Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 133?

France could possibly recognize a Palestinian state, French President Emmanuel Macron said in Paris, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back at US efforts to renew the two-state peace process.
“The recognition of Palestinian statehood is not a taboo for France,” Macron said.

The United States and European countries have mostly held that Palestinian statehood recognition should be granted only once there is a final arrangement for a two-state resolution to the conflict.

Some European countries are now reconsidering that policy, or being more blunt about its vagueness. They have begun using language that speaks to statehood recognition as part of a peace process, including France.

The British Embassy in Israel explained the United Kingdom’s policy this way.

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah warned Friday that Israel will "pay in blood" for civilians killed in Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah, adding that Israel had "gone too far in this matter."

The Hezbollah leader stated that the rocket barrage that hit Kiryat Shmona on Thursday was an "initial response" to recent airstrikes.

Nasrallah pointed to two airstrikes that targeted Nabatieh and Al-Sawaneh in southern Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people altogether. "The enemy’s goal, by killing civilians, is to pressure the resistance to stop the front, and the answer to this matter must be through continuing and escalating the resistance work on the front," said Nasrallah.

The Hezbollah leader insisted that Israel could have hit the targets it was trying to hit in Nabatieh and Al-Sawaneh without harming civilians.

Intensive fighting along the Lebanese-Israeli border

Nasrallah's speech comes after a week of intensive fighting along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

On Wednesday, an IDF soldier was killed after a barrage of rockets was fired from Lebanon toward the Safed area. An IDF base was directly hit by the barrage.

After the barrage, the Israeli Air Force launched extensive airstrikes in Lebanon, eliminating numerous Hezbollah terrorists, including Ali Muhammad AlDabs, a central commander in Hezbollah's Radwan Force who was responsible for organizing the roadside bombing near Megiddo last year.

Israel has no plans to deport Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz told the Munich Security Conference on Friday.

"We have no intention to deport any Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip," Katz said, adding that Israel did not want to rule Gaza after it ends its war against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas that has been governing the territory.

'World must pressure Iran and Hezbollah to withdraw from south Lebanon'

Israel will be forced to remove the terrorist group Hezbollah from the border in southern Lebanon if efforts to reach a diplomatic solution to ease the tensions fail, Israel's foreign minister Israel Katz said on Friday.

"The world must pressure Iran and Hezbollah to withdraw from South Lebanon and implement U.N. resolution 1701," Katz said, speaking at the Munich Security Conference.

Two people were killed, two others were seriously wounded, one person was moderately wounded, and one person was lightly wounded in a suspected shooting attack on Highway 40 near Bnei Re'em in southern Israel on Friday afternoon.

A civilian who was driving by managed to get out of his car and shoot and kill the terrorist. Police were conducting searches in the area to ensure there were no other terrorists or accomplices on the loose. Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir headed to the scene after the attack.

The terrorist arrived at the scene in a stolen car and fired at people waiting at a bus stop at the Re'em Masmiya Junction, located east of Ashdod. Initial investigations indicate that the terrorist was a resident of Shuafat in east Jerusalem with Israeli residency.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the deaths of two Israelis in a message sent out on Friday afternoon, further writing that "this terror attack reminds us that the entire country is one front...the terrorists, who are not just from Gaza, want to kill us all.

"We will continue fighting until we reach total victory, on all fronts."

An Israeli offensive in Rafah "could only lead to an unprecedented humanitarian disaster and would be a turning point in this conflict", French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

"I share the fears of Jordan and Egypt of a forced and massive displacement of the population", Macron added, speaking at the Elysee palace along Jordan's King Abdullah II who echoed the comments, saying the "catastrophic consequences" of such an offensive could not be accepted.

Two people were killed, two others were seriously wounded, one person was moderately wounded, and one person was lightly wounded in a suspected shooting attack on Highway 40 near Bnei Re'em in southern Israel on Friday afternoon.

A civilian who was driving by managed to get out of his car and shoot and kill the terrorist. Police were conducting searches in the area to ensure there were no other terrorists or accomplices on the loose. Israel Police chief Kobi Shabtai and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir headed to the scene after the attack.

The terrorist arrived at the scene in a stolen car and fired at people waiting at a bus stop at the Re'em Masmiya Junction, located east of Ashdod. Initial investigations indicate that the terrorist was a resident of Shuafat in east Jerusalem with Israeli residency.

Shabtai told reporters after the attack that police had raised their level of alert around the country.

Ben Gvir used the opportunity to promote his efforts to make it easier for civilians to get a gun license, stressing "weapons save lives."

Emergency services at the scene of a shooting near Bnei Re'im. February 16, 2024 (credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)

"We know that in the last month, there has been criticism of the very broad policy of distributing weapons, today it has been proven that weapons save people's lives," stressed Ben-Gvir. "Not only will I not submit to criticism, but I will expand and increase our policy to allow Israeli citizens to arm themselves."

Minister in the War Cabinet Benny Gantz expressed his condolences to the family of the victims, saying "We are fighting for our lives in this country. The cost is difficult, but we are determined. Together, we will break the spirit of terror of our enemies."

Kiryat Malachi deploys security teams at entrance to city

After the attack, the Kiryat Malachi Municipality announced that municipal security teams were deployed at all the entrances on the eastern side of the city, located south of the site of the attack.

"We quickly arrived at the scene with large forces," said the deputy director of Magen David Adom in the Lachish District Nachum David. "The scene was very difficult. We saw people with gunshot wounds lying down with some of them unconscious. We immediately performed first aid for the wounded. A young man about 20 years old was unconscious without a pulse and not breathing with gunshot wounds. We gave him life-saving treatment, tried to fight for his life, and evacuated him to the hospital while conducting resuscitation efforts."

"Another young man about 20 years old was unconscious and a boy about 16 years old and a man about 65 years old were conscious and suffered from severe penetrating injuries," added "A 65-year-old woman was in moderate condition, and a 52-year-old man who managed to escape from the scene called us near the nearby town of Yad Binyamin. We reached him quickly, he was conscious and suffered a penetrating injury to his body and we also evacuated him to the hospital as his condition was moderate and stable."

Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesperson Muhammad Hajj Musa welcomed the attack, saying it served as a "response" to the war in Gaza.

"We call on our people to intensify operations and pain the enemy in response to its crimes, because it is the only language this enemy understands," said Musa.

This is a developing story.

The UN's High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday that a spillover of refugees from Gaza's Rafah into Egypt's Sinai would be a disaster and that Egyptian authorities had made clear that Palestinians should be assisted in the enclave.

"It would be a disaster for the Palestinians ... a disaster for Egypt and a disaster for the future of peace," Filippo Grandi told Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering in the southern German city.

When asked whether Egyptian authorities had contacted the UNHCR about possible contingency plans he said: "The Egyptians said that people should be assisted inside Gaza and we are working on that."

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday it was trying to get access to biggest functioning hospital in Gaza, the Nasser Hospital, after an Israeli raid.

"There are still critically injured and sick patients that are inside the hospital," WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said.

"There is an urgent need to deliver fuel to ensure the continuation of the provision of life-saving services... We are trying to get access because people who are still in Nasser medical complex need assistance."

Israel's military called the raid on Nasser Hospital "precise and limited" and said it was based on information that Hamas militants were keeping hostages in the facility, with some bodies of captives possibly there.

President Isaac Herzog landed in Germany on Friday morning to take part in the Munich Security Conference and call for the release of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas. The words Bring Them Home were displayed on the side of the president's plane.

Herzog is set to meet with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and US Vice President Kamala Harris.

The IDF struck a military building and terrorist infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah in Qantara in southern Lebanon on Thursday night, eliminating several terrorists, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit said on Friday morning.

The Hezbollah-allied Amal Movement announced on Friday morning that three of its members were killed in Israeli strikes. Shortly afterward, Hezbollah announced that two of its members were killed in the strikes as well.

The strikes came after Hezbollah fired a barrage of 25 rockets and anti-tank missiles toward Kiryat Shmona, with several projectiles falling within the city and some even hitting homes. No injuries were caused in the barrage.

Missiles were also fired toward several other towns in northern Israel on Thursday afternoon and evening, destroying a chicken coop and killing thousands of chickens in Margaliot.

בעקבות הירי לעבר אצבע הגליל אמש: נזק נגרם ללול במושב מרגליות@CBeyar pic.twitter.com/IUbih5VW5l

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) February 16, 2024

"Nearly 9,000 chickens went to waste, all of them died," said the owner of the coop, according to Maariv. "This is a huge economic loss - and an injury to the food security of the State of Israel. A chicken coop is a food factory for all intents and purposes - the damage is absolute and this will have negative consequences for the amount of eggs in the State of Israel."

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah addresses his supporters in Beirut, Lebanon, February 13, 2024 (credit: REUTERS/AZIZ TAHER)

The exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah come as tensions continue to rise between the two sides and both continue preparations for a possible war in the north.

Israeli home front prepares for war on the northern front

On Thursday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant convened the Supreme Emergency Economy Committee to discuss preparations for a possible war with Lebanon, including possible blackouts, possible issues transporting food, and evacuations of ill people from their homes to hospitals.

Gallant said during the discussion that he intends to hold a series of exercises to increase readiness for a possible war. The defense minister addressed the intensification of fighting along the border saying "Hezbollah went up half a click - we went up one step, but it's one step out of ten. We can attack not only at 20 km, but also at 50 km, and in Beirut and anywhere else, the IDF still has a very strong force, very, very significant."

The defense minister stressed that Israel doesn't want a war and prefers a diplomatic solution, but will go to war if there's no other choice.

"We have no interest in war but we must prepare. The planes that are currently flying over the skies of Lebanon have targets - and they know how to change the attack from place to place. In the event of a war, the price for the State of Israel will be heavy, but it will be catastrophic for Lebanon and Hezbollah. It is advisable that we take the old Roman insight that says: 'He who wants peace will prepare for war.'"

During the discussion, Shaul Goldstein, the direction general of Noga, the operator of Israel's electric grid, stated that "in the State of Israel there are several strategic sites whose damage could lead to long interruptions in the supply of electricity to the point of no supply for an extended period of time," according to N12.

Additionally during the meeting, Gallant instructed the Home Front Command to prepare a campaign to inform citizens about how to prepare for a war on the northern front.