The Israeli army said on Thursday that it finished a two-day mission in the West Bank, which is controlled by Israel. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that 12 Palestinians died and 25 were injured during this operation. Militant groups said that at least eight of the people who died were fighters.
Hamas is still fighting in Gaza, even though they are not as strong as before. They are regrouping in the most damaged areas in northern Gaza and are continuing to launch rockets into nearby Israeli towns.
The highest court of the United Nations will make a decision on Friday about South Africa’s request to stop fighting in Gaza. South Africa says Israel is killing a lot of Palestinians, but Israel says it’s not true.
The war caused tensions in the Red Sea. On Thursday, a missile landed in the water near the important Bab el-Mandeb Strait, but it didn’t cause any damage.
In Lebanon, a drone from Israel killed one person and injured three students on a bus, according to the state-run National News Agency. Since the war in Gaza started, over 400 people have died in Lebanon because Israel and Hezbollah have been shooting at each other.
Around 35,000 people from Gaza have died, and the Health Ministry doesn’t say if they were fighters or not.
Israel started fighting in Gaza because Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7. The attack killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 others.
Tag: West Bank
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12 Palestinians killed in an Israeli 2-day raid in West Bank
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US decides not to punish Israeli military forces for alleged abuses of human rights in West Bank
The Biden government found that three groups of soldiers in Israel did really bad things to Palestinian people in the West Bank. But, they will still get money from the US for their military, because Israel is trying to fix the problem.
The evaluation from the government hasn’t been shared with the public yet. It could change if Israel doesn’t do what it’s asked to do. The details were explained in a letter from Secretary of State Antony Blinken to House Speaker Mike Johnson. The media got hold of the letter, but it didn’t have a date on it.
The US will make sure Israel gets all the aid Congress promised without any delays, Blinken wrote.
The claims about each group happened before the war on October 7 when Hamas attacked Israel. None of the situations involve attacks on Hamas in Gaza, Iran, or its supporters.
However, some people who criticize the Biden administration may not be happy with the decision because they think Israel is not being punished enough for their military actions in Gaza. These actions have caused a lot of suffering for the civilian population.
Issa Amro, a well-known person who helps people in Palestine and lives in the West Bank city of Hebron, said he felt let down by the US decision, but he wasn’t surprised.
He said that the US is not taking clear steps to reduce violence and make peace between Palestinians and Israelis.
The government says it has been fair in looking at human rights violations and did not show favoritism to Israel. They also say that the US sometimes helps other countries to get rid of people who are doing bad things in their military.
“Every situation is unique, and we need to gather the information and follow it closely, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Blinken said to reporters on Monday when asked about the US review.
The Leahy Law is a rule that the US military has to follow. It says they can’t give weapons or training to foreign military units that hurt peoples’ rights.
The law has a special rule for countries that have punished the people in their military unit who did something wrong.
Someone who knows about the process and wants to keep their identity a secret said that the US and Israel have a special agreement. It says that the US has to talk to Israel before making any decisions about the Foreign Assistance Act.
The person said they are still talking to Israel about this issue, and if a military unit doesn’t do the right things, the US will stop giving them aid.
In total, five groups — three military and two civilian — were being checked for breaking human rights rules. According to Blinken’s letter, four have completed the necessary steps to fix the problem.
Israel also admitted that another group of their military had behaved in a way that goes against their rules. In 2022, the unit moved from the West Bank to the Golan Heights, Blinken said.
The Netzah Yehuda battalion is made for very religious Jewish men.
“The Israeli government has shared new information about the unit’s status, and we will work to find a way to fix any problems with the unit,” Blinken said.
“But this won’t change our help for Israel to protect itself from groups like Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, and other dangers,” he told Johnson, who strongly supports Israel and helped pass a foreign aid bill in Congress this week.
Blinken said that no other groups broke the Leahy Law.
The secretary talked with important Israeli leaders this week after hearing about plans to punish Israeli military units from reports by Axios and ProPublica.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will oppose the Biden administration’s decision, calling it unethical. -
US sanctions fundraisers for West Bank settlers who target Palestinians
The Biden administration imposed constraints on two organizations that fund extremist Israeli settlers and the individual behind an organization that frequently targets Palestinians.The Treasury Department said this as there has been a lot of violence by extremist settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank since the war in Gaza started.
President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu don’t get along. Netanyahu’s government is very conservative and has been very upset about sanctions against West Bank settlers.
The Friday sanctions include two groups – Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich – that are accused of collecting money for sanctioned settlers Yinon Levi and David Chai Chasdai.
Both men were punished by the Biden administration for hurting Palestinians in the West Bank.
The penalties are meant to stop them from using the US financial system and prevent American citizens from doing business with them.
The Mount Hebron Fund raised $140,000 and Shlom Asiraich for Chasdai raised $31,000 according to the US Treasury.
In Levi’s situation, the money approved by the Biden administration is connected to the local council in the area, which gets funding from the state. On Friday, President Biden’s order did not officially punish the council.
Rights groups say that illegal settlements in the West Bank are growing with the support of regional councils and the government of Israel, which is the most far-right in the country’s history.
Biden’s order did not punish fundraising websites like GiveChak and Charidy, where people donate money.
In Chasdai’s situation, a fundraiser was set up on Charidy by Shlom Asiraich to collect money for Jewish extremists who are in prison.
Both internet fundraisers have been removed. One of the fundraisers connected to a settler who was previously punished by the Biden administration, Moshe Sharvit, is still available online. By Friday, the GiveChak page had gathered more than $879,000.
Also, the State Department is identifying Ben-Zion Gopstein as the founder and leader of Lehava, a group whose members have attacked Palestinian people.
Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said the groups are making it harder for the West Bank to be peaceful, secure, and stable. We will keep using our tools to make sure the people responsible are held accountable.
In February, Biden made a rule to focus on Israeli people living in the West Bank. They have been accused of hurting Palestinians and peace activists in that area. -
Palestinian villages in West Bank attacked by hundreds of Israeli settlers
Hundreds of Israeli individuals have visited Palestinian settlements in the West Bank and inflicted harm on the inhabitants there. This happened after a young Israeli boy from a settlement was found dead.
Binyamin Achimair, who was 14 years old, was found dead in the Malachei HaâShalom area. The Israeli military said he was killed in a “terrorist attack. ”
It is still not known what caused the death, and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) has not shown proof that it was a “terrorist attack. ”
Shortly after that, videos from CNN show people burning houses and cars in the village of Duma, which is southeast of Nablus. Video shows a lot of smoke in the air and people shooting guns. People who saw it happen said that the settlers went into the houses of other people and there was fighting with Palestinians.
In a video from Duma, a man said it was like a war on the streets.
Videos on websites like Facebook and Twitter show fights between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the villages of Deir Dibwan and Beitin, east of Ramallah. Palestinians are throwing rocks at the settlers, and Israeli military vehicles are using tear gas to break up the crowds.
The new attacks by settlers happened the day after a big attack in the village of Al-Mughayyir, which is east of Ramallah. One Palestinian man was killed in the attack, while they were looking for Achimair. Around 25 more people got hurt in the attack, as stated by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that they are looking for the person who killed Achimair and asked Israelis to cooperate with the authorities.
“The horrible killing of Binyamin Achimair is a very bad crime. ” I feel really sorry for his family,” said the Israeli Prime Minister’s office in a statement.
“The IDF and Shin Bet are working hard to catch the bad murderers and anyone helping them,” it said.
The prime minister said that Israeli security forces are doing a lot of work in the area and in Palestinian villages. He asked the citizens of Israel to let them do their work without any problems.
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant encouraged people to not break the law on their own.
“I am asking the public to support the security forces in finding the terrorists quickly. Taking revenge will make it hard for our soldiers to do their job. We should not take the law into our own hands,” Gallant said in a post on X.
Videos filmed by CNN show more Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Sinjil town, northeast of Ramallah.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Saturday that more than 12 Palestinians went to hospitals in the West Bank, with most of them injured by gunshots.
Violence has been going up in the areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem that are controlled by others since the October 7 attacks. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said that at least 462 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces or settlers. -
One person killed by Palestinian militants near West Bank settlement
Israeli police say three Palestinian gunmen attacked a highway near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. One person died and eight were injured in the attack.
A report said that the “terrorists” got out of a car at a checkpoint for Maale Adumim and started shooting at the cars waiting there.
The police shot and killed two of the attackers, and the third one was hurt and taken into custody.
No Palestinian group said they were responsible right away.
There has been more fighting in the West Bank since the war started in the Gaza Strip, caused by Hamas’s attacks in Israel on 7 October.
Last Thursday, a Palestinian man shot and killed two people at a bus stop near a town in southern Israel.More update on this story soon.
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Blinken moves to Middle East over Israel-Gaza conflict
The US secretary of state will travel to Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank after holding talks with prominent leaders in Saudi Arabia.
He will help Hamas talk to Egypt and Qatar to try to make a deal and stop the fighting in Gaza.
Officials from the US, Israel, Egypt, and Qatar have discussed making peace.
Blinken is coming to the area because Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s National Security Minister, said the US isn’t helping Israel enough. After the Biden government punished four people living in the West Bank, more harm to Palestinian civilians started happening there.More update on this story soon.
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American settlers in West Bank face fines over violence
US President Joe Biden has agreed to punish four Israeli people living in the West Bank for hurting Palestinians.
Mr Biden made a big decision, saying there is too much violence in the West Bank.
The sanctions stop people from using any American property, money, or banks.
Violence in the West Bank has increased a lot since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October.
Around 370 Palestinians have died in the West Bank, as reported by the UN. The UN said most of the people who died were killed by Israeli soldiers, but at least eight were killed by Israeli settlers.
The new rule says that the US government can punish people from other countries who hurt or take things from Palestinians.
The US government is imposing penalties on Israelis for the first time, which is very unusual. This decision comes as Mr. Biden visits Michigan, where many Arab-Americans live and have been unhappy with his support for Israel.
The Arab American Institute, a group that speaks up for Arab Americans, said that since the fighting began, fewer Arab Americans are supporting the Democratic Party. In 2020, 59% supported the party, but now only 17% do.
On Thursday, a top person in the Biden government said the president has talked to Israel many times about settlers causing violence.
The executive order explains how the US will act if there are more attacks in the West Bank. It is more serious than the visa restrictions it put on some people last year.
“The situation in the West Bank is really bad. There’s lots of violent attacks from extremist settlers, people being forced to leave their homes and villages, and a lot of property being destroyed. This is a big danger to the peace, safety, and stability of the area,” Mr. Biden wrote in a letter to Congress to explain his decision.
A top government person said that the first set of penalties, which are aimed at four individuals, are for people who have committed violence and scared and forced Palestinian communities to leave their homes.
They said one person started and led a riot that caused the death of a Palestinian civilian in the town of Huwara, while another person attacked people with stones and clubs.
They said that the executive order applies to both Israelis and Palestinians who are involved in violent acts, threats, intimidation, or terrorism. It is not discriminatory.
The US government identified four Israelis who are being punished. Their names are David Chai Chasdai, who is 29 years old; Yinon Levi, who is 31 years old; Einan Tanjil, who is 21 years old; and Shalom Zicherman, who is 32 years old. The Treasury said that three people lived in West Bank settlements and one person lived near the border of the occupied region.
American citizens, who are believed to have a part in the violence, cannot be given these US sanctions.
Matthew Miller from the State Department said that the US thinks the sanctions will affect these four people and wants Israel to do more to punish those responsible for settler violence.Soon Biden signed the order, Israel showed it was not happy and said that most of the people living in the West Bank follow the law.
The Prime Minister’s office said that Israel punishes anyone who breaks the law, so there is no need for special actions on this issue.
The reply showed that the disagreement between the US and Israel is getting worse.
The two leaders have been friends for a long time, but they have argued recently about whether there should be a separate country for the Palestinians. The US thinks it’s important for there to be a separate country for Palestinians next to Israel, to keep the area stable for a long time.
Mr Netanyahu has said no many times, and the White House has confirmed that the US and Israeli governments have different views.
Those comments made some people stop believing that the conflict could lead to Israeli and Palestinian leaders starting to talk and starting the peace process again. -
3 Palestinian militants killed by Israeli police during hospital raid in West Bank
Israeli soldiers have shot and killed three fighters in a hospital in Jenin, in the West Bank that is controlled by Israel.
The security camera video showed a group of undercover police officers pretending to be doctors and regular people walking down a hallway with their guns ready.
The Israeli army said that the fighters were hiding in the hospital and that one of them was getting ready to do an attack.
The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry said Israel attacked hospitals and caused many deaths.
Hamas, a group of Palestinians with guns who follow the Islamic religion, is fighting with Israel in Gaza. They say that Israeli forces killed three of their fighters, including one of their own members, after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October.
Another group with weapons, called Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said two of the people who died were part of their group and were siblings. It also said that one of them has been getting help at the hospital.
The security camera at Ibn Sina hospital recorded a video of the Israeli undercover unit moving quickly through a hallway with their weapons pointed in different directions. Someone took clothes from a person who was kneeling with their hands behind their head, and then covered their head with the clothes.
There is a lot of fighting in the West Bank since the 7 October attacks. Israeli soldiers are arresting Palestinians and there are fights almost every day. Jenin has been a target of raids for a long time because it is a place where militants are strong.
Since October 7th, Israeli soldiers have killed at least 357 Palestinians in the West Bank, and Israeli settlers have killed at least eight, according to the United Nations.
Palestinians from the West Bank have attacked and killed at least 10 Israelis in the West Bank and Israel recently.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that the Hamas suspect who was killed had been planning an attack similar to the October 7th massacre. On that day, a large group of Hamas fighters attacked Israel from Gaza, and around 1,300 people, mostly civilians, were killed. They also took around 250 people as hostages back to Gaza.
The attack made Israel start a fight in Gaza to try to destroy Hamas. The health ministry in Gaza, run by Hamas, says that over 26,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the Israeli attack.
The news agency in the West Bank, Wafa, said that three Palestinians in the hospital were killed on purpose.
As per the hospital staff, around 10 Israeli special forces in regular clothes went to the third floor and used quiet weapons to kill the men.
One of the PIJ members who was killed had been in the hospital for treatment since October 25th. -
Death toll reaches 22,000 persons after bomb attack on headquarters claimed five lives
The Palestinian Red Crescent said five people were killed and three injured in an Israeli bomb attack on the organization’s headquarters in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Fierce fighting continues in the territory, although Israel has announced plans to withdraw some combat troops.
Resident Khan Younis said Israeli warplanes and tanks had increased shelling and artillery in the city Meanwhile, Israel’s military said its troops killed dozens of Palestinian fighters in Jabalia in the north and targeted others in Gaza City and coastal areas.
Hamas officials said more than 200 Palestinians were killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours In the West Bank, the IDF claimed to have killed four Palestinian militants in an anti-terrorism operation.
On Monday, the Israeli military announced that it planned to withdraw some reservists from Gaza in anticipation of “protracted fighting” that it said would continue throughout the year.
At least 1,200 people were killed when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7 and about 240 others were taken hostage.
The Hamas Health Ministry in Gaza said more than 22,000 people have been killed in the territory since Israel began its retaliation campaign.
More update on this story soon
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IDF claims to have killed four Palestinians in West Bank
The Israeli army killed four Palestinians in what it called an anti-terror raid near Qalqilya in the northern occupied West Bank.
Azzun residents said the four people who died were between the ages of 18 and 29 and their bodies were taken away by Israeli forces.
A witness told the BBC that the raid took place from before midnight until early morning.
Tensions have been high in the West Bank since Hamas attacks on October 7 sparked war in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recently warned that the territory could “explode. ”
The Israeli army said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that in Azzun, “terrorists shot and threw explosives at our forces.
Fighters identified the court house where the team was hiding the terrorist and at the end of the gunfight, they killed four terrorists.
Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Tuesday morning four men “were shot dead in clashes that broke out when Israeli occupation forces stormed the town.
” Citing Palestinian security sources, he said soldiers “fired live bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at local residents. ”
“There have been attacks every day since October 7 even though there are no activists in the area,” one Azzun resident told the BBC.
A total of seven people were killed and there were many arrests.
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Israel intensifies its bombardment in southern Gaza – Locals
Israeli aerial bombardment continues in Gaza, residents say Israel has stepped up attacks in the south Children were among the Palestinian victims taken to hospital after Israel’s latest bombing of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Other attacks targeted Deir al Balah and Rafah, towns from which tens of thousands of Gazans recently fled for safety.
Meanwhile, the IDF claimed to have killed four Palestinian militants in a shooting in the West Bank On Monday, the Israeli military announced it was withdrawing some reservists from Gaza in anticipation of “protracted fighting” that it said would continue throughout the year.
Several Israeli ministers reacted angrily to yesterday’s Supreme Court decision to overturn a controversial law that had weakened their own powers.
At least 1,200 people were killed when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7 and about 240 others were taken hostage.
Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 22,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its retaliation campaign.
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Hundreds arrested by IDF during 30-hour raid in West Bank
The Israeli army has been carrying out an operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank for over 30 hours.
Some Palestinians there have started protests because of it.
The Israeli army caught many suspects, looked in lots of buildings, took away weapons and bullets, and destroyed places used by terrorists.
Six buildings where explosives were made were destroyed, along with some tunnels underground in the camp.
We saw some pictures of Palestinian protesters setting fire to tires to block the road after the raids.
The Palestinian health ministry said a 13-year-old boy was the seventh person to die after the raids and drone attacks in the Jenin area in the past day. -
Palestinian support for Hamas rising in West Bank
Since the fighting started in Gaza, Israel has been doing more and stronger military actions in the West Bank.
The city of Jenin in the north is now a place where fighting happens every week, after being a main target for raids before the attacks by Hamas.
I met some Palestinian teenagers who were running from the army on Tuesday. They had the same doubtful and disrespectful attitudes as older men. They made fun of the Palestinian president and his requests for help from the world to protect them from Israel’s occupation.
Israel’s heavy-duty bulldozers and military vehicles were moving near the entrance of Jenin refugee camp. Explosions and gunshots could be heard from other parts of the city as well. The streets were empty and all the stores were closed.
The walls of this city have pictures of young men who were killed by Israeli forces. Some of them were part of groups like Hamas, which the UK and other countries consider to be terrorists. The posters and the faces are changed every year.
Six men died in a military operation on Tuesday. Witnesses said four of them were killed by a drone.
Israel is saying that they are going after people in the West Bank who are part of armed groups, especially those who have hurt Israelis.
The head of Jenin’s hospital, Wissam Bakr, said a very sick 13-year-old child died because they couldn’t get to the hospital for treatment.
“He said that the attacks in Jenin and the killing of young people will make the people very angry because we lose a friend every day. ”
“This won’t make Israel peaceful – it will make more and more people fight back. ”
On October 7th, some people from the group Hamas in Gaza attacked the southern part of Israel. They killed 1,200 people and took 240 other people as hostages. Over 18,400 people died in Gaza during the war.
In the West Bank, 271 Palestinians, including 69 children, have been killed since the attacks – which is more than half of the total number for the year. The United Nations says the Israeli forces have killed almost all of them.
After the Hamas attacks, more people in the West Bank support using weapons to fight back. This is especially true in Nablus and Jenin.
“I can tell by the way people talk, the music they listen to in their cars, and what they say on Facebook and other social media. I also learn from my discussions with my students,” explained Raed Debiy, a political scientist and leader of the Fatah party, which is in charge of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.
He said that the attacks were a big moment for Palestinians, just like they were a shocking moment for Israelis.
“He said that a lot of people, especially young people, are supporting Hamas more than ever before. ” “In the last 30 years, there weren’t any role models for the new generation. But now, they see something different and a new story is being made. ”
He said even his 11-year-old nephew doesn’t respect Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but looks up to Hamas military spokesman Abu Obeida because he keeps them safe.
“Palestinian young people have specific things they really want, like owning a house or getting a degree,” said Amjad Bushkar, a political expert from the West Bank.
“But now I think these priorities have completely changed after 7 October. ” More and more people want the homeland to be completely free. They believe this can be achieved through peaceful or armed resistance.
Dr Bushkar said he was in Israeli jails for nine years and used to be part of Hamas’s student group. He said that seven of his family members had been arrested after the attacks on 7 October.
Hamas members in the West Bank have been attacked by Palestinian security forces, not just Israeli ones, because Hamas took control of Gaza by force in 2007. This happened a year after they won parliamentary elections.
However, Bushkar said that something was different now.
“Fatah and Hamas know they need each other, and I believe they will work together more closely in the future. ”
“The Palestinian Authority understood that trying to get rid of Hamas would not work because it is a deeply held belief among the Palestinian people. Hamas also knows it can’t create a Palestinian state without the support of Fatah. ”
Some important people in the Palestinian government are now talking about the good things that could happen if everyone works together, even though the President is not saying the same thing.
Earlier this month, the leader of Palestine, Mohammad Shtayyeh, said in an interview with Bloomberg that they want Hamas to join their government in Gaza.Qossay Hamed, who knows a lot about Hamas, says that the problems in Gaza might make the political part of the group stronger, but not the military part.
He said that revolutionary movements should have a political outcome from their military actions.
“Hamas has many different trends. ” And there are fights happening inside. I believe the political influence of Hamas will increase after this war because the whole world will be less accepting of them.
Israel wants to get rid of Hamas in Gaza and does not want Hamas or Fatah to be part of the government there in the future.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he will not let people who teach, support, or fund terrorism go to Gaza.
“Gaza will not be controlled by Hamas or Fatah. ”
Some Palestinians think that Gaza suffered too much because of the attacks by Hamas.
However, some people believe that the group’s violent methods were effective in pressuring Israel to release Palestinian prisoners. They compare this impact to that of the Palestinian Authority, which was established 30 years ago after the Oslo Accords to cooperate with Israel in creating a future Palestinian State.
Amjad Bushkar said that after the attacks, the world and international community are now giving more importance to the Palestinian cause.
Many people think the PA is not honest and doesn’t work well. They also can’t pay their workers or police because of a disagreement with Hamas. This happened because of the war in Gaza and arguments over money from Israel.
More Hamas flags and slogans appeared when Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel in exchange for Israeli hostages in Gaza. But the president and security forces of the Palestinian Authority were not seen.
Israel wants to stop Hamas from being in charge in Gaza, but their power is growing here in the West Bank. -
Funerals for Palestinians slain in West Bank raid to be held
Six Palestinians were killed by Israelis in al-Fara refugee camp. The funerals will happen soon. The camp is near Tubas in the north of the West Bank.
The Israeli military has not answered questions yet.
People in the camp saw Israeli special forces come in early this morning.
A man said that his family member was killed by getting shot after opening a door to see what was going on.
A small group of people with weapons works from the camp.
The Palestinian Authority says that 263 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank since the war in Gaza started.
That is more than the total number of Palestinians who died in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last year. -
Politician from Palestine talks about ‘big Israeli operation’ in Jenin
In an interview with Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician and leader of the Palestinian National Initiative, about what’s happening in Jenin.
He says that Israeli soldiers are coming into Jenin City and the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.
Barghouti said that the Israeli forces already broke down two houses and are surrounding many areas.
He says soldiers went into the big hospitals in Jenin and then went into the camp. Barghouti says they are destroying important buildings and utilities.
“It’s very cruel. ” “They just said that the Jenin area is now off-limits because of the military,” he says.
He says that even though there is a short break in fighting in Gaza, Israel is still entering parts of the West Bank.
The Israeli army did a mission in Jenin refugee camp and killed two important people who were part of a terror group, according to Israeli newspapers. -
Health professionals ‘trapped’ in hospital during Israeli attack in West Bank
The leader of Doctors Without Borders said on Tuesday that he and his staff were stuck in a hospital in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank because of an Israeli raid.
Two Palestinians were hurt and they died because the ambulances couldn’t get to them in time.
“For two hours, we couldn’t go to help people because Israeli military vehicles were blocking the hospital entrance and road. Ambulances couldn’t get out and people couldn’t reach us. ” Christos Christou wrote on a social media platform.
A doctor feels really bad when they know there are people who need our help and can’t get it, he said.
A video from CNN shows army vehicles in the city close to the refugee camp and the sound of loud gunfire. A representative from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Jenin said they helped three people who were shot, and that Israeli forces have surrounded the city’s main hospitals.
The small camp is home to over 17,000 Palestinian refugees and has been a frequent site of violence in the West Bank. Israel says that terrorists are in the area.
At least 14 Palestinians died in the camp this month when the Israeli military tried to stop terrorist activities and destroy the home of a man who killed an off-duty Israeli soldier. During the weekend, five Palestinians died in Jenin when Israeli forces came in, as reported by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are fighting against terrorism in the area and will keep doing so throughout the night.
Mahmoud Al-Saadi, who speaks for PRCS Jenin, told CNN that the Israeli military has surrounded the main hospitals in Jenin and is checking all ambulances going to or from these hospitals.
“We took three people with gunshot wounds to the hospital tonight. It’s really tough here with a lot of shooting and fighting, and we can hear explosions far away,” said Al-Saadi.
Al-Saadi said a young man with special needs was taken out of a medical vehicle and arrested by Israeli forces in the city earlier today.
The man was shot in the leg and when paramedics tried to take him to the hospital, the Israeli military arrested him.
The PRCS’s medical team taking care of the hurt man were stopped for about an hour by the Israeli military in front of the hospital.
“The Israeli army stopped the ambulance for about one hour in front of the hospital before transferring the wounded man to an Israeli military ambulance,” Al-Saadi explained.
The fighting between Israel and Hamas has spread to the West Bank, where there have been attacks and fights between settlers and Palestinians, resulting in the deaths of many Palestinians.
Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 240 Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since October 7, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. -
Seven people died in West Bank overnight – Palestinian official
Officials from Palestine say that seven people were killed in the West Bank overnight.
News organizations are saying that five people were killed in Jenin. The Israeli military raided the area to arrest a man who is wanted for allegedly being involved in an attack in August.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said that the city was attacked by forces coming from different directions and shooting bullets. They were around the hospital and the Red Crescent Society office.
Wafa also said that bulldozers ruined many streets in Jenin. -
Palestinian youngster set to be released
Yesterday, 17-year-old Mohammad dar-Darwish got a haircut as the first thing he did.
After seven months in an Israeli jail, it was important for him to remember who he was.
Israel let the Palestinian teenager go, along with 38 other women and kids, in exchange for Israeli hostages that Hamas had.
Dar-Darwish was found guilty by a military court for throwing Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers in April. He says he didn’t do it.
On the day he was released from prison, he was told by Israeli prison guards that he was being taken to court.
He said he was very happy when he arrived back in the West Bank and found his father and brother waiting to greet the prisoners.
After the attacks on 7 October, Mohammad said that the guards took away the blankets, cooking stuff, radios, and TVs of the Palestinian prisoners.
“We only got a little bit of food for all of us, so we were always hungry. ” “They couldn’t reach Gaza, so they hurt us. ”
He said that the only way he knew about the war in Gaza was from people who just came to the prison until he was set free.
He said that people who came to jail had new injuries like broken teeth, a hand with a lot of bruises, and a big cut on their head that was not taken care of.
Israel’s prisons follow the law when detaining prisoners. They also have the right to complain if they want to.
I asked Mohammad what he thinks about the Israeli people who were taken by Hamas and used to get him free.
Is he caring or understanding towards them.
“They were staying with Hamas like guests in heaven,” he said, “while we were in prison, suffering every day in hell. “ -
Israel frees 39 Palestinian inmates from its detention facilities
A sum of 39 Palestinian prisoners have been set free from Israeli jails in return for a gathering of prisoners held by Hamas.
The arrangement – interceded by Qatar – incorporates a four-day stop in the battling.
They are blamed for a scope of offenses, from tossing stones to endeavored murder. Some were sentenced while others were anticipating preliminary.
The gathering of 24 ladies and 15 teen young men was delivered across the Beituniya designated spot in the involved West Bank.
They will then, at that point, be permitted to get back, as indicated by Israel’s jail administration.
The prisoners were browsed a rundown of 300 ladies and minors incorporated by Israel.
Under a fourth of those on the rundown have been sentenced – by far most are being hung on remand while anticipating preliminary. The greater part of those recorded are young men – 40% of them younger than 18. There is additionally one young lady and 32 ladies.
Prior, the street by Beituniya designated spot, close to Ramallah, was sharp with the smell of poisonous gas. Gatherings of Palestinian men and young men confronted the Israeli armed force arranging out and about ahead.
The military discharged elastic slugs and nerve gas towards the group, to push them back.
A portion of the youngsters assembled tossed stones and poisonous gas canisters back towards the soldiers.
“It’s an indication of expectation for Palestinians and Israelis that the truce will proceed and the killing will stop,” Mohammed Khatib, who was in the group, told the BBC.
Upon the detainees’ delivery, the transport that moved them crept its direction through an ocean of euphoric Palestinian allies.
Through the windows, a portion of the detainees should have been visible moving, one enveloped by a Palestinian banner. Outside, cell phones were raised to the glass in the midst of ululations and yells of welcome and “God is perfect”.
A couple of in the group waved Hamas banners, however others discussed Palestinian solidarity, a little snapshot of triumph amidst an overwhelming conflict.
For Israel, the delivered detainees are a security danger; for the Palestinians accumulated here to welcome them, they are survivors of Israel’s occupation – and their delivery is an image.
Thirteen Israeli prisoners were delivered by Hamas under the détente bargain. It was affirmed on Friday that they had shown up back in Israel.
The Thai top state leader says that a gathering of Thai nationals kept on lock down by Hamas in Gaza were likewise delivered – separate from the Qatar-intervened détente bargain.
Israel and Hamas arrived at an arrangement recently to deliver 50 of the prisoners held in Gaza during four-day stop in battling.
The understanding ought to see a sum of 150 Palestinians held in Israeli correctional facilities delivered and a critical expansion in helpful guide permitted into Gaza. Nearly 60 trucks conveying clinical supplies, fuel and food entered from Egypt on Friday.
Hamas took in excess of 200 prisoners during a cross-line assault on southern Israel on 7 October in which 1,200 individuals were killed.
Basic freedoms associations say the quantity of Palestinians held without charge in Israeli prisons has shot up since the 7 October assaults.
There are currently remembered to be in excess of 6,000 Palestinians held by Israel on security grounds – many actually anticipating preliminary.
Pretty much every Palestinian family in the West Bank is remembered to have had a relative confined by Israel previously – frequently in correctional facilities inside Israel, making it troublesome or unimaginable for their family members to visit.
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Relief for families as Israel’s hostages freed
The relatives of the thirteen Israeli hostages that Hamas freed have expressed their relief upon their homecoming.
The group, which includes little children and old people, was transported from Gaza into Egypt by the Red Cross and is now back in Israel.
Not long afterward, the West Bank‘s Beitunia checkpoint saw the release of 39 Palestinian captives.
In a separate agreement from the one mediated by Qatar, Hamas also released ten Thai nationals and one Filipino.
A brief halt to hostilities is scheduled to coincide with the release of 150 Palestinian inmates and 50 Israeli hostages over the course of four days, as per the conditions of the Qatar agreement.
After being examined medically at an Egyptian hospital, the hostages whom Hamas freed on Friday were returned to Israel.
The Israelis consist of an 85-year-old woman and four children, ages two, four, six, and nine.
“The first of our captives has now been fully returned. Mothers, other women, and children. “Every single one of them is a world,” stated Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel.
“But I emphasise to you – the families, and to you – the citizens of Israel: We are committed to the return of all our hostages.”
Aviv, age two, and Raz, age four, the daughters of Yoni Asher and his wife Doron Katz Asher, 34, are now free.
“I am determined to bring about the resurrection of my family from the trauma and the terrible bereavement we went through,” Mr Asher stated to the BBC.
“I don’t celebrate, I won’t celebrate until the last of the kidnapped returns,” stated the man.
“The families of the kidnapped are not posters, they are not slogans, they are real people, and the families of the kidnapped are from today my new family, and I will make sure and do everything that the last of the kidnapped comes home.”
Of those released by Hamas was also 78-year-old Margalit Moses. A cancer survivor, on October 7th, Hamas abducted her from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
As part of the agreement, Daniele Aloni and her six-year-old daughter Emilia were also set free. On October 7, while visiting family in Kibbutz Nir Oz, they were abducted.
Daniele wrote her family a final note during the attacks, in which she stated that “there were terrorists in their house” and expressed fear for their lives.
Following the liberation of three of his family members, Itay Ravi, whose 78-year-old uncle Avraham is still in prison, said, “this is one step towards being happy.”
From Nir Oz, his aunt Ruthi Munder, 78, her son Ohad Munder-Zichri, 9, and his cousin Keren Munder, 54, were abducted.
“It’s so thrilling that they are now travelling to Israeli hospitals and families. We can’t be entirely content, though,” he said to BBC Newsnight.
“We still live in a very, very horrific reality,” Mr. Ravi continued.
Ohad, confined in Gaza, turned nine years old.
“The only celebration that we’re going to have soon is [for] Ohad’s ninth birthday,” Ravi stated.
“Once he adjusts to his new situation, we’re going to throw him a huge celebration with all of our friends and family. We’ll see how he recovers.I’m not sure how a nine-year-old who has been held captive by a terrorist group for fifty days returns. I’m hoping he succeeds.”
The families of the Filipino and Thai nationals freed by Hamas were ecstatic as well.
The girlfriend of Thai captive Wichai Kalapat, 28, Kittiya Thuengsaeng, talked about the emotional rollercoaster she experienced when he vanished.
Local Thai officials informed her that her three-year lover had lost his life in the October 7 attacks. However, Wichai’s name was absent when the names of the deceased were released by Thai officials.
She found out five days earlier that he was included among the hostages in Thailand.
Boonthom Pankhong, 39, and his girlfriend Natthawaree Mulakan were two of the Thai prisoners whom Hamas freed on Friday, according to Urai Chantachart.
According to Urai, who spoke to BBC Thai, the family was “overjoyed” and had never given up hope that Boonthom would live.
She added she thought her brother looked “better than expected” in the picture issued by the foreign affairs ministry, despite the fact that he appeared to have lost weight. She further mentioned that he and his partner are currently undergoing care at the Shamir Medical Centre in Israel.
On October 7, Gelienor (Jimmy) Pacheco, 33, a Filipino, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz. Jimmy provided care for Amitai Ben Zvi, a fellow kibbutz resident who was murdered in the Hamas raid.
On Saturday morning, it was confirmed that Wichai, Jimmy, Boonthom, and Natthawaree will be released.
As part of the swap, 39 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails have been freed.
They face charges ranging from stone-throwing to attempted murder. While some were awaiting trial, others had already been found guilty of crimes.
When the group of 24 ladies and 15 teenage boys crossed the occupied West Bank’s Beituniya checkpoint, they were met with cheering crowds.
Marah Bakeer was one of the liberated Palestinian prisoners. She was 16 when she was caught in 2015 and received an eight and a half year prison sentence for attacking a border police officer with a knife.
“This deal comes following the death of many people and this makes us unhappy and uncomfortable,” Baker said to waiting press.
She claimed she had “no idea what was happening outside, no idea about the situation in Gaza” and that she was held in solitary confinement.
“The news of the deal was a surprise,” she stated.
Israel prepared a list of 300 women and adolescents from whom the inmates were selected.
The bulk of individuals on the list are being imprisoned on remand while they await trial; less than 25% of them have been found guilty. 40% of people on the list are under the age of 18, making teenage boys the majority. Along with 32 women, there is also one teenage girl.
On October 7, 1,200 people were killed in a cross-border raid on southern Israel by Hamas, during which more than 200 captives were taken prisoner.
Human rights organisations report that after the October 7 attacks, the number of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails without being charged has skyrocketed.
Since the combat stopped, at least 60 relief trucks have driven into Gaza; according to Israel, eight of these trucks are carrying fuel, which is part of the 130,000 litres that will be given every day of the truce.
Israel has advised Palestinians who have been displaced in the south not to attempt to return home, claiming that the north is a combat zone even though it is thought that thousands of residents still reside there, despite the four-day truce agreement suggesting that all areas should be accessible to humanitarian organisations.
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Conflict at West Bank checkpoint where release of Palestinians scheduled to occur
The road near Beitunia checkpoint in Ramallah smells strongly of tear gas. This is where the 39 Palestinian prisoners will go after they are let out of Israeli prisons.
Palestinian men and boys are standing in front of the Israeli army on the road.
When we got there, the soldiers shot rubber bullets and tear gas at the crowd to make them move away.
Some kids here threw rocks and tear gas back at the soldiers.
A feeling of somewhat quiet has come over this place as families start to come. The crowd is getting closer to the checkpoint and there have been more shots fired. People are feeling nervous and tense right now.More update on this story soon…
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39 Palestinian detainees scheduled to be released to West Bank
Big signs hang on the walls of Ofer prison complex in the West Bank that is occupied by Israel – the words “United we will succeed. ” in big blue and white letters, alongside the Israeli flag.
Today, 39 Palestinian prisoners are expected to come here. They were let out of Israeli jails in return for 13 people that Hamas was keeping as hostages.
Israel is going to pick 39 prisoners from a group of 300 women and young people. They are accused of doing bad things like throwing stones or trying to hurt someone.
Most of them are locked up without being put on trial. Most of the people on the list are teenage boys, with 40% of them being under 18 years old.
The families of the 39 prisoners who are getting out today will meet at a checkpoint nearby to welcome them.
Human rights groups say more Palestinians have been put in Israeli jails without being charged since the attacks on October 7th.
Currently, there are over 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli custody for security reasons, with many still waiting for their trials to begin. -
Israel imposes lockdown on West Bank region after attack by Hamas
About 750 families in Hebron, a place in the West Bank, have been stuck at home since the Hamas attack on Israel six weeks ago.
They live in the most tense area of H2, a place in Hebron where 39,000 Palestinians and about 900 Israeli settlers live. The Israeli settlers are known to be very extreme compared to others in the West Bank.
Although most of the people in H2 are Palestinians, the Israeli military has complete control over it.
Muhammad Mohtaseb, a 30-year-old security guard at the hospital, sat on his roof smoking a cigarette and looking at the empty streets. He said, “This feels like a closed space within a closed space. ” “We are surrounded by many checkpoints everywhere. ”
For the last six weeks, people in Palestine have had a hard time getting enough food and water. The schools are not open, so kids are staying at their houses. Many people can’t get to work and are running out of money.
“In these jobs, if you work, you get to have meals,” said Fawaz Qafisha, a cook who makes falafel. “If you don’t work, you don’t get to eat. “ -
Netanyahu in ‘precarious position’ – Former senior US advisor
Today, there was an attack at a security checkpoint in Jerusalem. There has been a lot of violence in the West Bank recently. It started after a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7th.
As we said before, Israeli police say they shot and killed three gunmen who started shooting at the checkpoint. The people who attacked were from Hebron, a city in the West Bank, according to the police.
The United Nations says that Israeli forces have killed 182 Palestinians, with 46 of them being children, since October 7th. It says that eight more people were killed by Israeli settlers.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israel has arrested over 2,700 people since October 7th.
Today, after the attack, a minister in Israel who is responsible for keeping the country safe, spoke to the media.
The PA, which rules some of the West Bank, has the same opinions as Hamas. He said that the PA should be taken care of. Just like we are handling Gaza. -
Attack at checkpoint after spike in violence in West Bank
Today, there was an attack at a security checkpoint in Jerusalem. There has been a lot of violence in the West Bank recently. It started after a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7th.
As we said before, Israeli police say they shot and killed three gunmen who started shooting at the checkpoint. The people who attacked were from Hebron, a city in the West Bank, according to the police.
The United Nations says that Israeli forces have killed 182 Palestinians, with 46 of them being children, since October 7th. It says that eight more people were killed by Israeli settlers.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israel has arrested over 2,700 people since October 7th.
Today, after the attack, a minister in Israel who is responsible for keeping the country safe, spoke to the media.
The PA, which rules some of the West Bank, has the same opinions as Hamas. He said that the PA should be taken care of. Just like we are handling Gaza. -
Blinken to see president of Palestine in West Bank
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently doing a diplomatic drive in the region, as we have been covering; he visited Tel Aviv on Friday and Amman on Saturday.
He is scheduled to meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, in Ramallah, which is located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, later today.
Known by his other name, Abu Mazen, Abbas has led the Palestinian Authority (PA) since 2005. He is the fierce opponent of Hamas, the organisation that controls Gaza, on behalf of the Fatah political party.
The West Bank’s non-Israeli-controlled areas are governed by the PA.
Later in the day, Blinken is scheduled to travel to Turkey.
More update on this story soon…
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Abbas and Blinken talk to bring peace back to West Bank – US Department of State
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the occupied West Bank.
Blinken, a representative from the US government, restated that the US is dedicated to providing important aid and restoring necessary services in Gaza.
Matthew Miller said that the Palestinians should not be forcefully moved from their homes.
Blinken and Abbas talked about how to bring peace and stability to the West Bank. They also discussed the importance of stopping violent actions against Palestinians and making sure those who are responsible are held accountable.
Miller said Blinken repeated that the US is dedicated to making sure that both Palestinians and Israelis are treated with respect and kept safe.
Blinken also said that the US is devoted to supporting the Palestinians in their goal of creating a Palestinian state. -
Four people murdered after clashes in West Bank – Palestinian officials
There are reports reaching us that fighting in the occupied West Bank, apart from what is happening in Gaza. Palestinian health officials reported this morning that at least four people lost their lives during fights with Israeli troops in Jenin.
According to the news agency Wafa from Palestine,
A group of soldiers and construction vehicles attacked Jenin and damaged the outside of the Ibn Sina Hospital. According to Wafa, missiles were shot into a house and the Jenin refugee camp.
In their latest report today, an Israeli military spokesperson named Daniel Hagari said they conducted an air attack in the city of Jenin. He mentioned, “We aimed at and removed a number of armed terrorists. ”
The Israeli military often raided the West Bank before this war. However, it doesn’t often use air attacks in that place, unlike in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.
The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are two different areas. The Gaza Strip is controlled by Hamas. The Palestinian Authority rules over some areas in the West Bank that Israel doesn’t completely control. -
What’s happening in Western Bank?
Our attention have been on Gaza, but nearby there is also a lot of tension in the occupied West Bank.
The United Nations says that 95 people have been killed and almost 1,900 have been hurt in the area since October 7th. This area is not controlled by Hamas. The number of people who died is slightly higher according to local officials.
There have been more and more reports of Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians since Hamas first started attacking. Yesterday, Joe Biden, the President of the United States, said that those attacks were making a bad situation even worse.
Fighting has happened between Palestinian militants and Israeli security forces, and it has been very dangerous.
Many soldiers have surrounded Palestinian villages and put roadblocks to defend Jewish settlements. These settlements are considered illegal by international law, but Israel disagrees with this.
Israel has said that it captured almost 1,000 people wanted in the West Bank. Out of those, more than 600 are believed to be members of Hamas. -
At least 1,873 children killed in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in two weeks
In the past two weeks, there have been Israeli airstrikes on Gaza that resulted in the death of at least 4,651 people. Out of those deaths, 40% were children.
Gaza’s health ministry gave new numbers of people who have died and been injured. They said that 14,245 people have been hurt, and 70% of them are children and women.
Israel attacked Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon during the night and today as the fighting in the area continues for three weeks.
Warplanes attacked places in the trapped Strip and a religious place in the occupied West Bank that is believed to be used by Hamas fighters. They also targeted two airports in Syria.
An Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel is going to have more attacks on Gaza and start a new phase of the war.
In the past few hours, the Israeli military claimed that they attacked a place in Jenin, in the West Bank, believed to be a terrorist hideout. It was reported that a group affiliated with Hamas was inside a mosque at the compound.
Palestinians were told to move from the northern part of Gaza to the southern part.
Israel has been close to starting a ground attack in Gaza for a few days now, as a way to react to Hamas’ violent actions.
Many tanks and a large number of soldiers have gathered at the demarcation line between territories that are occupied. The leaders have talked about a future phase of actions, but they have not given specific details about it. -
Israeli settler attacks on West Bank Palestinians increase
Abed Wadi was putting on his clothes for the funeral when he received a message.
He received a picture from a friend. In the picture, there were some men wearing masks. They were holding axes, a petrol canister, and a chainsaw. The picture had words written on it in both Hebrew and Arabic.
The message said that we are waiting for the rats in Qusra village and we won’t feel sad when they’re gone.
“The day for getting back at someone is approaching. ”
Qusra was a village called Wadi. It was located in the northern part of the West Bank, close to Nablus. The ceremony that day was held for four people from the village who had passed away. Three people died yesterday – Wednesday 11 October – after Israeli settlers went into Qusra and attacked a Palestinian family’s house.
The fourth person was killed in fights with Israeli soldiers afterward.
The next day, the people from Qusra were getting ready to go to a hospital that was thirty minutes away. They planned to bring back the bodies of the people who had died. To accomplish this, they would need to travel over land that has Israeli communities, where the chances of violence are very high even during normal times, and have increased significantly in the past two weeks since Israel started fighting with Hamas.
Wadi stopped using his phone and carried on getting ready. There were four men placed in refrigerators at the hospital who needed to go back to their homes. He said he wouldn’t let a threat stop him. He had heard a lot.
Wadi had no idea that, in a few hours, some extreme Israeli settlers would confront the funeral procession and his own brother and young nephew would be killed.
Wadi, sitting in the cool outdoor area of his family’s house in Qusra, asked, “What would have been the point if we had waited one or two more days. ”
“Do you think the people who came to live here would have gone away after just one day. ”
Based on information from the UN’s humanitarian office, the week after Hamas’s violent attack was the deadliest for Palestinians in the West Bank since 2005. During this time, at least 75 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military or settlers. Additionally, the number of incidents where settlers were violent increased from an average of three per day to eight.
Israeli forces attacked a Palestinian refugee camp and launched a surprise air strike on Thursday 12th. According to Palestinian officials, at least 12 people were killed. Israeli police reported that one officer also lost their life.
The United Nations said this week that there was a high chance of the occupied territory becoming very chaotic and uncontrollable.
Palestinian people who live in the West Bank believe that while everyone is focused on the tragic events happening in Gaza, Israeli settlers are using this as an opportunity to go into villages, forcing out and sometimes hurting or even killing Palestinian civilians.
In three instances, villagers have seen settlers wearing military clothes or being with the Israeli military when they attacked, as shown in videos or confirmed by eyewitnesses.
The first three men who died in Qusra went to protect a family in a house on the edge of the village. Some people in the village said that settlers came to the house and started throwing rocks at it.
They say the people who moved in then started shooting at the Palestinian neighbors who came to help. They killed three young men named Hasan Abu Sorour, Obayda Abu Sorour, and Musab Abu Reda. They also seriously injured many others. Moath Odeh, who was 21 years old, died after fighting with soldiers.
A man and his six-year-old daughter, who lived in the house, were injured when they were shot in the face and stomach. This information comes from two people who helped at a nearby clinic for treating the injured.
One of the people helping at the clinic was Amer Odeh, who is also a cousin of the victims. It was Amer’s responsibility to call Said Odeh, who is the father of Obayda, a 17-year-old.
Amer said in an interview with Said in Qusra on Tuesday that he told him his son was not seriously hurt. “I was unable to surprise him with this news during our phone conversation. ”
Said quickly went to the medical center. “They said my son got hurt, but I couldn’t see him right away,” he remembered with tears in his eyes.
I said I wanted to see my son, and when I went into the room, I sadly saw that he had been killed.The next day, there was going to be a funeral for the four people who died. Abed Wadi tried to forget the picture of men wearing masks and carrying axes and chainsaws. He joined the group of cars that were bringing the bodies from the hospital to Qusra for the funeral.
As the cars and ambulances were driving on the Nablus-Ramallah road, a group of extremist Israeli settlers suddenly attacked the convoy. During the fight, as seen in videos and heard from people who were there, some settlers threw rocks at the group of cars. In response, some people from the funeral cars also threw rocks. Then, the Israeli settlers and soldiers started shooting real bullets.
During a chaotic and violent situation with a lot of random shooting, Abed Wadi got separated from his brother Ibrahim, who is a 63-year-old politician from the Fatah Movement, and Ibrahim’s son Ahmed, who is a 24-year-old studying law. A video shows Ahmed and some others running away from the shooting, but Ahmed gets shot on the road.
Wadi said that they informed him that his nephew got shot two times in his stomach and once in his neck, and his brother got shot in his waist, closer to his heart.
“He said there were no weapons in our funeral procession. ” “Normally, we display the Palestinian flag on our cars, but this time we didn’t even show our flag because we were too scared. ”
People in Qusra village told the BBC this week that they were very scared. Last weekend, the olive season started in the area. However, people who rely on the harvest for money said they won’t go to the groves near the village because they’re scared of settlers shooting at them.
According to information from the United Nations, there was already a large increase in violence from Israeli settlers this year before the Hamas attack. More than 100 incidents were reported each month, and around 400 people were forced out of their land between January and August.
The Israeli organization B’Tselem told the BBC that they have seen settlers trying to take control of land in the West Bank. They believe that these settlers are taking advantage of the fact that most attention is currently on Gaza and northern Israel.
According to information collected by B’Tselem, in the first six days after the Hamas attack, there were at least 46 different times when settlers in the West Bank threatened, physically harmed, or caused damage to Palestinians’ property.
“A large number of families and communities who work as shepherds have left their homes because they were scared and in danger from other people who recently moved into their area,” explained Roy Yellin, a spokesperson for B’Tselem. People who moved to a new place are telling people who already live there that they have to move out by a certain time. They are threatening to hurt them if they don’t leave. And some villages have completely become vacant.
One of the villages was called Wadi al-Siq, it was close to Ramallah. Before, it used to have around 200 Palestinian Bedouin people living there. Abdul Rahman Kaabna, a 48-year-old farmer from Wadi al-Siq, stated that we have been experiencing constant harassment and attacks from settlers for several months. However, since the war began, the number of attacks has increased.
On 9 October, around 60 people, some of them wearing military clothes, attacked the community, as reported by three residents who have now been forced to leave. “Kaabna stated that they used weapons to attack us and made everyone feel scared. ” After that, they allowed us to go outside with our sheep for one hour. But they warned us that if we didn’t leave, they would kill us.
Another resident, Ali Arara, who is 35 years old, said that the people who live there had to walk a distance of more than 10 kilometers, which is equal to 6. 2 miles, in order to get away from the situation. “He said the settlers took everything from our houses. ” My daughter was very scared. They attacked us and took away everything we had.
According to B’Tselem and Yesh Din, another Israeli human rights group that monitors violence in the West Bank, the fear and forced removal of people in Wadi al-Siq has happened in many other communities in the area since October 7th.
In a very surprising event recorded on video recently, a person from Israel who lives in a place they established in Palestinian land went into a village called Al-Tuwani near Hebron. They shot a Palestinian resident who was not carrying any weapons, right in the stomach while a soldier from Israel seemed to be watching without doing anything.
The problem started when two people with weapons, along with a soldier, attacked a house near the village. This information was given by three people living in the village, including the owner of the house.
“Three Israelis visited my house. They were carrying weapons, and one of them was dressed in army attire,” explained Musab Rabai, who is 36 years old.
A person who moved to a new place came inside my home, gave me a forceful push, hit me on the head with a gun, and threatened to shoot me.
Neighbours came to Rabai when he shouted for help, he said. One of the people was Zakriha Adra, who is a father of four children. Adra’s cousin, Basel, recorded a video that shows a settler who is said to have beaten Rabai, along with an Israeli soldier who is standing nearby. The incident happened close to a group of Palestinian neighbors. The person with a weapon comes closer to Adra and hits him with their rifle. They then shoot him in the stomach from a short distance away.
During the interaction, Adra keeps his arms down and doesn’t seem like a threat.The family says that Adra is now in the hospital and is in very bad shape. “Basel, his cousin, said that he survived but the bullet caused a lot of harm to his stomach. ”
Musab Rabai, whose house got attacked, said the shooting happened after several days of threats and the settlers damaging his property.
He said that they have been standing around the village since Saturday with guns and using a bulldozer to destroy trees. The men in the village take turns sleeping for only a few hours at a time. This way, there is always someone awake in case the settlers try to attack.
The BBC reached out to the Yesha Council, a group that represents settlers in the West Bank and other areas, to give their opinion for this story. However, they chose not to comment. Moti Yogev, the temporary leader of the Binyamin Council, which speaks for settlers in the area, said that aggressive settlers were considered to be on the extreme edges of the settler group. “He said that if they are real, they should be treated just like any other criminal. ”
The Israeli army and Israeli police did not give any response when asked for comments multiple times.
Dov Khenin, a former Israeli politician who now advocates for peace, said that the saddest part is that the Israeli military doesn’t react to the violence caused by these extreme settlers. And the violence has a specific goal, to remove these small Palestinian communities and make them leave their homes.
Many Palestinians are afraid that the situation in the West Bank will only become more bad. Israel’s National Security Minister, Itar Ben Gvir, said last week that the government will buy 10,000 rifles for Israeli civilians, including those in West Bank settlements. This could make it harder to tell the difference between armed settlers and military in the occupied territory.
In Qusra, Abed Wadi said he heard about the 10,000 guns. He moved his head from side to side. He said that it wouldn’t make any difference for the people of Qusra.
Wadi was sitting in his outdoor area, with pictures of his brother, nephew, and four other men from the village who died last week on the walls around him.
“He said that we have always seen the settlers holding rifles, and they have been shooting at us for a long time. ”
But he mentioned that something was different now. It appeared that the settlers had become angrier and more extreme. “Wadi said that farm houses are being set on fire, olive trees are being chopped down, cars are being broken into, and land is being stolen. ”
And this is only the place where we live. “He said that if you looked at the next village and the one after, you would see that every village was filled with anger and pain. ” “And it would continue forever. “ -
Hamas spokesperson including other people arrested in occupied West Bank
Israel has arrested over 60 members of Hamas, a militant group, including a spokesperson, during overnight raids in the West Bank. The West Bank is an area that Israel occupies and is being greatly affected by the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
In a military operation by Israel in the Nour Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem city, some Palestinians were killed, as confirmed by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The security agency of Israel, Shin Bet, has confirmed to CNN that they arrested Hassan Yousef, who is the spokesperson, because they suspect that he was acting on behalf of Hamas.
“The occupation forces have arrested Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a leader of Hamas, from his home in Beitunia. This is part of a large-scale arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank,” says the statement from the Palestinian Prisoners Club.
Yousef was arrested multiple times by Israeli forces. He has spent a total of 24 years in Israeli jails for different reasons, like encouraging violence, going into Jerusalem without permission, and being a member of Hamas.
He has been frequently appearing on international media recently. This week, he spoke to Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail and said that he believes Hamas would be willing to release around 200 hostages if Israel agrees to a day-long ceasefire to allow aid to enter Gaza.The Israeli military said that Israeli security forces carried out an operation.
The statement said that many people who were wanted by the authorities were arrested in the West Bank, including a large number of Hamas members.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 850 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. The people mentioned are lawmakers, important people, journalists, and former prisoners who have spent a long time in Israeli jails.
Mustafa Barghouti, who is in charge of the Palestinian National Initiative, told CNN that Israel is conducting a big operation to arrest a lot of Palestinians.
They are catching and taking more people into custody every night. There are currently 6,300 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, according to Barghouti. “They are not accused of a crime, and they do not have to go to court. ” There is no fair legal process, and this is called administrative detention. This includes at least 200 children who are currently in Israeli jails.
The Israeli government is taking strong action because the violence from the Gaza conflict has started to affect the West Bank.
Israeli forces killed several Palestinians during clashes in the West Bank on Thursday, as reported by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health. The government told CNN that they have confirmed the deaths of six people, and they expect the number of deaths to increase. Fights have happened between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers at many places.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said their workers were trying to help the injured people in Nour Shams. They mentioned that it was hard to reach some of the injured individuals, and that ambulances with injured people were being stopped by Israeli occupation forces.
CNN has asked the IDF to react to this claim.
Israel gained control of the West Bank in 1967 after the Six Day War with Jordan. Since then, Israeli civilians have moved to live in parts of the West Bank and have been protected by the Israeli military. The people who live there hope that the West Bank will be part of a future Palestinian state.
Many countries believe that these settlements are against the law worldwide, but even so, Israeli governments have promised to support them.
Israel sees the West Bank as an area where there is a disagreement, and it believes that its policy to build settlements there is allowed by the law. -
Israeli attacks killing hundreds of Palestinians as Gaza crisis spread to the West Bank
Ibrahim Wadi, who is 62 years old, and his son, Ahmad, who is 24 years old, were going to a funeral for four Palestinians who were killed by Israeli settlers in their community in the occupied West Bank. While they were driving in their car, they were attacked.
The dad and son were driving in a small village called Qusra, near Nablus. This village has had a lot of violence lately. On Thursday, while they were driving, some armed settlers shot at them. Relatives told CNN that the men were taken to a hospital close by and passed away shortly after because of their injuries.
At least 61 people, including children, have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7. Hamas attacked Israel unexpectedly and it was a first-time occurrence. This information comes from the Palestinian Ministry of Health there. Over 1,250 people have been hurt.
The attack by Hamas has caused the death of over 1,400 people in Israel, mostly ordinary people, and it is believed that at least 199 people are being held captive in Gaza, as reported by Israeli authorities.
Israel has declared a “total blockade” in response to the situation and has attacked multiple areas in the Gaza Strip. This has resulted in the deaths of at least 3,478 people. The health ministry in Gaza, which is under Hamas control, has also mentioned the possibility of a ground invasion. Right now, there is growing tension in the West Bank. Palestinians in the area have been involved in conflicts with both Israeli forces and settlers, and unfortunately, some Palestinians have lost their lives.
Hani Odeh, the mayor of Qusra, said to CNN that Israeli settlers freely move around the village with the support of the Israeli police. He told someone from COGAT, an organization in Israel, that he was going to the funeral with Ahmad and Ibrahim.
A little while ago, the Israeli person advised him to choose a different path instead of the usual one to stay away from the settlers in the area. Surprisingly, the road Odeh and the others were told to go on had settlers on it. Sadly, the settlers ended up shooting and killing Ahmad and Ibrahim while they were in their car.
Odeh said to CNN that he saw the attack from his own car while Israeli soldiers were guarding the street. He approached an officer and asked him to make the settlers go away, but nobody took any action. He explained that it seemed like a trap.
CNN asked COGAT and the IDF for a response to Odeh’s claims, but they haven’t received a reply yet.
BrigadierGeneral Hagari said that anyone who tries to oppose us in Judea and Samaria, which are the Jewish names for the West Bank, will face a strong and powerful response.
CNN talked to people who live in the West Bank and they told CNN that they are scared of violence from the Israeli army and security forces. They are also worried about revenge attacks from the approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers who live in that area. In simple words: Recently, there have been a lot of violent incidents in the West Bank, including attacks by settlers. These incidents have been happening more frequently than before, and one attack was so severe that an Israeli military commander described it as a “pogrom. ”
Even before the fighting with Hamas, there was already a lot of tension in the West Bank. Israel started going into the West Bank after there were many attacks from Palestinians. They were looking for places where they believed militants were gathered. The violence caused a lot of deaths among both Palestinians and Israelis, more than at any time in the past ten years.
Days after the violent incident in Qusra, a town with about 7,000 people, the residents are still shocked and upset. Pictures remembering the six people who died cover the walls of houses and buildings. The air feels very sad and empty.
Cars are set on fire, water pumps are damaged, and electricity lines are broken near an apartment building located at the outskirts of the village where the initial four murders happened. There is broken glass all over the floor, and there are bullet holes on the walls.
On October 11, some people with weapons attacked the building. This made the residents ask for help. When a few neighbors came to the place, the settlers started shooting and killed four people. The people who died were Musa’ab Abu Raidi, who was 19 years old, Obaida Abu Srour, who was 18 years old, Hassan Muhannad, who was 22 years old, and Moath Odesa, who was 29 years old.Rabeea, who is 19 years old, and her younger brother Abdulrahman, who is 12 years old, were in their apartment building. They were really scared as they saw the attack happening. The brothers and sisters, who requested CNN to not mention their last name because they worry about punishment from Israeli settlers, described how settlers threw rocks and shot at the building while they, along with their mother, hid inside.
Their big brother and his 6-year-old daughter got hurt and are getting help at a hospital close by. Odeh, who is the mayor, said in an interview with CNN that there were 12 people, including them, who had to be taken to the hospital following the attack.
Rabeea explains that her brother cannot sleep at night because he is feeling very scared to be by himself. CNN visited the family while they were putting their stuff in boxes and getting ready to relocate to a different village.
I feel really upset. “I want to cry, but what can we do. “”I want to remain here, but we are unable to take any action. ”
They have come here in the past. Seven years ago, Rabeea and Abdulrahman told everyone that their father was killed by Israeli settlers close to Nablus. Their family had to move to Qusra because they were scared of getting attacked. Now, they are feeling very afraid to stay, so they are being forced to leave their home once more.
Israel gained control of the West Bank in 1967 during a war and has occupied it since. Israeli citizens have moved into the area, sometimes with military protection. The people who live there hope that the West Bank will become part of a future Palestinian state.
Many countries believe that these settlements break the rules of international law. However, Israeli governments have promised to continue supporting them. Israel sees the West Bank as an area where there is disagreement about who should control it, and they believe that their actions of building settlements there are allowed by the law.
This year, after the election of a very conservative and extreme government in Israel led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there has been increased violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank.
By mid-September of this year, the United Nations reported that there were 798 incidents caused by settlers in the occupied territory, which resulted in 216 Palestinians getting hurt. During that time, Israeli soldiers caused the death of 179 Palestinians in the West Bank.
The IDF claims that most of the people they target are either suspected of being involved in terrorism or are engaging in violent actions against their troops during raids. However, they do not always provide proof for this claim.
People who have moved to live in a new place have been accused of hurting Palestinians. In addition to killings, these attacks have also involved physical attacks, causing harm to property, and disturbing behavior towards others.
Odeh said that they want to make Palestinians leave their homes and eventually leave the occupied West Bank.
This year, due to global criticism, Netanyahu told Jewish settlers that they can’t take land in the West Bank without the Israeli government’s approval. But with him as the leader, Israel has given permission for a lot of new houses to be built in West Bank settlements.
People in the government who are part of a right-wing group have been accused of causing harm to Palestinians. These government members include National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who are settlers themselves.After Hamas attacked on October 7, Palestinians are facing strict limits on how they can move around the West Bank and between the West Bank and Israel. Israeli military forces have closed off checkpoints and roads, making it difficult for people to travel, as reported by residents speaking to CNN.
Palestinians who live in the West Bank said to CNN that the closure has made a big impact on their daily lives. It has limited their ability to travel for work, school, medical treatment, and other important activities.
During a conversation with US President Joe Biden, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas asked for an immediate stop to attacks on people living in Palestinian areas by settlers in the West Bank. He also emphasized the importance of preventing the killing of innocent people on both sides.
At Ibrahim and Ahmad’s house, which was not far from the apartment building that was attacked in Qusra, their family was very sad on Sunday. They could see an Israeli settlement getting closer to their home. The family includes their wives, daughters, and sisters.
Thank goodness, we are powerful. “And if God allows, we will keep having the energy and calmness,” Khitam Wadi, the wife of Ibrahim and mother of Ahmad, told CNN.
My husband really enjoyed his land. He protected his property. “And we will keep doing the same as long as we are alive,” she said.
Clearly upset, Khitam struggled to explain her sadness. But the younger women in the family, even though they were hurting, were determined to stick to their opinions.
I feel unhappy, obviously. All of this has an impact on me, but it doesn’t make me weaker. Aseel, who is Ibrahim’s daughter and Ahmad’s sister, said that we have always experienced the same thing and nothing has changed in our lives.
This is where we live. My dad showed me how important it is to care about and appreciate my country. I will teach my children the same things. And I will stay forever. -
Israel orders total closure of West Bank
There is a lot of stress and worry in the occupied West Bank, where around 2. 8 million Palestinians live. The Israeli army has completely shut down the area.
People who live in towns and cities are saying that the ways to get into these places have been blocked with big metal gates, heavy blocks made out of cement, and piles of dirt.
Some new places now have military checkpoints. During the day, some gas stations have had long lines of people waiting because they have run out of fuel.
“This is something we have witnessed in the past during many years of occupation,” said a tour guide in Beit Sahour who is currently unemployed.
Another person living here complained that Israel has been using a policy for many years to punish everyone because of the actions of a few groups of people.
On Sunday, the shops and businesses in the West Bank were closed because there was a general strike. The strike was a response to the military action that Israel took in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas.
In the evening, there were people who were very angry and protesting. Last night, Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians at the Qalandiya checkpoint in Ramallah.
In Hebron, a man was killed while trying to hit Israeli forces with a bulldozer. -
Palestinians worry about ‘speedy’ West Bank annexation in response to Netanyahu’s judicial reform
For almost nine months, many Israelis have been protesting every week against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s plan to change the judicial system. They are worried that it could greatly limit the Supreme Court’s authority, which is the only group that checks the government’s power.
Many Palestinians are scared that if the Supreme Court becomes weaker, it could allow for more Jewish settlements to be built in the occupied West Bank. This could eventually lead to the annexation of the land that Palestinians want for their own state.
Many Israelis have been protesting because they are worried that democracy and human rights are getting worse. However, not many people are talking about how this could affect the over three million Palestinians who live in the West Bank under Israeli control.
Sawsan Zaher, who is a lawyer that defends the rights of Arab minorities in Israel, believes that the consequences of this situation could be very significant. She calls the overhaul a “judicial coup,” saying it could lead to the West Bank being taken over without any criticism or review from the Supreme Court.
Zaher is worried because of the things that the Netanyahu government has done and said since they took office at the end of last year. The group of people in charge of the government includes several individuals from West Bank who have a lot of influence. The agreement they made states that Israel should have control over the West Bank, like it is a part of Israel.
Under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s very conservative government, Israel has given its approval for a very large number of houses to be built in settlements in the West Bank, according to a report by the peace organization Peace Now in July.Many countries and the United Nations believe that the West Bank and East Jerusalem are being controlled by Israel against the law. They also see the Israeli settlements in these areas as illegal according to international law. Israel says that there is an ongoing disagreement about who owns the land and disagrees with the idea that their settlements in that area are against the law.
Many people in Israel agree with their government’s decision to take over more land in areas that are currently controlled by others. A survey done in 2020 by a group in Jerusalem called the Israel Democracy Institute found that over half of Jewish Israelis agreed with the idea of Israel having control over the West Bank. This is something that Netanyahu has expressed he wants.
The overhaul consists of several new laws. The first of these laws was approved in July with a unanimous vote of 64-0. This happened because all members of the opposing party left in protest before the vote. This law takes away the Supreme Court’s ability to say if government decisions are wrong.
People who are in favor of the change believe that the way the judicial system works in Israel is not good and strongly favors the court by giving it too much power. For a long time, some people have been asking for changes in the court system, believing it would help create a fair balance among the different branches of the government.
Last week, all 15 judges of the Supreme Court came together for the first time to hear a case about the reasonableness law.
The judges asked both sides’ lawyers many tough questions, making it hard to tell how they will decide. We don’t know when the court will tell us if they think the reasonableness law is fair or not.
This decision could be very important because the reasonableness law changes one of Israel’s 13 fundamental laws. Israel is different from many other countries because it doesn’t have a written constitution. Instead, it depends on fundamental rules and previous court decisions that might eventually become a constitution. The court has never invalidated a Basic Law or a change to it.
Zaher told CNN that the main goal of the judicial coup is to prevent the Supreme Court from reviewing Basic Laws or government decisions.
Experts say that the Supreme Court of Israel usually supports the expansion of settlements in Israel, but sometimes it allows Palestinians to seek legal remedies in limited situations.
Eliav Lieblich, a professor of law at Tel Aviv University, stated that the court has never prevented the settlement movement from progressing. “It never decided whether the settlement projects were legal or not. ”
According to Lieblich, it helped in offering special protections when the land or property of Palestinians was taken or used for settlements.
Zaher stated that Palestinians have never thought the Supreme Court supports their cause. Netanyahu’s changes might eliminate any remaining ways to oppose policies seen as violating their rights.“Zaher estimated that the Supreme Court did not protect Palestinian rights in the West Bank in 95% of cases. ”
Palestinians in the West Bank have different laws compared to Israelis. They have to follow the rules of different authorities, like the Palestinian Authority and Israeli military laws. Palestinians living in the West Bank can ask Israeli courts to make decisions against their houses being taken away, destroyed, or their lands being seized. However, it may be difficult for their petitions to be successful.
Human rights groups say that the Supreme Court mostly agrees to destroy the homes of Palestinian families involved in attacks on Israelis. They hardly ever side with Palestinians who try to stop this from happening. The practice has received negative feedback from rights groups because it is seen as a form of punishment for a whole group of people. Israel believes that by taking actions to prevent and discourage future attacks, it can make sure they do not happen again.
Palestinians have occasionally experienced some uncommon successes. In 2005, the highest court told the government to find a different path for some of its security wall in the northern West Bank, so that it wouldn’t cause too many troubles for the Palestinians. A year before, the International Court of Justice in The Hague stated that the whole barrier is against the law.
In 2012, Israel’s highest court said that some Palestinian people who owned land should take down five buildings. These buildings were built by Israeli settlers in the West Bank near a Palestinian village called Dura al-Qara.
In 2017, Israeli security forces destroyed nine houses that were illegally built on Palestinian land in a West Bank village called Ofra. The people living in the settlement of Ofra asked a court to let them stay in their homes, but the court said they need to leave and their homes will be destroyed. The court decided in 2015 that the building should be knocked down. The case was filed by a group helping the person who owns the land 7 years before that.
In some situations, rulings that were initially in support of Palestinians have been changed to be against them. Last year, something unusual happened when the high court made a decision. They ruled that a settlement outpost – Israeli houses in the West Bank that were built without permission from the government – can stay on private Palestinian land. This happened even though the court had originally said that the outpost should be taken away almost two years ago.
Palestinians believe that if the Netanyahu government continues to expand settlements, there will be even less control on expansion when the Supreme Court is no longer a bureaucratic obstacle for the government.
Zaher said that the annexation might happen much faster than expected.
Ahmed Tibi, a Palestinian-Israeli member of Israel’s parliament and leader of the Ta’al party, stated that the reasonableness law is supported by far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, who are both settlers. According to Tibi, these supporters want to manipulate the legal system to make it easier to take over land that is currently under the control of others.
Tibi told CNN that many ideas in the judicial overhaul would help the settlers. Anything that helps the settlers become stronger makes the Palestinians become weaker.
Gershon Baskin, who runs the Holy Land Bond investment fund, thinks that Netanyahu’s plan for the courts is mainly focused on expanding settlements in East Jerusalem.
Baskin said that if Netanyahu succeeds in implementing the reform, the limited opportunities that Palestinians have within the Israeli High Court will be taken away in the near future.
If the Supreme Court is weakened and not able to review government decisions, it would be easier to formally annex the West Bank, although this is seen as an extreme possibility. He said that if judicial review becomes weaker, it would be easier to slowly take actions that could effectively lead to annexation.
He said that if you reduce the power of judicial review, you give more power to the executive branch. This is already a situation where one side gains while the other loses, between Israel and the Palestinians. -
Israeli soldier killed by Palestinian in West Bank
A Palestinian driver crashed his truck into soldiers at a busy checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, killing one soldier before being shot and killed by Israeli authorities. This incident is part of ongoing violence in the region.
The violence happened the day after Israeli police shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who had stabbed a man at a train station in Jerusalem. Additionally, Palestinian militants set off a bomb near a group of Israeli soldiers who were protecting Jewish worshippers going to a sacred place in the West Bank, injuring four soldiers.
The unrest is a part of a wave of violence that has been happening for more than a year in the West Bank. It is the highest level of violence seen in this area in around twenty years.
According to Israeli officials, the person driving the car, who is a 41-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank, was going east towards the crossing when he saw the soldiers close to a bagel stand. He turned his vehicle around and crashed into the soldiers, who were wearing their official clothing.
An official from the Israeli military said that the driver had permission to work legally in Israel. He used a car with an Israeli license plate that he did not own to carry out the ramming. The person who spoke cannot be named because of military rules.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that during the attack, one Israeli person died, and later it was confirmed that the person was a soldier in the military. The military said that three more soldiers got hurt. The military officer said that a Palestinian citizen of Israel who sells bagels was also hurt.
A video on social media showed a white truck being approached by security guards at the second checkpoint while shots were being fired. Palestinian media says the driver’s name is Tahaer Daras and he lives in Deir Ammar close to the city of Ramallah in the West Bank.
The place where the truck crashed into the soldiers is located on a big road that goes from central Israel to the West Bank and Jerusalem, and is close to the city of Modiin in Israel. The checkpoint is usually filled with people going to work and guards or soldiers.
Attacks by Palestinians against Israelis have increased as Israel has stepped up its arrests in the West Bank since last year. Over 30 people have died in Palestinian attacks on Israelis since the beginning of 2023.
These frequent raids that happen almost every night have made tensions rise in the area and have caused some of the worst fighting between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank since the last rebellion by the Palestinians in the early 2000s.
More than 180 Palestinians have died in the fighting, and almost half of them were part of militant groups, says an Associated Press count. Israel claims that the majority of those who were killed were militants, but there were also young people throwing stones to protest the invasions, as well as innocent people who were not involved but still died.
Israel says that the raids are being done to break apart groups of fighters who use violence, and to stop them from being able to plan and carry out more attacks in the future. Palestinians believe that these raids make their security forces weaker, encourage more violence, and strengthens Israel’s hold on the territories they want for their own state in the future.
Israel took control of the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip during the war in the Middle East in 1967. -
Israeli woman killed in shooting during car attack in southern West Bank
Officials have reported that a woman from Israel was killed and a man was seriously injured after their car was shot at in the southern part of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
It is said that numerous bullets were shot from a moving vehicle on a road near the town of Beit Hagai.
The woman has been named as Batsheva Nagari. A young girl who was also in the car, said to be her daughter, was not injured.
The Israeli military is saying that their soldiers are chasing after the suspects. They have set up roadblocks in that area.
Palestinian media said they had surrounded Hebron and were stopping and asking Palestinians who were trying to go in or out of the city.
Ms Nigri was a mother with three children and a teacher at a nursery school in Beit Hagai, as reported by the Israeli media.
According to reports, a woman and her six-year-old daughter got a ride home from a man who was driving a car.
The Palestinian group Hamas said they liked the attack because it was a reaction to Israel building settlements in the West Bank.
This is happening at the same time as an increase in fighting in the West Bank.
On Saturday, near the northern village of Huwara, a person suspected to be Palestinian shot and killed an Israeli man and his son while they were at a car wash.
On Friday, the Israeli military shot a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in the head in East Jerusalem, which is currently under Israeli control. The boy was left severely injured as a result. The police say that he attempted to throw a homemade bomb made from gasoline during a search in the Silwan neighborhood.
On that day, a video showed Israeli soldiers shooting a man in the leg during a protest. The man was said to be Palestinian and may have had mental health issues. The protest took place near Israel’s separation barrier in Qalqilya.
This year, the Israeli army has gone into Palestinian cities many times. Israeli settlers have also been violent and targeted Palestinian homes. Palestinian people have also attacked Israelis. -
Two Israelis detained over the death of Palestinian killed in West Bank
Following the alleged murder of a Palestinian man in the West Bank, two Israelis have been detained and are being questioned, along with five other people, according to a statement from the Israel Police on Saturday.
Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank are rarely detained. Even if they are arrested, they are nearly never charged.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported late Friday that an Israeli settler had shot and killed a Palestinian man in the village of Burqa, which is located close to Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
It is the second time this year that the Ministry has claimed that settlers had killed a Palestinian villager, despite the fact that both Palestinian officials and international observers frequently record settler violence against Palestinians.
According to the ministry, Israeli settlers attacked Qusai Jamal Maatan’s hamlet and shot him in the neck, killing him instantly. He was 19 years old. According to the ministry, two further people were hurt.
Maatan was laid to rest early on Saturday.
In a statement, the IDF stated that they responded in response to reports of “violent clashes between Israeli civilians and Palestinians,” and that “it was reported that during the clashes, Israeli civilians shot towards the Palestinians and as a result, there was a Palestinian casualty.”
The IDF also stated that rocks were allegedly thrown at Israeli civilians, injuring them.
The Shomron (Samaria) Council, which speaks for settlers in the northern West Bank and ordinarily avoids making statements on Shabbat, made no immediate comments.
An Israeli shepherd was being harassed by Palestinian villagers when the settler who shot the Palestinian opened fire, according to a legal assistance organisation that represents settlers.
The shepherd from Oz Zion, a settler outpost, was intimidated by Palestinians from Burqa, which is against both Israeli and international law, according to Honenu, the legal organisation.
Several Palestinians attacked the Israelis with clubs, fireworks, and rocks after the shepherd appealed for additional settlers “to prevent deterioration,” according to Honenu.
According to Honenu, one of the settlers was struck in the head “at point blank range and was seriously injured,” but he was able to defend himself using a licenced rifle he was carrying.
According to Honenu, the man has been placed under arrest and is currently recovering in intensive care at the Shaare Zedek Medical Centre in Jerusalem.
According to Honenu, the second detained Israeli settler assisted in getting him to the hospital.
“My client acted according to the law, and as is required of any licenced firearm holder – to protect his life and the lives of other civilians,” Honenu attorney Nati Rom said.
According to a statement issued by the Israeli military, both Israelis and Palestinians threw stones during the altercation in the West Bank.
While Israel Police and the Shin Bet security agency (ISA) continue their investigations, the army has declared the region a closed military zone.The incident was classified as a “terrorist attack” by the US State Department.
We strongly condemn yesterday’s terrorist act by Israeli extreme settlers that killed a 19-year-old Palestinian, it was stated in a message posted on Twitter, now known as X.
“The US expresses its sincere condolences to his family and friends. We observe that Israeli authorities have detained several people and demand complete responsibility and justice.
Attacks carried out by what they termed to as “organised and armed terrorist settler militias” against unarmed Palestinian civilians of Burqa were harshly denounced by the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.
The ministry expressed worry about the absence of effective retaliation for settler attacks on Palestinian communities, claiming that these occurrences have given settlers more motivation to commit more crimes. The ministry charged incitement against Israeli government ministers and their supporters.
Two of the parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government are largely backed by settlers, Israelis who live in the West Bank to strengthen their nation’s control over the Palestinian region. International law considers settlements to be unlawful. Israeli claims that the West Bank is “disputed,” not “occupied,” and refutes the assertion that the settlements are unconstitutional.
With roughly 600 such events reported during the first half of the year, the United Nations issued a warning last month about a sharp increase in attacks by West Bank settlers against Palestinians and their property.
According to the UN humanitarian organisation OCHA, 591 settler-related incidents that caused Palestinian fatalities, property damage, or both throughout the area during the first half of 2023 were documented.
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More than four Israelis reported dead in gunfire in West Bank
Israeli officials and emergency services said Tuesday that gunfire in the West Bank town of Eli resulted in four fatalities and four injuries.
According to CNN archives, it was the bloodiest attack on Israelis since January.
According to a joint statement from the two agencies, one of the suspected gunmen was killed at the site by a bystander, while the other was slain by Israel Defence troops (IDF) and Israel Security Agency troops after they located the vehicle he was driving.
The four wounded were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem or Petach Tikva, the Magen David Adom rescue service said.
Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement, claimed the two gunmen as members, calling the attack “a natural response” to the Israeli raid on Jenin a day earlier that left six Palestinians dead.
The shooting attack began in a restaurant near a gas station, where two gunmen shot dead three civilians, said Moti Bukchin, a spokesman for the Zaka rescue service.
The gunmen then came out of the restaurant and fatally shot a civilian refueling his car at the gas stations, Bukchin said.
Another civilian shot and neutralized one of the gunmen while the second fled, the Zaka spokesman said. Zaka is handling the bodies of the four dead, he said.
Maj. Nir Dinar, an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson, said the terrorist who had been neutralized at the scene was dead.
The four Israelis killed were named by their communities as Elisha Antman, 18, and Ofer Fierman, 63, both from Eli; Harel Masoud, 21, from Yad Binyamin;and Nahman Shmuel Morduf, 17, from Ahiya.
Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir went to the scene of the shooting and called for settlers to arm themselves.
“I’m calling on the residence of Judea and Samaria to carry weapons,” he said, using the Biblical names that Israel officially uses to describe the West Bank. “They save lives…. We are sitting here like ducks in a barrel.”
Ben Gvir called for Israel to be more aggressive in the West Bank: “Return to the targeted killings, pull down buildings, put up roadblocks, deport terrorists, and put into law the death penalty for terrorists.”
Israeli Security Agency, known as Shin Bet, and IDF forces later “shot and neutralized” the second suspect, according to a joint statement from the two organizations.
Shin Bet tracked a Toyota vehicle in which the suspect fled, the statement said.
“During the arrest attempt, the suspect tried to escape from the vehicle, was shot and neutralized by the forces. No injuries to our forces,” the statement said.
The statement said a weapon used in the attack was found in the car.
Israeli troops had set up roadblocks in the area, the IDF said.
Residents of Eli were told to stay in their homes while the search for the second gunman was ongoing.
The chief IDF spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said in a statement that the IDF did not have intelligence information warning of the attack before it happened.
Hamas later claimed the gunmen as members, and said they were acting in response to a huge firefight in Jenin on Monday.
“We mourn the martyr Muhammad Shehadeh, and we affirm that the operation south of Nablus is a clear message to the criminal occupation government,” Hamas said in a statement referring to Israel.
Hamas said Shehadeh was 26 and from the village of Urif, southwest of Nablus. The other gunman was named as Khaled Sabbah, 24, from Tubas in the West Bank.
Videos from his home village showed a funeral procession and burial for him shortly after he was tracked down and killed by the IDF and Shin Bet.
Photographs on social media suggested that the two were friends.
The shooting “came as a natural response to the Jenin massacre yesterday,” the militant group said.
Tuesday’s shooting is the deadliest attack on Israelis since January 27, CNN records show. Seven Israelis were killed in the January attack near a synagogue in the Neve Yaakov area of Jerusalem.
Neve Yaakov is built on land which Israel captured in 1967, which makes it a settlement under international law. Israel unilaterally annexed it along with other parts of east Jerusalem in 1980, and considers it a neighborhood of Jerusalem.
There are now fears of attacks by settlers against Palestinians in revenge for Tuesday’s shooting.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Tuesday called for “urgent and genuine international intervention, particularly from the United States,” to prevent “escalating attacks.”
It warned of a “planned explosion” by “extremist elements,” referring to Israeli settlers.
The latest violence comes a day after an Israeli military raid in the city of Jenin killed six Palestinians, including three militants, and injured 90 others. Eight Israeli military personnel were injured in the incursion to arrest two wanted Palestinian suspects.
While the Palestinian ministry released its statement, the US Ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, condemned the killing of the four Israelis Tuesday.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the senseless murder of four innocent Israelis today — my heart is with their grieving family members,” Nides said on his official Twitter account. “Deeply concerned about the civilian deaths and injuries that have occurred in the West Bank these past 48 hours, including that of minors. Praying for the families as they mourn the loss of loved ones, or tend to those injured.”
Nides is married to CNN executive vice president of news Virginia Moseley.
Late Monday, after the Jenin raid and before the shooting near Eli, a State Department spokesperson said the US “urges de-escalation between Israel and the Palestinians.”
“Violence over the last day has left many Palestinians killed and resulted in injuries among Palestinians and the IDF, including in Jenin,” the spokesperson told CNN. “We call on both sides to refrain from actions that escalate tensions.”
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3-year-old Palestinian boy dies after being shot by Israeli troops
Days after an Israeli soldier shot a 3-year-old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that the boy had passed away on Monday.
Despite efforts to save him, including helicopter transport to an Israeli hospital, Muhammad Haitham al-Tamimi passed away.
He was shot on Thursday night in the West Bank, north of Jerusalem, close to the Israeli town of Neveh Tzuf.
Haitham Tamimi, the child’s father, claimed that he was on his way to see his brother when he and Muhammad were shot.
“As soon as I started the car I heard gunshots and I saw the Israeli soldiers out of the military tower,” Tamimi told CNN.
“I looked at Muhammad and couldn’t believe what I saw. He was shot in the head and there was blood all over his body. I took him in my arms and then realized that I’m also shot in my right shoulder. People from the village came quickly, and they took us both with their cars. This is when Israeli ambulances and a helicopter came and took Muhammad to the Israeli hospital.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its troops were firing back at gunmen shooting at Neveh Tzuf when they hit two Palestinians, a 3-year-old and a man.
IDF and Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency medical teams treated both of the victims, and succeeded in getting the child’s heart beating again, the MDA said at the time.
The child was then transported, ventilated and in unstable condition, by IDF helicopter to Sheba-Tel Hashomer hospital in Israel.
“The IDF regrets harm to non-combatants and is committed to doing everything in its power to prevent such incidents. The incident is under review,” the IDF said early Friday. The military did not immediately have a new statement in light of the death of the child, pointing CNN to the Friday statement.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry Monday condemned the killing of Tamimi as “a heinous crime against humanity,” and demanded “an urgent international investigation into this crime and other crimes of killing Palestinian children.”
The child’s father was treated for his gunshot wound at a hospital in Ramallah and was released on Sunday.
The bullet wound, he said, was not hurting: “I feel no physical pain. the pain in my heart is way too big.”
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Israeli military labels settler attacks on Palestinians as “acts of terror
An IDF officer stated on Monday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) views the attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians the day before as “acts of terror,” as emotions in the area rose following a violent weekend.
Palestinian medical officials blamed Israeli settlers in the West Bank for at least one Palestinian man’s death, a Palestinian fire engine being stoned by a group of roughly 50 settlers, and several Palestinians being hurt by stones or metal bars.
An unidentified 27-year-old male was declared dead on Monday, according to a statement from Hadassah Mt. Scopus hospital, as the violence raged throughout the day.
He was shot in the West Bank on a highway between Jericho and the Dead Sea on Monday, according to Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service.
The West Bank victim “was unconscious outside his car with gunshot wounds to his upper body,” when MDA paramedic Eden Cohen arrived to treat him, Cohen said in a statement released by the service.
The attacks followed the fatal shooting of two Israeli brothers earlier on Sunday in the town of Huwara, south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, just days after a massive Israeli military raid into Nablus in search of wanted militants left at least 11 Palestinians dead.
“Last night there was revenge activity done by people that live in the area. I wanted to say we see these actions as actions of a terror, these violent riots,” the IDF official said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the situation. “It’s been a horrible night,” the official added.
The official said the reason the IDF was sending three additional battalions to the area was to keep the Palestinians and Israelis apart.
“More forces will de-escalate” the situation, the official said. “This morning we’ve sent in another Givati (reconnaissance) battalion – the Givati Special Forces battalion – into the area in addition to two Border Patrol companies, basically trying to de-escalate and keep the two sides apart.”
Israel’s Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant vowed to arrest the individual or individuals who killed the settlers and called for calm while allowing military and security forces to work and apprehend the perpetrators.
“It is neither legitimate nor possible to operate individually,” Gallant said Monday, while visiting the location where the incident took place. “We cannot allow a situation in which citizens take the law into their hands. I call on everyone to follow law and order and to trust the IDF and security forces everywhere, across the country.”
The IDF detained eight people in connection with the attacks in Huwara, some of whom have since been released, Israel Police spokesman Dean Elsdunne told CNN Monday.
Sameh Hamdallah Mahmoud Aqtash, 37, was shot in the abdomen and killed in the town of Za’tara, between Huwara and the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said Sunday night. In Huwara itself, at least one person was stabbed and another assaulted with an iron bar, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
The Israeli settlers who were killed earlier were named as brothers Hillel Menachem Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv, 19, according to the local settler council.
Video from the scene showed that their car had crossed a median, and hit a vehicle going the other direction, suggesting they were shot while driving.
Late Sunday, the IDF announced that the older brother, Hillel, was a serving soldier and expressed condolences in a statement.
Following rare talks on Sunday brokered by Jordan, Egypt and the United States, Israeli and Palestinian representatives “affirmed their commitment to all previous agreements between them, and to work towards a just and lasting peace.”
Israel and the Palestinian Authority confirmed their “joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months. This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for 4 months and to stop authorization of any outposts for 6 months,” a joint statement read.
However, in response to the announcement of a halt on settlement construction, far-right Religious Zionism party leader Bezalel Smotrich firmly rejected a pause, “even for one day.”
In a post on Twitter, the Israeli finance minister appeared out of alignment with his government, writing: “There will not be a freeze on settlement building and development, not even for one day (this is under my authority). The IDF will continue to act to counter terrorism in all areas of Judea and Samaria without any limitations (we will reaffirm this in the cabinet). It’s very simple.”
Also on Sunday, Israel’s cabinet approved a proposed law to impose the death penalty on “terrorists.” It is officially a private member’s bill sponsored by the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, rather than government-backed legislation.
The law would give courts the power to “impose the death penalty on those who have committed the crime of murder on nationalistic grounds against the citizens of Israel,” a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben Gvir said.
After a preliminary vote in the Knesset, or parliament, Israel’s political-security cabinet will next discuss the language in the bill, before it goes to the committee stage. If it passes the committee stage, it will require three Knesset readings to become law.
There have been previous attempts to introduce the death penalty in 2016 and 2018, according to the Israel Democracy Institute, but they did not become law.
In response to the moves, the Palestinian government on Monday condemned “in the strongest terms” the Israeli cabinet’s approval, according to a statement from the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“The death penalty violates the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people to life, non-discrimination, and self-determination. It is a cruel, barbaric, and inhumane bill rooted in Jewish supremacy and precisely aimed to deny the Palestinian people their right to exist and their humanity,” it said, while also calling on the international community to take “concrete actions to pressure Israel to rescind its bill.”
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Two Israeli settlers shot and killed in the West Bank shooting incident
Local settler leader Yossi Dagan described the Sunday shooting and deaths of two Israeli settlers in the West Bank as “an exceedingly dangerous terrorist attack.”
Following the shooting, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in retaliation, resulting in at least one fatality and multiple injuries.The Israelis were shot at Huwara, south of Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, just days after a huge Israeli military assault into Nablus resulted in the deaths of at least 11 Palestinians while looking for wanted militants.
The brothers Hillel Menachem Yaniv, 21, and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv, 19, were identified as the settlers killed on Sunday, according to the local settler council.
“We embrace the family and will be with them as much as necessary,” the Shomron (Samaria) Regional Council said. They were from the settlement of Har Bracha, council leader Yossi Dagan said.
Video from the scene showed that their car had crossed a median, and hit a vehicle going the other direction, suggesting they were shot while driving.
The two Israeli men were taken to a hospital after the attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, but they later died, the Magen David Adom medical agency said. The IDF added that it was pursuing the attacker.
Another local settler leader said he was present when the two were shot.
“The shooting took place right behind me. It looked terrible – the shooting was from point blank range,” said Shai Alon, the head of Beit El council, adding that Israel needed to “go to war against those who wish us harm.”
Hours after the incident, Israelis killed at least one Palestinian man and injured several others with stones or iron bars in and around Huwara, Palestinian medics and the Ministry of Health said Sunday night.
Sameh Hamdallah Mahmoud Aqtash, 37, was shot in the abdomen and killed in the town of Za’tara, between Huwara and the Israeli settlement of Kfar Tapuach, the ministry said.
In Huwara itself, at least one person was stabbed and another assaulted with an iron bar, the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The emergency service also reported its ambulances were attacked, and said Israeli military forces had prevented three ambulances from entering the town.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said a person had been treated for a minor injury from a metal rod in the face, and another had been treated for a skull fracture from being hit in the head with a stone.
Two Palestinian firefighters said that about 50 settlers had stoned their fire engine, injuring them as they attempted to respond to a fire at a Palestinian house in Huwara, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The Red Crescent also said it had dealt with nearly 100 cases of smoke inhalation.
Social media video which CNN geolocated to Huwara appeared to show several dozen Israeli settlers walking down a main street as at least three fires burned by the side of the road. Other photographs and videos circulating on social media appeared to show fires burning in the town.
The Palestinian Authority Presidency accused the settlers of carrying out “terrorist acts… under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, in Hawara, Burin, Einabus and other areas, which resulted in the injury of more than 100 Palestinians and the burning of shops, homes, cars and other public property.”
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid accused Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of the settler-based Religious Zionism party, of being responsible for the violence.
Linking the events to deconfliction talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Jordan earlier in the day, Lapid tweeted: “Smotrich’s militias set out to burn Hawara in order to torpedo the summit in Aqaba of Netanyahu and [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant. This government is dangerous to Israel’s security.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement asking Israelis not to engage in revenge attacks for the killing of Hillel and Yagel Yaniv earlier in the day.
“I ask – even when the blood is boiling – not to take the law into one’s hands. I ask that the IDF and the security forces be allowed to carry out their work. I remind you that in recent weeks, they have targeted dozens of terrorists and thwarted dozens of attacks,” Netanyahu said.
The IDF are sending reinforcements to the West Bank to “thwart terror attacks and prevent violent riots,” it said Sunday night.
The “riots” – an apparent reference to the settlers carrying out revenge attacks against Palestinians – “are being handled by the IDF, Israeli Fire and Rescue Services, Israeli Border Police and additional security forces,” the IDF said.
On Sunday night, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi visited the site where the Yaniv brothers were shot, the IDF said, and “ordered the area to be reinforced with additional forces to thwart terror attacks and prevent violent riots, while increasing and expanding the efforts to capture the terrorists.”
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack on the Israeli brothers, but Lion’s Den had vowed revenge after Wednesday’s raid in Nablus.
Six of those who died there were members of the Palestinian militant group, which emerged in the city last year.
“As big as the pain filling Nablus, the occupation will taste twice the pain,” the group said, referring to Israel. “They will know that the fighters of the honorable groups in Nablus will not take a step back.”
Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, called after Sunday’s killings for Israel to break off ongoing security talks between Israel and the Palestinians brokered by Jordan, Egypt and the United States, saying: “I demand that the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and all the ministers return the delegation from the idle talks in Aqaba…. We need to launch an operation against terrorism!”
Following the rare talks on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian representatives “affirmed their commitment to all previous agreements between them, and to work towards a just and lasting peace,” they said in a joint statement.
Jordanian, Egyptian, and US senior officials attended the summit in Aqaba following an invitation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The joint statement said both sides reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground and to prevent further violence.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority confirmed their “joint readiness and commitment to immediately work to end unilateral measures for a period of 3-6 months. This includes an Israeli commitment to stop discussion of any new settlement units for 4 months and to stop authorization of any outposts for 6 months,” the statement read.
The five parties agreed to convene again in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, in March.
“Jordan, Egypt and the United States consider these understandings as major progress towards re-establishing and deepening relations between the two sides, and commit to assisting and facilitating as appropriate their implementation,” the statement said.
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Israel approves nine settler outposts in the occupied West Bank
Settlements in the Palestinian territories are illegal under international law and have been condemned by the UN.
Israel’s far-right cabinet has approved the legalisation of nine illegal settler outposts in the occupied West Bank, drawing condemnation from the Palestinian Authority (PA), which called the move an “open war” against its people.
More housing units are likely to be built in separate, existing illegal settlements, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday.
“The nine communities had existed for many years; some have existed for decades,” the statement added. They were built without authorisation from the Israeli government.
More than half a million Israelis live in more than 200 settlements built on Palestinian land considered illegal under international laws. Palestinians say the settlement expansion threatens the viability of the future Palestinian state as part of the two-state solution.
The Palestinian foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the latest decision crossed “all red lines” and undermined the revival of “the peace process”.
The United States, which provides billions of dollars in military aid to Israel, has yet to comment, but last month its ambassador said the country opposes the authorisation of Israeli outposts. Biden administration has aired views against settlements.
The United Nations has condemned illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in multiple resolutions and votes.
‘Palestinians will continue to resist’
Political analyst Mohammad Oweis told Al Jazeera that the government of Netanyahu, who was elected in November to form a hardline right-wing coalition, was stepping up its claim on Palestinian land.
“This is an escalation, this will increase the level of violence against the property of the Palestinians,” Oweis said.
“The Palestinians will continue to resist with whatever they have in order to protect their lives and their property.”
The Israeli prime minister’s office said the decision was taken in retaliation for two recent attacks in Jerusalem that killed 10 Israelis. Three Israelis, including two children, were killed in an attack on Friday in Ramot, a Jewish settlement neighbourhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
“In response to the murderous terrorist attacks in Jerusalem, the security cabinet decided unanimously to authorise nine communities in Judea and Samaria,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, using the Israeli name for the West Bank, which it occupied in 1967 along with East Jerusalem.
The announcement comes amid escalating Israeli-Palestinian violence, with at least 46 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces this year. Nine Israelis and one Ukrainian have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the past six weeks.
Israeli forces have killed at least two Palestinians, including a teenager, in the West Bank in the past two days.
Netanyahu said earlier on Sunday during a meeting of his government he wanted to “strengthen settlements” and announced that his government wanted to submit legislation to Knesset, the Israeli parliament, this week to revoke the Israeli nationality of “terrorists”.
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Israeli raid in Jericho kills Palestinian gunmen
Israeli and Palestinian sources report that several Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli army raid near Jericho in the occupied West Bank.
It is thought that five people have died, though it is unknown if all of them were gunmen.The Israeli military has been conducting operations to target militants in the area almost every night.
Israelis have been targeted in raids and attacks during a particularly bloody time since the year’s beginning.
According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the goal of the operation on Sunday night was to apprehend a “Hamas terrorist cell,” which the IDF claimed was responsible for a shooting that took place a week earlier at a restaurant close to a Jewish settlement outside of Jericho. In that attack, nobody was hurt.
Hamas, the militant Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, is less prominent in the West Bank. Palestinian towns and villages there are mostly governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), which is dominated by Hamas’ secular rival, Fatah.
The raid, coupled with activity by a Hamas cell, is unusual in Jericho, which has a relatively high concentration of Fatah-loyal PA security forces.
Witnesses say there was heavy gunfire during the incident in Jericho’s large Aqabat Jabr refugee camp. Bullet holes and bloodstains could be seen in a small house at the centre of the fighting.
IDF spokesperson Ran Kochav said soldiers “neutralised the terrorists”, some of whom, he said, were involved in the attack on the restaurant.
Hamas said its fighters were among the dead.
The governor of Jericho, Jihad Abu al-Assal, said five people had been killed and their bodies taken away by the IDF. Eight other people were also arrested, he said.
Israeli-Palestinian tensions have spiralled since an IDF raid against militants in the West Bank city of Jenin 10 days ago left 10 Palestinians, including two civilians, dead. Israeli security services said a “terror squad” had been planning an imminent attack.
Hours later, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Jewish worshippers and passers-by outside a synagogue in occupied East Jerusalem, killing seven. The following morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian shot a group of people, also in East Jerusalem, wounding an Israeli father and son.
Later in the day, security camera footage showed a gunman and an accomplice entering the restaurant near Vered Yeriho settlement, where about 30 people were sitting. Military sources said the man, armed with an assault rifle, fired one shot in the air before his weapon jammed and the pair left the scene in a car with an Israeli licence plate.
There have been international calls for calm, including from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and the West Bank following the recent bloodshed.
At least 37 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year, including militants and civilians, as the military continues operations there.
Last year in the West Bank, more than 150 Palestinians were killed, nearly all by Israeli forces. The dead included unarmed civilians, militant gunmen and armed attackers.
Meanwhile, a series of attacks by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs targeting Israelis, as well as militant gunfire at troops during arrest raids, killed more than 30 people, including civilians, police, and soldiers.
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Netanyahu declares plans to arm Israelis after Jerusalem attack
Analysts caution that Netanyahu’s action could fuel the violence that has seen 32 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces this month.
In response to the rising violence in the occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to make it simpler for Israelis to obtain firearms. This move is viewed as “collective punishment” and may lead to increased violence.
After calling a meeting of his security cabinet, which was populated by hardline politicians, in response to two shootings, including one in occupied East Jerusalem, Netanyahu announced the measure late on Saturday.
In the Friday shooting outside the East Jerusalem synagogue, seven people died.
The weekend shootings took place towards the end of a month of growing confrontation and follow an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin that killed nine Palestinians and exchanges of fire between Israel and Gaza.
In all, Israeli forces have killed 32 Palestinians this month.
Israel had not carried out a raid on the scale of its operation in Jenin in years, but it is part of intensified military incursions by the Israeli army into the occupied West Bank, which killed at least 200 Palestinians in the past year.
On Saturday, Netanyahu promised to expedite gun permits for Israeli citizens and to step up efforts to collect “illegal weapons”. He added that the homes of the suspected assailants would also be sealed immediately ahead of demolition “in order to exact an additional price from those who support terrorism”.
His office later said social security benefits for the families of attackers will also be cancelled.
In addition, it promised new steps to “strengthen” illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank but gave no details.
‘Breach of human rights’
Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said Netanyahu’s plans to approve more gun permits for Israeli citizens come as Israeli police were also encouraging those with existing licenses to carry their guns.
“While Netanyahu is urging Israelis not to take the law into their own hands, he’s also putting more weapons into those very same hands,” said Bays, who went on to describe the measures against the Palestinian families as “collective punishment” and “a clear breach of human rights”.
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said arming civilians in Israel could further escalate violence.
“They are trying to further arm already armed people in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” Bishara said.
“More violence and more suffering will only play to the hands of the most extreme of the extremes [groups] in Israel and potentially in Palestine.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli military said an additional battalion had been sent to the occupied West Bank for reinforcement.
Analysts in Israel said Netanyahu was under pressure from hardliners in his cabinet, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The government in Israel is the most right-wing in Israeli history.
Ben-Gvir, who had pushed for more gun permits, said on Saturday that he would also push for the death penalty against “terrorists”.
“Itamar Ben-Gvir has a reputation of being a fireman and now Netanyahu is giving him a full container of oil,” said Akiva Eldar, a contributor to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz.
“I am afraid that Netanyahu’s hands are tied. Between two evils, he has to decide which side he takes, and I am afraid that there is no responsible adult in his cabinet that can stop him,” Eldar told Al Jazeera.
The latest measures on Saturday were announced as tens of thousands of protesters also gathered in the city of Tel Aviv to protest separate plans by Netanyahu’s government, which took office in December, to overhaul the country’s judicial system and weaken the Israeli Supreme Court.
The marchers also held a moment of silence in memory of the Jerusalem shooting victims.
The increasing violence has meanwhile raised questions about a third Palestinian uprising.
Basem Naim of Hamas, the group that rules the Gaza Strip, told Al Jazeera that they were ready to respond to further Israeli raids. He said the group was committed to defending its people and families, as well as Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
“We are not planning or initiating any escalation or any violence campaigns. We are also ready, at the same time, to respond [to attacks] as usual,” he said.
Naim said Hamas would seek its people’s freedom with all available means, including diplomatic, political and armed means.
The Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank also upheld its decision to halt security coordination with Israel to protest the deadly raid in Jenin.
After a meeting headed by President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority called on the international community and the United States to force Israel to halt its raids in the West Bank.
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Israel strike Gaza militant sites following rockets fired after deadly raid
In response to rocket fire, Israel has launched airstrikes on Gaza as tensions rise following a deadly army raid in the occupied West Bank.
According to Israeli reports, six rockets were fired, and Israel responded by attacking what it claimed were militant sites.
No one on either side was reported to have been injured.
After nine Palestinians were killed in the Jenin raid, which Israel claimed was carried out to stop “imminent terrorist attacks,” militants threatened to retaliate.
Two rockets were fired around midnight (22:00 GMT Thursday) but were intercepted by Israel’s anti-rocket Iron Dome system, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. Air strikes swiftly followed, targeting what the IDF said was an “underground rocket manufacturing site” in the central Gaza Strip belonging to the Islamist militant group Hamas, which governs the territory.
A second salvo of rockets was fired hours later, landing in open ground, shot down or falling back down in Gaza, the military said. Israel subsequently hit a site which it said was “a significant centre of Hamas terrorist activities” in the northern Gaza Strip.
No group admitted to firing the rockets, though Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks from Gaza.
The overnight exchange followed the deadliest incident of its kind in years after Israeli forces entered the West Bank city of Jenin to arrest an Islamic Jihad “terror squad”. The IDF said it was acting on accurate intelligence about plans by the cell to attack Israelis.
Forces surrounded a building in the city’s urban refugee camp where an intense gun battle erupted. Israel said three armed suspects were “neutralised” after they opened fire, while a fourth suspect surrendered. The IDF said troops were shot at by other Palestinian gunmen and returned fire, hitting targets.
The militant Palestinian Islamic Jihad group and Hamas said their fighters had targeted the troops with gunfire and improvised explosive devices.
The Palestinian health ministry said two civilians, including a 61-year-old woman, were among those killed. Twenty people were also wounded, four of them seriously, it said.
The Palestinian presidency accused Israel of a “massacre” and later announced it had ended co-ordination with Israel on security matters.
A 10th Palestinian was meanwhile shot and killed during a confrontation with Israeli troops in the town of al-Ram, near Jerusalem, as residents protested against the Jenin raid, Palestinian officials said.
At least 30 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank so far this year, including militants and civilians, as the military continues operations there.
Last year in the West Bank more than 150 Palestinians were killed, nearly all by Israeli forces. The dead included unarmed civilians, militant gunmen and armed attackers.
A series of attacks by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs targeting Israelis, as well as militant gunfire at troops during arrest raids, meanwhile killed more than 30 people including civilians, police and soldiers.
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Israeli forces raze down Palestinian school in Masafer Yatta
The school served 22 students from four different villages in the southern occupied West Bank region, where Palestinian residents face forcible displacement.
Israeli forces demolished a newly constructed Palestinian primary school in the southern occupied West Bank’s Masafer Yatta region, where residents face the ongoing threat of forced displacement.
According to locals and officials, the Israeli army raided the area on Wednesday morning and demolished the school in the village of Isfey al-Fauqa.
“The Israeli occupation forces demolished a school while it was in session and students were inside,” said Nidal Younis, the head of Masafer Yatta’s local council.
“They used sound bombs to scare the children and get them out of the school,” he explained.
The Israeli High Court of Justice revoked on Wednesday an interim injunction freezing a demolition order against the school, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories – COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for administrative affairs in the occupied West Bank – said it demolished a building built illegally in an area designated as a closed firing zone.
The institution was built about a month ago and had been operating for less than two weeks. It served 22 students from four different villages in Masafer Yatta, up to the fifth grade.
It is one of more than a dozen schools built across the occupied West Bank under a programme by the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education with funding from the European Union, Fadi al-Umour, an activist from Masafer Yatta, told Al Jazeera.
All the schools built as part of this project are located in Area C – the 60 percent of the occupied West Bank under full Israeli military control – and are intended to challenge Israeli restrictions on Palestinian development there.
The European Union Delegation to the Palestinians said that it was “appalled by the news” of the demolition.
The Palestinian Ministry of Education condemned the demolition in a statement on Wednesday morning and described it as a “heinous crime”.
“It is an addition to the series of ongoing crimes by the occupation against the educational sector, and its targeting of children, students, educational cadres, and institutions [is] without regard for international charters and laws,” the statement continued, adding that such practices are “a flagrant violation of students’ right to safe and free education”.
The ministry said it had organised, just a day prior to the demolition, a visit by a delegation of diplomats and United Nations officials to the Isfey al-Fauqa school.
#MasaferYatta residents welcomed us today at the Isfey Al Fauqa school, which is under imminent threat of demolition, along with 4 other schools. Hampering access to education pressures these Palestinian communities to leave their homes #SaveMasaferYatta #stopdemolitions pic.twitter.com/nrFUDifUtH
— Lynn Hastings (@LynnHastings) November 22, 2022
The school demolition comes days after an 18-year-old Palestinian student was shot dead by Israeli forces while he was on his way to school just outside of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Al-Umour, who is the coordinator of Masafer Yatta’s protection and resilience committee, explained that “the construction of the Isfey school had not yet been completed when it was demolished, but the school was already operating”.
He added that the army also confiscated furniture from the school, including the students’ chairs, and said the school serves the four villages of Tuba, Isfey al-Fauqa, Isfey al-Tahta, and Mughayyer al-Adeed.
The nearest other school to the villages is about four kilometres away.
“This occupation targets everything – it targets our homes, education, our water, solar panels,” said Younis, the council head. “They think this will pressure people to leave so that they can displace them, so that they can ethnically cleanse Masafer Yatta.”
Masafer Yatta, which falls in Area C, is a region south of Hebron, where some eight villages, home to more than 1,200 Palestinians, including 500 children, are facing imminent forced displacement by Israeli authorities based on a May 2022 ruling by Israel’s High Court of Justice.
The ruling concluded a more than two-decade legal battle waged by the residents against their displacement. The Israeli army now has the green light to demolish their homes and force them out at any moment under the pretext that they live in an Israeli army “firing zone”.
Many families in this region lived there prior to Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967. They make their living as shepherds and farmers, but face a myriad of oppressive Israeli military policies including restrictions on maintaining and developing their homes, and barriers to accessing the electricity grid and water network.
They are also surrounded by a belt of illegal Israeli settlements and live under systematic Israeli police, army and settler violence.
An international digital campaign has been launched by activists and action groups in Palestine and abroad, under the hashtag #SaveMasaferYatta, in the hope of drawing attention to the imminent risk facing the residents and pressuring Israel to cease its displacement efforts.
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West Bank: Palestinian man dies after being shot by Israeli soldiers
The Palestinian Wafa news agency, quoting medical sources, identified the slain man as 31-year-old Mujahed Ahmad Daoud.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says a Palestinian man who was shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Saturday night has died as a result of his injuries.
According to ministry authorities, three people were injured in the Israeli fire on Sunday.
Palestinian Wafa news agency, quoting medical sources, identified the slain man as Mujahed Ahmad Daoud, a 31-year-old Palestinian from the town of Qarawet Bani Hassan.
Daoud was rushed to Istishari Hospital in Ramallah where efforts to save his life failed.
The Israeli military said Palestinians had started “a violent riot” near Qarawet Bani Hassan on Saturday and soldiers who had been operating there opened fire.
Tensions high
The incident follows months of tensions that have deepened since Israel began a crackdown in the West Bank in March in response to a series of attacks by Palestinians in Israel.
Israeli forces have been carrying out near-daily raids in recent months, largely focused on the towns of Jenin and Nablus in the West Bank, where a new wave of Palestinian armed resistance is emerging.
Since the beginning of the year, at least 160 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including 51 Palestinians during Israel’s three-day assault on Gaza in August, according to the Ministry of Health.
Tensions have also been high in occupied East Jerusalem after Israeli police locked down the Shuafat camp last week on the pretext of searching for a Palestinian suspected of killing a female Israeli soldier.