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A major Israeli military operation has entered its second day in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, imposing severe restrictions on Palestinian residents while raising concerns about long-term displacement objectives. The extensive assault involves road closures, home raids, and a comprehensive curfew affecting approximately 18,750 Palestinians across multiple southern neighborhoods including Khilat al-Qubba, Jabal Jawhar, and al-Sahla.

The Israeli military announced the operation would continue for several days, warning residents to expect increased troop movements and audible explosions. According to official statements, the raid aims to confiscate weapons and enhance security through coordinated efforts between the army, police, and border guard units.

Residents report extreme measures including the deployment of military vehicles and bulldozers creating barriers with earth mounds, iron gates, and even repurposed civilian vehicles. A security cordon encompassing approximately four square kilometers has effectively isolated the targeted areas, with concrete blocks and checkpoints sealing all access points.

Local accounts describe intensive house raids, arbitrary arrests, and the occupation of Palestinian homes as military barracks. Farid Burqan, a Jabal Jawhar resident, revealed that the army informed locals of an eight-day curfew minimum, preventing them from leaving their homes. Educational institutions have been shuttered since the operation’s inception, while access to basic necessities and freedom of movement remain severely constrained.

The industrial zone containing several major factories has ceased operations, disrupting livelihoods and economic activity. Lafi Ghaith, a stone factory employee, reported being unable to reach his workplace while his family endured home invasions and property destruction. Many residents interpret the operation as part of a broader strategy to facilitate settlement expansion and Palestinian displacement.

Hebron’s political complexity adds significance to the operation. Under the 1997 Hebron Agreement, the city remains divided into H1 (Palestinian Authority control) and H2 (full Israeli control, including the Old City and Ibrahimi Mosque). For over 25 years, Israel has maintained approximately 120 checkpoints and gates around the mosque area, which houses both Palestinian residents and settlement outposts.

Deputy Mayor Asma Sharabati emphasized the operation targets a densely populated area containing 12 government schools and four municipal service centers. She warned that the assault extends beyond immediate security concerns to broader political objectives, including altering the architectural character of the Ibrahimi Mosque and expanding settlement infrastructure connecting to Kiryat Arba.

The timing coincides with unprecedented restrictions barring the Ibrahimi Mosque’s director and head custodian from entering the holy site for 15 days—a move reminiscent of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque restrictions. This development suggests potential efforts to transfer administrative control from Hebron Municipality to the religious council of Kiryat Arba settlement.

Youth Against Settlements coordinator Issa Amr identified the operation’s core objective as separating eastern and southern areas from central Hebron while depopulating the industrial zone. The absence of arrests targeting known lawbreakers in the area further reinforces concerns about ulterior motives behind the military action.

Local authorities are calling for urgent intervention from the Palestinian Authority and international community, emphasizing Hebron’s unique vulnerability as a city containing settlement outposts within its urban fabric. Any expansion of these outposts could trigger significant Palestinian displacement and complicate territorial control indefinitely.

A damning investigation by Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem has exposed the nation’s prison system as a coordinated network of facilities engaging in systematic torture against Palestinian detainees. The report, released Tuesday, documents widespread abuse, deaths in custody, and what the group identifies as a deliberate state-sanctioned policy of violence.

According to the findings, at least 84 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention facilities since October 2023, with the actual number believed to be significantly higher due to unverified and concealed cases. The victims include 50 from Gaza, 31 from the occupied West Bank, and three Palestinian citizens of Israel, alongside one child. Israeli authorities are additionally withholding the bodies of 80 Palestinians, refusing to return them to families as of January 2026.

Disturbing testimonies from released detainees describe systematic physical and psychological violence, inhuman conditions, deliberate starvation, and denial of medical treatment. Several former prisoners reported experiencing or witnessing sexual violence while in custody.

B’Tselem’s Executive Director Yuli Novak characterized the findings as evidence of a coordinated campaign against Palestinians as a collective people. “The Israeli regime has turned its prisons into a network of torture camps for Palestinians,” Novak stated, connecting the prison conditions to broader policies of “genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.”

The report concludes that the abuse represents declared, deliberate policy originating from the highest levels of government, with political backing and institutional protection. National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who oversees the prison service, has publicly boasted about the treatment of Palestinian detainees.

Parallel findings from Palestinian rights organizations reinforce these conclusions, documenting at least 100 Palestinian deaths in custody since October 2023. As of September 2025, approximately 10,900 Palestinians were held in Israeli prisons under conditions described as appalling, with the number dropping to around 9,200 by January 2026 following prisoner exchanges.

The organizations emphasize that Israel’s mass incarceration of Palestinians—over 800,000 detained over decades, many without charge or trial—represents a central pillar of its system of control, designed to fragment Palestinian society through fear, violence, and collective punishment.

Recent flight-tracking data reveals a pattern of strategic cargo movements by a UAE-linked aircraft across multiple conflict zones, highlighting the intensifying regional power struggle between the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. An Antonov An-124 transport plane (tail number UR-ZYD), operated by Abu Dhabi-based Maximus Air, has conducted repeated flights between military bases in Abu Dhabi, Ethiopia, Bahrain, and Israel throughout January.

The aircraft’s movements coincide with a dramatic shift in regional alliances following Saudi Arabia’s successful military campaign against UAE-backed forces in Aden, Yemen. This development forced Emirati forces to withdraw from their strategic base in Bosaso, Somalia, while simultaneously facing diplomatic challenges from Somalia’s cancellation of all security agreements with the UAE.

Analysts identify Ethiopia as becoming increasingly crucial to UAE’s regional strategy. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appears to be aligning Ethiopia firmly with the UAE alliance rather than alternative options, according to sources familiar with Ethiopian foreign policy. This alignment potentially includes Ethiopia’s anticipated recognition of Somaliland in exchange for access to the port of Berbera.

The ongoing Sudan conflict has become central to this regional power struggle, with Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey increasing military support to the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to counter the UAE’s longstanding support for the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Evidence suggests the UAE has been supplying weapons to the RSF through multiple channels, including via Ethiopia and eastern Libya under General Khalifa Haftar’s control.

Flight data shows UR-ZYD made three round trips between Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base and Israel’s Ovda Air Force base in late December before commencing its Ethiopia shuttle operations in January. The aircraft’s significant cargo capacity—capable of transporting 21 Toyota Land Cruisers or 4 Mi-17 helicopters—raises concerns about potential weapons transfers.

Yale’s Humanitarian Research Lab executive director Nathaniel Raymond expressed global concern about these developments: ‘Evidence that an An-124 has been making repeated sorties between Abu Dhabi and this airfield near an area seeing increased uptick in RSF presence and operations should be of global concern.’

The aircraft’s operations have previously attracted UN scrutiny for violating arms embargoes in Libya, with investigations identifying current UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed as the beneficial owner of UR-ZYD. Despite the airline’s description of humanitarian missions, its client list includes multiple UAE government entities including the Armed Forces GHQ and Crown Prince Court.

As Saudi pressure mounts on Haftar forces to cease supporting UAE’s RSF operations, and with Egypt bombing RSF supply convoys near its border, the temporary closure of al-Kufra airbase in Libya appears designed to provide diplomatic breathing space. Regional analysts conclude that the Horn of Africa has become subject to Gulf power dynamics, with local nations increasingly forced to choose sides in the Riyadh-Abu Dhabi rivalry.

Iranian authorities have delivered a stark three-day ultimatum to participants of nationwide demonstrations, demanding their surrender or facing severe legal consequences. National police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan characterized young protesters as “deceived individuals” rather than enemy combatants, offering leniency for those who voluntarily submit to authorities.

The unrest represents the most significant challenge to Iran’s leadership in recent years, though the full extent of casualties remains obscured by an ongoing internet blackout now entering its eleventh day. According to Iran Human Rights NGO, verified fatalities have reached 3,428 protesters killed by security forces, though director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam warns the actual death toll could be “higher by many thousands,” potentially constituting one of the largest mass killings of protesters in contemporary history.

In a coordinated response, Iran’s executive, legislative, and judicial branches issued a joint statement acknowledging the need to address economic hardships that initially sparked demonstrations while simultaneously vowing to “decisively punish” what they describe as instigators of “terrorist incidents.” The government maintains that peaceful protests were hijacked by foreign adversaries, specifically naming the United States and Israel as orchestrators of destabilization efforts.

Material damage has been substantial, with Mashhad officials reporting over $15 million in public infrastructure destruction alone. Limited internet restoration began briefly on Sunday, with officials promising gradual normalization throughout the week.

International reaction has emerged with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan characterizing the situation as a “new test” for Tehran, expressing confidence that Iranian leadership would navigate this “trap-filled period” through dialogue and diplomacy while pledging Turkey’s opposition to regional destabilization.

Rescue teams in Karachi continue sifting through the smoldering wreckage of Gul Plaza shopping complex three days after Pakistan’s most devastating fire in over a decade erupted, with 21 confirmed fatalities and 63 individuals still unaccounted for amid fears of a catastrophic death toll.

The inferno ignited late Saturday evening near closing time and rapidly consumed the massive commercial structure spanning larger than a football field. The shopping center, renowned for housing approximately 1,200 family-operated stores specializing in wedding attire, household goods, and toys, became an uncontrollable blaze that required nearly 48 hours to fully contain.

Emergency response units from Rescue 1122 confirmed the recovery of 21 victims while continuing their grim search through unstable debris. The operation has transitioned to forensic recovery, with workers collecting human remains in sacks for DNA identification. Authorities have gathered 15 genetic samples to facilitate victim identification amid the severely compromised remains.

Disturbing revelations have emerged regarding safety violations, with police confirming that 13 of the mall’s 16 emergency exits were secured when the fire broke out. This critical failure likely prevented occupants from escaping the rapidly spreading flames.

Anguished families gathered at the disaster site expressed both desperation and outrage. Kosar Bano, whose six family members vanished while shopping for wedding supplies, articulated the horrifying reality: ‘The only hope we have is how many hands we will find, how many fingers we will find, and how many legs we will find.’

Public frustration mounted as Karachi’s mayor faced jeering crowds who condemned the delayed emergency response. The government has pledged a comprehensive investigation into both the fire’s origin and the adequacy of rescue efforts. This tragedy represents Karachi’s most severe fire incident since the 2012 industrial inferno that claimed 260 lives, which courts later determined to be arson.

Gul Plaza management has not responded to requests for comment regarding the locked emergency exits or overall safety protocols.