Ten Hamas fighters were killed during a large-scale Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank, the militant group said Wednesday, with troops sealing off the city of Jenin — long a militant stronghold.
Israeli forces also conducted operations, including airstrikes, in Tulkarem and the Al-Faraa refugee camp. All of the locations are in the northern West Bank. Hamas said that 10 of its fighters had been killed in the West Bank.
At least 652 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli fire since the war in Gaza began nearly 11 months ago, Palestinian health officials say. Most of the fatalities come during raids that Israel says target militants.
The reports of the latest operation came a day after the Israeli military rescued a hostage who was among scores of people abducted in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, was rescued “in a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip,” the military said Tuesday. Alkadi left a hospital and returned home on Wednesday.
Here’s the latest:
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. food agency says it is “pausing” the movement of all staff in Gaza until further notice after one of its clearly marked vehicles was hit by at least 10 bullets as it was moving toward an Israeli military checkpoint at the Wadi Gaza bridge in the center of the territory.
The World Food Program announcement Wednesday afternoon said the vehicle was struck Tuesday evening despite receiving multiple clearances by Israeli authorities to approach. “None of the employees onboard were physically harmed,” WFP said.
The agency said two armored WFP vehicles were returning from the Kerem Shalom crossing after escorting a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian cargo routed to Gaza’s central area.
“Though this is not the first security incident to occur during the war it is the first time that a WFP vehicle has been directly shot at near a checkpoint, despite securing the necessary clearances, as per standard protocol,” the Rome-based agency said.
It called the incident “a stark reminder of the rapidly and ever shrinking humanitarian space in the Gaza Strip, where increasing violence compromises our ability to deliver life-saving assistance.”
WFP said this critical situation is exacerbated “by restricted access and heightened risks” which has led to a decrease in the amount of food reading Palestinians in desperate need.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the vehicle was struck by Israeli military gunfire, “including with bullets targeting front windows.” He said the incident shows the need for more U.N. armored vehicles, saying the two people inside the WFP vehicle were saved because it was armored.
JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities said Wednesday that they have recovered the body of a soldier who was abducted and killed by Hamas on Oct. 7 and who had since been held in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli’s military and the Shin Beit internal security agency rescued the remains of the fallen soldier in a joint operation overnight and returned them to Israel, according to a statement.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mourned the man’s death, saying he had fallen “in a heroic battle” on Oct. 7 while defending Israeli communities near Gaza.
“The heart of the entire nation mourns the terrible loss,” Netanyahu said.
The soldier was not identified at the family’s request.
The war in Gaza erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and rampaged through army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. The militants are still holding 107 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead, after most of the rest were released during a November cease-fire.
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military on Wednesday published its findings from an investigation into a deadly rampage by Israeli settlers in the West Bank earlier this month, concluding that the army did not respond decisively enough, but did not announce any punishments.
The Aug. 15 settler riot in the village of Jit, near the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, killed one Palestinian and badly injured others. It triggered a rare denunciation by government leaders of the settler violence growing more common since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.
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