Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is expanding a major military operation in the occupied West Bank as tensions spiral ahead of a hostage-prisoner swap with Hamas set to take place on Saturday.
Mr Netanyahu, speaking in the ruined and largely empty Tulkarm Refugee Camp in the north of the occupied West Bank, drew particular attention to an “extremely serious” suspected terror attack on Thursday in which three empty buses exploded in a Tel Aviv suburb.
Mr Netanyahu’s trip comes as Israeli forces continue an operation dubbed “Iron Wall” that has displaced tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed vast amounts of private property and infrastructure, stoking fears that Israel is seeking to replicate its war on Gaza in the West Bank. Israel said it is launching the operation to fight terror.
“In the past year, we have greatly increased our activity,” Mr Netanyahu said to troops at the scene. “We are entering the strongholds of terrorism, levelling entire streets and eliminating terrorists.”
Four refugee camps in the north of the region – Jenin, Tulkarm, Nur Shams and El Far’a – have been the worst affected. The UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said Jenin’s camp is “reportedly almost completely emptied of residents”. The agency also reports Israeli forces using increasingly “advanced weaponry and militarised tactics”, while 17 Israeli air strikes were recorded between February 3 to February 9.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said 51 Palestinians had been killed in the operation as of Thursday. The Palestinian health ministry announced another death on Friday – a 13-year-old girl, Omar Amouri, who was hit by Israeli gunfire in the Jenin camp. The International Rescue Committee said in a statement on Thursday that at least 224 children have been killed in the occupied West Bank since January 2023.
Mr Netanyahu’s address from Tulkarem came shortly after Defence Minister Israel Katz visited to issue similar warnings and promise intensified Israeli operations. “We are at war with extremist Islamic terror and we will win, here, in Gaza and everywhere,” Mr Katz said.
Hostages and prisoners due to be released
The statements come as Israel’s ceasefire deal with Hamas, struck in January, reaches a critical juncture. Six living Israeli hostages are set to be released on Saturday in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, the last exchange of living Israeli hostages in the first phase of the three-phase deal.
The agreement, widely supported by the Israeli public according to recent polling, has a number of high-profile opponents in Mr Netanyahu’s far-right coalition, who ramped up their calls for Israel to return to fighting in Gaza on Friday after Israeli medical authorities said one of four hostage bodies handed over by Hamas on Thursday was not that of Shiri Bibas.
Hamas said it would "examine these claims with complete seriousness”.
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Stage 7:
1. Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal - 3:18:29
2. Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - same time
3. Phil Bauhaus (GER) Bahrain Victorious
4. Michael Morkov (DEN) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5. Cees Bol (NED) Team DSM
General Classification:
1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 24:00:28
2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:35
3. Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:02
4. Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:42
5. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
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Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Nissan 370z Nismo
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Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
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