Al Mayadeen – February 12, 2025
Israel to proceed with ceasefire if 3 captives released Sat: Axios
On Tuesday, conflicting statements from Israeli officials and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu created uncertainty regarding the conditions for extending the ceasefire.
Israel has conveyed a message to Hamas through Egyptian and Qatari mediators, stating that the ongoing prisoner release-ceasefire agreement will continue if the Palestinian group releases three captives on Saturday, Axios reported, citing a senior Israeli official.
On Tuesday, conflicting statements from Israeli officials and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu created uncertainty regarding the conditions for extending the ceasefire. Some statements indicated that Hamas must release "our hostages," while others specified "9 hostages" or even "all of them" for the truce to continue.
According to the Israeli Army Radio, Netanyahu and his security cabinet were uncertain about the precise meaning of US President Donald Trump's demand that Hamas release "all of the hostages" by Saturday at noon. As a result, a series of ambiguous messages were issued following a security cabinet meeting.
The cabinet was unable to determine whether Trump was referring to all 76 remaining captives in Gaza or just those scheduled for release in the initial phase of the agreement.
“We are in a situation where we can’t refuse to adopt [the positions of] Trump, and therefore the prime minister’s wording was convoluted,” an Israeli minister told Army Radio anonymously.
The current fragile ceasefire agreement is at risk of being jeopardized in recent days, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday that the bombardment of Gaza would resume if captives were not released by Saturday.
His statement matched that of US President Donald Trump, who warned a day earlier that "all hell" would break out if Hamas did not release "all" Israeli captives by Saturday.
This comes after the spokesperson for the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, announced that the captive exchange set for February 15 has been postponed until further notice, due to the ongoing Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement.
The violations include Palestinians being shot at, tanks trespassing the permitted distance, and preventing the entry of heavy equipment, medical supplies, and caravans.
Hamas had been set to release captives on Saturday in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, but the group now demands that "Israel" fulfill its obligations and compensate for its violations before the process can continue.
Palestinian Information Center – February 12, 2025
Al-Quds Brigades: The fate of remaining captives depends on Netanyahu’s actions
Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said on Wednesday that the fate of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip is linked to the actions of premier Benjamin Netanyahu.
Spokesman for al-Quds Brigades Abu Hamza said on Telegram that prisoner exchanges are the only way to release the Israeli captives and restore stability, holding the Israeli occupation regime responsible for any possible escalation.
“The Palestinian factions have fulfilled their obligations to the fullest, while the enemy (Israel) has left its prisoners in a whirlpool of danger and uncertainty,” Abu Hamza, added.
The spokesman added that the Israeli government is responsible for the consequences of its failure to fulfill its obligations under the ceasefire agreement.
“We are committed to all aspects of the ceasefire agreement as long as the enemy abides by its terms,” he added.
Al-Quds Brigades also released a video showing Israeli soldier Arbel Yehud and her fellow citizen Gadi Moses as well as five Thais with a message saying they “were released only through an exchange deal, so what about the rest?”
https://english.palinfo.com/news/2025/02/13/333888/
Hamas rejects US-Israeli 'threats' on captive exchange
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says it will not bow down to threats from Israel and the United States on the issue of captives.
Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said on Wednesday that Israel was "evading the implementation of several provisions of the ceasefire agreement," warning that captives would not be released without Israel complying with the deal.
"Our position is clear, and we will not accept the language of American and Israeli threats," said Qassem, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened to "resume intense fighting" if captives were not released by Saturday.
On Wednesday, the regime’s military affairs minister warned Israel will restart its war on Gaza if Hamas fails to release Israeli captives and that this time it will be more devastating.
“The new Gaza war will be different in intensity from the one before the ceasefire, and it will not end without the defeat of Hamas and the release of all the hostages,” Israeli Katz said in a statement.
“It will also allow the realization of US President [Donald] Trump’s vision for Gaza,” Katz said, referring to the American leader’s plan for the United States to take over the Palestinian territory.
Those threats echoed Trump, who said on Monday that "hell" would break loose if Hamas failed to release "all" Israeli captives by then.
Hamas negotiators in Egypt
Hamas earlier said in a statement that a delegation headed by its top negotiator and Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya "arrived in Cairo and began meetings with Egyptian officials" and was monitoring "the implementation of the ceasefire agreement."
A diplomat familiar with the talks told AFP that mediators from Qatar and Egypt were engaged with both Israel and Hamas to resolve the dispute and ensure the implementation of the agreement.
The truce has largely halted more than 15 months of genocide and seen Israeli captives released in batches in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons.
But the deal has come under increasing strain with Hamas accusing Israel of failing to meet its commitments under the agreement, including on aid, and citing the deaths of three Gazans at the weekend in fresh attacks.
Hamas has said it would postpone the next captive exchange scheduled for Saturday, citing Israeli violations.
Israel and Hamas have so far carried out five rounds of captive exchange under the first phase, which was to last for 42 days.
The regime and Hamas have yet to agree on the next phases of the truce.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to proceed with the planned release and "avoid at all costs resumption of hostilities in Gaza."
Palestinian Information Center – February 12, 2025
From Gaza to the West Bank: Israel’s unyielding war machine
By Ramzy Baroud
A year of combat”—this is how Israel’s new Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, described 2025 at a conference organized by the Israeli Ministry of Defense.
The exact sentence, translated from Hebrew, was: “The year 2025 will continue to be a year of combat.” The word ‘continue’ is crucial, suggesting that Israel will resume its wars, despite ceasefire agreements signed with the Lebanese government in November and Palestinian groups in January. In other words, it seems that Zamir is signaling that Israel will reopen these two fronts, even in the face of ceasefire deals.
Despite Israel’s insatiable appetite for war, it is hard to imagine what the Israeli army could achieve through renewed violence when it has already failed to accomplish its objectives in nearly 14 months in Lebanon and over 15 months in Gaza.
Israel launched thousands of air strikes on Lebanon, destroying entire towns and villages and killing and wounding thousands. It also dropped over 85,000 tons of bombs on Gaza, leading to the unprecedented genocide and the killing and wounding of over 170,000. Despite this, Israel has failed on both fronts. In Gaza, as reported by Reuters, Hamas alone managed to recruit up to 15,000 fighters just before the end of Israel’s 471st day of relentless warfare.
Furthermore, the return of nearly one million Palestinians to northern Gaza has reset Israel’s so-called tactical or strategic achievements. These efforts, aimed at depopulating northern Gaza to create permanent military buffer zones, were reversed by the population’s return.
The war also came at a staggering cost to the Israeli army. Ironically, during the same Ministry of Defense conference, Zamir revealed the actual costs of Israel’s wars in the past year. He stated that the Ministry “now provides care for 5,942 new bereaved family members”, adding that the “Rehabilitation Department has taken in over 15,000 wounded service members, many bearing both physical and mental scars from the war.”
These figures were not broken down by category or war front and did not include casualties from 7 October, 2023, to the end of the year. However, they represent the highest estimate of Israeli casualties provided to date, raising the question: Can Israel afford to return to war?
Former Israeli Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, who was dismissed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 5 November, offered clues about Israel’s military crisis during an interview on Channel 12. Gallant recalled a conversation he had with Netanyahu after the Hamas assault on the Gaza Envelope region in southern Israel.
“The Prime Minister told me that we would see thousands of dead in the offensive in Gaza. I told him: We will not see thousands of dead,” Gallant said. Zamir’s numbers, however, have now validated Netanyahu’s estimates, not Gallant’s.
Another early fear of Netanyahu was that “Hezbollah will destroy everything if we hit it”, referring to the city of Tel Aviv. While that particular prediction did not fully materialize, the stalemate in Lebanon ensures Israel will remain haunted by similar fears.
So, will 2025 be a year of combat for Israel?
Netanyahu faces a twofold challenge: if all war fronts officially end, his government will collapse; but if he returns to active war, he will fail to claim any decisive victory.
It is possible that Zamir’s “year of combat” doctrine is aimed at saving face—projecting strength without reopening major war fronts. Israel may continue to create crises in Gaza and Lebanon without fully engaging in war, perhaps by delaying scheduled withdrawals, adding new demands, and so on.
But this may not be enough for Netanyahu to stay in power, especially in the face of growing dissatisfaction. This is where the Iron Wall, Israel’s ongoing military operation in the West Bank, comes into play.
Though Israel has launched numerous raids in the West Bank, the 21 January campaign was directly linked to the war in Gaza. It began two days after the latest ceasefire, signaling that a large deployment of Israeli forces in the West Bank was meant to offset reduced combat in Gaza.
It also served to distract from Israel’s sense of failure in Gaza, as described by Israeli National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who quit Netanyahu’s coalition on 19 January.
The war in the West Bank, centered in the Refugee Camp of Jenin, has used tactics similar to those employed in Gaza. Tens of thousands have been displaced from Jenin, Tulkarem and other northern West Bank regions; hundreds have been killed, wounded and had their homes demolished. The Israeli army seems to be attempting to compensate for its failure to ethnically cleanse Gaza by displacing entire communities in the West Bank.
If Israel persists in making 2025 a “year of combat” focused on the West Bank, the consequences could be dire, especially for an army that has already suffered unprecedented losses on multiple fronts.
If Israel continues on this path, an all-out uprising may become imminent, and new, unexpected fronts could open up simultaneously.
Israel must be reined in. It is acting like a wounded animal and, in doing so, it continues to kill Palestinians in the name of security while destabilizing the entire Middle East. Netanyahu must be stopped.
-Ramzy Baroud is a journalist and the Editor of the Palestine Chronicle. He is the author of five books. His latest is ‘These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons’. Baroud is a Non-resident Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) and also at the Afro-Middle East Center (AMEC).
Al Mayadeen – February 12, 2025
2024 deadliest year for reporters, most killed by 'Israel': CPJ
Sudan and Pakistan had the second-greatest number of journalists and media workers slain, with six each.
Last year was the bloodiest for journalists in recent history, with at least 124 killed, with Israel responsible for roughly 70% of the killings, the Committee to Protect Journalists revealed Wednesday.
The 22% rise over 2023 reflects "surging levels of international conflict, political unrest, and criminality worldwide," according to the CPJ.
According to the CPJ, it was the deadliest year for reporters and media workers since the organization began collecting data more than three decades ago, with journalists killed in 18 different nations.
A total of 85 journalists died in the war on Gaza, "all at the hands of the Israeli military," according to the CPJ, who added that 82 were Palestinians.
Sudan and Pakistan had the second-greatest number of journalists and media workers slain, with six each.
Five journalists were killed in Mexico, which is known as one of the most hazardous nations for reporters, according to CPJ, which discovered "persistent flaws" in Mexico's processes for protecting journalists.
In Haiti, where two journalists were killed, pervasive violence and political instability have wreaked so much havoc that "gangs now openly claim responsibility for journalist killings," the report stated. Other deaths occurred in Myanmar, Mozambique, India, and Iraq.
CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg called it the "most dangerous time to be a journalist" in the history of the organization
"The war in Gaza is unprecedented in its impact on journalists and demonstrates a major deterioration in global norms on protecting journalists," Ginsberg explained.
The CPJ has maintained track of journalist deaths since 1992 and reported that 24 reporters were deliberately killed in 2024 as a result of their work. The report also noted that freelancers are among the most vulnerable due to a lack of resources, accounting for 43 of the deaths in 2024.
According to the CPJ, the new year of 2025 is not looking increasingly promising, with 6 journalists already killed in the last few weeks.
