IDF remains in 5 posts in south Lebanon * Katz warns Israel will ‘forcefully’ enforce truce * Egypt said to propose Gaza ‘secure areas’ where Palestinians will live as Strip rebuilt
By ToI StaffToday, 5:31 am
The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they happen.
Outrage after Montreal synagogue vandalized with swastika
Canadian political leaders are condemning the vandalism of a Montreal synagogue with a swastika over the weekend.
Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Westmount had a three-foot-wide swastika painted on the side of the building over Shabbat. The synagogue is the oldest Reform synagogue in Canada, incorporated in 1883.
“Antisemitism is rising in our city and beyond,” wrote the synagogue’s rabbi, Lisa Grushcow, in a post on Instagram following the attack. “The hate is painful, and so too is the silence of those around us.”
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante condemned the attack. “Such attacks are unacceptable in our metropolis and I can assure the rabbi, Lisa Grushcow, that the police are investigating,” she says in a statement. “We must all unite and denounce all forms of antisemitism.”
Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney, who is running to replace Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in next month’s elections, also responds, vowing to work to combat hate in the community.
“It has to stop. As Canadian leaders, we need to say firmly and loudly that the Jewish community has the right to feel safe in Canada,” Carney writes on X.
“I continue to extend my full support to the Jewish community as we work to combat hate and ensure the perpetrators of these heinous acts are brought to justice.”
The Canadian Muslim Forum also denounces the incident, writing on X that “such acts of hate and intolerance targeting places of worship and communities are completely unacceptable.”
Russia says talks with US will have no impact on cooperation with Iran
The start of Russia-US talks will have no impact on Moscow’s cooperation with Tehran, the TASS news agency reports, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Russia is ready to help Iran in solving problems related to its nuclear program, Peskov adds.
Lebanon army says it has deployed along the border after IDF withdrawal
After the IDF withdrawal, the Lebanese army says it deployed overnight to several villages and towns in southern Lebanon.
In a statement, the Lebanese Armed Forces says troops entered Aabbasiyyeh, Majidieh, Kafr Kila, Marjaayoun, Odaisseh, Markaba, Houla, Mays al-Jabal, Blida, Mahbib, Maroun al-Ras, Yaron, Bint Jbeil, and several other locations near the Israeli border.
The LAF’s deployment is being carried out in coordination with a US-led committee supervising the ceasefire with Israel and the UN observer force UNIFIL, it says.
The LAF says engineering units are surveying the areas, opening roads, and safely removing unexploded ordnance left behind from the fighting.
Katz says IDF will enforce Lebanon ceasefire deal ‘forcefully’ against Hezbollah violations
Defense Minister Israel Katz in a statement says the IDF will “forcefully” enforce the ceasefire deal in Lebanon and act against any Hezbollah threat, as troops remain in five strategic posts.
“Starting today, the IDF will remain in a buffer zone in Lebanon in five strategic outposts and will continue to enforce forcefully and without compromise against any violation by Hezbollah,” he says.
“Hezbollah must withdraw fully beyond the Litani River line and the Lebanese army must enforce and disarm it under the supervision of the mechanism established under the leadership of the US,” Katz says.
“We are determined to provide full security to all northern communities,” he adds.
Man killed by car bomb in Taybeh, another shot dead in Lod; police say incidents not terror
A man in his 40s was killed in a car bombing this morning in Taybeh, paramedics and police say. The explosion moderately injured two others, who have since been taken to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba.
After that, a man in his 20s was shot dead in Lod. Paramedics found him in critical condition and transported him to the hospital, but medical staff pronounced him dead upon arrival, according to a police statement.
Police have opened investigations into the incidents and assume both are criminal rather than terror-related. No suspects have yet been arrested.
Lod has been the site of two shootings in the past 24 hours. Yesterday, resident Ayoub al-Touri was killed in a shooting that police say was related to a dispute between two families in the city.
A violent crime wave has engulfed the Arab community in recent years. Authorities have blamed burgeoning organized crime and the proliferation of weaponry, while some have pointed to a failure by communities to cooperate with law enforcement to root out criminals.
Many community leaders blame the police, who they say have failed to crack down on powerful criminal organizations and largely ignore the violence. They also point to decades of neglect and discrimination by government offices as the root cause of the problem.
Lebanese sources say IDF completes withdrawal from southern Lebanon, except for 5 key posts
The IDF has pulled out of southern Lebanese villages but remains in five positions, a Lebanese security source says, as a deadline for the withdrawal expires under a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.
“The Israeli army has withdrawn from all border villages except for five points, while the Lebanese army is gradually deploying due to the presence of explosives in some areas and damage to the roads,” the source, who speaks on condition of anonymity, tells AFP.
The Lebanese television channel LBCI reports that the Lebanese army had moved overnight into the key border towns and villages of Mais al-Jabal, Blida, Yaroun, Maroun and Mahbib as the IDF withdrew forces.
Several local authorities, including Mais al-Jabal’s municipality, have called on displaced residents to wait for the Lebanese army to deploy there before coming back, so as to guarantee their “safe” return.
Israel said it would meet the February 18 deadline to withdraw under a ceasefire, but remain deployed in five strategic positions in southern Lebanon.
The IDF declined to confirm the withdrawal has been completed.
Reports: Settlers set fire to Palestinian vehicles in West Bank village
Palestinian media reports that settler extremists set fire to several vehicles in the Susya in the southern West Bank, near Hebron.
There are no immediate reports of injuries, but a video posted on social media shows at least one vehicle going up in flames in the overnight attack.
Trump reposts video message from released hostage Agam Berger
US President Donald Trump reposts a video message from released hostage Agam Berger.
Berger was kidnapped from the IDF’s Nahal Oz military base on October 7, 2023, and released by the Hamas terror group last month in the first phase of an ongoing hostage-ceasefire deal.
In her first message since being released, she thanked Trump “from the bottom of my heart for all you have done and all that you continue to do for the hostages.”
“Because of you, we came home,” she says, adding that there are still people who really depend on you and are waiting for you to save them from there.”
Berger tells Trump he “has the power to do it.”
“I beg you, don’t stop until all the hostages, the living and the dead, are brought home,” she says.
Trump shares the video on his Truth social media page without comment.
Egypt said to propose Gaza ‘secure areas’ where Palestinians will live as Strip rebuilt
CAIRO — Egypt is developing a plan to rebuild Gaza without forcing Palestinians out of the Strip in a counter to President Donald Trump’s proposal to depopulate the territory so the US can take it over.
Egypt’s state-run Al-Ahram newspaper says the proposal calls for establishing “secure areas” within the Gaza Strip where Palestinians can live initially while Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the enclave’s infrastructure.
Egyptian officials have been discussing the plan with European diplomats as well as with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, according to two Egyptian officials and Arab and Western diplomats. They are also discussing ways to fund the reconstruction, including an international conference on Gaza reconstruction, says one of the Egyptian officials and an Arab diplomat.
The officials and diplomats speak on condition of anonymity because the proposal is still being negotiated.
NYC mayor labels calls for him to resign a ‘modern-day Mein Kampf’
New York City Mayor Eric Adams rejects calls for his resignation after the US Justice Department moved to dismiss a corruption case against him, labeling them a “modern-day Mein Kampf.”
“If you tell a lie long enough, loud enough, people will tend to believe you,” he says at an event in Brooklyn.
Agencies contributed to this report.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-february-18-2025/.
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