Save articles for later
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.
Ramallah: Seven Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin overnight, including five in a drone strike during an Israeli raid, the Palestinian health ministry and the Palestinian official news agency WAFA said.
They said the dead included a 13-year-old who died after Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from transferring him to the hospital to receive medical treatment.
Israeli soldiers are seen during an army operation, in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank.Credit: AP
Israel’s military confirmed the drone strike, and said it had killed an unspecified number of Palestinians who were spotted hurling explosive devices and firing at its forces.
Israeli troops were operating “to expose explosive devices planted under roads to attack the security forces”, the military said in a statement.
The troops found weapons, ammunition and explosive devices, tunnels and an observation control room, and dismantled a bomb making site, the statement said.
One other person was injured in the attack on Al-Sibat neighbourhood in the city of Jenin, WAFA reported.
Jenin’s hospital director told the agency the Palestinians were directly targeted. Israeli forces are encircling three hospitals in the area, WAFA added.
Before this attack, the health ministry reported that 275 Palestinians had been killed in the occupied West Bank since the October 7 attack on southern Israel by gunmen of the Islamist movement Hamas operating out of the Gaza Strip.
The UN General Assembly appeared set to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the two-month-long conflict between Israel and Hamas after the United States vetoed such a move in the Security Council.
No country has a veto power in the 193-member General Assembly, which is due to vote on a draft resolution that mirrors the language of one that was blocked by the United States in the 15-member Security Council last week.
General Assembly resolutions are not binding but carry political weight, reflecting a global view on the war.
Israeli soldiers are seen during an army operation, in the Jenin refugee camp, West Bank.Credit: AP
“This war will end when we can answer the diplomat-babysitter test,” Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy said on Tuesday.
“Would those diplomats voting to save Hamas’ skin at the United Nations feel safe babysitting children in Kfar Azza, Beeri and Nir Oz? For that to happen, Hamas must be destroyed. And that is exactly what we will do,” he said.
Australia, New Zealand and Canada issued a joint statement calling for a pause in fighting in Gaza and efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire on Wednesday.
“We want to see this pause resumed and support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire. This cannot be one-sided. Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and lay down its arm,” the leaders’ statement said.
Before the UN vote, US President Joe Biden told a fundraising event for his 2024 re-election campaign that Israel was losing international support because of “indiscriminate bombing that takes place.”
Biden spoke hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has a “disagreement” with the US president about the future of Gaza, rejecting Biden’s proposal for a revitalised Palestinian Authority to take control.
Biden said his administration would continue to protect Israel but raised concerns about the attitudes of other nations. Israel must be “careful” because “the whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight,” Biden warned.
Netanyahu said he “will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo,” referring to the 1993 agreement that resulted in the Palestinian Authority gaining limited self-rule in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
“Yes, there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’ and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well.
“After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism. Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan.”
Reuters
Most Viewed in World
From our partners
Source: Read Full Article
