Israel Security Cabinet to discuss next phase of Gaza truce

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed plans for Gaza with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

"The Secretary underscored the importance of an arrangement for Gaza that contributes to regional security," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a readout of the meeting between Rubio and the kingdom's de facto leader.

The two reaffirmed their commitment to last month's ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. They also discussed Syria, Lebanon and the Red Sea, Bruce said.

Rubio is visiting the Middle East after President Donald Trump enraged the Arab world with a proposal to resettle Palestinian residents of Gaza in other Arab countries, and for the US to lead the enclave's reconstruction.

Rubio's previously planned visit comes ahead of a scheduled meeting between US and Russian officials that is expected to focus on ending the war in Ukraine and restoring broader Russia-US relations.

Nearly all of Gaza's 2.4 million residents have been displaced at least once since the war began 16 months ago.

"It's been 500 days of humiliation, suffering and bloodshed," Abu Mursa told news agency AFP. He said his family had been uprooted more than a dozen times in search of safety,

Khadija Hammou, 56, said that the 500 days since the war began have felt like "500 years."

"There is no tent to shelter us, no water to drink or bathe in, no means of survival in Gaza," she told AFP. "Everywhere we go... there is only suffering."

According to the UN, the war has left over two million people homeless, fully dependent on food assistance, and without any income.

Hamas-led militants abducted some 250 people in the October 7 attack, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. It has displaced 90% of Gaza's people from their homes, and caused widespread destruction across the besieged territory.

Hamas is classified as a terrorist organization by many countries including Israel, Germany and the United States

Israel's Defense Ministry announced that Israeli authorities would establish a special agency for the "voluntary" relocation of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

"Defense Minister Israel Katz held a meeting today (Monday) on the voluntary departure of Gaza residents, at the end of which he decided that a directorate for the voluntary departure of Gaza residents would be established within the Ministry of Defense", the ministry said.

Israeli media reported that the agency would be made up of officials from various ministries and defense bodies.

It comes after US President Donald Trump said that Washington planned to "take over" the Palestinian territory and that Palestinians would be permanently resettled to another location.

Saudi Arabia is set to host a high-level summit of Arab nations on Friday to discuss Gaza reconstruction efforts after the war between Israel and Hamas.

The meeting comes after US President Donald Trump floated controversial plans to take over the Palestinian territory and permanently resettle its residents in neighboring Arab states. The plan has been widely rejected by Arab countries and rights experts.

Friday's summit is expected to focus on an alternative proposal from Egypt to rebuild Gaza under the "complete supervision" of Arab countries.

Leaders from Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf States are due to attend.

The UN has estimated that rebuilding Gaza could cost around $53 billion (€50 billion).

Israel has issued a tender for the construction of nearly 1,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank, anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now said Monday.

The group said the development of 974 additional houses would allow the population of the Efrat settlement to expand by 40%.

It said the expansion would also block the development of the nearby Palestinian city of Bethlehem.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli government.

Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War with Egypt, Jordan and Syria.

West Bank settlements have been classified by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the United Nations as illegal under international law, and have also been criticized by the European Union.

Some 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank.

Israel has built more than 100 settlements there, housing more than 500,000 Israeli settlers.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is "committed" to US President Donald Trump's proposal to take control of Gaza and resettle its Palestinian residents elsewhere.

Speaking a day after meeting with US top diplomat Marco Rubio, Netanyahu also said the Gaza Strip would not be ruled by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority after the war ends.

"Just as I have committed to, on the day after the war in Gaza, there will be neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority," Netanyahu said, "I am committed to US President Trump's plan for the creation of a different Gaza."

Trump has proposed that the US take over the Palestinian territory and turn it into a "Riviera of the Middle East." His plan, which has angered Arab states, also involves permanently relocating Gaza's more than 2 million inhabitants to other countries such as Egypt and Jordan.

Experts and rights groups say the plan would likely violate international law.

The US has said it is open to alternative ideas for Gaza's future from Arab governments. But for now, Rubio has said: "The only plan is the Trump plan."

Israeli forces will remain in five strategic locations in southern Lebanon after Tuesday's deadline for them to withdraw passes, a military spokesperson said.

Under a truce with Hezbollah brokered in November 2024, Israel was given 60 days to pull out from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. That deadline was later extended to February 18.

However, military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said Monday that some troops would stay behind at posts that provide vantage points overlooking Israeli towns or are close to communities in northern Israel.

"We need to remain at those points at the moment to defend Israeli citizens, to make sure this process is complete, and eventually hand it over to the Lebanese armed forces," Shoshani told reporters.

He said the "temporary measure" was approved by the US-led body monitoring the truce.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said Monday that the ceasefire agreement "must be respected," and that he was "afraid that the complete (Israeli) withdrawal will not be achieved tomorrow."

"I will not accept that a single Israeli remains on Lebanese territory," he said.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, said that any Israeli soldiers still in Lebanon after Tuesday's deadline would be seen as an occupying force.

Relatives of Israelis taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group Hamas staged protests on Monday to mark 500 days since their family members' abduction.

Holding pictures of their loved ones, they held demonstrations in a number of towns and cities, including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Dozens of people were seen marching to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in the morning, carrying banners that read "Home Now." They later headed to the parliament to meet with lawmakers.

More than 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 were taken hostage during a terror attack staged by Hamas-led militants in southern Israel on October 7, 2023. The attack sparked the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.

More than 70 Israeli hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza.

Under the current ceasefire, 19 Israeli hostages have been released in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.

Israel's army says a drone strike in southern Lebanon has killed the head of Hamas' military operations in the country.

The Israeli military said it had targeted Mohammad Shaheen, accusing him of "recently planning terror attacks, directed and funded by Iran, from Lebanese territory against the citizens of the state of Israel."

The strike came one day before the deadline for Israel's complete withdrawal from southern Lebanon.

The original withdrawal deadline stipulated in a ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah was in late January. But Lebanon agreed to extend it to February 18 under pressure from Israel.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has urged sponsors of the deal to push Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon by Tuesday's deadline.

Both Israel and Lebanon have accused each other of violating the terms of the deal.

Israel's Security Cabinet is expected to meet on Monday to address the next phase of the ceasefire with militant group Hamas.

Israel and Hamas are currently implementing the first, 42-day phase of the truce deal, which has seen 19 Israeli hostages released from Gaza in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners previously held in Israeli jails.

The ceasefire's first phase ends in two weeks.

Negotiations concerning the second phase to secure the release of more hostages and a lasting end to the fighting was to begin two weeks ago.

Some 70 hostages are still believed to be in Gaza. They were among the more than 250 people taken by Hamas-led militants during a terror attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, that triggered the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his Security Cabinet would discuss the truce's second phase on Monday. At the same time, he said Israeli negotiators would travel to Cairo to discuss the "continued implementation" of phase one.

The prime minister's office said the team would "receive further directives for negotiations on Phase II" after the Cabinet meeting.

The meeting comes as US top diplomat Marco Rubio traveled to Saudi Arabia to promote US President Donald Trump's controversial proposal for Gaza's future. Trump's plan would involve the US taking control of Gaza and moving more than 2 million Palestinians out of the territory.