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Israel Stages Airstrikes across Gaza, Makes Up to 100 Arrests at Nasser Hospital

A Palestinian looks at the devastation caused by the Israeli bombing in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip (AP)
A Palestinian looks at the devastation caused by the Israeli bombing in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip (AP)
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Israel Stages Airstrikes across Gaza, Makes Up to 100 Arrests at Nasser Hospital

A Palestinian looks at the devastation caused by the Israeli bombing in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip (AP)
A Palestinian looks at the devastation caused by the Israeli bombing in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip (AP)

Israeli forces carried out arrests in Gaza's largest functioning hospital, health officials and the military said on Saturday, as airstrikes hit across the enclave and rain battered Palestinians taking shelter in Rafah.

Israeli forces raided the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Thursday as they pressed their war on Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that rules the enclave.

"Occupation forces detained a large number of medical staff members inside Nasser Medical Complex, which they (Israel) turned into a military base," said Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra, Reuters reported.

The Israeli military said it was hunting for militants in Nasser and had so far arrested 100 suspects on the premises, killed gunmen near the hospital and found weapons inside it.

Hamas has denied allegations that its fighters use medical facilities for cover. At least two released Israeli hostages have said they were held in Nasser.

The Israeli incursion into the hospital has raised alarm about patients, medical workers and displaced Palestinians sheltering there.

About 10,000 people were seeking shelter at the hospital earlier this week, but many left either in anticipation of the Israeli raid or because of Israeli orders to evacuate, the Gaza Health Ministry said.

Further south in Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population are sheltering, the winter cold added to already dire conditions when wind blew away some tents of the displaced and rain flooded others.

Israeli plans to storm Rafah have prompted international concern that such action would sharply worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Also, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh blamed Israel for a lack of progress in achieving a ceasefire deal in Gaza, the group said in a statement on Saturday.

Haniyeh added that Hamas would not accept anything less than a complete cessation of hostilities, Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and "lifting of the unjust siege," as well as a release of Palestinian prisoners serving long sentences in Israeli jails.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed "complete victory" over Hamas but added on Wednesday that flexibility in the group's position could move forward negotiations for a deal that would see hostages released.

Israel's air and ground offensive has devastated much of Gaza and forced nearly all of its inhabitants from their homes. Palestinian health authorities say 28,858 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.

The war began when Hamas sent fighters into Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

At least 83 people were killed in airstrikes across the Gaza Strip since Friday, health officials said, including one person on Saturday in Rafah, an area that borders Egypt and which Israel says is Hamas' last bastion.

Across the border, air raid sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

 

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Arab World

Fire Reported at Foreign Oil Companies' Storage Facilities in Iraq after Drone Strike

Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi forces stand guard during a pro-Iran rally in Tahrir Square in Baghdad on April 2, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi forces stand guard during a pro-Iran rally in Tahrir Square in Baghdad on April 2, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
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Fire Reported at Foreign Oil Companies' Storage Facilities in Iraq after Drone Strike

Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi forces stand guard during a pro-Iran rally in Tahrir Square in Baghdad on April 2, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)
Members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi forces stand guard during a pro-Iran rally in Tahrir Square in Baghdad on April 2, 2026. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

A fire broke out ‌early ‌on Saturday at ‌storage ⁠facilities belonging to ⁠foreign ⁠oil ‌companies ‌west of Iraq's ‌Basra after ‌a ‌drone strike, security ⁠sources told Reuters.

Arab World

Israeli Forces Encircle Bint Jbeil in South Lebanon

A poster of a man and two children killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted their home in south Lebanon (AP) 
A poster of a man and two children killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted their home in south Lebanon (AP) 
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Israeli Forces Encircle Bint Jbeil in South Lebanon

A poster of a man and two children killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted their home in south Lebanon (AP) 
A poster of a man and two children killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted their home in south Lebanon (AP) 

Military developments are accelerating in south Lebanon as Israel steps up pressure through a mix of strikes, evacuation warnings and what analysts describe as a strategy of isolating border towns, with Bint Jbeil emerging as a primary focus.

The Israeli army on Friday warned residents on the northern outskirts of the nearby town of Ain Ebel to move further inside, in what appeared to be an effort to regroup civilians within designated areas.

Attention has centered on Bint Jbeil, where Israel appears to be avoiding a direct ground assault.

Retired Brigadier General Said Kozah told Asharq Al-Awsat that Israeli forces were “relying on a tactic of full encirclement rather than advancing directly into the town”.

He said troops were tightening a cordon along several axes — from Aitaroun and Aainata to the east and south, from Aita al-Shaab toward the outskirts of Haddatha in the north, and potentially from Ain Ebel in the west — effectively isolating Bint Jbeil on all sides.

Kozah noted that the evacuation of Salah Ghandour Hospital in the Saf al-Hawa area, a key junction linking the town to surrounding areas, pointed to an Israeli push to control supply and movement routes.

He added that Israel typically avoids combat in densely built areas due to the high cost, suggesting it may instead rely on heavy bombardment before any ground incursion.

“Bint Jbeil, with its prepared defenses, could become a costly war of attrition,” he stated, adding that a large-scale assault appeared unlikely in the immediate term.

Instead, he said, the likely scenario was continued encirclement, disruption of supply lines and clashes on the outskirts unless battlefield conditions shift.

Alongside developments in the south, Israel expanded pressure to Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee renewed warnings Friday, urging residents of Haret Hreik, Ghobeiry, Laylaki, Hadath, Burj al-Barajneh, Tahwitat al-Ghadir and Shiyah to evacuate immediately.

In the western Bekaa, Israel struck a bridge linking Sohmor and Mashghara over the Litani River after issuing prior warnings and calling on residents to move north of the Zahrani River.

An Israeli drone later struck worshippers leaving a mosque in Sohmor, killing two people and wounding 11 others, in a sign that strikes were extending to civilian gatherings.

Air strikes resumed on Beirut’s southern suburbs after two days of relative calm, while heavy bombardment continued across the south.

A house between Kafra and Srifa near a center run by the Islamic Health Authority was hit, burning an ambulance without causing injuries.

Strikes also hit Srifa, Braachit, Jouaiya, Borj Qalaouiyeh, Debaal, Ramadiyeh, Bustan, Yohmor al-Shaqif and Shaaitiyeh, with casualties reported, including among Syrians.

Additional strikes targeted Debbine and Srifa in the Tyre district, while intermittent artillery fire hit the outskirts of Haris and Kafra.

Drones were reported flying intensively over Hermel, the northern Bekaa, Beirut, Mount Lebanon and the southern suburbs as part of broad surveillance operations.

At dawn, Apache helicopters fired on the coastline from Bayyada to Mansouri, coinciding with clashes on the ground. Hezbollah fighters were reported to have attacked Israeli forces advancing toward the coastal road near Bayyada.

Overnight strikes hit Bint Jbeil, Hanine, Kounine and Tayri, while eastern Brachit came under artillery fire. Israeli forces also blew up remaining houses in Aita al-Shaab, with explosions heard as far as Tyre.

Separately, Lebanon’s National News Agency said three Indonesian soldiers serving with a UN peacekeeping unit were wounded at their base in Adaisseh by a shell, with the source under investigation.

Hezbollah said it fired rockets toward northern Israel, targeting Kiryat Shmona, troop positions at Honin barracks and military sites in Safed, as well as Metula and Kfar Yuval.

The group also said it detonated an explosive device against Israeli forces in Bayyada, causing casualties that required helicopter evacuation before the area was later shelled.

 

 

 

Arab World

Hamas Hopes Pressure Will Amend Gaza Disarmament Plan

Gunmen from Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
Gunmen from Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
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Hamas Hopes Pressure Will Amend Gaza Disarmament Plan

Gunmen from Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)
Gunmen from Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, February 2025 (EPA)

Hamas is pressing mediators to secure changes to a plan presented more than a week ago by Nikolay Mladenov, the High Representative of the “Board of Peace,” which calls for the full disarmament of Gaza without exception.

A Hamas delegation in Cairo is holding intensive talks with Palestinian factions and Egyptian officials, alongside meetings with representatives of the Board of Peace, including Mladenov, who has already met the group again, Asharq Al-Awsat has learned.

A senior Hamas official in Cairo said the movement has delivered a clear message to mediators: the proposal in its current form is unacceptable to Palestinians.

The official said amendments must bind Israel to complete the remaining terms of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement and commit to the second phase, particularly a full and immediate withdrawal, in line with the 20-point plan presented by US President Donald Trump during negotiations last September.

Hamas, they said, is still consulting internally and with other factions, with no final position yet on disarmament. Any response will depend on changes to the plan, especially guarantees of Israeli withdrawal and an end to what the official described as repeated ceasefire violations.

The official also accused Israel of restricting aid and goods, engineering shortages, tightening movement through the Rafah crossing, and using armed groups to search and humiliate travelers.

They said talks with mediators are focused on forcing revisions to the proposal.

A second Palestinian faction source said the plan is unjust and requires major changes, not only on weapons but also on withdrawal mechanisms, reconstruction, and governance, which he said must remain purely Palestinian without foreign oversight.

Linking disarmament to second-phase measures, including reconstruction limited to disarmed areas, amounts to blackmail, he said, adding that all Palestinian factions reject such conditions.

Reuters cited three sources, two Egyptian and one Palestinian, as saying Hamas has told mediators it will not discuss disarmament without guarantees of a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as outlined in the Board of Peace proposal.

Hamas has also demanded an end to Israeli violations, full implementation of all provisions, and clarification over Israel’s expanding control in the enclave.

Two Hamas officials declined to comment, while the Israeli government and Board of Peace representatives did not respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.

Israel insists on full disarmament of Gaza, including light and heavy weapons. The Board of Peace plan calls for dismantling tunnel networks and surrendering weapons in stages over eight months, with a full Israeli withdrawal only after Gaza is verified to be free of weapons.

Trump’s top Board of Peace envoy in the Middle East, Mladenov, said on X that all mediators had endorsed the plan and helped shape it before presenting it to Hamas.

"(The) international community has supported it, now is the time to agree to the framework for its implementation. For the sake of both Palestinians and Israelis, there is not time to lose," he said in the post.