Closing summary
Israel was poised to again miss a deadline for withdrawing its troops from southern Lebanon after the military said it would remain in five “strategic points” in the country. Hezbollah secretary general Naim Qassem said yesterday that any Israeli military presence on Lebanese soil after 18 February would be considered an occupying force. “Everyone knows how an occupation is dealt with,” he said.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has arrived in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a day after meeting Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Rubio was received by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). On the agenda is likely to be Donald Trump’s plans to move millions of Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan – a proposal opposed by MBS and widely condemned as an endorsement of ethnic cleansing.
An alternative to Trump’s plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip is being prepared by Egypt in conjunction with the World Bank. The process would be handed over on an interim basis to the control of a social or community support committee. No member of Hamas would sit on the committee.
The EU plans to tell Israel next week that Palestinians uprooted from their Gaza homes should be ensured a “dignified” return and that Europe will contribute to rebuilding the shattered territory, according to a document seen by Reuters.
The Israeli military said a drone strike in southern Lebanon killed Mohammad Shaheen, the head of Hamas’ operations department in Lebanon. The army accused Shaheen of “recently planning terror attacks, directed and funded by Iran, from Lebanese territory against the citizens of the state of Israel.” Hamas confirmed Shaheen’s death but described him as a military commander.
Thanks for joining us. You can find all our latest coverage of the Middle East here.
Saudi crown prince receives Marco Rubio in Riyadh
Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has received Marco Rubio in Riyadh, in the first visit by the US secretary of state since he started in his new position last month. He will discuss the future of both Gaza and Ukraine. Rubio is expected to press the Saudi leadership to suggest a realistic vision for postwar Gaza after Riyadh rejected Donald Trump’s proposal for the effective ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.
Yesterday, Rubio visited Jerusalem where he met Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu said his government is working closely with the US to implement Trump’s Gaza “take over” proposal, despite it being dismissed as dangerous, illegal and unworkable by many lawyers.
Updated
Drone footage from the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza shows the intensity of Israeli bombardment of the area during the war, with hundreds of buildings reduced to rubble by relentless airstrikes:
Israeli forces to remain in five 'strategic points' in Lebanon after Tuesday withdrawal deadline - military
Israeli forces will remain in five so-called strategic locations in southern Lebanon near the border after Tuesday’s deadline for their full withdrawal, an IDF spokesperson has said.
“Based on the current situation, we will leave small amounts of troops deployed temporarily in five strategic points along the border in Lebanon so we can continue to defend our residents and to make sure there’s no immediate threat,” military spokesperson Lt. Col Nadav Shoshani told journalists on Monday.
The US/France brokered ceasefire deal, that came into effect on 27 November 2024, required Israeli soldiers to withdraw from southern Lebanon and for Hezbollah to move its fighters and heavy weaponry north of the Litani River, about 16 miles (25km) north of the frontier.
The original deadline was in late January but Israel and Lebanon agreed to extend it to 18 February. Hours before they agreed to the extension on 27 January, hundreds of protesters attempted to enter villages still occupied by the Israeli army to demand its withdrawal, and Israeli forces opened fire in several locations, killing more than 20 people.
Israel and Lebanon have exchanged accusations of violating the ceasefire agreement, which ended 14 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
Updated
Iran's supreme leader warns US and Israel against 'soft war threats'
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned against what he called “soft war” threats made by the US and Israel.
“Today, we have no concerns regarding hard defence or the enemy’s military threats. Islamic Iran possesses strong capabilities to counter such threats, ensuring a high level of security for its people,” said Khamenei during a speech in Tehran on Monday.
He said Iran’s “enemies” – referring to Israel and the United States – sought to create problems through “soft war threats” aimed at “manipulating public opinion, creating discord and casting doubt over the foundations of the Islamic Revolution”.
The remarks came the day after Israel received weapons from America during a visit by US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
On Sunday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country had dealt a “mighty blow to Iran’s terror axis” and vowed to “finish the job” against Iran with US support.
Updated
Iran says US and Israeli threats violate international law
Iran says that US and Israeli threats against it were a blatant violation of international law and that they could not “do a damn thing” to hurt Tehran.
The comments came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu met US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Jerusalem on Sunday and said their countries were determined to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its influence in the Middle East.
Netanyahu said Israel had dealt a “mighty blow” to Iran since the start of the war in Gaza and that with the support of US president Donald Trump “I have no doubt we can and will finish the job”.
Speaking at a weekly press conference on Monday, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei responded: “When it comes to a country like Iran, they cannot do a damn thing.
“You cannot threaten Iran on one hand and claim to support dialogue on the other hand,” Baghaei said.
Updated
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reports that the condition Palestinian prisoners and detainees were in upon their release from captivity shows evidence of torture and abuse.
“All prisoners and detainees were released under appalling conditions by the Israeli occupation forces, who also stormed their homes and locations designated to receive and celebrate their release. They attacked family gatherings, suppressing them with teargas and bullets and injuring some people,” the organisation said.
The added that Palestinian prisoners and detainees were subjected to “severe torture, intentional starvation, and prolonged solitary confinement as part of punitive measures that ramped up brutally after the events in the Gaza Strip”.
Updated
Displaced Palestinians must return home in a 'safe and dignified' way, EU plans to tell Israel
Reuters has seen a document that sets out the EU’s plan to tell Israel next week in talks in Brussels that Palestinian people displaced from Gaza should be “ensured a safe and dignified return to their homes in the territory.
The bloc is to outline its position to Israeli officials in talks on 24 February as part of the EU-Israel Association Council, the first such session since 2022.
The document states that “the EU will actively contribute to a coordinated international effort to early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza,” and calls for full humanitarian access.
“The EU deeply deplores the unacceptable number of civilians, especially women and children, who have lost their lives, and the catastrophic humanitarian situation notably caused by the insufficient entry of aid into Gaza, in particular in the north,” it adds.
The document is it odds with Donald Trump’s proposed removal of Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinians from their homeland – which would effectively amount to ethnic cleansing - and the US taking control of the territory to redevelop it into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.
The EU has been a major aid provider to Palestinians but was accused by many for not applying enough diplomatic pressure on Israel during the war to stop the assault, with some of its members – notably Germany – continuing to provide armaments to Israel.
Israeli military says it killed Hamas official in southern Lebanon
The Israeli military said it killed a Hamas commander in an airstrike in southern Lebanon’s Sidon area on Monday.
“Muhammad Shaheen was eliminated after recently planning terror attacks, directed and funded by Iran, from Lebanese territory against the citizens of the state of Israel,” the military said in a statement. We have not yet been able to independently verify any of this information. Shaheen is the reported head of Hamas’ operations department in Lebanon.
As we reported in an earlier post, Lebanon’s state news agency said an Israeli airstrike on a car in Lebanon’s southern port city of Sidon had killed one person earlier today, but it did not identify who it was.
Updated
Hezbollah secretary general Naim Qassem said on Sunday:
Israel must withdraw completely on 18 February, it has no pretext, no five points or other details... this is the agreement.
Qassem said any Israeli military presence on Lebanese soil after 18 February would be considered an occupying force.
“Everyone knows how an occupation is dealt with,” Qassem said.
Lebanese president concerned that Israel may not fully withdraw troops from south by Tuesday deadline
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has expressed concern that Israeli troops may not fully withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon in line with the truce agreement tomorrow.
“We are afraid that a complete withdrawal will not be achieved tomorrow,” Aoun said, adding that “the important thing is to achieve the Israeli withdrawal, and Hezbollah’s weapons come as part of solutions the Lebanese agree on”.
A 60-day truce that went into effect at the end of November between Hezbollah and Israel halted a two-month-old Israeli ground assault and more than a year of cross-border aerial attacks that drove tens of thousands of people in both countries from their homes.
The US/France-brokered ceasefire was supposed to become permanent when it expired at the end of last month – but just a day before the deadline, neither side had fulfilled their obligations.
The deal stipulated that Israeli forces should withdraw from the south as the Iran-backed Hezbollah’s weapons and fighters were removed from the area and the Lebanese army deployed.
Israel, however, said the terms had not been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, while Lebanon’s US-backed military accused Israel of procrastinating in its withdrawal.
Updated
During the visit from the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that US President Donald Trump will help Israel “finish the job on Iran”. Netanyahu said he and Rubio agreed that Tehran can’t be allowed to have nuclear weapons and that Iran’s “aggression in the region has to be rolled back”.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has today condemned Netanyahu’s call to “finish the job” against the Islamic republic, saying it is as a breach of the UN charter.
“Threatening others is both a gross violation of international law and the United Nations charter,” he told reporters, adding Israel “can’t do a thing” against Iran.
Trump has reinstated a “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, mirroring his approach during his first term which saw the US unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, after accusing Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons.
Iran has repeatedly denied these allegations, though it has scaled back its commitments under the agreement and increased uranium enrichment levels to 60 percent.
On Sunday, Rubio said Iran would never become a nuclear power, labelling the Islamic republic the “greatest” source of instability in the Middle East.
Baqaei on Monday said Iran’s nuclear activities comply with the safeguards protocol of the UN nuclear agency and emphasised Tehran’s commitment to the non-proliferation treaty.
Updated
One person killed in Israeli airstrike on vehicle in Lebanese city of Sidon - reports
One person has been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon, a day ahead of a deadline in a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, according to reports.
“A body... was retrieved from the car that was targeted by the Israeli strike” in Sidon, “after firefighters extinguished the fire”, the official national news agency said.
Scenes following an Israeli drone strike on a vehicle in Lebanon’s Sidon. At least one person has been killed in the attack, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA). #Lebanon #Sidon #Israel
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) February 17, 2025
Read more: https://t.co/Oys05cbgBL pic.twitter.com/5VmU3DXzvd
The original withdrawal deadline was in late January, but under pressure from Israel, Lebanon agreed to extend it to 18 February. It remains unclear whether Israeli troops will complete their withdrawal by Tuesday.
Since the ceasefire, Israel has continued airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon, claiming it is targeting military sites containing missiles and combat equipment. Israel and Lebanon have exchanged accusations of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Updated
Marco Rubio has travelled to Riyadh from Israel, where he kicked off his first Middle East trip as Donald Trump’s secretary of state (see opening post for more details):
Key event
The Associated Press has a breakdown of deaths, injuries and damage to infrastructure caused during Israel’s war on Gaza, which was launched following the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage. Today is technically the 500th day of the war though there is a ceasefire, which came into effect on 19 January 2025, which has seen a pause in fighting.
Hostages remaining in Gaza: 73, including 3 taken before 7 October 2023
Hostages in Gaza believed to be dead: 36, including one from before 7 October 2023
Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli attacks: Over 48,200, according to Gaza’s health ministry
Palestinians injured in Gaza by Israeli attacks: Over 111,600
Israeli soldiers killed since 7 October 2023: 846
Rockets fired at Israel from Gaza since 7 October 2023: Over 10,000
Percentage of Gaza’s population displaced: Around 90%
Israelis displaced by attacks from Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon at their peak: Over 75,500
Housing units damaged or destroyed in Gaza: Over 245,000
Primary roads damaged or destroyed in Gaza: Over 92%
Health facilities damaged or destroyed in Gaza: Over 84%
Palestinians who have crossed into northern Gaza since the ceasefire began: 586,000
Updated
Egypt draws up Gaza reconstruction plan that would exclude Hamas
Patrick Wintour is diplomatic editor for the Guardian
An alternative to Donald Trump’s plan to turn the Gaza Strip into a US-owned “Riviera of the Middle East” is being prepared by Egypt in conjunction with the World Bank, under which Hamas would be formally excluded from governance and control of the territory’s reconstruction.
The process would be handed over on an interim basis to the control of a social or community support committee. No member of Hamas would sit on the committee.
But the future military status of Hamas within Gaza is unresolved, which is likely to be a barrier to Israeli endorsement of the plan.
Arab states – principally the United Arab Emirates and Qatar – are preparing to make financial offers to fund reconstruction, but on the basis that Palestinians are given the right to remain in Gaza and are not forced to seek temporary or permanent refuge in Egypt or Jordan.
Reconstruction would take three to five years, with 65% of the property in Gaza having been destroyed.
European sources admit the issue of providing security guarantees to Israel for Gaza remains unresolved since no Arab country is willing to offer troops in the absence of Israel offering a clear political horizon to a Palestinian state.
You can read the full story here:
Israel dispatches negotiating team to Cairo to discuss hostage deal as Marco Rubio heads to Saudi Arabia
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of developments in the Middle East.
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is on Monday due to visit Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a key player in Donald Trump’s regional strategy.
Rubio is expected to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS). It is not clear when this meeting will take place as the US secretary of state is also in Saudi Arabia for talks with Russian officials aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
But somewhere on the agenda is likely to be Donald Trump’s plans to move millions of Palestinians out of their territories in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan – a proposal widely condemned as an endorsement of ethnic cleansing.
Saudi Arabia, alongside other Arab nations, has rejected any plan that involves resettling Palestinians, and Riyadh is spearheading Arab efforts to develop a counterproposal, which could involve a Gulf-led reconstruction fund and a deal to sideline Hamas.
MBS has also insisted that Saudi Arabia would not normalise ties with Israel - a longstanding goal of Washington - without an agreement on a pathway to a Palestinian state. After Riyadh, Rubio is scheduled to travel to the United Arab Emirates on the final leg of his Middle East tour.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that his government is working closely with the US to implement Trump’s Gaza “take over” proposal, which involves US ownership of the coastal strip and the redevelopment of the occupied territory as a resort.
Netanyahu was speaking after a meeting in Jerusalem with Rubio, who said Trump’s proposal may have “shocked” some people, but it took “courage” to suggest an alternative to “tired ideas” of the past.
According to the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu has instructed a negotiating team to head to Cairo today for talks on the continuation of the first phase of the fragile ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
“Following tomorrow’s security cabinet discussion, the team will receive instructions for the continuation of the negotiations regarding the second stage,” the statement from Netanyahu’s office read yesterday.
According to my colleague Julian Borger, the Israeli government is reportedly seeking to change the terms of the agreement with Washington’s backing. It is calling for the six surviving hostages who remain in Gaza scheduled to be released in the first phase of the agreement to be freed all at once next Saturday, rather than in two groups of three over the final two weeks of the first phase, which ends on 1 March.
In some other developments:
Israel has received a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs from the US, after Trump lifted a block imposed on the export of the munitions by the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, the defence ministry said on Sunday. The MK-84 is an unguided 2,000 pound bomb, which can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Saturday night that he hoped the mass transfer of Palestinians from Gaza endorsed by Trump could begin soon. He said he expected Palestinians would be forced to leave by a resumption of bombing.
Israeli forces yesterday injured 13 people during a raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp – on the eastern edge of the West Bank city of Tulkarm - according to reports.
