Palestinian government submits resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas

The Government of the Palestinian Authority presented its resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas this Monday. This was reported by Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh. "I presented the resignation of the Government to the president on February 20 and I am submitting it in writing today," Shtayyeh said in statements reported by AFP.

In that sense, Abbas specified that the decision is due to "facts related to the aggression against the Gaza Strip and the escalation in Jerusalem."

"The next stage requires new governmental and political measures that take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus," Shtayyeh added from Ramallah.

Netanyahu announces ground offensive in Rafah

The information about the resignation of the Government is known precisely on the same day that the Israeli army presented a plan for the evacuation of civilians from conflict areas, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to launch a ground offensive in the city of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.

"The IDF presented to the War Cabinet a plan to evacuate the population from combat zones in the Gaza Strip and the next operational plan," the Prime Minister's Office wrote on its X account.

In addition, "the plan to provide humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip was approved to prevent the looting that has occurred in the north of the Strip and other areas."

Previously, the prime minister stated that the offensive against Rafah would only be delayed if a ceasefire agreement was reached.

Israel bombs Lebanon

In the midst of the situation, Israeli authorities reported that the Israel Defense Forces began an attack on the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Earlier, the IDF explained that it arrested 22 people wanted in Judea and Samaria and in the Bekaa and Emekim brigades. They detailed that terrorist funds worth more than 100,000 shekels, the Israeli currency that is also used in the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, were confiscated in the Samaria brigade area.

Likewise, it was learned that a missile was launched towards an IAF drone operating in Lebanon and was intercepted by the David Wave Air Defense System. It was then reported that an additional missile was launched towards a drone which was identified and fell within Lebanese territory shortly afterwards.

"The IDF will continue to operate to defend Israel from Hezbollah threats," the IDF detailed in X.