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Hamas Says It Accepts UN-Backed Gaza Truce Plan, US Cites ‘Hopeful Sign’ 

Palestinian boys transport water containers past buildings destroyed during previous Israeli bombardment, in Gaza City on June 10, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinian boys transport water containers past buildings destroyed during previous Israeli bombardment, in Gaza City on June 10, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Hamas Says It Accepts UN-Backed Gaza Truce Plan, US Cites ‘Hopeful Sign’ 

Palestinian boys transport water containers past buildings destroyed during previous Israeli bombardment, in Gaza City on June 10, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinian boys transport water containers past buildings destroyed during previous Israeli bombardment, in Gaza City on June 10, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Hamas accepts a UN resolution backing a plan to end the war with Israel in Gaza and is ready to negotiate details, a senior official of the Palestinian armed group said on Tuesday in what the US Secretary of State called "a hopeful sign". 

Conversations on plans for Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war ends will continue on Tuesday afternoon and in the next couple of days, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv after talks with Israeli leaders. "It's imperative that we have these plans." 

Blinken met Israeli officials on Tuesday in a push to end the eight-month-old Israeli air and ground war against Hamas that has devastated Gaza, a day after President Joe Biden's proposal for a truce was approved by the UN Security Council. 

Ahead of Blinken's trip, Israel and Hamas both repeated hardline positions that have undermined previous mediation to end the fighting, while Israel has pressed on with assaults in central and southern Gaza, among the bloodiest of the war. 

On Tuesday, however, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri, who is based outside Gaza, said it accepted the ceasefire resolution and was ready to negotiate over the details. It was up to Washington to ensure that Israel abides by it, he added. 

He said Hamas accepted the formula stipulating the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and a swap of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel. 

"The US administration is facing a real test to carry out its commitments in compelling the occupation to immediately end the war in an implementation of the UN Security Council resolution," Abu Zuhri told Reuters. 

Blinken said the Hamas statement was "a hopeful sign" but definitive word was still needed from the Hamas leadership inside Israeli-besieged Gaza. "That's what counts, and that's what we don't have yet." 

The war began when Hamas-led Palestinian gunmen stormed into southern Israel from Gaza on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,200 people and seizing more than 250 as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. 

Israel's retaliatory air and ground blitz in Gaza has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, the Gaza health ministry has said, and reduced most of the narrow, coastal enclave to wasteland, with malnutrition widespread. 

Biden's proposal envisages a ceasefire and release of hostages in exchange for Palestinians jailed in Israel in stages, ultimately leading to a permanent end to the war. 

Israel has said it will agree only to temporary pauses in the war until Hamas is defeated, while Hamas has countered it will not accept a deal that does not guarantee the war will end. 

Blinken, speaking to reporters before departing for neighboring Jordan, also said his talks were also addressing day-after plans for Gaza, including security, governance, and rebuilding the densely populated enclave. 

"We've been doing that in consultation with many partners throughout the region. Those conversations will continue...it's imperative that we have these plans," he said. 

In the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinians reacted cautiously to the Security Council vote, fearing it could prove yet another ceasefire initiative that would prove fruitless. 

"We will believe it only when we see it," said Shaban Abdel-Raouf, 47, a displaced family of five sheltering in the central city of Deir Al-Balah, a frequent target of Israeli firepower. 

"When they tell us to pack our belongings and prepare to go back to Gaza City, we will know it is true," he told Reuters via a chat app. 

FEARS OF MAJOR ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH WAR 

In his visit, his eighth to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last October, Blinken also hoped to counter rising violence between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah after both signaled readiness for a major spillover conflict. 

On Monday, Blinken had talks in Cairo with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, an important mediator in the Gaza war, in Cairo before proceeding to Israel, where he met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. 

Blinken had consultations on Tuesday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, centrist ex-military chief Benny Gantz - who quit Israel's war cabinet on Sunday over what he said was Netanyahu's failure to outline a plan for the war's end - as well as opposition leader Yair Lapid. 

The US State Department said Blinken discussed Biden's truce proposal with Gantz and reiterated that it would advance Israel's security interests, bring hostages home and raise the chances of restoring calm along Israel's border with Lebanon. 

The US is Israel's closest ally and biggest arms supplier, though it has become sharply critical of the high civilian death toll, vast destruction and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza caused by the Israeli military campaign. 

The war raged on in Gaza on Tuesday as Israeli forces stepped up strikes on its southern city of Rafah a day after four soldiers were killed in an ambush claimed by Hamas. 

Israeli Army Radio said the soldiers died in an explosion in a building in Rafah's Shaboura district. Hamas said it had ambushed troops by detonating explosives planted in the building. 

HOPES FOR CEASEFIRE REPEATEDLY DASHED 

Biden has repeatedly declared that ceasefires were close over the past several months, but there has been only one, week-long truce, in November, when over 100 hostages were freed in exchange for about 240 Palestinians held in Israeli jails. 

Israeli forces rescued four hostages held by Hamas in a commando raid into a crowded urban refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday during which 274 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombardments, according to Gaza's health authorities. 

There are over 100 hostages left in the coastal enclave, according to Israeli tallies, including at least 40 whom Israeli authorities have declared dead in absentia.  

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Arab World

Israeli Settlers Kill 19-year-old Palestinian-American

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian-American Nasrallah Muhammad Jamal Abu Siyam, 19, who according to the Palestinian Health Ministry was shot by settlers on Wednesday night, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Mukhmas, east of Ramallah, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian-American Nasrallah Muhammad Jamal Abu Siyam, 19, who according to the Palestinian Health Ministry was shot by settlers on Wednesday night, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Mukhmas, east of Ramallah, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
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Israeli Settlers Kill 19-year-old Palestinian-American

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian-American Nasrallah Muhammad Jamal Abu Siyam, 19, who according to the Palestinian Health Ministry was shot by settlers on Wednesday night, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Mukhmas, east of Ramallah, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian-American Nasrallah Muhammad Jamal Abu Siyam, 19, who according to the Palestinian Health Ministry was shot by settlers on Wednesday night, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Mukhmas, east of Ramallah, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank shot and killed a Palestinian-American during an attack on a village, the Palestinian Health Ministry and a witness said Thursday.

Raed Abu Ali, a resident of Mukhmas, said a group of settlers came to the village Wednesday afternoon where they attacked a farmer, prompting clashes after residents intervened. Israeli forces later arrived, and during the violence armed settlers killed 19-year-old Nasrallah Abu Siyam and injured several others.

Abu Ali said that the army shot tear gas, sound grenades and live ammunition. Israel's military acknowledged using what it called “riot dispersal methods” after receiving reports of Palestinians throwing rocks but denied that its forces fired during the clashes, The Associated Press said.

“When the settlers saw the army, they were encouraged and started shooting live bullets,” Abu Ali said. He added that they clubbed those injured with sticks after they had fallen to the ground.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Abu Siyam's death from critical wounds sustained Wednesday afternoon near the village east of Ramallah.

Abu Siyam’s killing is the latest in a surge in violence in the occupied West Bank. Israeli forces and settlers killed 240 Palestinians last year, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Palestinians killed 17 Israelis over the same period, six of whom were soldiers. The Palestinian Authority’s Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission said Abu Siyam was the first Palestinian killed by settlers in 2026.

Mukhmas and its surrounding area — most of which lies under Israeli civil and military administration — have become a hot spot for settler attacks, including arson and assaults, as well as the construction of outposts that Israeli law considers illegal.

The Israeli military said late Wednesday that unnamed suspects shot at Palestinians, who were later evacuated for medical treatment. It did not say whether any were arrested.

Abu Siyam's mother told The Associated Press that he was an American citizen, making him the second Palestinian-American to be killed by Israeli settlers in less than a year.

A US embassy spokesperson said they “condemn this violence."

Palestinians and rights groups say authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers or hold them accountable for violence.

UN says Israel's acts in West Bank may be ethnic cleansing

The UN human rights office on Thursday accused Israel of war crimes and said practices that displace Palestinians and alter the demographic composition of the occupied West Bank “raise concerns over ethnic cleansing.”

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, citing findings collected November 2024 to October 2025, said Israel was engaged in “concerted and accelerating effort to consolidate annexation” while maintaining a system “to maintain oppression and domination of Palestinians.”

Residents of Palestinian villages and herding communities have been increasingly displaced as Israeli settlements and outposts expand. Since the start of the Israel–Hamas war, the Israeli rights group B’Tselem says about 45 Palestinian communities have been emptied out completely amid Israeli demolition orders and settler attacks.

Additionally, the office said Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank “employed means and methods designed for warfare” including lethal airstrikes and forcibly transferring civilians from their homes. It also said Israel “forbade” residents from returning to their homes in northern West Bank refugee camps. The operation, which Israel said was aimed against militants, displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians.

The report also accused Palestinian security forces of using unnecessary lethal force in the same areas, killing at least eight people, and noted that the Palestinian Authority had engaged in “intimidation, detention and ill-treatment of journalists, human rights defenders and other individuals deemed critical of its rule.”

Neither Israel’s Foreign Ministry nor the Palestinian Authority responded to requests for comment. Israel has repeatedly accused the UN rights office of anti-Israel bias.

Last year, the UN human rights monitor warned of what it called “an unfolding genocide in Gaza” with “conditions of life increasingly incompatible with (Palestinians’) continued existence.” Their report on Thursday also warned of demographic shifts in Gaza raising concerns of ethnic cleansing.

Report finds imprisoned Palestinian journalists were tortured

The Committee to Protect Journalists said that dozens of Palestinian journalists who were detained in Israel during the war in Gaza experienced conditions including physical assaults, forced stress positions, sensory deprivation, sexual violence and medical neglect.

CPJ documented the detention of at least 94 Palestinian journalists and one media worker during the war, from the West Bank, Gaza and Israel Thirty are still in custody, CPJ said.

Half of the journalists, the report found, were never charged with a crime and were held under Israel’s administrative detention system, which allows for suspects deemed security risks to be held for six months and can be renewed indefinitely.

Israel’s prison services did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the report, but rejected a similar report in January about conditions for Palestinian prisoners as “false allegations,” contending it operates lawfully, is subject to oversight and reviews complaints.

UN development chief says removing Gaza rubble will take 7 years

The vast destruction across Gaza will take at least seven years just to remove the rubble, according to the United Nations Development Program.

Alexander De Croo, the former Belgian prime minister who just returned from Gaza, said that the UNDP had removed just 0.5% of the rubble and people in Gaza are experiencing “the worst living conditions that I have ever seen.”

De Croo said 90% of Gaza’s 2.2 million people live in “very, very rudimentary tents” in the middle of the rubble, which poses health dangers and a danger from exploding weapons.

He said UNDP has been able to build 500 improved housing units, and has 4,000 more that are ready, but estimates the true need is 200,000 to 300,000 units. The units are meant to be used temporarily while reconstruction takes place. He called on Israel to expand access for goods and items needed for reconstruction and the private sector to begin development.

Arab World

Yemen PM Announces Comprehensive Reform Plan with Saudi Support

Zindani government holds first meeting after ministers return to Aden (Saba News Agency)
Zindani government holds first meeting after ministers return to Aden (Saba News Agency)
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Yemen PM Announces Comprehensive Reform Plan with Saudi Support

Zindani government holds first meeting after ministers return to Aden (Saba News Agency)
Zindani government holds first meeting after ministers return to Aden (Saba News Agency)

Yemen’s new government convened its first cabinet meeting on Thursday in the temporary capital Aden, with Prime Minister Shayea al-Zindani presiding after ministers completed their return to the country to resume duties, in what officials cast as the start of a hands-on push to stabilize security, revive services and shore up a battered economy with broad Saudi backing.

The meeting coincided with remarks by Presidential Leadership Council member Abdulrahman al-Mahrami, who warned against unrest in Aden, in an apparent reference to attempts led by elements of the dissolved Southern Transitional Council. “We will not allow any attempts to destabilize public order or drag our city into chaos or futile conflicts,” he said.

At the cabinet’s first meeting following its return to Aden, Zindani stressed that “there is no room for any government member to remain outside the country,” affirming that the government would be present on the ground, living among the population and addressing their daily needs, in a move aimed at restoring public trust and strengthening direct government performance.

The Yemeni prime minister, who also retains the foreign affairs portfolio, said his government would enter a new phase of field-based work from Aden, emphasizing that the next stage would rely on direct engagement with citizens, enhancing the effectiveness of state institutions and achieving tangible improvements in services and economic and security stability.

He said improvements in some basic services in recent weeks were not temporary, but the result of disciplined measures and practical reforms, alongside significant Saudi support, which he said had once again proven to be a pillar of the Yemeni state and a key partner in achieving peace and ensuring stability. He added that Saudi moves in support of the Yemeni people were consistent with international law.

Zindani said the government was working to ensure the sustainability of service delivery so that citizens feel a real and lasting difference, not a fleeting improvement, noting that the coming phase would include serious steps to combat corruption, enhance transparency and enforce the law as key pillars for building effective state institutions.

Reforms on all fronts

On the economic front, Zindani announced that the government would present a realistic 2026 budget for the first time in years, giving top priority to the regular payment of public-sector salaries as a legal and moral obligation.

Measures would also be taken to curb inflation and contain the erosion of citizens’ purchasing power, thereby easing living burdens.

On the security and military fronts, he said the government was committed to removing all military camps from Aden and other cities and to unifying military and security decision-making under the state’s authority, to strengthen stability and prevent multiple centers of influence.

He stressed the importance of respecting rights and equality for all citizens, and of not allowing calls that promote chaos or threaten public order.

Regarding the southern issue, the prime minister expressed confidence that south-south dialogue would open a genuine window to address it, calling on southerners to abandon the rhetoric of treason and avoid fueling strife and grudges, and to entrench a culture of tolerance and move beyond past conflicts.

He said southerners are the ones concerned with determining their present and future through dialogue, away from the imposition of individual or factional will, stressing there was no room to politicize or diminish the southern issue, which he described as a national cause concerning all Yemenis.

On the peace track, Zindani said the state retained all options to restore its institutions if the Houthis remained intransigent, while affirming that the internationally recognized government continues to extend its hand for peace and to end the Houthi coup, alongside efforts to launch a broad process of reconstruction, development and modernization.

Gradual work

Upon his arrival at Aden International Airport, Zindani said the government’s return to the country represents a practical commitment to shoulder national responsibilities and directly address accumulated challenges facing citizens, particularly amid difficult economic conditions and the repercussions of the ongoing war.

In his first interview after being sworn in as prime minister, Zindani said his government would soon relocate to Aden, noting that being inside the country was not a symbolic step but a prerequisite for effective decision-making and restoring the regular functioning of state institutions.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said the current phase “does not tolerate broad rhetoric,” but requires gradual work to rebuild trust and restore institutional rhythm, stressing that improving living conditions, services, and economic recovery are urgent priorities.

He justified retaining the foreign affairs portfolio as necessary to complete organizational and diplomatic reforms he had previously begun.

Zindani said his cabinet was formed based on professional criteria, away from quota-based arrangements, with a focus on competence, specialization and national balance.

Economically, he adopted what he described as a realistic tone, avoiding quick promises, and said recovery requires restructuring financial administration, controlling resources, enhancing transparency and activating oversight.

He said unifying political and military decision-making would enable state institutions to enforce the law, make accountability possible and give the government a more cohesive negotiating position in any upcoming peace process with the Houthis.

No tolerance for unrest

In support of Zindani’s government, Presidential Leadership Council member Abdulrahman al-Mahrami said security and stability in Aden would remain a non-negotiable priority.

He stressed that no attempts would be allowed to undermine public order or drag Aden into chaos and futile conflicts.

In a statement on his official X account, he reaffirmed that Aden’s security and stability will remain a priority and the government will accept no compromise or negligence.

"We will not allow any attempts to destabilize public order or drag our city into chaos or futile conflicts, without detracting from the political path of the south and its cause," he said.

He added: “We look forward to a South-South dialogue sponsored by Riyadh. It is a historic opportunity that we value and hold on to, and we thank the Kingdom’s leadership for it. We also affirm our full support for the government headed by Dr. Shayea al-Zindani, urging all its members to provide services and improve living conditions in a way that citizens can feel.”

Al-Mahrami pledged to follow up on performance “with care, transparency and responsibility,” calling on “everyone to unite, reject rumors, strengthen the spirit of national responsibility and stand together to protect the capital and safeguard state institutions.”

He added: “We trust that all understand the importance of preserving security and stability as the foundation for government and institutional work and the provision of services, away from political direction or exploitation by any party to harm people’s lives and increase their suffering, without detracting from our just cause.”

Arab World

Rafah Crossing Traffic Lags Two Weeks after Reopening

Humanitarian and relief aid crosses Rafah Crossing (Egyptian Red Crescent)
Humanitarian and relief aid crosses Rafah Crossing (Egyptian Red Crescent)
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Rafah Crossing Traffic Lags Two Weeks after Reopening

Humanitarian and relief aid crosses Rafah Crossing (Egyptian Red Crescent)
Humanitarian and relief aid crosses Rafah Crossing (Egyptian Red Crescent)

Despite nearly two weeks since the reopening of the Rafah crossing in both directions, the number of people and humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip falls short of what was agreed under the “Gaza ceasefire agreement,” according to an official from the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai.

The daily movement of individuals to and from Gaza does not exceed 50 people, Khaled Zayed, head of the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai, told Asharq Al-Awsat. He said this figure represents only one-third of what was agreed upon in the ceasefire deal.

He added that truck traffic stands at about 100 per day, despite Gaza’s population requiring the entry of around 600 trucks daily.

On Feb. 2, Israel reopened the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side for individual travel, allowing Palestinians to leave and return to the enclave. Indicators show that most of those departing Gaza are patients and wounded individuals, who are being received at Egyptian hospitals.

This comes as Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty stressed the need to “ensure the unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid and not obstruct movement through the Rafah crossing.”

In his remarks during a ministerial Security Council session on developments in the Middle East on Wednesday, he underscored the importance of “halting all measures aimed at displacing residents or altering the demographic character of the occupied Palestinian territories.”

Israel took control of the Rafah border crossing in May 2024, about nine months after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The reopening of the crossing was part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that entered into force last October, though the deal remains fragile.

The Egyptian Red Crescent announced the departure of the 14th group of wounded, sick, and injured Palestinians arriving and leaving through the crossing.

In a statement on Thursday, it said humanitarian efforts to receive and see off Palestinians include a comprehensive package of relief services, psychological support for children, distribution of suhoor and iftar meals, and heavy clothing, in addition to providing “return bags” for those heading back to Gaza.

At the same time, the Red Crescent dispatched the 142nd “Zad Al-Ezza” convoy, which includes 197,000 food parcels and more than 235 tons of flour as part of the “Iftar for One Million Fasters” campaign in Gaza.

The convoy also carries more than 390 tons of medicines, relief, and personal care supplies, as well as about 760 tons of fuel, according to the organization’s statement.

Zayed said the daily number of individuals crossing through Rafah over the past two weeks does not compare with what was stipulated in the ceasefire agreement.

With the reopening of the Rafah crossing on the Palestinian side, Israel’s Arabic-language public broadcaster Makan reported that 150 people were expected to leave Gaza, including 50 patients, while 50 people would be allowed to enter the enclave.

Despite what he described as Israeli obstacles, Zayed said allowing the movement of individuals and the wounded represents “an unsatisfactory breakthrough in the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” stressing the need to fulfill the ceasefire’s obligations and advance early recovery efforts inside the territory.

The total number of Palestinians who have left through the Rafah crossing since it reopened on both sides does not exceed 1,000, according to Salah Abdel Ati, head of the International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights.

He said around 20,000 wounded and sick Palestinians require urgent evacuation, and that Israeli restrictions are hindering access to medical care, adding that the humanitarian situation requires continued pressure by mediators on Israel.

Abdelatty told Asharq Al-Awsat he was counting on the outcome of the first meeting of the Board of Peace to adopt easing measures, including lifting Israeli restrictions and establishing guarantees for the ceasefire in the Palestinian territories, as well as securing the funding needed for Gaza’s early recovery, in line with US President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the enclave.

According to a statement by the Egyptian Red Crescent, Egypt continues relief efforts at all logistical hubs to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid, which has exceeded 800,000 tons, with the participation of more than 65,000 volunteers from the Egyptian Red Crescent.