Hala Shallah is a 19-year-old Palestinian heading back to Gaza City.
Hala Shallah: “We experienced tremendous hardship from the moment we left Gaza City.
When we heard the war had stopped and people could return to Gaza City, we desperately wanted to go back to Gaza City because we missed our home and everyone in Gaza City.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces shot dead a 2-year-old Palestinian girl named Laila Muhammad Ayman al-Khatib on Saturday.
In Lebanon, Israeli forces opened fire on people trying to return to their homes in the country’s south.
The second week of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire has seen tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians return to north Gaza today, many for the first time in more than a year. However, the majority of Palestinians will return to find their homes in ruins. The U. N. . 92% of Gaza’s homes are thought to have been destroyed or damaged as a result of Israel’s 15-month bombardment. A 19-year-old Palestinian named Hala Shallah is returning to Gaza City.
Hala Shallah: “From the time we left Gaza City, we faced extreme adversity. We had to relocate from the Shuja’iyya neighborhood of Gaza City. Following our departure, we stayed for two nights: one in al-Din and another at Al-Aqsa University in Khan Younis. We have experienced several displacements. We missed our home and everyone in Gaza City, so when we learned that the war was over and that people could return, we were incredibly eager to do so. Despite the destruction of our home, we are content to live among the debris. “”.
Subjects:.
Gaza. .
Four Israeli women soldiers who had been held captive since October 7, 2023, were freed by Hamas on Saturday. 200 Palestinian prisoners were subsequently freed by Israel, including 70 who were being sent into exile overseas. Additionally, Hamas has committed to freeing three additional Israeli hostages by Thursday, one of whom is Arbel Yehoud, a civilian woman.
Meanwhile, 11 American physicians and nurses are accused of being prevented from leaving northern Gaza by Israel.
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian girl, Laila Muhammad Ayman al-Khatib, 2, on Saturday in the occupied West Bank. Israeli snipers fired four shots into the girl’s family’s house near Jenin while they were having dinner in the living room. Laila was struck by one of the bullets in the back of the head. The past week has seen at least 16 deaths in or close to Jenin at the hands of Israeli forces.
Israeli forces in Lebanon opened fire on civilians attempting to flee to their southern homes. At least 24 people were killed and over 134 injured by Israeli forces. The White House has announced an agreement to postpone Israel’s planned troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon until February 18, instead of Sunday.
Subjects:.
Lebanon. .
Israel.
News from Washington, D.D.C. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has halted nearly all foreign aid from USAID and the State Department. But according to Rubio’s memo, Egypt and Israel are exempt from military funding. While the Trump administration was announcing the U.S. S. would lift a stifle imposed by the Biden administration and resume delivering 2,000-pound bombs to Israel.
The U. S. As defense secretary, Pete Hegseth has been confirmed by the Senate. In a rare tie-breaking vote, Vice President JD Vance confirmed Hegseth, a combat veteran and former Fox News host who was accused of financial mismanagement, rape, domestic violence, and excessive drinking at work. Mitch McConnell, Lisa Murkowski, and Susan Collins were the three Republican senators who joined Democrats in opposing him. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine stated there were numerous more qualified candidates for the position prior to the vote.
Sen. According to Tim Kaine, “there are hundreds of them without the personal baggage of sexual assault claims that have been resolved, of spousal abuse allegations that have been testified to, of accusations of intoxication at work, and of financial mismanagement that are the focus of a very comprehensive report written by nonanonymous coworkers.”. “.”.
Later in the show, we’ll examine Pete Hegseth’s support for radical Christian nationalism.
Additionally, Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota was confirmed by the Senate to lead the Department of Homeland Security. Seven Democrats voted for her in the end, including John Fetterman, Maggie Hassan, Tim Kaine, Andy Kim, Gary Peters, Jeanne Shaheen, and Elissa Slotkin. The final vote was 59 to 34.
Across federal agencies, President Trump dismissed more than a dozen independent inspectors general on Friday night. It seems that the action is against a federal law that mandates the president must notify Congress 30 days in advance of dismissing an inspector general who has been confirmed by the Senate. The purge is “antithetical to good government [and] undermines the proper stewardship of taxpayer dollars,” according to a group of House Democrats who wrote a letter to Trump urging him to halt it. “.”.
Subjects:.
Donald Trump.
According to the White House, following a dramatic standoff between the two nations, the Colombian government has agreed to start accepting flights of deported immigrants. Gustavo Petro, the president of Colombia, reversed two U.S. S. Military aircraft transporting deported individuals, claiming that immigrants ought to be treated with respect. Then, Colombia was subject to fresh sanctions and tariffs from President Trump. Petro retaliated by imposing tariffs on the U.S. A. imports, but the White House declared a deal had been reached in a matter of hours.
Subjects:.
Colombia.
immigration. .
As federal agencies conducted immigration raids in Chicago and other cities on Sunday, the Trump administration announced that nearly 1,000 people had been arrested. This comes amid the standoff with Colombia. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Chicago received support from the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. A. Marshals Service. According to The Washington Post, as part of a new quota system, the Trump administration wants every ICE field office to make at least 75 immigration arrests every day.
The local populace is resisting. Agents were denied entry to an elementary school in Chicago on Friday by school officials. Though they were from the U.S., school officials initially believed the agents were from ICE. S. secret service.
The Justice Department has declared that it will restrict the application of the FACE Act, a 1994 law that safeguards abortion facilities and those seeking abortion services. The Trump administration claims that only in “extraordinary circumstances,” such as when someone is killed or there is significant bodily or property harm, will people who illegally bar access to abortion clinics and reproductive health centers face legal action. Additionally, Trump pardoned 23 federally convicted individuals.
The so-called Mexico City policy, also known as the “global gag rule,” which cuts off U.S. S. assistance to any organization operating abroad that offers abortion advocacy, information, or services.
Subjects:.
abortion.
M23 rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo claim to have taken control of Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu. The U. No. The Congolese government referred to Goma’s capture as a “declaration of war” by Rwanda, while chief António Guterres urged Rwandan forces to immediately leave the DRC and stop supporting M23 fighters. There have also been reports of fighting across the border between Congo and Rwanda. Since the year began, M23 fighters have been moving toward Goma, forcing about 400,000 people to leave their homes in eastern Congo, adding to the already dire humanitarian situation. Throughout the weekend, the U. No. decided to evacuate its local employees following 13 U. N. . While battling the M23, peacekeeper soldiers lost their lives.
following a U.S. emergency meeting. No. Congolese Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner urged the Security Council to sanction Rwanda and impose an embargo on the exploitation of natural resources on Sunday, describing the current state of affairs in her nation as one of “its darkest periods in recent history.”.
“These illegal forces have escalated their attacks since January 6, 2025, taking over strategic localities like Katale, Masisi, displacing millions of civilians, destroying vital infrastructure, and committing massive human rights violations,” said Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner. These actions go against the core ideas that underpin international harmony in addition to being attacks on the Congolese people. “.”.
An estimated 70 people were killed in Sudan when a drone struck a hospital in the besieged city of El Fasher in North Darfur. According to the World Health Organization, the Saudi Teaching Maternal Hospital, the region’s last operational hospital, was “packed with patients receiving care” at the time of the attack. The Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, are paramilitary groups that the Sudanese government blamed for the massacre. Before the attack, the RSF threatened to intensify its attacks and issued a “48-hour ultimatum” to the Sudanese Armed Forces to evacuate El Fasher.
A day after two U.S. S. The RSF, which the Biden administration recently accused of committing genocide in Sudan, is still receiving weapons from the United Arab Emirates, according to lawmakers.
Beginning in April 2023, the war has resulted in the displacement of over 14 million people. Three million of them have fled to South Sudan and Chad, with the majority doing so.
AfD, or Alternative for Germany, is a far-right party. On Saturday, Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, took a break from advising Donald Trump to deliver a surprise virtual speech to the party. Musk made his appearance a few days after he caused a stir at a Trump inaugural event by twice saluting Nazis. Musk told guests, among other things, that it’s time to “move on” from “past guilt,” which seems to be a reference to the Holocaust and Nazism.
Elon Musk: “I wanted to start by saying that I am really looking forward to the AfD. Being proud of German culture and values is a good thing, and it should not be lost in multiculturalism that dilutes everything. “”.
The U. S. Following the temporary removal of two instructional videos from the Air Force curriculum, which sparked intense criticism, the Air Force has announced that it will continue to use one about the first Black Air Force members, the Tuskegee Airmen, and another about the first female Air Force members. The videos were under review as part of the Trump administration’s directive to stop all initiatives to advance DEI, or diversity, equity, and inclusion, which led to the reversal.