GAZA WAR
Protesters demanded the release of 134 hostages held by Hamas at a rally in Tel Aviv on February 25 after an Israeli team returned from talks with mediators in Paris reporting progress on an outline for a hostage deal. The IDF said on February 25 that St.-Sgt. Ido Eli Zrihen, 20, and St.-Sgt. Narya Belete, 21, were killed in fighting in southern Gaza, while Sgt. Oz Daniel, 19, abducted by Hamas on October 7, had also been killed by the terrorist group, taking the Israeli toll in the ground offensive to 240. According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, the Palestinian death toll approached 30,000. The IDF said its forces had killed a total of 12,000 Hamas fighters in the Gaza Strip.
US VETO
The US on February 20 vetoed an Arab-backed UN resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 13-1, with the UK abstaining, and represented the third US veto of a Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. “We still don’t believe that this is the right time for a general ceasefire that leaves Hamas in control and alleviates any responsibility for them to release the hostages,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
TERROR ATTACKS
Matan Elmaliah, 26, was killed and eight others wounded, three seriously, when terrorists fired at people in their cars on Highway 1 near Ma’ale Adumim on February 22. Police said two terrorists from Bethlehem were killed on the scene by armed civilians, while a third was captured. On February 16, Yishai Gartner, 23, and IDF reservist Ori Yaish, 27, were killed and four others wounded, two seriously, in a shooting attack at the Re’em Junction in southern Israel. Police said the Palestinian terrorist, Fadi Jamjoum, 37, from Shuafat, opened fire at people at a bus station with a handgun before he was shot and killed by an off-duty IDF officer.
PA RESIGNATION
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh announced the resignation of his government on February 25 to enable the formation of a broad consensus among Palestinians about political arrangements after Israel’s war against Hamas. “I submit the government’s resignation to Mr. President [Mahmoud Abbas],” Shtayyeh said. The move came amid increasing US pressure on Abbas to shake up the PA as international efforts intensified to halt the war and begin work on a new political structure to govern the Gaza Strip.
FATAL ROCKET
Israeli fighter jets struck dozens of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon after Staff Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo, 20, was killed in a rocket attack on an army base in northern Israel on February 15. The IDF said 11 Grad rockets were fired in the attack, with one hitting the Northern Command headquarters in Safed, some 13 kilometers from the Lebanon border. A reservist of the Computer Service Directorate was seriously wounded, and seven soldiers sustained light to moderate wounds in the rocket strike.
SHECHITA BAN
Following a decision by the European Court of Human Rights on February 13 to uphold the ban on ritual slaughter in the Flemish and Walloon Regions of Belgium, Maram Stern, executive vice president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), expressed profound dismay, emphasizing the detrimental effects of this ruling on religious freedoms for Jewish and Muslim communities across Europe. “The court’s ill-advised decision that perpetuates discrimination against Belgian Jews and Muslims is deplorable,” said Stern. This ruling is a backward step, not a matter of animal welfare but a clear suppression of religious freedom and liberty. We cannot stand idly by as instances of religious persecution unfold.”
SWIMMING FEAT
Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko, 20, remained composed despite being booed by an anti-Israel crowd in Qatar on February 18 after she won a silver medal in the women’s 400-meter individual medley, just behind Britain’s Freya Constance Colbert, at the Doha World Championships. “I’m so happy to be here and represent my country in this hard time,” Gorbenko said. “I’m here to do what I love to do, which is sports.” Yazen Al Bawwab, a member of the Palestinian team, said he had no problem with the presence of Israeli swimmers. “When we compete, we are all the same,” he said.