The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they happen.
The IDF confirms carrying out an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip a short while ago, saying it targeted a group of gunmen who were approaching Israeli forces in the area. Palestinian media reported that the drone strike killed three Hamas police officers. “The IDF continues to call on Gazans to obey the IDF instructions and not approach the forces deployed to the area,” the military adds.
Medical officials warn that the hostages left in Gaza may face life-changing and permanent disabilities, with information from freed captives suggesting that Alon Ohel is in danger of losing his sight. According to the Kan public broadcaster, there are indications that Ohel, 24, who has been held by terrorists in Gaza since October 7, 2023, has shrapnel in one eye and can only see shadows out of it. Medical officials who are in close contact with Ohel’s family tell the outlet that testimonies from freed captives indicate that he is danger of losing sight in both eyes due to his untreated injuries and ill-treatment. Last week, his mother Idit Ohel issued a heartrending plea for his release, saying she had been told that he is being held starving in chains in a Hamas tunnel and has multiple untreated injuries. “He has shrapnel in his eye, he has shrapnel in his shoulder, he has shrapnel in his arm. Alon was bound in chains, this entire time, and he had almost no food — at most one pita a day, over a very, very, very long time, more than a year,” the anguished mother told Channel 12.
US shipment of heavy bombs held up by Biden administration arrives in Israel, Defense Ministry says The Defense Ministry says a shipment of heavy bombs from the United States, which had been held up by the previous administration, arrived in Israel. Overnight, a ship carrying numerous MK-84 2,000-lb munitions was unloaded at Ashdod Port. The bombs were then loaded on dozens of trucks and taken to Israeli airbases, the ministry says. Defense Minister Israel Katz hails the arrival of the bombs saying “The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel tonight, released by the Trump Administration, represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States.” According to the ministry, since the beginning of the war in October 2023, over 76,000 tons of military equipment have arrived in Israel via 678 transport planes and 129 ships, the vast majority from the US.
Lebanon blocked Iran planes after US warnings that Israel could shoot them down, source says Lebanon denied permission for Iranian flights to land in Beirut twice this week after the United States warned Israel might shoot the planes down, a Lebanese security source tells AFP. Israel has on several occasions accused Hezbollah of using the airport in Beirut to bring in weapons and money from Iran. The group — and Lebanese leaders — have denied those allegations. The first incident occurred on Thursday, when Lebanese authorities sent word to Iran that a Beirut-bound flight should not take off. “Through the Americans, Israel informed the Lebanese state that it would target the airport if the Iranian plane landed in Lebanon,” the source says. “The American side told the Lebanese side that Israel was serious about its threat,” the source adds. Lebanon’s public works and transport ministry then refused clearance for the flight, after consulting the prime minister and president, the source adds. The message was passed on before the flight took off, says the source. Another flight was also barred from taking off from Iran on Friday, which prompted protests in Lebanon from supporters of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, who blocked the road to the country’s only international airport.
Report: PM refuses to give approval for mobile homes and earthmoving equipment to enter Gaza Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not give approval for the entry of caravans and heavy equipment into the Gaza Strip during last night’s security consultations, the Kan public broadcaster reports. A political official tells the outlet: “Following a security consultation chaired by the prime minister, it was decided that the issue of caravans will be discussed in the coming days. Israel is fully coordinating with the United States.” According to reports, the ceasefire and hostage release agreement explicitly states that supplies and equipment can be brought in to Gaza to establish at least 60,000 temporary living facilities. The details of the deal have not been published in full. Images last week showed mobile homes and earthmoving equipment waiting at the Rafah Border Crossing from Egypt. Last week, Hamas protested that Israel was blocking their entry and said that talks to get the ceasefire-hostage deal back on track had included discussions on a number of specific items, including the homes and equipment. Hamas released three hostages yesterday. The apparent refusal by the premier to approve the entry of the equipment to the Strip comes as Netanyahu reportedly wants to extend the current first phase of the deal beyond the designated 42 days, which are set to end on March 1, and secure the freedom of more hostages as part of phase one, including more hostages Israel now knows are in poor health. According to Channel 12, the premier wants Israel’s negotiators to argue to the Qatari and Egyptian mediators, with US support, that it’s also in the interests of Hamas to extend phase one since this would ensure the current phase of the ceasefire deal remains in place for longer. Netanyahu has refused to allow Israel’s negotiators to engage in talks on the agreement’s second phase, which would see the release of the remaining hostages in exchange for a permanent end to the war.
Russian ambassador meets with freed hostage Sasha Troufanov, gives him new passport Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov met with freed hostage Sasha Troufanov in Israel yesterday, just hours after Troufanov’s release from Hamas captivity. The meeting took place at Sheba Medical Center in central Israel, where Troufanov was taken after an initial checkup in an army facility near the Gaza border. “Anatoly Viktorov sincerely welcomed the release of our compatriot,” reads a statement from the Russian embassy. It emphasizes that “Russian diplomats did not stop their efforts to free Alexander [Sasha] Troufanov for a single day. They were in constant contact with the Israeli and all interested parties in the region on this priority issue.” The embassy stresses that the diplomatic endeavors were carried out “on the instruction of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.” During the meeting, in which Sasha’s mother Elena Troufanov was also present, Viktorov presented him with a new Russian passport, that “he, for obvious reasons, was unable to receive on time.” Russian diplomats have engaged in talks with Hamas officials for the release of its citizens, and warned the terror group earlier this month to keep its “promises” to release Troufanov, as well as hostage Maxim Herkin, an Israeli man from the Donbas area of Ukraine who has Russian relatives.
A 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker stabbed several passersby in the centre of the Austrian town of Villach on Saturday, killing a 14-year old boy and injuring four other people, police say, adding that the suspected attacker had been arrested. Further details, such as whether the attacker knew any of the victims, remain unclear, a spokesperson for the police in the southern state of Carinthia, Rainer Dionisio, says. The injured are aged between 14 and 32, he adds. Such attacks are extremely rare in Austria. A jihadist killed four people in Vienna in a shooting rampage in 2020 that was the country’s deadliest assault in decades. Villach is known for its carnival and is in an area that is a tourist hotspot in the summer as it includes one of Austria’s most famous lakes but otherwise attracts little attention. “I have been in the (Carinthian police) press service for 20 years and cannot recall such an act,” Dionisio tells national broadcaster ORF. A man whom Austrian media describes as a Syrian food delivery driver charged into the attacker with his car and prevented him from harming more people, Dionisio says. The attack comes at a time of political upheaval in Austria as the far-right Freedom Party, which came first in September’s parliamentary election, said on Wednesday it had failed to form a coalition government. The president is now considering whether an alternative to a snap election is available. Railing against illegal immigration and pledging to increase deportations to countries like Syria and Afghanistan, which it is currently illegal to deport people to, are central to the Freedom Party’s platform and appeal, and the party has quickly seized on the Villach attack. “We need a rigorous crackdown on asylum and cannot continue to import conditions like those in Villach,” Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl says in a statement.