Israeli fire kills one and wounds several in Gaza: One Palestinian was killed and at least ten others were wounded by Israeli forces on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera. Mohammed Dabbash was killed by Israeli army fire in Al-Zarqa area northeast of Gaza City. Israeli troops backed by tanks and bulldozers advanced near the Kuwait roundabout east of Gaza City, opening heavy fire and injuring at least ten Palestinians along Salah al-Din Street, where Palestine Red Crescent Society crews evacuated three wounded under gunfire.
Palestinian paramedic dies in Israeli detention: Hatem Rayyan, a Palestinian paramedic who was detained by Israel on December 27, 2024, during the siege of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, died inside Israel’s Naqab Prison. The Prisoners’ Media Office said his death “brings the number of identified martyrs from the prisoners movement since October 2023 to 88, including 52 prisoners from the Gaza Strip,” describing it as part of “a systematic killing policy and enforced disappearance targeting Palestinian prisoners.”
Trump to launch Gaza reconstruction fund and Stabilization Force at first “Board of Peace” meeting: President Donald Trump will unveil a multi-billion-dollar reconstruction fund for the Gaza Strip and outline plans for a United Nations-authorized International Stabilization Force at the first formal meeting of his Board of Peace on February 19 in Washington D.C., Reuters reports. Delegations from at least 20 countries will attend the gathering, with several states reportedly prepared to contribute “several thousands” troops. The meeting is also expected to include briefings on the work of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza—the Palestinian body designated to assume day-to-day governance from Hamas.
Whistleblowers say CPJ cancelled its annual index to protect Israel: Whistleblowers told The Electronic Intifada that the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) scrapped its annual Impunity Index because Israel was set to rank number one. The index—published annually since 2008 and regularly referenced in UN reports—measures countries where journalists are deliberately killed and killers go unpunished. The 2024 edition, covering killings through 2023, ranked Israel second. The 2025 index, reflecting 2024 amid record killings of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, would have pushed Israel to the top of the list.
Since the index is calculated as a 10-year rolling rate relative to population, Israel would have been ranked near the top, if not number one, for many years to come, the whistleblowers said. They alleged donor and board pressure played a role. In response to Electronic Intifada, CPJ denied that donor considerations play any role in its decisions with respect to Israel or any other country.
President Donald Trump will announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a U.N.-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave at the first formal meeting of his Board of Peace next week, two senior U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Two federal immigration agents involved in the shooting of a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis last month appear to have lied about the details of the incident, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said Friday.
A passerby jumped into a frigid Florida pond to save a pregnant woman from her sinking car recently – giving her the opportunity to safely birth her baby hours later, according to authorities and those at the center of the riveting rescue story.
A bitter dispute between Europe and the US over the future of Gaza has broken out into the open, with the EU’s head of foreign policy, Kaja Kallas, warning that Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” was a personal vehicle for the US president that removed any accountability to Palestinians or the United Nations.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has accused Donald Trump of tearing apart the transatlantic alliance with Europe and of seeking to introduce an “age of authoritarianism”, as she condemned his administration’s foreign policy in front of its allies’ top policymakers at the Munich security conference.
As Donald Trump seemed to endorse regime change in Iran, embracing a long-term goal of his ally, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Reuters reports that the US military “is preparing for the possibility of sustained, weeks-long operations” against Iran’s theocratic government.
