President Donald TrumpurgesIran negotiations and praises Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for conduct in Gaza. VP JD VancesaysTrump wants a deal that blocks Iran’s nuclear program. Netanyahu, wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court,signsonto Trump’s “Board of Peace.” Hamas leadershipmeetswith an Iranian representative. U.S. draftproposesgradual disarmament of Hamas. Prominent Palestinian leader assaulted and starved in prison. Israelrevokescitizenship of two Palestinians. GHF “security provider” intalkswith Trump’s Board of Peace about a future role in Gaza. Attorney General Pam Bondi heads to the Hill, where she is confronted byEpstein survivorsandRep. Becca Balint.Bondi’s “Burn Book.”The Housepassed the Save America Act,which guts mail-in voting and aims to make casting a ballot harder: The IRS improperlysharedtaxpayer data with DHS in immigration crackdown. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wrightmeetswith Venezuela’s acting president Delcy Rodriguez. The governmentlosthard drives and withholds surveillance footage in an ICE abuse lawsuit. U.S.sanctionsLebanese gold firm accused of financing Hezbollah. After El Paso airspace closure, Mexicodeniesevidence of cartel drone activity. Israeli forcesescalateattacks across south Lebanon. China offerssupportto Cuba amid U.S.-driven fuel shortage. Deadlyclasheserupt in Ataq, Yemen as an STC-linked crowd storms a government building. Five police officers arekilledin an ambush in northwest Pakistan. Rebel attackskillpilots and a soldier in Indonesia’s Papua region. Russiasaysit will observe expired nuclear treaty if the U.S. does the same. Russian drone strikekillsthree children and their father in Kharkiv. Russia moves to block WhatsApp. Thousands of UK passport holdersservedin Israeli military during Gaza genocide, records show.From Drop Site: Capitol Hill correspondent Julian Andreone talks with congresspeople aboutEpstein,Gaza, and the annexation of theWest Bank.
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Israeli attacks in Gaza continue across the Strip:Two children were injured by Israeli fire while inside their tents in the Al-Musallah area, south of Khan Younis, according to Al-Araby TV. Israeli aircraft carried out an airstrike on eastern areas of Khan Younis city. In the central Gaza Strip, four Palestinians were wounded by Israeli gunfire. A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli fire in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, with reports of ambulances attempting to reach the wounded coming under fire.
Casualty counts:Over the past 24 hours, the bodies of four Palestinians were recovered from under the rubble, while five Palestinians were injured in Israeli attacks in Gaza. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 72,049 killed, with 171,691 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 591 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 1,583, while 724 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Netanyahu, wanted for war crimes, signs onto “Board of Peace”:Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officiallysignedonto President Trump’s “Board of Peace” on Wednesday during a meeting with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the Blair House in Washington, D.C. The board, which has no Palestinians on it, is scheduled to hold its first meeting on February 19 in Washington to discuss the reconstruction of Gaza. Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawiwroteon X that Netanyahu’s appointment “reinforces doubts, deepens the lack of trust, and rewards policies of extermination and repression instead of holding them accountable.”
Hamas leadership meets with Iranian representative:The head of Hamas’ leadership council, Muhammad Darwish,leda Palestinian delegation in Doha, where it held talks with Iranian diplomat Ali Larijani on Wednesday. Darwish expressed solidarity with Iran, rejecting “any aggression targeting its territory.” Larijani briefed the group on Iran’s ongoing negotiations with the United States and reiterated Tehran’s “unwavering support” for the Palestinian cause.
U.S. draft proposes gradual disarmament of Hamas:A United States draft proposal wouldrequireHamas to surrender all weapons capable of striking Israel, though the proposal would “at least initially” allow the group to retain some small arms as part of a phased disarmament process that could take months or longer, according the New York Times. The plan is reportedly being prepared by Jared Kushner, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, and Board of Peace High Representative Nickolay Mladenov. Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera Mubasher Wednesday the group has not received any disarmament proposals and has not officially adopted a decision to freeze its weapons reiterating that Palestinian arms are linked to ending the occupation. Several Hamas and resistance officials have previously outlined a proposal involving a long-term truce—supported by peacekeeping forces and regional guarantees—with pledges to refrain from publicly displaying or using weapons.
Limited movement, under Israeli-backed militia monitoring, continues at Rafah:Forty-six Palestinians entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt under strict Israeli restrictions on Wednesday. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, 47 Palestinians—17 patients and 30 companions—left Gaza through Rafah on Wednesday. Israel is reportedly allowing the Abu Shabab militia to monitor movement on the Gaza side of the crossing under Israeli supervision and to conduct physical searches of Palestinians entering the Strip, Kan News reports, adding that this arrangement could soon become permanent. Returnees are transported along Salah al-Din Road toward an Israeli army checkpoint and searched by the militia before reaching Israeli forces,accordingto Haaretz.
Prominent Palestinian leader assaulted and starved in prison: Abdullah Barghouti, a renowned Palestinian resistance leader, was injured during an Israeli assault at Gilboa Prison, suffering a bleeding wound to his left eye after a guard struck his head against an iron door, while also enduring severe weight loss from ongoing starvation policies, according to the Prisoners’ Media Office. At least 87 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli detention since the Gaza genocide began, according to the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs.
Israel continues to target aid workers in Gaza:OCHAreportedthat one UNRWA staff member was killed in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday, bringing the total number of aid workers killed since October 2023 to 589, 397 of whom were employed by the United Nations.
Source: Drop Site News: Drop Site Daily
