Announcement of second phase brings more Israeli attacksBy Ibrahim al-KhaliliReporting from Gaza CityIsrael has scaled up its attacks across Gaza. The latest air strikes were concentrated on the central city of Deir el-Balah, killing at least six Palestinians and wounding many more.
The recent attacks underscore that Israel is trying to keep military options on the table despite the talk of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement starting.
As these attacks happened, panic broke out among residents. They were hoping the second phase would bring more aid and that border crossings would be opened by Israel.
But they found the reality is different. Drones are hovering above at a very low altitude, spreading panic.
The situation for hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians remains dire. The shadow of war shows no sign of easing in light of these attacks.
Gaza death toll risesAt least 12 Palestinians have been killed and 18 injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, up to 09:00 GMT on Friday, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
Two more bodies were recovered from the rubble of previous Israeli attacks, the ministry said in a statement published on Telegram.
Israel has killed 463 and injured 1,269 Palestinians in Gaza since October 10 ceasefire, it added.
Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza broke out in October 2023, at least 71,455 Palestinians have been killed and 171,347 injured, the ministry concluded.
Israeli forces carry out new incursions in Syria’s Quneitra countrysideIsraeli forces have advanced into villages in Syria’s southern Quneitra countryside, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.
The Israeli army deployed eight military vehicles and three tanks from the Tal al-Ahmar area westward towards Ain al-Zaywan and Sweisa in southern Quneitra. The force spread through Sweisa for about an hour before moving towards the small village of Dawayah, as tanks simultaneously entered the Abu Qubais hill, SANA reported.
Local sources said the forces remained there briefly before withdrawing, with no reports of arrests or casualties.
The latest incursion occurred despite an agreement reached earlier this month between Syria and Israel to establish a US-supervised communication mechanism aimed at reducing military escalation and facilitating coordination, according to a trilateral statement issued following talks in Paris.
Two killed in Israeli attacks in southern LebanonTwo people have been killed in separate Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry says.
One person had been killed in a raid on a truck in the town of al-Mansouri, in the district of Tyre in southern Lebanon, earlier today.
In a separate incident overnight, one person was killed in the Israeli attack on a car in Mayfadoun in the Nabatieh district, the ministry said.
UNIFIL says Israeli drone dropped explosive near peacekeepers in LebanonUNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, has said the Israeli military used a drone to drop an explosive device near its personnel during a patrol.
In a statement, UNIFIL said peacekeepers on a planned patrol near the town of Adeisse were alerted by residents to a potential threat at a nearby house, where they discovered an explosive device connected to a detonating cord.
As they prepared to inspect another location, a drone hovering overhead dropped a grenade about 30 metres from the patrol.
UNIFIL said no peacekeepers were injured and it sent a stop-fire request to the Israeli army.
It said such actions endanger both peacekeepers and civilians, urging Israel to ensure their safety and halt activities that put them at risk.
The UN Security Council has voted to extend UNIFIL’s mandate until the end of 2026, followed by an “orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal” during 2027.
UNIFIL says Israeli forces fired at its position in southern LebanonThe United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has accused Israeli forces of opening fire with small-calibre weapons at one of its positions in the southern Lebanese town of Kafer Chouba.
The shots, fired from a Merkava tank, hit a UNIFIL sentry post near the border and penetrated UNIFIL living quarters, without causing casualties, said the peacekeeping force.
UNIFIL called on the Israeli military to “ensure the safety of peacekeepers and to cease activities that endanger them and their positions.”
Israeli forces have repeatedly carried out attacks near UNIFIL positions in recent months, including dropping grenades near UNIFIL forces in September.
The UN Security Council decided in August to end UNIFIL’s mandate on December 31, 2026, followed by a one-year plan for a phased drawdown of forces.
Little optimism in Gaza over second phase of agreementPalestinians in Gaza City say they are not optimistic about the prospects of the recently announced second phase of the ceasefire agreement, with so many of the promises of the first yet to be fulfilled.
“It’s as if we’re still in the first phase,” said one man. “The crossings were supposed to open, prices were supposed to fall, and Israeli attacks were supposed to stop. Nothing has changed except we have moved from the south to the north of the Strip.”
The situation in Gaza “remains unchanged”, said one woman. “Let us seriously complete the first phase properly before announcing the transition to the second.”
Another man said he was “not optimistic” as the promises of the first phase had not been fulfilled.
“Aid and food didn’t arrive, and the ceasefire has not been implemented as required,” he said. “With the bombing and killing continuing, we can’t find shelter or even a tent.”
Israeli military helicopter crashes during recovery operation near BethlehemAn Israeli military helicopter crashed during a recovery operation near Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank, according to the Israeli army.
The Times of Israel reported the military as saying that a Black Hawk helicopter went down while being airlifted after making an emergency landing because of bad weather.
During Friday’s recovery operation, the damaged helicopter was being carried by another aircraft using a cable when it became detached and crashed to the ground. No injuries were reported.
Israeli Air Force chief Tomer Bar has ordered the establishment of a military investigative committee to examine the incident, the report said.
US judge to issue order protecting academics amid pro-Palestine activism crackdownA US federal judge has said he will issue an order aimed at protecting academics who are challenging the arrest and potential deportation of non-citizen, pro-Palestine activists on US university campuses.
Speaking at a hearing in Boston, US District Judge William Young said the order, expected within a week, would seek to prevent the Trump administration from changing the immigration status of non-citizen academics involved in the case.
The lawsuit was filed last year after immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate, in March.
Khalil was the first individual targeted under Donald Trump’s effort to deport non-citizen students involved in pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel activism.
In numbers: Casualties across Gaza and occupied West BankAs Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza continues, alongside ongoing settler and Israeli military violence in the occupied West Bank, here is a closer look at the figures since October 2023 shared by the Palestinian Health Ministry:
Gaza Strip
At least 71,441 Palestinians killed
More than 171,329 Palestinians wounded
Since the ceasefire in October 2025, at least 451 Palestinians killed and 1,251 wounded.
Occupied West Bank
More than 1,106 Palestinians killed and 10,904 wounded
Nearly 21,000 Palestinians arrested
About 9,300 currently held in Israeli jails, with 3,385 Palestinians detained without charge or trial.
UN chief condemns Israel’s closure of UNRWA health centre in East JerusalemThe UN secretary-general has strongly condemned Israel’s entry into a UN facility in occupied East Jerusalem and the temporary closure of a key health centre run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.
In a statement, Guterres said Israeli authorities “unlawfully” entered the UNRWA Jerusalem Health Centre on January 12, ordering it shut. The facility provides primary healthcare to hundreds of Palestinian refugees each day and is, for many, their only access to medical services, the statement added.
Guterres said he had raised “grave concerns” directly with Israel’s PM and alerted the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
He also warned that UNRWA had been informed that electricity and water supplies to several of its facilities in occupied East Jerusalem could soon be cut.
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