Foreign
IDF boosts forces near Gaza, but holds fire amid hostage deal uncertainty
Sources have told The Jerusalem Post there were no plans to attack anytime before playing out what Hamas will do on Saturday.
The IDF, as of Wednesday, has mobilized not only mandatory-service soldiers near Gaza but also reservists and special forces in preparation for a scenario where it would need to return to a full-fledged war or mini penetrations into Gaza.
At the same time, two days into the saber-rattling crisis with Hamas over whether the group would turn over three or more hostages to Israel on Saturday, the IDF was overwhelmingly holding its fire.
Sources have told The Jerusalem Post there were no plans to attack anytime before playing out what Hamas will do on Saturday.
If Hamas hands over at least the three hostages it was meant to hand over on Saturday as per Phase I of the deal, it is unclear – despite threats by US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – that the IDF would take any military action before the next hostage turnover scheduled for February 22.
Hamas seemed to instigate the latest crisis to try to pressure Israel to move toward its position in negotiations over Phase II of the hostage deal, due to kick in around March 1, while Jerusalem seemed to try to flip the narrative of Hamas using Trump’s threats.
Defense Minister Israel Katz while testing 22 tecnologies for stopping drone attacks, February 5, 2025 (credit: ARIEL HARMONI/DEFENSE MINISTRY)
Echoing threats by Netanyahu on Tuesday night, Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday said, “If Hamas doesn’t release the Israeli hostages by Saturday, the gates of hell will open for them, as President Trump promised.
“The new Gaza war will be different in its intensity as compared to how it was before the ceasefire and will not end without decisively defeating Hamas and returning the hostages,” he added.
The one attack that the IDF did undertake was very limited and calibrated to address a drone threat in Rafah.
In that incident, the air force struck a drone and the two terrorists who were collecting the drone on Wednesday morning.
According to Arab media, one of those struck was killed, while the other was wounded.
While the drone crossed into Israel, the IDF monitored throughout its flight and tracked it as it flew to Rafah. The IDF said it struck both the drone and the suspects.
“The IDF will not allow any terrorist activity and will continue to act as necessary to ensure the security of Israel’s citizens,” the military said.
The army noted that it has recently identified several attempts to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip using drones.
On Sunday, on the Egyptian border, the IDF foiled an attempt to smuggle in weapons using a drone.
When the IDF identified the drone crossing into Israeli territory from Egyptian territory, Israeli forces followed the drone.
Unlike Wednesday’s strike, where the IDF destroyed the drone, on Sunday, the IDF did not say how it downed and took possession of the drone and the three weapons it was carrying.
Given that the drone was not shot down, it is possible that the IDF used one of many open-market technologies for jamming or hacking drones to force them to land.
The IDF did not say who had sent the drone, but aside from Hamas, it could also have been criminal smugglers who have been smuggling small amounts of weapons over the Israel-Egyptian border for years.
IDF operates in Tulkarm, West Bank, February 3, 2025. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
IDF continues operations in the West Bank
Meanwhile, in ongoing IDF operations in the West Bank since January 21, the army said on Wednesday that it killed a terrorist in the Nur al-Shams area.
There was an extended firefight between Maglan special forces and the terrorists, in which one soldier was also moderately wounded.
The IDF did not issue any other updates about West Bank operations, suggesting that while the broader operation is continuing, the intensity may have fallen since its early weeks.
In Lebanon, the IDF issued additional warnings to the Lebanese people to keep their distance from any remaining IDF defense line positions in southern Lebanon.
Though Israel is seeking another extension, all indications are that the IDF will need to withdraw on February 18 after having gotten an extension to remain in parts of southern Lebanon past the original January 26 deadline set in the November 27 ceasefire with Hezbollah.
Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.
Israeli Businessman Gil Birger transferred funds from a Qatari lobbyist to a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s media team, Eli Feldstein, Birger admitted in recordings published by KAN’s Reshet Bet on Wednesday.
According to the recordings, the lobbyist, Jay Footlik, requested that Briger assist in transferring the funds to Feldstein for VAT purposes. The recordings confirm a report on Tuesday evening by Channel 13’s Baruch Kara.
According to Kara, Feldstein ceased receiving his salary from the prime minister’s office in April 2024 after failing a security background check. However, he continued working for the prime minister until October 2024, when he was arrested on charges of leaking a classified document to the German newspaper Bild on behalf of Netanyahu in order to relieve public outcry over the Hamas killing of six hostages in Rafah due to IDF proximity.
According to Kara, Feldstein’s salary was effectively paid by the Qatari government during that period while at the same time working alongside the prime minister, serving primarily as his liaison to military reporters.
Feldstein’s attorneys respond
Feldstein’s attorneys, Oded Savorai and Sivan Hauzman stated in response to the recordings, “Since a comprehensive gag order has been issued on all details of the investigation known as ‘Qatargate’—and Reshet Bet would not have violated the order—it is clear that Feldstein is not a suspect in the case, and not without reason. As we have claimed from the moment the allegations were first raised, Feldstein has never worked for Qatar, never transferred information to Qatar, and never received money from Qatar. Feldstein worked for the Prime Minister’s Office, and all his activities on political and security matters were conducted solely on behalf of and for the Prime Minister.'”
The Democrats chairman Yair Golan commented on the report in a post on X/Twitter. “The evidence that Qatari money—the same money that funded the October massacre—was used to pay Netanyahu’s advisors is an earthquake. This is not a failure; it is a suspected betrayal of the state,” he noted.
“The corrupt ties between Netanyahu and Qatar have led us to today’s harsh reality: a prolonged war, submission to foreign interests, and a situation in which Hamas still controls Gaza and tortures our brothers in captivity,” he added.
Following Feldstein’s arrest in October, the prime minister’s office initially claimed it had had no connection to him. The prime minister however later admitted that Feldstein had worked closely alongside him, and even argued that the investigation of Feldstein was part of an attempt to remove him from power.
More than 90% of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, says the UN
Talks to extend the Gaza ceasefire have failed to reach an agreement, a Palestinian official has told the BBC, as the US accused Hamas of making “entirely impractical” demands at meetings in Qatar.
Negotiators have been trying to find a way forward after the first phase of the temporary truce ended on 1 March.
The US proposed to extend the first phase until mid-April, including a further exchange of hostages held by Hamas and Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
But the unnamed Palestinian official said Israel and Hamas disagreed over key aspects of the deal set out by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff at the indirect talks.
Israel is yet to comment, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would receive a report from Israel’s negotiating team later on Saturday.
The White House accused Hamas of making “entirely impractical” demands in its response to Witkoff’s proposal.
It would extend the ceasefire into April but delay the negotiation of a permanent end to the war.
A statement from Witkoff’s office and the US National Security Council on Friday said: “Hamas is making a very bad bet that time is on its side. It is not.”
“Hamas is well aware of the deadline, and should know that we will respond accordingly if that deadline passes.”
A Hamas statement seen by the BBC said negotiations had broken down.
Netanyahu’s office had earlier said Israel accepted the US proposal.
It said Hamas remained “firm in its refusal and has not budged a millimetre,” accusing the group of “manipulation and psychological warfare”.
Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire deal involving three stages in January, after 15 months of war.
In the first stage, Hamas returned 25 living Israeli hostages, the remains of eight others, and five living Thai hostages. Israel released about 1,800 Palestinian prisoners in exchange.
The deal says stage two will include the remaining living hostages in Gaza exchanged for more Palestinian prisoners.
But both sides currently disagree on the number of hostages due to be released next.
They also disagree on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, which the original deal states should be happening by now.
Israel resists this point, while Hamas insists it should happen.
Earlier in March, Israel blocked aid shipments to Gaza and then cut electricity, saying it aimed to put pressure on Hamas.
It is believed that Hamas is still holding up to 24 living hostages in Gaza and the remains of 35 others.
As indirect talks continued on Friday, the group said in a statement it was ready to release the last living Israeli-American hostage it is known to be holding.
Edan Alexander, 21, was serving as an Israeli soldier close to Gaza when he was taken.
Under the terms of the original ceasefire agreement, it was expected that he would have been among the last hostages to be released.
The group also said it would hand over the remains of four other dual nationals captured during the 7 October 2023 attacks.
It did not give further details or make clear what it would demand in return.
Witkoff dismissed the offer, saying Hamas was trying to appear flexible in public while being impractical in private.
The attacks led by Hamas on 7 October 2023 killed more than 1,200 people in southern Israel, mostly civilians, with 251 taken hostage.
The assault triggered an Israeli military offensive that has since killed more than 48,520 people, most of them civilians, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry which are used by the UN and others.
Most of Gaza’s 2.1 million population has been displaced multiple times.
An estimated 70% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed, healthcare, water, and sanitation systems have collapsed and there are shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter.
Pro-Palestinian accounts later tried to share the Israeli man’s whereabouts.
Israeli national Tamir Ohayon was spat at and harassed by two local women while visiting Dublin for a business trip, he shared on Instagram with a video of the interaction.
“My heart is truly broken THIS is Ireland in 2025,” Ohayon shared. “During my business trip to Dublin, me and my co-worker were assaulted by an organized group of girls for simply being Israelis.”
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Ohayon claimed that before the filming began, one of the girls approached him and shared the information she had collected on him – including the hotel he was staying at.
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