Israel launched a large-scale, deadly military operation in the northern occupied West Bank on Wednesday, sparking concern at the UN, on the sidelines of the war that has been going on in Gaza for nearly eleven months.
Key information to remember
⇒ Sanctions against “extremist” Israeli settlers
⇒ Israeli forces “eliminated nine armed terrorists”
⇒ WFP suspends its activities
Israeli forces “eliminated nine armed terrorists”
Israeli forces “eliminated nine armed terrorists” in Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem, including seven in air raids, the army announced, with the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry putting the toll at “eleven dead”, to which were added 24 injured, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Among the dead are “children”, according to the UN, whose general secretariat said it was following the situation “with great concern”, and deplored “deadly war tactics which appear to exceed international standards for maintaining order”.
According to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, three dead in the Jenin refugee camp were members of its armed wing. In the evening, gunfire and explosions continued in this city, a stronghold of armed groups fighting against Israel, according to an AFP journalist on the scene.
Sanctions against “extremist” Israeli settlers
Washington, which says it opposes any expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, announced new sanctions targeting “extremist” Israeli settlers on Wednesday. Benjamin Netanyahu considered this “imposition of sanctions against Israeli citizens” to be “very serious”. Deemed illegal under international law by the UN, Israeli settlements in the West Bank have continued under all governments, left and right, since Israel conquered this Palestinian territory in 1967.
It has clearly intensified with the presence of far-right ministers in the government formed in December 2022 by Benjamin Netanyahu. A spokesperson for the Israeli army has played down the importance of the ongoing operation, not “extremely different” according to him from the usual. According to the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Israel Katz, the army intends to “dismantle the Iranian-Islamist terrorist infrastructures” in the West Bank. On X, he called for action there “with the same determination […] than in Gaza, with temporary evacuations of Palestinians.”
Ezzat Rishq, a Hamas official, saw this as a call to “expand the spiral of destruction and genocide.” Islamic Jihad, a Palestinian movement allied with Hamas, accused Israel of working “to annex the West Bank.”
Gaza strikes kill 12
In the Gaza Strip, the Civil Defense reported at least 12 dead, including a child and a woman, in new Israeli strikes. The Israeli army announced for its part that it had recovered in Gaza the remains of a soldier killed on October 7. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 103 are still being held in Gaza, including 33 declared dead by the army.
Distressed Gazans continue to move as the Israeli army issues increasing evacuation orders, complicating humanitarian deliveries to the besieged Palestinian territory along with the incessant bombings.
WFP suspends operations
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Wednesday that it was suspending “until further notice” the movement of its staff in Gaza after one of its vehicles, “clearly identified” and which had “received multiple authorizations from the Israeli authorities” was hit by Israeli gunfire on Tuesday, without casualties. The army did not immediately comment on the incident.
Talks in Doha
Meanwhile, mediators between Israel and Hamas – Qatar, Egypt and the United States – are still trying to secure a ceasefire in Gaza that would include the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
After talks in Cairo, an Israeli delegation held discussions on Wednesday in Doha at a “technical level” with the mediators, according to a source familiar with the negotiations.