War breaking news. Biden to Netanyahu: 'At Rafah ensure population security'. Trump: 'I would encourage Russia to attack Nato countries that don't pay'.

Mission to the Middle East next week for Turkish President, Rep Tayyip Erdogan. According to a note from the Ankara Presidency, the Turkish leader will attend the World Government Summit in Dubai on Tuesday as guest of honour. In the emirate he will also hold talks with the Emirati president, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Following the stop in Dubai, Erdogan will fly to Egypt, an expected visit that will definitively sanction the rapprochement between Ankara and Egypt. On the agenda are talks with his counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the war in Gaza.

"By favouring enemies over friends, Donald Trump puts the international order at risk". This was stated by the New York Times commenting on the words of the former president who indicated that he would incite Russia to attack Nato countries not on track with payments. "Some might read his words as an attempted bad humour. Others might appreciate the hard line. but Trump's rhetoric portends potential far-reaching changes in the international order should he win the White House in November with unpredictable consequences."

Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked about the ongoing efforts to release the hostages in the hands of Hamas. This was stated by the White House reporting on the phone call between the two leaders. "The president highlighted the need to capitalise on the progress made in negotiations to secure the release of all hostages as soon as possible," the White House adds. Biden also called for "specific and urgent steps to increase humanitarian assistance to innocent Palestinian civilians."

Joe Biden urges Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu to 'ensure the safety' of the population in Rafah before a military operation. This was stated by the White House, reporting on the conversation between the two leaders. Biden "reaffirmed that the military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible plan to ensure the security and support of the 1 million refugees," the White House says, noting that the two leaders "reaffirmed the common goal of seeing Hamas defeated and ensuring the long-term security of Israel and its people.

US President Biden spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. This was reported by Haaretz. It is the first phone call between the two since 19 January.

A Palestinian journalist working for Al Jazeera also appears to be a commander of the Hamas military wing, the Qassam Brigades. This was claimed by the Arabic language spokesman of the Israeli army, Avichai Adraae, who cited images and documents found in a Hamas base in the northern part of the Strip. In particular - according to the same source, quoted by Times of Israel - it is a laptop belonging to a man by the name of Mohamed Washah who has appeared on Al Jazeera broadcasts in recent months, with the Qatari-owned station calling him one of their journalists. Adraee said that evidence recovered from the laptop revealed that Washah is also "an important commander" in the Hamas anti-tank unit. Last month, two journalists from the Qatari station killed in an Israeli raid were later accused by the army - Times of Israel recalled - of being members of Hamas and Palestinian Jihad.

The President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, has arrived in Doha for talks with Emir Tamin bin Ahmad Al Thani on the ceasefire in Gaza. This was reported by the Wafa news agency, pointing out that the meeting will be held tomorrow, Monday 12 February. It is not clear whether Abbas will also meet Hamas leaders in exile who live in Qatar, a country that has been at the centre of all mediation attempts since the beginning of the war.

The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the announced Israeli army offensive in the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, as international alarm grows over a possible new humanitarian catastrophe for the Palestinian population. Like other countries such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan did yesterday, Beirut also called on the Security Council to "exercise its responsibilities and immediately adopt a ceasefire, impose humanitarian aid, and recognise a Palestinian state with the capital Jerusalem". In a statement reported by 'L'Orient le Jour', the Lebanese Foreign Ministry 'strongly condemned Israeli plans to invade Rafah as part of its relentless war on Gaza and the forced displacement of Palestinians'.

Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul says rescue teams managed to recover the bodies of about 100 Palestinians from the Tal al-Hawa and al-Rimal neighbourhoods in Gaza City, after Israeli forces withdrew from those areas. Most of the bodies were killed by sniper bullets, the station says.

The American response to an attack like the one on 7 October would have been 'at least as strong as Israel's'. This was said by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, who was interviewed by various American networks.

Il primo ministro di Israele Benjamin Netanyahu (foto Epa)

"We have to finish the job, we can finish the job. Victory is within reach and this is our goal: a total victory". This was stated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with Fox.

"We are taking precautions to avoid civilian casualties. We responded" to the 7 October attack in a "responsible but at the same time decisive manner to wipe out Hamas". This was stated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an interview with Fox.

According to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there is no alternative to Israeli control over Gaza. He told cabinet members during a cabinet meeting today, according to Haaretz reports. According to Netanyahu, demilitarisation 'requires Israel's security control over the entire area west of Jordan, including the Gaza Strip'. "There is no alternative in the near future," Netanyahu added, stressing that "Israel will always have security control" over the area. According to the prime minister, this claim was presented to US President Joe Biden and other world leaders. "Victory is at hand," he further reiterated, "and we must confront these growing pressures."

Saudi Arabia announced that it has paid $250 million in aid to the internationally recognised government of Yemen, which the Gulf kingdom supports in its war against the Houthi rebels.

This amount follows a first tranche of $250 million announced in August, when Riyadh pledged to provide $1.2 billion to reduce the government's budget deficit and pay civil servants' salaries. "The second tranche intended to help reduce the Yemeni government's budget deficit was transferred to the Central Bank of Yemen in Aden in the amount of $250 million," said Mohammed al-Jaber, the Saudi ambassador to Aden.

The Yemeni government moved to Aden, a port city on Yemen's southern coast, after the Iranian-backed Houthis captured the capital Sanaa in 2014.

France is very concerned about an Israeli attack on Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, and urged the Jewish state to stop the fighting to avoid "a disaster". "A large-scale Israeli offensive in Rafah would create a catastrophic humanitarian situation of a new dimension and unjustifiable," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine. "To avoid disaster, we reiterate our call for an end to the fighting," he added.

"NATO remains ready to defend all its allies. Any statement that speaks of the possibility that member countries will not defend each other jeopardises the security of us all, including that of the US, and exposes American and European soldiers to increasing risks." This is how Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg responded to Donald Trump's recent statements.

NEXT TIME / Here are the 20 Nato countries that Trump would not defend: there's also Italy

- The Wall Street Journal reported that Egypt has warned Hamas that if it does not reach an agreement with Israel within two weeks, the Israeli army will operate in Rafah. Haaretz reports.

Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip over the past 96 hours have killed two Israeli hostages and seriously wounded eight others, the Hamas Al Qassam Brigades wrote on Telegram, as reported by the Guardian. "Their condition is becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with adequate care. (Israel) bears full responsibility for the lives of the wounded in light of the continued shelling," the statement read

On this World Day of the Sick "we cannot remain silent about the fact that there are so many people today who are denied the right to care, and therefore the right to life," Pope Francis said at the Angelus. "I think of those living in extreme poverty," he continued, "but I also think of the territories of war: there, fundamental human rights are violated every day, it is intolerable! "Let us pray for the martyred Ukraine, for Palestine and Israel," the Pontiff added, "let us pray for Myanmar, and for all the peoples martyred by war.

"I consider it shameful that the Sanremo Festival stage was exploited to spread hatred and provocation in a superficial and irresponsible manner. In the 7 October massacre, among the 1,200 victims, there were over 360 young people slaughtered and raped during the Nova Music Festival. Another 40 of them, were kidnapped and are still in the hands of terrorists': the Israeli ambassador to Italy, Alon Bar, wrote this on X. 'The Sanremo Festival could have expressed solidarity with them. It is a pity that this did not happen'. Last night Ghali declared on stage: 'Stop genocide'.

An Israeli ground action in Rafah will "blow up the hostage exchange talks". A senior Hamas official told the Islamic faction's Al Aqsa TV. "What Netanyahu and his Nazi army have not achieved in more than four months," he continued, "they will not achieve, no matter how long the war lasts.

Mohammed Nizal, a leading Hamas figure, told Al Jazeera that talks are underway to reach a ceasefire, in which the movement demands "the minimum" when it comes to their demands. "Netanyahu wants the war to continue in order to stay in power and does not want to lose his right-wing coalition," Nizal said. "He wants to continue fighting until the US elections in November for Trump to win," he added.

Former US President Donald Trump has stated that he would encourage Russia to do 'whatever the hell it wants' to any NATO member country that does not comply with defence spending guidelines, admitting that he would not respect the collective defence clause if re-elected.

At a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Trump said that "one of the presidents of a great country" at one point asked him if the US would still defend the country if it were invaded by Russia, even if it "didn't pay", meeting the Alliance's spending guidelines, thus spending less than 2% of GDP on defence. "If we don't pay, will you still protect us?" he asked. "Absolutely not," Trump replied. "If you don't pay, you're a thug. I wouldn't protect you," he reportedly replied. "In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You have to pay. You have to pay your bills." A statement the White House describes as "frightening and crazy

The Election Commission of Pakistan has released the list of those elected to the National Assembly: Independents supported by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pti), led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan currently in jail, are in the lead. However, their numbers are not sufficient to secure a simple majority in Parliament. Pti chairman Gohar Khan stated at a press conference in Islamabad that his party intends to form the national government, as well as in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. He then claimed that his party won 170 seats and has evidence of its victories in hand, which he intends to present in court for verification. The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (Pml-n), the party led by former three-time premier Nawaz Sharif, won 75 seats. The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), led by former president Asif Ali Zardari, followed with 54 seats. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) gained 17 seats, while the remainder were won by several smaller political parties. The Pml-n and the Ppp meanwhile started talks to form a coalition government at the centre with the support of the small parties.

The families of the Israeli hostages intend to file an official complaint against Hamas at the Hague Court of Justice for 'kidnapping, violent sexual crimes, torture'. This was reported by the daily Yedioth Ahronot, according to which about 100 representatives of the hostages' families will go to The Hague accompanied by lawyers from Israel and around the world. The immediate objective of the complaint - the newspaper explained - is to obtain an arrest warrant against the Hamas leaders. In the coming weeks, freed former hostages will also go to The Hague to support the charges, the source added.

Italy has officially taken command of the European mission Atalanta, which is engaged against piracy in the area between the Red Sea and Somalia. A handover ceremony was held this morning in the port of Djibouti between the outgoing commander, Portuguese Commodore Rogerio Martins de Brito, and Italian Rear Admiral Francesco Saladino, who will remain in charge for the next six months. The crew will be deployed from today on the Federico Martinengo, the Italian frigate which for several months has been engaged in the surveillance and protection of merchant vessels in the Red Sea following Houthi attacks. "We achieved great results in the Red Sea just a few days ago," Saladino said during the ceremony on the Spanish frigate Victoria, "and now we are ready again to operate under the European flag. We will work to prevent and suppress piracy, we will protect ships and merchantmen, because this is our mission. The challenges we face today reaffirm the strategic importance of Atalanta for the European Union. We feel a great sense of responsibility for this commitment".

During Sunday's state-organised demonstrations to mark the 45th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, protesters shouted slogans against the US, the UK and Israel, burned American, Isralian and British flags and effigies of Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and the US symbol 'Uncle Sam'. Iranian-made military equipment was displayed in Tehran, including ballistic and cruise missiles, satellite launchers, defence systems, Shahed drones, helicopters and tactical vehicles. (

Paratroopers hoisted the Russian flag in the centre of the village of Veseloye in Donetsk, a correspondent of Ria Novosti reported. The Russian soldiers planted a flag on the war memorial of the Great Patriotic War and dedicated it to their grandfathers and great-grandfathers who fought against fascism. According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the Tula paratroopers of the Southern Forces Group, with the support of the air force and artillery, liberated the village of Veseloye on 18 January.

The Israeli army will provide "safe passages for the civilian population" before the start of the military operation at Rafah. Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu said this in an interview with ABC News in which he dismissed the international community's fears "of a catastrophe", given the presence of hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in the area. 'We will ensure,' he explained, 'safe passage for the civilian population so that they can leave. We are drawing up a detailed plan to do this. We are not dismissive about this'.

In an excerpt from an Abc interview to be broadcast today, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu rejects calls for Israel to avoid a military offensive at Rafah: 'Those who say that under no circumstances should we enter Rafah are basically telling us to lose the war. Keep Hamas there,' he said. Israeli media reported that. "We will take the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions in Rafah, which is the last bastion," Netanyahu added. Gaza's southernmost city has become the refuge for nearly a million displaced Palestinians, pushed south by the war.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported that during the night the Russian army launched a shaded drone attack on nine regions, 40 out of 45 unmanned aircraft were shot down. The head of the military administration in Kiev Sergy Popka stated that all drones launched on the capital were destroyed. In addition to the Kiev region, Vinnitsa, Zhytomyr, Kirovograd, Mykolaiv, Cherkasy, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk and Kherson were attacked. The southern city of Mykolaiv was particularly targeted, there were numerous explosions, fires and damage. The Ukrainian Southern Defence Forces reported that the attack lasted more than five and a half hours: 'The enemy's priority was again the coastal strip, infrastructure and agricultural facilities'.

Six people died in the crash of a tourist helicopter in the Mojave desert on the border between California and Nevada. This was announced by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), quoted by the US media. Among the victims was 58-year-old Herbert Wigwe, the CEO of one of Nigeria's largest banks, Access Bank. His death was confirmed on X by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former Nigerian Finance Minister and now Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). According to the US authorities, there was rain and snow in the crash area at the time of the crash.

French energy company Edf shut down two reactors at the Chinon power plant yesterday, after a fire broke out in a non-nuclear sector of the plant in western France. This was announced by Edf itself, quoted by international media. The blaze has been extinguished, the company specifies. "Production unit number 3 of the Chinon nuclear power plant was shut down automatically in accordance with the reactor's safety and security systems," Edf said, adding that it had also shut down reactor number 4, which is coupled to 3. The French Nuclear Safety Authority (Asn) said for its part that the fire caused a power outage at the plant that triggered the automatic shutdown of reactor 3.

Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera says that 25 people died and dozens more were injured in an Israeli bombardment that hit a residential building east of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Three UAE soldiers and a Bahraini officer were killed in an attack in Somalia, where they were carrying out a training mission for the Somali army. This was announced by the Emirati Ministry of Defence. The soldiers were 'exposed to a terrorist act' while 'carrying out their training duties' for the 'Somali armed forces' under a military cooperation agreement, the ministry said in a statement published in X. Two other soldiers were injured, the same source reported. Somalia's president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, 'strongly condemned' what had happened and 'sent his condolences to the Emiratis' during a hospital visit to the injured soldiers, the official Somali news agency Sonna reported, pointing out that the attack targeted a military camp in the capital Mogadishu. The Emirates and Somalia, shaken by an internal conflict with radical Islamist Shebab, signed a military and security cooperation agreement in January 2023.

The news of the 10 February 2024