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Raided West Bank City Holds Funerals after Israeli Army Withdraws

Mourners carry the bodies of two of four Palestinians during their funeral following an Israeli operation at Nur Shams refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 13 September 2024. (EPA)
Mourners carry the bodies of two of four Palestinians during their funeral following an Israeli operation at Nur Shams refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 13 September 2024. (EPA)
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Raided West Bank City Holds Funerals after Israeli Army Withdraws

Mourners carry the bodies of two of four Palestinians during their funeral following an Israeli operation at Nur Shams refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 13 September 2024. (EPA)
Mourners carry the bodies of two of four Palestinians during their funeral following an Israeli operation at Nur Shams refugee camp near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 13 September 2024. (EPA)

The families of Palestinians killed in an air strike in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas held funerals on Friday after Israeli forces withdrew following their latest raid in the territory.

The Israeli military said in a statement on Wednesday that its forces were engaged in a "counter-terrorism operation" in the area of Tubas, in the northern West Bank.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the military withdrew Thursday evening, allowing the funerals to go ahead.

The four men buried in Tubas on Friday were killed in an air strike at dawn on Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.

A fifth fatality from the same strike was buried on Friday in Tamoun, also in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli military said in its Wednesday statement that Israeli aircraft had "struck and eliminated a terrorist cell consisting of five terrorists armed with explosives who posed a threat to (Israeli) forces".

On Friday morning, hundreds of people walked through the streets of Tubas alongside the four bodies hoisted on stretchers and wrapped in white cloth.

Some in the crowd waved the green flag of the Palestinian movement Hamas and gunfire punctuated the chants of the mourners.

"I woke up in the morning to the sound of an explosion," Ahmed Sawafta, father of one of the dead men, told AFP, describing the strike on Wednesday.

"My brothers came and told me that Yassin had been martyred," he said, referring to his son.

Osaid Kharaz, who identified himself as a Hamas activist, told AFP at the funeral that Israel "is attempting to impose a new reality and undermine the popular support for the resistance (to Israeli occupation) in the West Bank."

- 'Full strength' -

The military will use its "full strength" to strike Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on September 4, amid a large-scale operation in the north of the territory that killed dozens.

Israeli forces this week also carried out operations in the northern West Bank governorate of Tulkarem.

The Palestinian Red Crescent and the health ministry both reported that one volunteer paramedic and a young woman were killed during an Israeli raid there on Tuesday.

The health ministry also reported three killed near Tulkarem city on Wednesday "as a result of an Israeli air strike on a vehicle". The Palestinian Red Crescent gave the same toll.

The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad said in a statement that the three killed in the strike were its fighters.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday its air force had "conducted an aerial strike during the counter-terrorism operation" in Tulkarem, without specifying the target or reporting casualties.

Wafa reported that Israeli forces also withdrew from Tulkarem on Thursday and that funerals were held there on Friday.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and has ramped up deadly raids in the territory since Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 679 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the Israeli military or settlers since October 7.

At least 24 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the territory during the same period, according to Israeli officials.

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Arab World

Libya PM Undergoes 'Successful' Treatment at Heart Hospital

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
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Libya PM Undergoes 'Successful' Treatment at Heart Hospital

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)

Libya's Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah has undergone "successful" treatment at a heart hospital, his office said Saturday, but his specific ailment was not disclosed.

"I assure you that I am fine, by God's grace," said a statement posted on social media overnight.

The treatment was carried out at a facility in the northwestern Libyan city of Misrata on an undisclosed date, said AFP.

Dbeibah said he later travelled abroad for "additional medical checkups for reassurance", though this was not the primary reason for his trip.

Italian media outlets previously reported he had been admitted to a leading cardiac facility in Milan on Thursday for a general check-up.

"The matter is simply that I underwent some additional medical checkups for reassurance while I was abroad due to a prior external commitment," he said.

"The results confirmed the success of the treatment I received in Libya, praise be to God."

The prime minister leads a UN-recognized government based in Tripoli that controls western Libya, while the country's east is run by another administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Libya has remained divided since chaos erupted following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Arab World

Eight Hezbollah Members Killed in Israel’s Friday Strikes on Lebanon

A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
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Eight Hezbollah Members Killed in Israel’s Friday Strikes on Lebanon

A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)
A bulldozer clears debris near heavily-damaged buildings in the village of Bednayel in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley region on February 21, 2026, following Israeli strikes. (AFP)

Attacks carried out by Israel on Friday in eastern Lebanon killed eight members of Hezbollah, an official from the group told AFP on Saturday.

Lebanon's health ministry said Friday that a total of 10 people were killed in strikes that hit the eastern Bekaa region.

The Israeli military said it targeted "several terrorists of Hezbollah's missile array in three different command centers in the Baalbek area".

Lebanon's president on Saturday condemned the attacks, the latest despite a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

In a statement, Joseph Aoun called the attacks "a blatant act of aggression aimed at thwarting diplomatic efforts" by the United States and other nations to establish stability.

A lawmaker from Hezbollah called on Beirut to suspend meetings of a multinational committee tasked with monitoring the truce.

Washington is one of five members on the committee overseeing the ceasefire implemented in November 2024, with the body scheduled to meet again next week.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite the ceasefire, usually saying it is targeting Hezbollah but occasionally also the group's Palestinian ally Hamas.

The Friday attacks on southern and eastern Lebanon killed 12 people, according to the health ministry, 10 of them in the east of the country.

Israel's military said it struck "several terrorists of Hezbollah's missile array in three different command centers in the Baalbek area".

Hezbollah said a commander was killed in the raids. Its lawmaker Rami Abu Hamdan said on Saturday the group "will not accept the authorities acting as mere political analysts, dismissing these as Israeli strikes we have grown accustomed to before every meeting of the committee".

He called on Beirut to "suspend the committee's meetings until the enemy ceases its attacks".

Hezbollah, while weakened following war with Israel, remains a strong political force in Lebanon represented in parliament.

Lebanon's government last year committed to disarming the Iran-backed group, with the army saying last month it had completed the first phase of the plan covering the area near the Israeli border.

Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of rearming since the war, has called the Lebanese army's progress on disarming the group insufficient.

Arab World

Ramadan’s First Friday Prayers Are Held at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque

Palestinians worshippers gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 20 February 2026. (EPA)
Palestinians worshippers gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 20 February 2026. (EPA)
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Ramadan’s First Friday Prayers Are Held at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque

Palestinians worshippers gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 20 February 2026. (EPA)
Palestinians worshippers gather at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, in the Old City of Jerusalem, 20 February 2026. (EPA)

Tens of thousands of Palestinians gathered under heavy Israeli restrictions at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, including some who were allowed to enter from the occupied West Bank.

The Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa took place for the first time since a shaky ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas went into effect in October. It was the first opportunity many had to leave the West Bank and pray at the site in Jerusalem’s Old City since Ramadan last year.

Israel restricted the number of Palestinians allowed to enter from the West Bank to 10,000 on Friday, and only allowed men over 55 and women over 50 as well as children up to 12. It has imposed similar restrictions in the past, citing security concerns.

The hilltop, which Jews refer to as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism and was home to the ancient biblical temples. Muslims call the site the Noble Sanctuary. Today it is home to Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam.

It has frequently been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli police said more than 3,000 police were deployed across Jerusalem. They said their presence was not meant to show aggression or force but was aimed at providing help in case of an emergency.

Many Palestinians view the heightened Israeli security presence, and increasing visits by religious and nationalist Israeli Jews, as a provocation. They fear that Israel intends to take over or partition the compound. The Israeli government denies having any such plans.

Jerusalem’s Islamic Waqf, the Jordanian religious authority that administers the compound, said there were 80,000 in attendance. In normal times, Ramadan Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa can draw up to 200,000.

Ezaldeen Mustafah, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was among those lamenting the restrictions.

“We need more people than this,” he said.

Some Palestinians from the West Bank on Friday said they were turned away from crossing into Jerusalem even though they had permits. Jihad Bisharat said he was told his permit had been canceled and was sent back. Israel's army didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Old City, home to major religious sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, is in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians want all three territories for a future state with its capital in east Jerusalem. Israel annexed east Jerusalem, a move not recognized by most of the international community, and considers the entire city to be its capital.

Ramadan in Gaza

Many Palestinians said the month’s typically festive spirit is eluding them as they struggle with grief and losses following two years of conflict in Gaza sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel.

“All the mosques have been bombed,” said Ramiz Firwana, a Gaza resident who gathered with other worshippers for a Friday sermon and prayers held in schoolyard.

On Thursday evening, families sat amid the rubble and destruction for iftar, the meal held at the end of the daily dawn-to-dusk fast.

“Despite the displacement, the pain and the destruction, we want to rejoice and live,” said Mohammad Kollab, from Khan Younis. “We are not a people destined only for destruction and killing."

Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and caused widespread destruction and displaced most of the territory’s residents. Israel launched the offensive after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage in the initial attack.

The Oct. 10 US-brokered ceasefire deal has brought an end to major military operations and the release of the remaining hostages. But Palestinians, including many civilians, are still being killed in near-daily strikes that Israel says are aimed at militants who threaten or attack its forces.