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Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu between Trump and Far-right Allies

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
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Gaza Ceasefire Traps Netanyahu between Trump and Far-right Allies

This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)
This image grab from handout video footage released by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) shows Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu giving a televised address in Jerusalem on January 18, 2025. (Photo by GPO / AFP)

Even before it was signed, the Gaza ceasefire forced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into a tight spot - between a new US president promising peace and far-right allies who want war to resume. That tension is only likely to increase.
The stakes for Netanyahu are high -- keeping his coalition government on the one hand and on the other, satisfying US President Donald Trump who wants to use the ceasefire momentum to expand Israel's diplomatic ties in the Middle East.
One of Netanyahu's nationalist allies has already quit over the Gaza ceasefire, and another is threatening to follow unless war on Hamas is resumed at an even greater force than that which devastated much of Gaza for 15 months.
The clock is ticking. The first stage of the ceasefire is meant to last six weeks. By day 16 -- Feb. 4 -- Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas are due to start negotiating the second phase of the ceasefire, whose stated aim is to end the war.
Former police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's Jewish Power party quit the government on Sunday and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that he will stay in government only if war resumes after the first phase until the total defeat of Hamas, whose Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war.
"We must go back in a completely different style. We need to conquer Gaza, instate a military rule there, even if temporarily, to start encouraging (Palestinian) emigration, to start taking territory from our enemies and to win," Smotrich said in an interview with Channel 14 on Sunday.
Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, however, said on Wednesday he was focused on ensuring the deal moves from the first to second phase, which is expected to include a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
"Netanyahu is pressed between the far-right and Donald Trump," said political analyst Amotz Asa-El, with the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. "Netanyahu's coalition now is fragile and the likelihood that it will fall apart sometime in the course of 2025 is high."
Netanyahu's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Witkoff told Fox News on Wednesday that he will be on the ground overseeing the ceasefire, a signal that he will keep up the pressure he applied during the deal's negotiations.
According to six US, Israeli, Egyptian and other Mideast officials who spoke to Reuters in the run-up to the ceasefire announcement on Jan. 15, Witkoff played a crucial role in getting the deal over the line.
The ceasefire's first phase includes the release of hostages, a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces and aid flow into Gaza.
The second phase, if it happens, would include the release of remaining hostages and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces. A third phase is expected to start Gaza's reconstruction, overseen by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations.
One of the most difficult issues involved in negotiating the next phases is post-war Gaza's governance. Israel won't accept Hamas staying in power. Hamas so far has not given ground.
Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday, that Hamas will never govern Gaza and if it reneges on the deal, Washington will support Israel "in doing what it has to do."
On Saturday, after his government signed off on the ceasefire, Netanyahu said Israel had US backing to resume fighting if the second stage talks prove futile, leaving himself some political leeway with Smotrich, for now.
"If we need to go back to the fighting, we will do so in new ways and with great force," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

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Arab World

Israel Says Killed Four Militants Exiting Tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah

Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Says Killed Four Militants Exiting Tunnel in Gaza’s Rafah

Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Boys walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp for Palestinian refugees in the northern Gaza Strip on February 8, 2026. (AFP)

Israel's military said it killed four suspected militants who attacked its troops as the armed men emerged from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Monday, calling the group's actions a "blatant violation" of the ceasefire.

Despite a US-brokered truce entering its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Gaza Strip, with Israel and Hamas accusing each other of breaching the agreement.

"A short while ago, four armed terrorists exited an underground tunnel shaft and fired towards soldiers in the Rafah area in the southern Gaza Strip.... Following identification, the troops eliminated the terrorists," the military said in a statement.

It said none of its troops had been injured in the attack, which it called a "blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement" between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli troops "are continuing to operate in the area to locate and eliminate all the terrorists within the underground tunnel route", the military added.

Gaza health officials have said Israeli air strikes last Wednesday killed 24 people, with Israel's military saying the attacks were in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.

That wave of strikes came after Israel partly reopened the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on February 2, the only gateway to the Palestinian territory that does not pass through Israel.

Israeli forces seized control of the crossing in May 2024 during the war with Hamas, and it had remained largely closed since.

Around 180 Palestinians have left the Gaza Strip since Rafah's limited reopening, according to officials in the territory.

Israel has so far restricted passage to patients and their accompanying relatives.

The second phase of the Gaza ceasefire foresees a demilitarization of the territory -- including the disarmament of Hamas -- along with a gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.

Israeli officials say Hamas still has around 20,000 fighters and about 60,000 Kalashnikovs in Gaza.

A Palestinian technocratic committee has been set up with a goal of taking over day-to-day governance in the strip, but it remains unclear whether, or how, it will address the issue of demilitarization.

Arab World

Building Collapse in Lebanon's Tripoli Kills 13, Search for Missing Continues

Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
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Building Collapse in Lebanon's Tripoli Kills 13, Search for Missing Continues

Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)
Rescue workers and residents search for survivors in the rubble of a building that collapsed in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo)

The death toll from the collapse of a residential building in the Lebanese city of Tripoli rose to 13, as rescue teams continued to search for missing people beneath the rubble, Lebanon's National News ‌Agency reported ‌on Monday. 

Rescue ‌workers ⁠in the ‌northern city's Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood have also assisted nine survivors, while the search continued for others still believed to be trapped under the ⁠debris, NNA said. 

Officials said on ‌Sunday that two ‍adjoining ‍buildings had collapsed. 

Abdel Hamid Karameh, ‍head of Tripoli's municipal council, said he could not confirm how many people remained missing. Earlier, the head of Lebanon's civil defense rescue ⁠service said the two buildings were home to 22 residents, reported Reuters. 

A number of aging residential buildings have collapsed in Tripoli, Lebanon's second-largest city, in recent weeks, highlighting deteriorating infrastructure and years of neglect, state media reported, ‌citing municipal officials. 

 

Arab World

Salam Concludes Visit to South Lebanon: Region Must Return to State Authority

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (L) holds bouquets of flower as he stands next to the mayor of the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel, during his visit on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (L) holds bouquets of flower as he stands next to the mayor of the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel, during his visit on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
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Salam Concludes Visit to South Lebanon: Region Must Return to State Authority

Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (L) holds bouquets of flower as he stands next to the mayor of the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel, during his visit on February 8, 2026. (AFP)
Lebanon's Prime Minister Nawaf Salam (L) holds bouquets of flower as he stands next to the mayor of the heavily-damaged southern village of Kfar Shouba, near the border with Israel, during his visit on February 8, 2026. (AFP)

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam vowed on Sunday to work on rebuilding infrastructure in southern villages that were destroyed by Israel during its last war with Hezbollah.

On the second day of a tour of the South, he declared: “We want the region to return to the authority of the state.”

He was warmly received by the locals as he toured a number of border villages that were destroyed by Israel during the conflict. His visit included Kfar Kila, Marjeyoun, Kfar Shouba and Kfar Hamam. He kicked off his tour on Saturday by visiting Tyre and Bint Jbeil.

The visit went above the differences between the government and Hezbollah, which has long held sway over the South. Throughout the tour, Salam was greeted by representatives of the “Shiite duo” of Hezbollah and its ally the Amal movement, as well as MPs from the Change bloc and others opposed to Hezbollah.

In Kfar Kila, the locals raised a banner in welcome of the PM, also offering him flowers and an olive branch. The town was the worst hit during the war with Israel, which destroyed nearly 90 percent of its buildings and its forces regularly carrying out incursions there.

Salam said the town was “suffering more than others because of the daily violations and its close proximity to the border.”

He added that its residents cannot return to their homes without the reconstruction of its infrastructure, which should kick off “within the coming weeks.”

“Our visit underlines that the state and all of its agencies stand by the ruined border villages,” he stressed.

“The government will continue to make Israel commit” to the ceasefire agreement, he vowed. “This does not mean that we will wait until its full withdrawal from occupied areas before working on rehabilitating infrastructure.”

Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil noted that the people cannot return to their town because it has been razed to the ground by Israel and is still coming under its attacks.

In Marjeyoun, Salam said the “state has long been absent from the South. Today, however, the army has been deployed and we want it to remain so that it can carry out its duties.”

“The state is not limited to the army, but includes laws, institutions, social welfare and services,” he went on to say.

Reconstruction in Marjeyoun will cover roads and electricity and water infrastructure. The process will take months, he revealed, adding: “The state is serious about restoring its authority.”

“We want this region to return to the fold of the state.”

MP Elias Jarade said the government “must regain the trust of the southerners. This begins with the state embracing and defending its people,” and protecting Lebanon’s sovereignty.

MP Firas Hamdan said the PM’s visit reflects his keenness on relations with the South.

Ali Murad, a candidate who ran against Hezbollah and Amal in Marjeyoun, said the warm welcome accorded to Salam demonstrates that the “state needs the South as much as the people of the South need the state.”

“We will always count on the state,” he vowed.

Hezbollah MP Hussein Jishi welcomed Salam’s visit, hoping “it would bolster the southerners’ trust in the state.”

Kataeb leader MP Sami Gemayel remarked that the warm welcome accorded to the PM proves that the people of the South “want the state and its sovereignty. They want legitimate institutions that impose their authority throughout Lebanon, without exception.”