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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
❗️BREAKING | Hebrew sources report that an Israeli settler was injured after being struck with an axe in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem. The assailant withdrew from the scene, and authorities are investigating the incident.
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⭕️ Statement by the children and family of Kamal Adwan Hospital Director Dr. Hussam Abu Safia released on social media platforms:
"The footage broadcast by Israeli media of our father, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, is yet another form of psychological terrorism, adding to the torture he has endured over the past two months. It also reflects clear media distortion through the manipulation and alteration of his statements.
When asked about the Israeli prisoners [held in Gaza], he responded that he is a pediatrician. However, his answer was deliberately rephrased and distorted [to imply that he was treating captives held by Hamas] despite him completely denying all accusations made against him.
We, the family of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, reject any media outlet publishing the video without addressing the psychological terrorism involved and exposing the manipulation of his statements.
The sight of our father shackled and unable to move should prompt immediate and continuous action to ensure his immediate release."
Trump cuts funding for PA security forces as part of foreign aid freeze
The Palestinian Authority is seeking to prove its usefulness to Israel to obtain a role in governing Gaza
Why Israel occupies five Lebanese hills
Tel Aviv's occupation of five heights in Lebanon offers no real military advantage, primarily serving psychological and political aims. However, keeping its troops there for long risks a ceasefire collapse.
By Hassan Jouni
❗️Large explosion reported in Tulkarem, occupied West Bank.
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Images show Palestinian detainee Ahmad Al-Amarna from the town of Ya’bad, southwest of Jenin, before and after his imprisonment and mistreatment in Israeli occupation prisons.
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❗️Military spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's (PIJ) Quds Brigades, Abu Hamza:
"The Quds Brigades have decided to release the remains of Israeli prisoner Oded Lifshitz, one of the detainees whom the Israeli military deliberately killed in airstrikes during the Al-Aqsa Flood battle. The release is set to take place on Thursday, February 20, 2025, as part of the seventh batch of the first phase of the prisoner exchange deal."
❗️Lebanese army:
"The Israeli enemy has not committed to a complete withdrawal from Lebanese territory and is still stationed at several border points."
❗️Palestinian sources report that clashes have erupted between young men and invading Israeli troops in the Kfar Saba neighborhood of Qalqilya, West Bank, as occupation forces lay siege to a house.
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❗️Al Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib:
"An Israeli bulldozer advanced from the [Israeli] Misgav Am settlement towards [the southern Lebanese town of] Adaisseh, reaching close to the destroyed policeman post near the town square. It erected an earthen barrier, blocking the road leading to the area, which contains a large number of civilian homes."
The moment Israeli soldiers threw a sound bomb at a gathering of residents in Kfar Kila, south Lebanon.
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UAE president ‘firmly rejects’ displacement of Palestinians from Gaza
MbZ’s comments came during a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has praised Trump’s plan to expel Palestinians from the besieged strip
⭕️ A message from Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Archbishop of Sebastia from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, in remembrance of the late Secretary-General of Hezbollah:
"Dear friends, in just a few days, Lebanon will witness a great and exceptional event: the funeral of His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and the martyrs who stood with him. We, from Jerusalem, stand in reverence and honor for the sacrifices made by Sayyed Hassan and his companions, those who stood with Palestine, defended it, and paid a heavy price for it. We are loyal to these sacrifices. All Palestinians are loyal to the sacrifices of Sayyed Hassan and his comrades.
While we send our condolences from the heart of our holy city, we want to express that we will never forget those who stood with Palestine and defended it during the most difficult times and under the harshest conditions. Today, the Palestinian cause is being conspired against. Our enemies seek to displace our people and erase our cause. But the Palestinians will never raise the flag of surrender. We hold firmly to our rights, our principles, and our constants. The word 'surrender' has no place in our Palestinian dictionary.
Dear friends, we are all one family, one nation, facing the colonial projects that do not only target Palestine but the entire nation. Our message has always been, and will continue to be, that Palestine is the compass. Whoever’s compass is Palestine is in the right place, and whoever’s compass points elsewhere is in the wrong place. We urge them to correct their course and set their compass in the right direction.
Dear friends, our message today is that we, as a nation, must remain united, Christians and Muslims, across all sects and denominations. They want us to be fragmented, divided. They want us to speak the language of sectarianism. They want us divided so they can implement their projects, following the well-known adage 'divide and conquer.' They want to divide us so they can push forward their colonial projects that target Palestine and the entire nation.
We will remain Christians and Muslims in this region, one nation, with our compass pointing to Jerusalem, and our cause being Palestine. We must not allow anyone, or any entity, to push projects aimed at further division and fragmentation. We are one family, and that is how we have been, and how we will always remain."
❗️Al-Akhbar’s correspondent in southern Lebanon:
“Israeli forces fire three sound bombs at Civil Defense teams retrieving bodies in Kfar Kila.”
❗️Hamas official tells AFP that the movement is ready to release all remaining Israeli captives at once in the second phase of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
Taher al-Nono, media advisor to Hamas's political bureau, stated, "Hamas has informed mediators that it is ready, as part of an agreement, to release all prisoners in the second phase at once, not in batches as was the case in the first phase ... in exchange for the release of all Palestinian prisoners and detainees from the occupation's prisons."
"Hamas showed mediators that it is ready for a single exchange of all prisoners by releasing all Israeli prisoners held by it and by the resistance, living and dead, including senior military officers."
He explained that this step is "to confirm our seriousness and complete readiness to move forward in ending this issue, as well as to proceed with steps to consolidate the ceasefire until a sustainable ceasefire is reached."
Nono did not specify the number of Israeli prisoners still being held by Hamas or other resistance factions in Gaza, nor how many of them are still alive after the first phase of the exchange.
However, another Hamas source said that "Hamas has not disclosed the number of remaining prisoners, whether dead or alive, and information about them is subject to negotiations within the framework of the second phase."
Hamas leader in Gaza and head of its negotiating delegation, Khalil al-Hayya, announced on Tuesday that the movement would hand over the bodies of four Israelis on Thursday and release six living prisoners on Saturday.
❗️Local sources:
Israeli special forces assassinated three resistance fighters in a house in the Al-Faraa camp, south of Tubas, occupied West Bank, and detained their bodies.
Israeli soldiers charged for raping Palestinian detainee at Sde Teiman torture camp
A report from last June said that 35 of the 4,000 Palestinians passing through the notorious detention camp had died
❗️Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, Director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, appears on Israel's Channel 13 from inside Israeli prisons for the first time since his detention. According to reports, he has been subjected to torture and is expected to be released soon as part of the exchange deal.
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❗️Military spokesman for Hamas's Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida:
"Within the framework of the Al-Aqsa Flood prisoner exchange, the bodies of the Bibas family and the prisoner Oded Lifshitz will be handed over tomorrow, Thursday, 02-20-2025 AD. They were all alive before their detention centers were deliberately bombed by the Zionist occupation aircraft."
'Disaster zone': Lebanese villagers return south after Israeli withdrawal
Entire villages have been reduced to rubble throughout Israel’s destructive campaign in the border area
❗️Israeli Army Radio reports that 23 to 25 Palestinians are expected to be released on Saturday in exchange for the Israeli captives.
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Iranian president, Qatari Emir discuss regional stability, Gaza ceasefire in Tehran
The Qatari Emir visited Tehran for talks Thursday with the Iranian President to improve economic and security cooperation between the two countries
❗️Armed clashes taking place between resistance fighters and Israeli occupation forces in Al-Faraa Camp, south of Tubas, occupied West Bank.
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⭕️ Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, is among the Palestinian prisoners who will be released this coming Saturday, as part of the Gaza ceasefire and exchange deal, according to i24NEWS Arabic.
Dr. Abu Safia has endured severe torture and mistreatment at the hands of Israel after being detained from the hospital in late December. He was kept in solitary confinement for 24 days before being transferred to Ofer Prison, in the occupied West Bank.
Israel detained Dr. Abu Safia under the “unlawful combatant” law instead of a regular trial, claiming that he was affiliated with Hamas, which violates the right to a fair trial by depriving the detainee of knowing the charge and discussing the evidence.
He suffers from an enlarged heart muscle and chronic high blood pressure, and some local sources are reporting that he has lost at least 15 kilos in detention.
❗️Israeli army:
"Earlier today (Wednesday), an IAF aircraft operated to remove a threat with a strike on a Hezbollah operative identified handling weaponry in the area of Ayta ash Shab (Aita al-Shaab) in southern Lebanon.
The IDF continues to operate to remove any threat to the State of Israel, in accordance with the understandings between Israel and Lebanon."
⭕️ The Washington Post reports that the Trump administration has cut all funding to Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces as part of a broader freeze on foreign aid. This comes at a critical time as the PA struggles to maintain control in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Brig. Gen. Anwar Rajab, spokesperson for the PA security forces, said the US was a “big donor” to security and training programs. With the freeze, key training sessions have already been canceled, and a planned US meeting to discuss operations in Jenin has been postponed indefinitely. The PA, often criticized for routinely coordinating with Israel, now faces further pressure.
While an Israeli official claimed that other donors would cover the shortfall, PA officials say the freeze is already causing setbacks. A US-funded virtual shooting range, meant to replace live-fire training since Israel bans the import of bullets, is now on hold. Meanwhile, President Mahmoud Abbas’s government is struggling to pay full salaries to security forces, adding to the growing frustration.
Israeli forces detain and abuse Palestinian youths in the town of Beit Furik in the occupied West Bank.
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A man in southern Lebanon urges people not to touch any suspicious objects they may find in their homes upon returning, advising them to report them immediately to the Lebanese Army for safe disposal.
Towards the end of the video, the man is seen kicking what appears to be a leftover object, possibly a rocket fragment, only for it to explode right beneath his feet.
❗️Israel's Channel 12:
"A day after the withdrawal, the residents of southern Lebanon returned to their homes and raised Hezbollah flags without fear in front of the Metula, and the residents of the north are angry about these scenes."
❗️Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani:
○ “I visit Tehran at a time when the region is witnessing challenges that require consultation and coordination."
○ “The recent visit of His Excellency the Iranian President to the State of Qatar contributed to developing relations between the two countries."
○ “We held discussions that included many areas of cooperation and stressed the importance of exploring potential opportunities for cooperation."
○ “We discussed the difficult circumstances in the region and agreed that the best way to resolve conflicts is through constructive dialogue."
○ “We stressed the need to adhere to the ceasefire in Gaza and continue the flow of aid."
○ “We talked about the importance of the success of the comprehensive political process in Syria."