Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 141?

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has doubled down on his comments which compared Israel to Nazis and the war in Gaza to the Holocaust on Friday. 

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Brazilian president said, “In the same way that I said when I was in prison that I would not accept a deal to get out of jail and that I would not exchange my freedom for my dignity, I say: I will not exchange my dignity for falsehood. 

I am in favor of the creation of a free and sovereign Palestinian state. May this Palestinian state live in harmony with the State of Israel. What the Israeli government is doing is not war, it is genocide. Children and women are being murdered. Don't try to interpret the interview I gave. Read the interview and stop judging me based on the speech of the Prime Minister of Israel.”

Da mesma forma que eu disse quando estava preso que eu não aceitaria acordo para sair da cadeia e que eu não trocaria a minha liberdade pela minha dignidade, eu digo: não troco a minha dignidade pela falsidade. Eu sou favorável à criação do Estado Palestino livre e soberano. Que…

— Lula (@LulaOficial) February 23, 2024

Lula had previously said, "What is happening in the Gaza Strip with the Palestinian people does not exist at any other historical moment. In fact, it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews." He made these statements in an interview with journalists at a hotel he was staying at in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The president was previously in Cairo, where he met with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The families of the hostages held a mass rally at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv with the slogan, "Choose the hostages," on Saturday night.

Singer Sagiv Cohen and child star Nati screened a special music video for the song "We Will Turn Every Stone" with the participation of the hostage families.

Additionally, singer Elin Golan performed a rendition of the song "I Have No Place" with eight-month-pregnant Michal Lubanov, the wife of Alex Lubanov, who is still in captivity in Gaza.

Eliyahu Liebman, the father of the hostage Eliakim Liebman and head of the Kiryat Arba council, offered a prayer for the peace of the soldiers and the return of the hostages.

This demonstration came following an announcement that hostage deal negotiations made meaningful progress and that Hamas was willing to be more flexible with its demands.

Arrests have been made at an unapproved protest in Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv for new elections, according to a statement by the Israeli police on Saturday night.

In their statement, the police said, "We continue our efforts to maintain public order in the face of protesters who continue to confront the police and refuse to obey our instructions in an attempt to block major roads that harm the routine residents of Tel Aviv and the surrounding area. So far, 18 rioters have been arrested."

"Following the violations of public order, the demonstrators who were not part of the planned protest approved by the police confronted the police officers and continued to block roads," the statement continued.

During the evacuation of the demonstrators, measures were used to disperse demonstrations, including water cannons, according to reports.

The police ended their statement, saying, "The Israel Police considers the right to protest as a cornerstone in a democratic country and allows protests as long as they are held within the framework of the law; at the same time, the police will not allow disturbances of any kind or damage to freedom of movement and any behavior that may endanger the safety of the public."

The Biden administration declared that West Bank settlements are illegal as it rescinded the "Pompeo doctrine" to underscore its objection to Israel’s declared intention to advance plans for 3,000 new settler homes.

“We’re disappointed in the announcement,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday during a joint press conference in Buenos Aries.

“It’s been longstanding US policy under Republican and Democratic administrations alike that new settlements are counterproductive to reaching an enduring peace.  

“They’re also inconsistent with international law. Our administration maintains a firm opposition to settlement expansion. And in our judgment, this only weakens – it doesn’t strengthen – Israel’s security,” Blinken stated. 

His statement and a similar one issued by White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby marked the first time since US President Joe Biden took office, that his administration has spoken of the illegality of West Bank settlements.

Police at the scene of a terror attack near the Jewish settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim, outside of Jerusalem, February 5, 2024. (credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Biden administration reverses Pompeo doctrine

Their words were a reversal of the highly publicized Trump administration policy in 2019, issued by former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who declared that West Bank settlements are not inconsistent with international law. It has since been dubbed the “Pompeo doctrine.” 

Pompeo posted on X in response that “Judea and Samaria are rightful parts of the Jewish homeland, and Israelis have a right to live there.”

Judea and Samaria are rightful parts of the Jewish homeland, and Israelis have a right to live there.

President Biden's decision to overturn our policy and call Israeli 'settlements' illegal will not further the cause of peace. It rewards Hamas for its brutal attacks on October…

— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) February 23, 2024

Biden's “decision to overturn our policy and call Israeli 'settlements' illegal will not further the cause of peace,” Pompeo stated.

“It rewards Hamas for its brutal attacks [against Israel] on October 7th and punishes Israel instead. These Israeli communities are not standing in the way of peace; militant Palestinian terrorism is.”

A suspected terror shooting took place from Yatir in the direction of the Nahal basic training base on Saturday evening, according to reports by emergency medical services.

According to Magen David Adom, they received a call at 20:58 about potential terror activity in the area. Initial reports indicate that one person was lightly injured from a shooting at the base's main gate.

United Hatzalah said that the IDF evacuated one injured person from the Nahal base to the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba. The IDF is investigating the event.

This is a developing story.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the cabinet would meet at the beginning of next week to finalize a plan for an operation in Rafah, including the evacuation of the civilian population, on a post on X on Saturday.

אנו פועלים להשיג מתווה נוסף לשחרור חטופינו, וכן את השלמת חיסול גדודי החמאס ברפיח.

לכן שלחתי משלחת לפריז ונדון הערב בצעדים הבאים במו״מ,

ולכן בתחילת השבוע אכנס את הקבינט לאישור התוכניות המבצעיות לפעולה ברפיח, כולל פינוי האוכלוסייה האזרחית משם.

רק שילוב של לחץ צבאי ומשא ומתן תקיף…

— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) February 24, 2024

The prime minister said in the post, "We are working to obtain another outline for the release of our hostages, as well as the completion of the elimination of the Hamas battalions in Rafah. That is why I sent a delegation to Paris, and tonight, we will discuss the next steps in the negotiations."

He ended his statement by saying, "Only a combination of military pressure and firm negotiations will lead to the release of our hostages, the elimination of Hamas, and the achievement of all our goals in the war."

IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that soldiers' "achievements - another battalion that you dismantle, another underground infrastructure destroyed, another neighborhood where the population is evacuated to a safe space - all these things put positive pressure on the matter of releasing the hostages," during a situational assessment with other high-ranking IDF officers in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday.

He commented further on the release of hostages, saying, "We are currently in the days of negotiations on the release of the hostages; I don't know this will develop; there are those whose job is to deal with Gaza; our job is to deal with fighting."

He ended his assessment with a statement on positive progressions of the combat, saying,"[Our progress in the Gaza Strip] is the lever that we are lowering on Hamas, and you are lowering it very well; we need to continue to lower it even harder, I hope we will be able to translate the pressure into the release of the hostages as well.'

Tzachi Hanegbi told Channel 12 that the fact the negotiators believed their Friday meeting with Qatari, Egyptian, and US mediators warranted convening the evening war cabinet session "shows that they did not come back empty-handed."

Israel's cabinet is set to digitally convene to approve the new outline for a hostage and ceasefire deal in Gaza in a vote held over telephone at 9:00 p.m. local time.

Hostage relatives organization Forum Tikva released a statement calling on Israeli decision-makers in the cabinet and the government to adhere to three rules set by the hostages' families part of the forum.

"1. Do not agree to a negligent deal that would harm the state's future, such that we might regret it in a few years.

"2. We must not separate hostages! A deal in which many hostages are left behind will sentence them to years in captivity and could bring them to their deaths.

"3. For there to be a good deal, military pressure on Hamas must be resumed, including halting of humanitarian aid which strenghens Hamas."

Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused the UN of cooperating with Hamas since October 7 in a post on X from the Foreign Ministry spokesperson on Saturday evening.

In the post, Katz said, "Reporters of the UN Human Rights Council published a report that calls for an arms embargo on Israel. Since the October 7 massacre, the United Nations has been cooperating with the Hamas terrorists and trying to harm the right of the State of Israel to defend itself and its citizens. Ignoring the war crimes, sex crimes, and crimes against humanity committed by the Hamas terrorists is a stain on the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and the UN Secratary-General that will not be erased."

ישראל מתגוננת מול מחבלי החמאס, ארגון טרור רצחני הקורא להשמדתה, אשר טבחו, רצחו והוציאו להורג בשבעה באוקטובר למעלה מ-1,200 איש, ביצעו פשעי מלחמה, פשעים נגד האנושות ופשעי מין וחטפו למעלה מ-240 גברים, נשים, ילדים, תינוקות וזקנים. 134 מהם עדיין נמצאים בשבי ארגון הטרור.
גם מול פשעי… pic.twitter.com/LvkzCTHbPd

— Lior Haiat 🇮🇱🎗️ (@LiorHaiat) February 24, 2024