Friday, February 21, 2025
06:00 GMT — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the military to expand incursions and attacks on the Palestinians of occupied West Bank after a series of explosions on buses close to Tel Aviv, in which no casualties were reported.
The Israeli police earlier said there had been explosions on three buses in two Israeli suburbs outside Tel Aviv and that four explosive devices had been found. Local media reported the explosions had occurred on buses in depots and were empty.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosions. Netanyahu met with the defense minister, head of the military and spy agency Shin Bet and the police commissioner following the explosions, his office said.
05:00 GMT — Israel claims body returned from Gaza is not Bibas mother
One of four bodies returned from Gaza to Israel is not captive Shiri Bibas, the Israeli military has claimed after identifying the remains of her two sons handed over by Hamas.
"The additional body is not that of their mother, Shiri, nor that of any other Israeli hostage," a military statement said.
In November 2023, Hamas had offered to return the bodies of the Bibas family after they were killed in an Israeli air strike. Israel refused "saying this was psychological warfare".
03:00 GMT — Arab leaders' meeting to counter Trump plan
Arab leaders are meet in Saudi Arabia to counter President Donald Trump's plan for US occupation of Gaza and the expulsion of its people, diplomatic and government sources said.
The plan has united Arab states in opposition.
Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi foreign policy, called the summit the "most consequential" in decades for the wider Arab world and the Palestinian issue.
Trump triggered global outrage when he proposed the United States would "take over the Gaza Strip" and that its 2.4 million people would be expelled to neighbouring Egypt and Jordan without a right to return.
For our live updates from Thursday, February 20, 2025, click here.
