For today, links to reports from Reuters and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Middle East Eye and Middle East Monitor; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (WEST BANK, LEBANON, IRAN, and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE, or scroll up or down. GAZA 2-16-25 entry is HERE, or scroll down.) — MCM

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Gazans must return home, EU plans to tell Israel, by Lili Bayer | Reuters  BRUSSELS — The EU plans to tell Israel next week that Palestinians uprooted from their Gaza homes should be ensured a dignified return and that Europe will contribute to rebuilding the shattered territory, according to a document seen by Reuters. READ MORE . . .

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio visits Middle East, meets with Israel’s Netanyahu. Reported by Aya Batrawy and A Martínez | NPR  Marco Rubio is in the Middle East for his first visit to the region as secretary of state. His first stop was Israel. Click HERE to listen and,, later, read.

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Gaza transfer plan: The banality of ethnic cleansing, by Ahmad Tibi | Middle East Eye  Widespread support for the idea of transferring the population of Gaza to other countries, alongside the notion that “there are no innocent people” in the Palestinian enclave, constitute . . . READ MORE . . .

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Displacement is a distraction from the Zionist genocide in Gaza, by Amira Abo el-Fetouh | Middle East Monitor  The displacement of the Palestinians from Gaza and Donald Trump’s diabolical plan to take “ownership” of the Gaza Strip is a calculated manipulation that depends on creating an imaginary reality so that . . . READ MORE . . .