International Glance
Casualty counts: Over the past 24 hours, seven Palestinians were injured in Israeli attacks in Gaza. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 stands at 72,073 killed, with 171,756 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 615 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 1,658, while 726 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Israeli strikes continue across Gaza, killing one: One Palestinian was killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike on Beit Lahiya on Tuesday, in northern Gaza. Two Palestinians were injured by Israeli gunfire in the Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. Israeli forces launched airstrikes on areas east of Khan Younis, while Israeli artillery targeted western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and east of the Bureij refugee camp in the central part of the Strip.
Flooding hits displacement camps in Gaza: Overnight, heavy rains flooded hundreds of displacement tents across the Gaza Strip, with submerged roads in areas like Al-Mawasi prompting urgent rescue calls, according to Civil Defense officials. Israel’s siege is blocking heavy machinery and rescue equipment needed to respond, municipal officials report. UNRWA has warned that shortages of shelter materials have left more than a million displaced people exposed to the rain and cold.
The Gaza Genocide, West Bank, and Israel
ICE and Israeli Military Supplier Receives Millions in Subsidies from NYC
New York City offers a contractor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the U.S. Border Patrol, and the Israeli Defense Forces millions of dollars in rent and construction subsidies, according to leases obtained by Drop Site through a Freedom of Information Law request.
The company, Crye Precision, designs and manufactures “combat proven” tactical gear and clothing for military applications and has been a tenant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard since 2002, according to the website of the city-owned complex.
Incentives offered by the Brooklyn Navy Yard to Crye Precision contrast with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s policy positions. Earlier this month, Mamdani issued an executive order reaffirming the city’s “sanctuary” status and restricting local agencies from collaborating with federal immigration enforcement. The mayor also campaigned extensively against the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.
The Mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Publicly available federal contracts indicate that Crye Precision received its latest contract from the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Border Patrol and ICE, on January 19. The $40,000 contract for cold weather apparel for the Border Patrol’s Maine sector coincided with ICE’s “surge” in the state, which resulted in the warrantless arrests of more than 200 people, according to the office of Gov. Janet Mills (D).
Ukraine Strikes Russian Command Posts, Ammo Depots With ATACMS
Overnight, Ukraine’s Defense Forces struck Russian command posts, ammunition depots, logistics hubs and a repair base in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, including with US-supplied ATACMS missiles, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
The strikes are part of ongoing efforts to reduce Russia’s offensive capabilities by targeting critical command and supply infrastructure.
Command posts and logistics hit.
Early Tuesday, units of Ukraine’s Rocket Forces and Artillery struck an auxiliary command post of Russia’s 5th Army near Novopetrykivka in the occupied part of the Donetsk region, according to the General Staff
Additional strikes targeted an ammunition and logistics depot near Pryazovske in occupied Donetsk Oblast, as well as another ammunition warehouse near occupied Oleksandrivka in the Zaporizhzhia region.
In Yakymivka, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukrainian forces struck a Russian repair base.
On Monday, Ukrainian forces also hit Russian command infrastructure in the occupied Donetsk region, including a command-and-observation post and a drone control center near Udachne, as well as another drone command post near Pokrovsk.
US to provide consular services in illegal Israeli settlement
The United States has announced it will soon provide in-person passport services at an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
The US Embassy in Jerusalem said it would start providing the service for Efrat, located between the Palestinian towns of Bethlehem and Hebron, on February 27.
It will be the first time the US has “provided consular services to a settlement in the West Bank”, according to a US embassy spokesperson quoted by the Reuters news agency.
The embassy said it would plan similar on-site services in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, the illegal Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit near Bethlehem, and in cities within Israel, such as Haifa.
Israeli settlers torch and deface a West Bank mosque during Ramadan
Israeli settlers vandalized a mosque in the Israeli-occupied West Bank early Monday, spray-painting offensive phrases and setting a fire, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Worshippers arriving for the day’s first prayers found the damage and a smoldering fire that spewed black smoke across the entrance of the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque in the town of Tell, near Nablus, and stained the ornate doorway.
“I was shocked when I opened the door,” said Munir Ramdan, who lives nearby. “The fire had been burning here in the area, the glass was broken here and the door was broken.”
Security camera footage showed two people walking toward the mosque carrying gasoline and a can of spray paint, and running away a few minutes later, Ramdan said.
The attackers spray-painted graffiti denigrating the Prophet Muhammad, as well as the words “revenge” and “price tag.” In “price tag” attacks, hard-line Israeli nationalists attack Palestinians and vandalize their property in response to Palestinian militant attacks or perceived efforts by Israeli authorities to limit settlement activity.
Iranian Officials to Drop Site: Tehran is Showing “Unbelievable Level of Flexibility" in Talks to Prevent U.S. War
The U.S. and Iran are headed to a new round of talks in Geneva aimed at averting a conflict this week—as the U.S. continues to surge military forces to the region in its largest military buildup since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Although talks are scheduled for Thursday, the prospects for a deal that would halt the U.S. drive to war remain fragile. The U.S. has demanded sweeping concessions, including the cessation of all nuclear enrichment on Iranian soil, the end of Iranian support for regional armed resistance movements, and strict limits on the Iranian ballistic missile program—the only meaningful deterrent that Iran was able to employ during its conflict with Israel last year.
In a post on Truth Social on Monday, President Donald Trump wrote, “I am the one that makes the decision, I would rather have a Deal than not but, if we don’t make a Deal, it will be a very bad day for that Country and, very sadly, its people, because they are great and wonderful, and something like this should never have happened to them.”
An Iranian official told Drop Site that Tehran understands the erratic nature of the Trump administration, but believes the position its diplomats are outlining to U.S. negotiators represents an unprecedented effort by Iran aimed at preventing a regional war. The official said Iran is directly addressing U.S. concerns on the nuclear issue with concrete proposals, and asserting a willingness to expand talks to other issues once a deal to avert imminent conflict has been concluded.
Car Bomb Kills Police Officer in Moscow’s Train Station
An explosion struck a police patrol car near Moscow’s Savelovsky Station Square around midnight on Tuesday morning, according to local authorities.
Russia’s interior ministry said one police officer was killed and two others injured after an unknown individual approached their vehicle, where an explosion ensued.
“Today, at approximately 12:05 a.m., an unknown individual approached traffic police officers from the North-Eastern District of Moscow’s Internal Affairs Directorate, who were patrolling in a service vehicle near Savelovsky Station Square,” the ministry said in a statement, as reported by Russia’s independent outlet Astra.
In a video shared by Astra showing the aftermath, the car’s windows were shattered, the trunk was open, and dents were visible on the doors. The vehicle, however, was not burned in the explosion.
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