10 killed as Israel launches biggest West Bank operation in decades

This blog has now wrapped up. The New Arab will be back at 9am with live updates from Gaza.

The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet later today in New York, at the request of the United Kingdom and Switzerland, to discuss the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.

This meeting follows an incident where Israeli forces fired on a "clearly marked UN humanitarian convoy" from the World Food Programme in the conflict-stricken enclave.

The UK’s mission to the UN posted on X: "The UN has warned aid operations and staff in Gaza are at risk, at a time when a vaccine campaign is urgently needed to stop a polio outbreak."

The UK and @swiss_un have called for the Security Council to meet on the humanitarian situation in Gaza tomorrow at 3pm.

The UN has warned aid operations and staff in Gaza are at risk, at a time when a vaccine campaign is urgently needed to stop a polio outbreak. pic.twitter.com/Smzhcvd7TT

— UK at the UN 🇬🇧🇺🇳 (@UKUN_NewYork) August 28, 2024

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for "an immediate cessation" of Israel's operations in the occupied West Bank, including its assaults on the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas Governorates, according to a statement.

The UN chief strongly condemned the loss of lives, including those of children, and urged Israel to protect civilians and ensure their safety.

"All those injured must have access to medical care, and humanitarian workers must be able to reach everyone in need," he stated.

He warned that "these dangerous developments are fueling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority."

Guterres also expressed concern over "dangerous and provocative acts and statements" by Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has led Israelis in storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound several times since the war on Gaza began and has called for a synagogue to be built there.

The Palestinian Wafa news agency reports that at least three people were injured during an Israeli forces' raid on the Far’a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, one individual was wounded by shrapnel from gunfire, while the other two sustained injuries from physical assaults by the Israeli forces.

Yemen’s Houthi group has announced that it will permit tugboats and rescue ships to assist the crude oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea, following damage to the vessel caused by projectiles fired from the coast of Yemen last week.

“Iran’s mission to the UN reported that "several countries have reached out to ask Ansar Allah [Houthis], requesting a temporary truce for the entry of tugboats and rescue ships into the incident area."

"In consideration of humanitarian and environmental concerns, Ansar Allah has consented to this request."

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had "failed" in its response to a settler attack in the occupied West Bank earlier this month that Palestinian officials said killed one man.

The August 15 raid on the northern West Bank village of Jit came amid soaring violence in the Palestinian territory during the Gaza war and growing international concern over an uptick in attacks by Jewish settlers.

Major General Avi Bluth, head of the military's Central Command which operates in the West Bank, was quoted in a statement as saying the attack was "a very serious terror incident in which Israelis set out to deliberately harm the residents of the town of Jit, and we failed by not succeeding to arrive earlier to protect them".

Jit residents have said about 100 settlers armed with knives and firearms set fire to cars and homes in the village.

The military, releasing on Wednesday a summary of its investigation, said the group wore masks, threw rocks and Molotov cocktails and set three vehicles and two buildings on fire.

The Palestinian health ministry said a 23-year-old Palestinian man, Rashid Sada, was shot dead in the attack.

The military's investigation found that the first troops at the scene "did not manage to fully gauge the situation" and "needed to act more decisively", the statement said.

"Several members of the rapid response team from a nearby (settlement) community, who were not in active reserve duty, arrived at the scene without authorisation, dressed in uniform, and acted contrary to the authority defined for the members of the rapid response team," it added without elaborating.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) temporarily suspended movements across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after it said one of its clearly marked vehicles was struck by at least 10 bullets while approaching an Israeli military checkpoint.

WFP said in a statement that the convoy of two armored vehicles had received "multiple clearances by Israeli authorities to approach" the checkpoint at the Wadi Gaza bridge on Tuesday evening. No one in the vehicle struck was hurt. 

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has "warned of the seriousness of developments in the West Bank" and urged for a "more effective American position to stop the humanitarian catastrophe" in the Gaza Strip, as reported by the Wafa news agency.

The remarks were made during a meeting with a delegation from the US Congress at Al-Husseiniya Palace in Amman, according to a statement from the Jordanian Royal Court.

The king highlighted "the attacks by colonists and extremists against the Palestinians, and the violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem that will lead to the escalation of violence," Wafa reported.

He called for "the United States to play a more effective role in pushing to stop the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, and to find a political horizon to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he views "with utmost severity" new sanctions imposed by Washington on Israeli setters in the West Bank over violence against Palestinians.

"Israel views with utmost severity the imposition of sanctions on citizens of Israel. The issue is in a pointed discussion with the US," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it had "failed" in its response to a settler attack in the occupied West Bank earlier this month that Palestinian officials said killed one man.

Major General Avi Bluth, head of the military's Central Command which operates in the West Bank, was quoted in a statement as saying the attack was "a very serious terror incident in which Israelis set out to deliberately harm the residents of the town of Jit, and we failed by not succeeding to arrive earlier to protect them".

Israel's large-scale military operation on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank "risks seriously deepening the already catastrophic situation" in the Palestinian territory, the United Nations said.

Israel's operations in the West Bank "and the killing of at least nine Palestinians, two of them reportedly children, take the overall death toll in the West Bank since October 7 to 637," UN Human Rights Office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

"This represents the highest number of fatalities over a period of eight months since the UN first started recording casualties in the West Bank two decades ago."

"Many children have been killed while throwing stones at highly protected Israeli security forces, as have other Palestinians posing no imminent threat to life or serious injury," Shamdasani said.

"Such unnecessary or disproportionate use of force and the increase in apparent targeted and other summary killings are alarming."

She said thousands of Palestinians had been arbitrarily arrested and tortured, subjected to unrelenting settler violence, severe restrictions on movement and expression, their homes and property destroyed or seized, and forcibly displaced.

"Israel, as the occupying power, must abide by its obligations under international law," she said.

"The Israeli security forces' use of airstrikes and other military weapons and tactics violates human rights norms and standards applicable to law enforcement operations."

Shamdasani said alleged unlawful killings needed to be thoroughly and independently investigated, and those responsible held to account.

At least 10 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank on Wednesday, in what has been described as the largest Israeli raid on the occupied territory since the Second Intifada, which took place over two decades ago.

Jets bombed cities in the West Bank and ground forces moved in late on Tuesday and early Wednesday, focused mostly on the northern parts of the occupied territory, with the cities of Tulkarm and Jenin as particular targets.

Tubas and Nablus also witnessed violent incursions with at least 15 people wounded, health officials say.

Military sources say the operation is expected to "last several days", The Times of Israel reported.

The raid appears to be the first of its kind since the Palestinian uprising took place between 2000 and 2005, with several cities simultaneously targeted.

The last similar raid, the 2002-launched Operation Defensive Shield, killed 497 Palestinians and lasted well over a month.

Read more about why Israel launched its largest West Bank assault since Second Intifada here.

The EU's mission in the Red Sea, known as Aspides, said on Wednesday that there is no oil spill in the area of the MV SOUNION tanker that was targeted recently off Yemen's coast.

Aspides added that the Greek-flagged oil tanker is still anchored and not drifting.

The Pentagon said on Tuesday the tanker was still on fire in the Red Sea and appeared to be leaking oil.

(Reuters)

The United States on Wednesday announced new sanctions on Israeli settlers in the West Bank over violence against Palestinians, urging its ally Israel to bring greater accountability.

"Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel's security, and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement, adding that it was "critical" for Israel to hold them accountable.

The fate of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is "largely a question that is going to be answered" by the leader of the Palestinian militant group, Deputy CIA Director David Cohen said on Wednesday.

Cohen did not refer to Hamas' leader, Yahya Sinwar, by name. The Israelis were showing seriousness in the negotiations, Cohen told an intelligence and national security summit in Washington.

Israeli negotiators have, however, privately chastised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for placing hurdles on the negotiations with Hamas.

Mediators from the US, Egypt and Qatar have been working to strike a deal between the sides and prevent a broader regional war.

On those efforts, Cohen said: "There may be episodes where people would step back from the brink, but I don't think anybody can be confident that that effort to control escalation is something that ... any party in that region" can control. 

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)

 The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday unanimously voted to extend a long-running peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for another year.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) - established in 1978 - patrols Lebanon's southern border with Israel. The mandate for the operation is renewed annually, and its current authorization was due to expire on Saturday.

The vote came just days after the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Israeli military engaged in one of the most intense exchanges of fire between them over the last 10 months amid fears that Israel's war in Gaza would become a wider regional conflict.

(Reuters)

Israeli forces killed Palestinian man Mohammed Abrahim Tawfiq Abed in the village of Kafr Dan, west of Jenin, according to reports from Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Israeli forces also arrested two young men and wounded two others, the report noted.

Hezbollah announced the killing of one of its fighters, Muhammad Taha from Baalbek, who "fell on the road to Jerusalem", according to Lebanon's National News Agency.

The announcement of his death comes following Israeli strikes on the Lebanon Syria border that killed four people, as well as Israeli strikes near Baalbek this morning.

The Israeli military says it killed Faris Qasim, a militant in Islamic Jihad, in a strike on the Syrian Lebanon border this morning.

In a post on X the Israeli military said "Qasim was responsible for the development of the Islamic Jihad's operaitons plans in Syria and Lebanon," and recruited people into Lebanon's Hezbollah.

It added that others were killed in the strike. A local Syrian official, Abdo al-Taqi, earlier said on Syrian radio that four people were killed in the strike.

The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said he is concerned over Israeli violations of Jerusalem's holy sites and the threats from Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

He said on X that the concerns "are fully legitimate and must be addressed by the international community."

"Regional stability is at stake," he added.

His concerns echoed those made by Jordan's foreign minister Ayman Safadi.

I share DPM @AymanHsafadi’s concerns about the repeated violations of the Status Quo of the Holy Sites, under continued threat including from Minister Ben Gvir.

They are fully legitimate and must be addressed by the international community.

Regional stability is at stake. https://t.co/k3y65BsPjK

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) August 28, 2024

The UN's Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is calling for a humanitarian pause to allow the agency to begin its polio vaccination campaign to stop the spread of the disease which has arisen in Gaza as a result of Israel's incessant bombardment of the enclave.

"We cannot vaccinate children under a sky full of bombs and strikes. We need humanity," the agency said.

With @UNICEF, @WHO, and partners, we are working to start a large-scale vaccination campaign against polio as soon as possible in #Gaza. For this to happen, we need a humanitarian pause.

We cannot vaccinate children under a sky full of bombs and strikes. We need humanity. pic.twitter.com/8TCqIyKO48

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 28, 2024

Israeli forces have raided the Shu'fat camp in the north of Jerusalem from several points with over 150 soldiers and closing its entrances, news publication Al Jazeera English reports.

This coincides with with earlier Israeli raids across the West Bank in refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas- leading to the killing of at least nine Palestinians.

Palestinians in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm have been told they have three hours if they want to leave the camp, according to reports from Al Jazeera. 

The report added that there was no direct evacuation order but the latest move could indicate an escalation in Israeli attacks. This comes as the head of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) medical centre has been assaulted by Israeli forces, as medical staff members were temporarily detained.

Local medical teams reported that only people who have coordinated with ambulances have been able to gain access to the hospital.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas interrupted his visit to Saudi Arabia to return to the occupied West Bank on Wednesday after Israel launched military operations in the Palestinian territory, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

"Abbas cut short his visit to Saudi Arabia and returned to his homeland on Wednesday to follow up on the latest developments in light of the Israeli aggression on the northern West Bank," Wafa said.

An Israeli drone strike on a car crossing through a Syrian checkpoint near the border with Lebanon on Wednesday killed three Palestinian fighters and one member of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, two security sources told Reuters.

The car was not transporting weapons, the sources said. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, to which one of the sources said the three Palestinian fighters belonged.

Local Syrian official Abdo al-Taqi told a Syrian radio station that a car was targeted on Wednesday morning on the road between the Syrian capital Damascus and Lebanon's capital Beirut, and four people were killed.

Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and other armed factions have launched rockets and drones at Israel from southern Lebanon. The groups have strong ties to Iran and to Syria's government and have transported fighters and weapons through the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.

Israel has not commented on the incident. While it takes responsibility for strikes it carries out on Lebanon, it almost never does the same for strikes it is accused of carrying out in Syria.

Israel has targeted weapons shipments and other military infrastructure in Syria for years and has stepped up its strikes there since October, when its war on Gaza began.

Wednesday's drone strike came hours after an Israeli airstrike hit a pickup truck in northeast Lebanon near the Syrian border. A security source told Reuters that the vehicle was carrying military equipment, likely a damaged rocket launcher on the way to be repaired. 

(Reuters)

The governor of Jenin Kamal Abu al-Rub has said that Israeli forces are threatening to invade the Ibn-Sina Specialized Hospital, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

A Lebanese security source said Wednesday that an Israeli air strike hit a lorry loaded with Hezbollah missiles overnight, days after a major flare-up between the regional foes.

Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military did not immediately comment.

"The Israeli air force targeted two Hezbollah lorries" some 10 kilometres (six miles) from Baalbek, a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group in eastern Lebanon, the Lebanese security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"One of the vehicles was hit and a series of explosions were heard in the area."

One person was wounded in the strike, the health ministry said.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed the hit and said "the munitions which were inside the lorry caught fire".

Israel has repeatedly targeted truck convoys in eastern Lebanon that it suspects of delivering weapons to Hezbollah from neighbouring Syria.

Israeli, American, Egyptian and Qatari negotiators were meeting in Doha on Wednesday for "technical/working level" talks on a ceasefire in Gaza, a source with knowledge of the meeting told Reuters without giving further details. 

(Reuters)

Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz has called on the Israeli government to enforce Gaza-like displacement measures in the occupied West Bank as it conducts a large scale assault on the north of the territory.

"We need to deal with the [terror] threat exactly as we deal with terror infrastructure in Gaza, including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians and any other step needed," the Times of Israel quoted him as saying on X. 

"This is a war in every sense," he added. 

He also accused Iran of "funding and arming" Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank, through alleged smuggling of weapons via Jordan.

Gaza's Ministry of Health has reported that in the last 24 hours 58 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in its war on the enclave, adding that a further 131 were also injured in the same time.

The ministry added that the total number of people killed in Israel's war on Gaza is now at 40,534 people with 93,778 injured.

Lebanon's Hezbollah has claimed a series of attacks on targets in northern Israel, including surveillance equipment and military bases.

In a statement, the group said it had used drones to target "espionage equipment" at the "Al-Abbad site", apparently close to the Lebanese town of Hula.

The group also said it had launched "a squadron of suicide drones" at what it described as a military headquarters in Beit Hillel, "hitting it directly and achieving confirmed injuries [among soldiers]".

According to the statement, the attack was in response to the Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese town of Al-Majadil, which injured three people, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.

Since Hezbollah launched what it called the first phase of its response on 25 August to the assassination of senior commander Fuad Shukr, regional media have observed a return to lower-level cross border attacks.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Riyadh on Tuesday to discuss the situation in Gaza, the official Saudi news agency SPA reported.

During their meeting, the two sides discussed "the state of military escalation in Gaza and its surroundings". 

According to the SPA statement, Bin Salman insisted that Saudi Arabia was making "continued efforts in communicating with all international and regional parties to stop the escalation".

The crown prince also reiterated what he called the kingdom's "permanent support for the Palestinian people to obtain their legitimate rights to a decent life, achieve their hopes and aspirations, and achieve a just and lasting peace".

The Saudi news agency said that the meeting was attended by Saudi Defence Minister Khalid bin Salman and Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan.