircraft turned off its transponders over the eastern Mediterranean, raising questions about precisely what it was doing in the air while the last remaining British hostage, Emily Damari, was being released by Hamas.

The lsraeli aggression on Jenin continues for the 8th day in a row. pic.twitter.com/ERIGyAf1X5

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) January 28, 2025

■ Palestinians in northern Gaza return home to rubble and destruction (Antiwar)
■ Long walk home: Palestinians march on foot to north Gaza (Al Jazeera)

Palestinian Resistance factions hail Gaza's victory as thousands head to the north on foot against all odds. | Thousands of Palestinians have begun their return to Gaza City and northern Gaza through the Netzarim crossing in the central district. ● At exactly 9:00 am on Monday, displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to the northern area in vehicles, which will be searched, through Salah al-Din Street. ● Thousands had spent their last two nights outdoors on al-Rashid and Salah al-Din streets, despite the piercing cold, waiting for the Israeli occupation forces to allow them to return to their homes after months of forced displacement to the south.

■ Resistance hails return of north Gazans, Ben-Gvir displeased (Al Mayadeen)

Trump called Gaza a "demolition site" after the Israeli genocide, proposing the mass explusion of Palestinians to Egypt and Jordan. | US President Donald Trump suggested on Saturday a controversial plan to "just clean out" Gaza through the mass expulsion of its population to neighboring Egypt and Jordan, framing the proposal as a step toward "Middle East peace." Labeling Gaza a "demolition site" in the aftermath of the Israeli genocide, Trump revealed he had discussed the idea with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and planned further talks with Egypt’s leadership. "I'd like Egypt to take people. And I'd like Jordan to take people," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

According to Palestine’s health ministry, more than 14,200 people | As many as 212 bodies have been retrieved from under the debris of ruined houses in the Gaza Strips after the ceasefire came into effect, the Al Jazeera television channel reported. ● According to Palestine’s health ministry, more than 14,200 people, including around 5,000 women and children, are reported missing in the enclave. ● Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 after militants from the Gaza Strip-based radical Palestinian group Hamas launched a surprise incursion on Israeli territory, killing many Israeli kibbutz residents living near the Gaza border and abducting more than 240 Israelis, including women, children and the elderly. Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip and launched bombardments of the enclave.

lsraeli occupation forces detain tens of Palestinians from Azone, east of Qalqilya, in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/oGBIF8L2YW

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) January 20, 2025

■ At least 10 killed, dozens wounded in Israeli attacks across Jenin (Al Jazeera)
■ Netanyahu assures Smotrich of extensive attacks on West Bank if he doesn’t resign (PressTV)

Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/IQugCcRHGX

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) January 20, 2025

✅ Bibi Assures Israelis That the Genocide Will Resume After 42 Days (Mike Whitney)

■ APPLICATION OF THE CONVENTION ON THE PREVENTION AND PUNISHMENT OF THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE IN THE GAZA STRIP (ORDER OF 26 JANUARY 2024) (.pdf) + APPLICATION INSTITUTING PROCEEDINGS (.pdf)
■ THE EXPRESSION OF HATRED FOR GENTILES (Richard Edmondson/Nahida Izzat) (10/04/14)

Royal Air Force surveillance flights over Gaza have relied on technical support from Gama, Declassified has found. | Gama provides “engineering services including design, maintenance and repair” for the RAF’s six-strong fleet of Shadow R1 surveillance planes. ■ Without Gama’s technical support and deep knowledge of the planes, the RAF would have struggled to maintain almost daily surveillance flights over the besieged Palestinian territory since December 2023. ■ These missions were ostensibly to help locate hostages, but have led to concerns that Britain is complicit in Israel’s relentless attacks on Palestinian civilians. ■ Once deployed to Akrotiri in pairs, these small, twin propeller planes have spent around four hours a day flying above Gaza, hoovering up intelligence with their state-of-the-art onboard surveillance systems. ■ The footage and other intercepts can technically be shared live via a satellite link with partners on the ground, raising concerns that Israeli forces may have had real time access to UK surveillance of the battlefield.

Ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehudit party will carry out the threat it made on Thursday to leave the government if the cease-fire and hostage deal is approved by the cabinet. The minister said he would consider rejoining the coalition if fighting is resumed after the first phase of the agreement | Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced on Saturday his intention to resign from the government and withdraw his party from the coalition on Sunday, in protest of the cabinet's approval of a hostage release and cease-fire deal with Hamas. ● On Thursday, Ben-Gvir threatened to resign if the deal was approved, but said he would consider rejoining the government if fighting resumed after the first phase of the agreement, "to achieve decisive victory and fulfill the war's objectives." His resignation will leave the coalition with 62 members. ● Ben-Gvir said that along with leaving the coalition, ministers Amichai Eliyahu and Yitzhak Wasserlauf will resign from their posts, as well as Tzvika Foghel who serves as chair of the National Security Committee, and MK Yitzhak Kroizer, who will no longer be part of the judicial appointment committee. ● Eliyahu will return to serving as a member of Knesset, and MK Zvi Succot will lose his seat.

■ 'Israel' killed 194 journalists in Gaza in 2024 (Al Mayadeen)
■ Israel's Smotrich threatens to topple government if Gaza is not occupied (TRT World)
■ Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit shakes coalition with exit over Gaza deal (Al Mayadeen)
■ Ben Gvir's far-right party to leave Israeli government Sunday (Yeni Şafak)

Despite the announcement of a ceasefire, Palestinian blood continues to flow in Gaza without mercy or reprieve amid the relentless Israeli carnage. | Despite the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli occupation continues massacring Palestinians and destroying the Strip. ● In 24 hours, the Israeli occupation committed three massacres across the Palestinian-besieged territory, killing 23 Palestinians and injuring 83 more. ● Although several victims were transported to the few partially functioning hospitals in Gaza, countless more remain trapped under the rubble as rescue operations have been rendered near impossible. ● This raises the death toll since October 7, 2023, to 46,899 Palestinians killed and 110,725 others injured.

✅ A Ceasefire is not an End (Craig Murray)
✅ Keir Starmer's support for the Gaza ceasefire is riddled with lies (Jonathan Cook)

Sitting over the rubble underneath of which he was pulled from two days ago | Gaza. pic.twitter.com/VzMbwQr4Pz

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) January 17, 2025

With over 50 million tonnes of rubble still scattered and reconstruction costs projected to reach $80 billion, the challenge ahead is immense. | As the war on Gaza winds down, international donors are assessing the immense Israeli destruction in the densely populated territory and considering future reconstruction efforts, as highlighted in a report by The Times. ● The scale of devastation is staggering: the Israeli aggression, which Gaza's Health Ministry reports has killed over 46,000 Palestinians, has left behind more than 50.8 million tonnes of rubble—surpassing the debris from the war in Ukraine and amounting to 17 times the combined total of debris from all wars since 2008. ● Clearing this debris alone is projected to cost $970,945,431, while the overall reconstruction is estimated to require up to $80 billion.

Both sides have agreed on a 42-day truce, initiating prisoner exchanges and facilitating humanitarian aid, multiple news agencies have reported | Israel and Hamas have reportedly reached a ceasefire agreement to end their 15-month conflict in Gaza. The deal, mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, includes a 42-day truce and the exchange of prisoners. ● The official announcement is expected on Wednesday evening in Cairo, but US President-elect Donald Trump has already made several statements confirming that the agreement has been reached, crediting his envoy Steve Witkoff for the breakthrough.

■ Israel Kills Dozens of Palestinians in Gaza After News of Ceasefire Deal (Antiwar)
■ Israel Blames Hamas for Reneging on Gaza Agreement, Creating Last-Minute Crisis (Sputnik)

Injures rushed into hospital following intensified lsraeli air attacks targeting civilians across Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/YMs8txRJOO

— TIMES OF GAZA (@Timesofgaza) January 15, 2025

■ Israeli Strikes Kill 63 Palestinians in Gaza Amid Talk of Ceasefire Deal (Antiwar)

Marzieh Rahmani | This story is not just the story of Aisha but it is the common sorrow and grief of the Palestinian nation for the past 76 years; the oppressed nation whose ultimate wish is to see their motherland even one time before death. | A group of Mehr News Agency correspondents visited an art exhibition that the Iranian photographer Wahab Ramzi collected its photos from the Palestinian refugee camp at the Museum of Contemporary Palestinian Arts in Tehran. ■ In 2023, Iranian photographer Wahab Ramzi went to the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. During this visit, he encountered the life stories, dreams, and laughter of the Palestinians and saw their family albums. This museum is the result of his photography of Palestinian people living in 4 Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. ■ Entitled 'Keys Older Than Israel', the gallery exhibits pictures that Ramzi captured from the refugee camps in Lebanon. The pictures depict the life story of Palestinian refugees who kept their homes' keys in the hope of returning to their motherland, Palestine. Every picture in the exhibition tells the tragic story of Palestinian families who have been displaced by the Israeli regime in 1948. What is most painful and surprising is the fact that the keys in these pictures of older than the fake regime of Israel.