Skip next section Drone strike kills Hamas military chief in Lebanon, says Israel
02/17/2025February 17, 2025
Drone strike kills Hamas military chief in Lebanon, says Israel
Israel’s army says a drone strike in southern has killed the head of Hamas’ military operations in the country.
The Israeli military said it had targeted Mohammad Shaheen, accusing him of “recently planning terror attacks, directed and funded by Iran, from Lebanese territory against the citizens of the state of Israel.”
The strike came one day before the deadline for Israel’s complete withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
The original withdrawal deadline stipulated in a ceasefire deal between Israel and was in late January. But Lebanon agreed to extend it to February 18 under pressure from Israel.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has urged sponsors of the deal to push Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon by Tuesday’s deadline.
Both Israel and Lebanon have accused each other of violating the terms of the deal.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qawr
Skip next section Israel’s Security Cabinet meets to discuss 2nd phase of truce02/17/2025February 17, 2025
Israel’s Security Cabinet meets to discuss 2nd phase of truce
Israel’s Security Cabinet is expected to meet on Monday to address the next phase of the ceasefire with .
Israel and Hamas are currently implementing the first, 42-day phase of the truce deal, which has seen 19 Israeli hostages released from in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners previously held in Israeli jails.
The ceasefire’s first phase ends in two weeks.
Negotiations concerning the second phase to secure the release of more hostages and a lasting end to the fighting was to begin two weeks ago.
Some 70 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza. They were among the more than 250 people taken by Hamas-led militants during a terror attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that .
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his Security Cabinet would discuss the truce’s second phase on Monday. At the same time, he said Israeli negotiators would travel to Cairo to discuss the “continued implementation” of phase one.
The prime minister’s office said the team would “receive further directives for negotiations on Phase II” after the Cabinet meeting.
The meeting comes as traveled to Saudi Arabia to promote US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal for Gaza’s future. Trump’s plan would involve the US taking control of Gaza and moving more than 2 million Palestinians out of the territory.
https://p.dw.com/p/4qasj
The post Middle East: Israel security Cabinet to discuss next phase of Gaza truce appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
