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1 Feb 2024 - 23:45(23:45 GMT)
Here’s what happened today
We will be closing the live blog soon. Here’s a recap of the day’s main events.
- Reports emerged of a potential breakthrough on a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel. However, Hamas said that while it was reviewing the deal, it has yet to make a final decision.
- The Biden administration announced sanctions against four Israeli settlers, a rare step towards accountability for attacks against Palestinians that some criticised as too limited in scope.
- Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israeli forces would continue on to Rafah on the border with Egypt, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians with nowhere to flee fear the prospect of an Israeli assault.
- Palestinians released from Israeli detention shared harrowing accounts of torture, humiliation and abuse, adding to a growing body of evidence that such acts have become commonplace in Israeli detention facilities.
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1 Feb 2024 - 23:30(23:30 GMT)
Turkish official says hostage standoff, staged in protest of Gaza war, has ended
The Kocaeli governor’s office has said that police have detained an armed man who took seven people at a Procter and Gamble factory in Turkey hostage, in what the man said was a protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Our security forces intervened and neutralised the suspect,” the statement said, adding that he was an employee of the factory who “wanted to draw attention to the ongoing occupation in Gaza”.
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1 Feb 2024 - 23:15(23:15 GMT)
UK could recognise Palestine before a final peace deal with Israel: Cameron
British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says his country could officially recognise a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza without waiting for the outcome of what could be years-long talks between Israel and the Palestinians on a two-state solution.
UK recognition of an independent state of Palestine, including in the United Nations, “can’t come at the start of the process, but it doesn’t have to be the very end of the process”, Cameron, the former British prime minister, has told the AP news agency.
“It could be something that we consider as this process, as this advance to a solution, becomes more real,” Cameron said.
“What we need to do is give the Palestinian people a horizon towards a better future, the future of having a state of their own. That prospect is absolutely vital for the long-term peace and security of the region.”
According to the foreign secretary, the first step must be a “pause in the fighting” in Gaza that would eventually turn into “a permanent, sustainable ceasefire”.
Moreover, he said in order for his country to recognise a Palestinian state, the leaders of Hamas would need to leave Gaza, adding that “you can’t have a two-state solution with Gaza still controlled by the people responsible for October 7″.
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1 Feb 2024 - 23:00(23:00 GMT)
Sanctions on settlers seek to ‘promote security’: Biden
Earlier, we reported that the US sanctioned four Israeli settlers for committing violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
US President Joe Biden in a post on X has said the sanctions seek “to promote security for Israelis and Palestinians alike”.
Among the four sanctioned is David Chai Chasdai, who has been accused of leading a riot in the town of Huwara last year, in which Palestinian homes were torched and a Palestinian civilian killed.
I signed an Executive Order allowing the U.S. to issue sanctions against those who direct or participate in acts of violence against civilians in the West Bank, including extremist settlers.
Today’s action seeks to promote security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
— President Biden (@POTUS) February 1, 2024
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1 Feb 2024 - 22:45(22:45 GMT)
Progressive US Jewish groups welcome Biden sanctions announcement
A handful of groups have commented favourably on President Biden’s designation of a number of right-wing Israeli settlers connected to violent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
“With this Executive Order, the Biden Administration is sending a clear message to extremists in the West Bank: There will be consequences,” the group J Street said in a social media post on Thursday.
“Since 2018, @truahrabbis has been asking the IRS to investigate US foundations that support groups involved in terror & incitement in Israel,” Rabbi Jill Jacobs, leader of the group T’Ruah, said in a social media post. “Now is the time for them to act.”
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1 Feb 2024 - 22:30(22:30 GMT)
Belgium to summon Israeli ambassador over bombing of development office in Gaza
Belgium’s Minister of Development Cooperation Caroline Gennez has said that she and Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib will summon Israel’s ambassador over the destruction of a building hosting the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation in Gaza.
“The office building of Enabel, the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation, in Gaza, has been bombed and is completely destroyed. Attacking civilian buildings is and remains totally unacceptable,” Gennez said in a social media post on Thursday.
“Together with [Hadja Lahbib], I will summon the Israeli ambassador.”
The office building of @Enabel, the Belgian Agency for Development Cooperation, in #Gaza has been bombed and is completely destroyed.
Attacking civilian buildings is and remains totally unacceptable.
Together with @hadjalahbib, I will summon the Israeli ambassador. pic.twitter.com/CYnsrPhdtA
— Caroline Gennez (@carogennez) February 1, 2024
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1 Feb 2024 - 22:15(22:15 GMT)
Arab Americans protest Biden during trip to Michigan
Crowds of Arab Americans angry over President Biden’s support of Israel’s destructive campaign in Gaza have taken to the streets to protest the president as he visits the vital swing state of Michigan.
“Joe Biden has to win the Arab American vote in Michigan. Without Michigan, it’s unlikely he gets back to the White House,” Al Jazeera correspondent Patty Culhane reported from Warren, Michigan, adding that tensions are high.
“The level of anger here, you can feel it,” she added. “I’ve asked several people if there’s anything Joe Biden could do at this point to change your mind? Would you ever vote for him? And they said no, he’s lost to us forever,” she added.
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1 Feb 2024 - 22:00(22:00 GMT)
Pro-Palestine supporters protest across the Netherlands
Videos shared on social media and verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit, Sanad, show demonstrations taking place in various cities expressing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Protesters chanted “occupation no more” and “stop killing children” during a sit-in at a train station in the city of Utrecht.
In The Hague, law enforcement tried to disperse demonstrators gathered at the central train station in the city, which is home to the International Court of Justice.
Protests also took place in the cities of Leiden and Rotterdam.
Op dit moment is er blijkbaar grote onrust door activisten in Den Haag. Ik kijk nu mee tijdens een live pic.twitter.com/1Sak9UjcTw
— Alexx (@devinity111) February 1, 2024
Translation: There is apparently great unrest at the moment by activists in The Hague …
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1 Feb 2024 - 21:45(21:45 GMT)
Protester says Arab Americans will abandon Biden on Election Day
An Arab American protester at a campaign event at which the US president will appear tells Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane that “Joe Biden has entirely abandoned the Palestinian community, the Arab community, and has abandoned the concept of humanity”.
“Just as he abandoned us, we will be abandoning him on Election Day,” the protester said, citing Biden’s continued support for Israel as it continues to prosecute its war on Gaza.
“We do have the power to take him out of office, and just as he has taken our families’ lives out from our own sight, he will be out of office,” the protester continued.
She said Arab Americans will no longer choose between the “lesser of two evils”, between the Democrat and Republican candidates, in the next election. “We will be voting for people who are deserving of our vote,” she added.
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1 Feb 2024 - 21:35(21:35 GMT)
Israel’s FM says UNRWA ‘part of Hamas murder machine’
Israel Katz has said that the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees cannot be included in any post-war plans for Gaza, reports Israeli broadcaster Channel 7.
Israel alleged last week that 12 of the agency’s employees participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. UNRWA said it would conduct a formal review and promptly severed ties with the employees, but this did not stop over 10 nations from pausing funding to it.
The allegations came shortly after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a ruling, ordering Israel to take action to stop genocide in its ongoing war on Gaza.
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1 Feb 2024 - 21:20(21:20 GMT)
Palestinian wounded by Israeli gunfire in occupied West Bank
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that a young man was injured by bullet fragments during an Israeli security forces raid on the town of Kfar al-Labad, in the northern province of Tulkarem.
Local sources told Wafa that clashes broke out between Israeli forces and residents of the town after the raid began and that soldiers fired live rounds towards civilians.
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1 Feb 2024 - 21:05(21:05 GMT)
Learn more about new US sanctions on Israeli settlers
Earlier, we reported on the issuing of sanctions against four Israeli settlers who are linked to violence in the occupied West Bank.
Learn more about the political context of this decision in the US, President Biden’s role and who the targets of the sanctions are in our article here.
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1 Feb 2024 - 20:55(20:55 GMT)
Ben-Gvir praises ‘heroic’ settlers following sanctions announcement
Israel’s ultranationalist security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has praised “heroic” settlers in the occupied West Bank, following the designation of several settlers by the Biden administration in response to rising attacks on Palestinians.
“It is time for America to rethink its policy in Judea and Samaria. President Biden is wrong about the citizens of the State of Israel and the heroic settlers,” said Ben-Gvir, who has expressed his desire to see Palestinians expelled from the occupied West Bank throughout his career.
“Those who are attacked, those who are pelted with stones in an attempt to hurt and murder them, are the heroic settlers in Judea and Samaria.”
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1 Feb 2024 - 20:45(20:45 GMT)
Schisms remain within Netanyahu coalition over potential deal
Divisions within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition continue to complicate efforts to secure a truce in the war, with far-right cabinet members threatening to end the coalition if Netanyahu agrees to a deal they see as unfavourable.
“There’s pressure from Netanyahu’s own coalition saying that if he enters a deal that they consider bad for Israel, that sees the release of thousands of Palestinians from Israeli jails, they’re threatening to leave the government,” Al Jazeera correspondent Hamdah Salhut reported from occupied East Jerusalem.
“Then you have Yair Lapid and the opposition saying they will give Netanyahu a safety net, joining a unity government for an unknown amount of time so they can secure a deal to bring back the captives,” she said. “It’s an incredibly complex situation within Israeli politics that seems to become more and more complicated as the war goes on.”
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1 Feb 2024 - 20:35(20:35 GMT)
Video shows injuries of Palestinian man beaten in Israeli prison
Earlier, we shared accounts of released Palestinian prisoners describing the humiliation, beatings and torture they faced under Israeli detention.
A video posted on Instagram, verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit Sanad, shows another Palestinian man revealing severe bruises on his arm due to beatings and torture inflicted by Israeli forces.
Watch the video below:
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1 Feb 2024 - 20:15(20:15 GMT)
WATCH: Israel is creating a ‘buffer zone’ around Gaza
The Israeli military is reportedly demolishing homes in order to create a one-kilometre (0.6-mile) “buffer zone” around the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials say this is to prevent attacks on communities near the Strip, but critics charge that Israel is trying to expand its borders and eat away at Gaza’s territory.
Watch our video to learn more:
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1 Feb 2024 - 20:00(20:00 GMT)
US has addressed settler violence with Israel
US officials have had “very frank” conversations with Israeli counterparts about settler violence in the occupied West Bank, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller has said.
Miller told a regular press briefing that the US side had raised specific cases and asked Israel to take action against individuals.
Earlier we reported that Washington had imposed sanctions on four men it said were involved in violence against Palestinians.
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1 Feb 2024 - 19:50(19:50 GMT)
Israeli rights group draws attention to freezing conditions in Gaza’s tent cities
The Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) has expressed alarm about conditions faced by displaced Palestinians in Gaza, where many are living in fragile shelters and tents amid cold temperatures and frigid rain.
“As the temperatures drop and the rains flood Gaza, hundreds of thousands of residents are still living in tents. This week, we spoke to a family of ten who described huddling together in their tent to keep warm, lying on the muddy ground covered in blankets,” the group said in a social media post.
“More than 1.7 million people have been displaced since the start of Israel’s assault on Gaza. Over 560,000 of them are sheltering in overcrowded tent cities in the southern Gaza Strip, where they face inadequate infrastructure, harsh weather conditions, flooding, poor hygiene conditions, and the risk of disease transmission,” it adds.
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1 Feb 2024 - 19:40(19:40 GMT)
PRCS reports continued Israeli shelling in area around al-Amal Hospital
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has reported that Israel’s siege of al-Amal Hospital has continued into its 11th day, and that shelling by Israeli forces continues in the area near the hospital.
“The occupation continues its violent shelling and shooting in the vicinity of the hospital,” the organisation said in a social media post.
“Repeated raids into the courtyards of the hospital and the association’s headquarters, and direct fire on the buildings, which threatens the lives of the staff and the displaced.”
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1 Feb 2024 - 19:30(19:30 GMT)
US military says it shot down drone over the Gulf of Aden
The US military has said that it shot down a drone over the Gulf of Aden on Thursday, the latest in a series of ongoing incidents near Yemen.
“On February 1, at approximately 5:00 am (Sanaa time) [02:00 GMT], US Central Command forces engaged and shot down one UAV over the Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM said in a statement. “There were no injuries or damage reported.”
CENTCOM said that US forces also destroyed a “Houthi explosive uncrewed surface vehicle (USV)” in the Red Sea, and that two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled territory later in the afternoon.
CENTCOM Update to Events in the Red Sea
On Feb. 1, at approximately 5:00 a.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command forces engaged and shot down one UAV over the Gulf of Aden. There were no injuries or damage reported.
Later the same day, at approximately 10:30 a.m. (Sanaa time),… pic.twitter.com/Ufdq5gQPPE
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 1, 2024
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1 Feb 2024 - 19:20(19:20 GMT)
WHO calls for safe access to provide humanitarian aid
The UN’s health agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the risk of famine in the Gaza Strip is increasing “every day”.
“We continue to call for safe access for humanitarian personnel and supplies,” he posted on X, adding the health care system in the coastal enclave must be protected and “not attacked or militarised”.
Over 100,000 Gazans are either dead, injured, or missing and presumed dead.
The risk of famine is high and increasing each day.
We continue to call for safe access for humanitarian personnel and supplies.
We continue to call for the hostages to be released.
We continue to… pic.twitter.com/2wPaA3udSy
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) February 1, 2024
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1 Feb 2024 - 19:15(19:15 GMT)
We now have more for you from Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari, who spoke at Johns Hopkins University’s Foreign Policy Institute in Washington, DC.
Here are some highlights from his remarks:
- The meeting in Paris succeeded in consolidating the proposals [for a humanitarian pause] on the table into one proposal.
- That proposal has been approved by the Israeli side.
- Now we have an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side also of the general framework.
- It will represent a general understanding of how the coming humanitarian pause will look.
- It does not include a lot of the details that still need to be discussed.
- We are optimistic that we are now at a point … where both sides agree on the principles.
- We are hopeful that in the next couple of weeks we will be able to share good news about that.
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1 Feb 2024 - 19:10(19:10 GMT)
Israeli defence minister says forces will push on to Rafah
Yoav Gallant has said that Israeli forces in Gaza will “continue to Rafah” near the border with Egypt, where throngs of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge and Egyptian authorities have warned against an Israeli incursion.
“The Khan Yunis Brigade of the Hamas organization is disbanded, we will complete the mission there and continue to Rafah,” Gallant said in a social media post on Thursday.
Thousands of displaced Palestinians, who have been fleeing south since the start of the war, have ended up in or near Rafah. They have long feared an Israeli assault on the area, as there is no farther south they can move.
Israel’s military operations in Khan Younis have been devastating to the civilian population there, and have included attacks on the city’s two largest hospitals, Nasser and al-Amal.
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1 Feb 2024 - 19:00(19:00 GMT)
Qatar: ‘Positive’ initial reaction from Hamas on latest truce proposal
Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid al-Ansari says Hamas received “an initial positive confirmation from the Hamas side” on the “general framework” for a truce in Gaza.
Earlier, we reported that Hamas, the governing entity in Gaza was studying a three-phase proposal for a truce in Gaza.
Israel’s war on Gaza updates: Rafah next target, says Israel
Gallant says Hamas’s Khan Younis brigade is dismantled and that Israeli army will soon attack Gaza’s southernmost city.
- Israeli defence minister Gallant says Rafah, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled to escape violence, is Israeli army’s next target for ground assault.
- Qatar says Hamas has received a proposal to halt the war in Gaza positively, but that it has yet to respond.
- Palestinians released after being detained by Israeli forces in Gaza share harrowing accounts of suffering and torture while being held in Israel.
- US sanctioned four Israeli settlers over links to violence in occupied West Bank, after order from Biden allowing such action.
- At least 27,019 people have been killed and 66,139 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.
Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies