US says Paris may result in possible Gaza ceasefire deal, hostage swap

This live blog on Israel's war on Gaza has concluded. Thanks for following.

Jordan's King Abdullah II warned on Sunday of a wider regional war if Israel presses on with its military campaign in the Gaza Strip during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in March.

At a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Abdullah warned "of the continuation of the war on Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan, which will increase the threat of expanding the conflict," Jordan's official Petra news agency reported.

The Houthi group said Sunday that a civilian was killed, and six others were wounded from the same family in US and British strikes on the Taiz governorate in southwest Yemen.

No further details were given.

This is the first time Houthis announce civilian casualties in American and British strikes on the Iran-backed rebel group which began in January.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the military operation into Gaza's Rafah would put Israel within weeks of "total victory" over Hamas.

"If we have a (ceasefire) deal, it will be delayed somewhat, but it will happen," he told CBS.

"If we don't have a deal, we'll do it anyway. It has to be done because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach - not months away, weeks away, once we begin the operation."

U.S. President Joe Biden has not been briefed on Israel's plan for military operations in Rafah, but believes civilian life must be protected, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

"We do not believe that an operation, a major military operation, should proceed in Rafah unless there is a clear and executable plan to protect those civilians, to get them to safety and to feed, clothe and house them," Sullivan said. 

Former Israeli premier Ehud Barak accused current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu willingly exposing Israeli hostages held in Gaza to danger "at the expense of showing himself strong."

"For Netanyahu, appearing strong is more important than reaching an agreement, as he is willing to risk the lives of the hostages," Barak told Israeli Army Radio.

He called on Israelis to organise mass protests against Netanyahu’s government, saying: "We need 300,000 people to besiege the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) with tents, day and night for three weeks."

Then, Netanyahu will release his time is up, and there is no more trust with him when Israel comes to a standstill, added Barak.

Jordan warned on Sunday that Israel’s continued war on the Gaza Strip as the month of Ramadan approaches puts the region at greater risk of a wider conflict.

"The continuation of the aggression [against Gaza], as Ramadan nears, will place the entire region in danger of the war expanding, and the regional situation generally blowing up," said Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi.

An Israeli soldier seized by Hamas during their October 7 attack was killed the same day and his body is being held in Gaza, the army and a campaign group said Sunday.

The Israeli army confirmed the death of Sergeant Oz Daniel, 19, while the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said his remains are held in the Palestinian territory.

"Oz's body is still held captive by Hamas," the forum said in a statement.

The United States said Sunday that multinational talks in Paris came to an "understanding" on a possible deal for Hamas to release hostages and for a new ceasefire in Gaza.

"Representatives of Israel, the United States, Egypt, and Qatar met in Paris and came to an understanding among the four of them about what the basic contours of a hostage deal for temporary ceasefire would look like," White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told CNN.

The deal is still under negotiation, said Sullivan, who added there will have to be indirect discussions by Qatar and Egypt with Hamas.

Member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Wasel Abu Yousef, denied reports on Sunday that the Palestinian government headed by Mohammad Shtayyeh was planning to submit its resignation this week in order to form a new technocrat government.

The Israeli army announced the deaths of two soldiers fighting in Gaza. The two soldiers were killed in the south of the enclave, with an officer and two other soldiers from the same unit seriously injured in the fighting, according to Israel's i24 broadcaster.

At least 240 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Israel began its ground operation in the Gaza Strip. 

Sirens sounded in northern Israeli border towns and settlements after Hezbollah fired more rockets on Sunday.

The sirens were heard in towns including Kiryat Shmona, Sde Nehemia, and the Israeli-occupied Ghajar, Israeli media reported.

Israel continued to strike towns and villages in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli army announced it ended its military operation in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, arresting 200 people from there, according the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

Iran condemned on Sunday the latest strikes by the United States and Britain on Yemen, saying they were seeking to "escalate tensions and crises" in the region.

On Saturday, American and British forces carried out fresh strikes against 18 Houthi targets in Yemen, in response to a wave of attacks by the Iran-backed group on Red Sea shipping.

"With such attacks, America and Britain seek to escalate tensions and crises in the region, and expand the scope of war and instability," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said in a statement.

"Certainly, this kind of arbitrary and aggressive military operation, aside from aggravating insecurity and instability in the region, will not achieve anything for these aggressor countries," Kanani added.

The number of Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank rose to 7,225 after more than a dozen were detained overnight Saturday-Sunday before being released.

This was announced in a joint statement by the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees and Ex-Detainees and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

As of the end of January, are about 9,000 Palestinians still in Israeli detention, including around 200 children and 70 women, and 3,484 administrative detainees.

Qatar will host mediated talks between Hamas and Israel aiming to finalise an agreement on a truce this week, Egyptian security sources said.

Representatives from both parties will later travel to Cairo for further talks aimed at reaching an agreement on the timing and mechanism for executing any deal, including hostage releases, the sources said.

An Israeli strike on a truck in the Syrian town of Al Qusayr near the Lebanese border killed two Hezbollah members at dawn on Sunday, a war monitor said.

"Israel struck a civilian truck with a missile near the Syrian-Lebanese border," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a report.

The strike led to "the death of at least two Hezbollah members", said the Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a network of sources in Syria.

Hezbollah later announced in separate statements that two of its fighters were "martyred on the road to Jerusalem", the phrase it uses to refer to members killed by Israeli fire.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed that both were killed this morning in Syria.

#Syria: aftermath of an Israeli airstrike carried out this morning in area of Qusseir (SW. #Homs). 2 dead.
Area, symbol of massive Hezbollah involvement for Assad in Spring 2013, still has an important presence of Lebanese fighters a decade after. pic.twitter.com/yYz2sPEE7g

— Qalaat Al Mudiq (@QalaatAlMudiq) February 25, 2024

Dire food shortages sent hundreds of Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza Sunday as Israel's war on the enclave raged on despite stuttering efforts towards a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Desperate families in the north of the besieged war zone have been forced to scavenge for food as fighting and looting have stopped humanitarian aid trucks from reaching the devastated area.

Hundreds fled northern Gaza Sunday and headed south whichever way the could, walking down garbage-strewn roads between the blackened shells of bombed-out buildings, said an AFP correspondent.

At least 29,692 Palestinians have been killed and 69,879 injured in Israel's war on Gaza since October 7, the health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Sunday.

The Palestinian government will submit its resignation next week to form a "technocratic" government, Al Hadath news channel cited sources as saying on Sunday.

Israel's war cabinet approved on Saturday sending negotiators to Qatar in the coming days to continue negotiations on a weeks-long truce involving the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahranoth has cited Israeli officials who "hope that a deal in Gaza could lead to a diplomatic agreement with Lebanon," where Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in cross-border clashes since the start of the Gaza war.

Pressure has steadily mounted on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to strike a deal to free the hostages, with thousands gathering in Tel Aviv Saturday at what has come to be known as "Hostages Square" to demand swifter action.

"We think about them (the hostages) all the time and want them back alive as soon as possible," said Orna Tal, whose close friend Tsachi Idan was kidnapped from the Nahal Oz kibbutz.

"We'll protest again and again until they're back," she told AFP.