Palestinians denounce unprovoked killing of woman in Jenin

Israeli troops aim their weapons during confrontations with Palestinian demonstrators in the West Bank town of Al-Ram on January 27, 2023, a day after a deadly Israeli raid on the Jenin camp. (AFP)
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Updated 27 January 2023
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Palestinians denounce unprovoked killing of woman in Jenin

  • Majida Obaid, 61, was in her home when Israeli soldiers shot her

RAMALLAH: The killing of a Palestinian woman, along with eight men, by Israeli soldiers during Thursday’s attack on Jenin has been widely condemned.

Majida Obaid, 61, was inside her house and posed no danger to the attacking force, Palestinian sources in Jenin told Arab News.

The killing has left people in the city, as well as her family, in a deep state of shock.

Her daughter, Kifaya Obaid, 26, a government employee, told Arab News that around 9 a.m. after her mother had finished prayers, she heard heavy gunfire in the area directly opposite their house.

“She opened a window to find out what was going on. And I was surprised that after less than a minute that she was hit with a bullet in her neck. She fell off the chair on the ground bleeding.”

Kifaya started screaming and tried to close the bleeding wound with her hands. Volunteer paramedics came in to provide first aid, but the Israeli forces began shooting at them. They pulled Majida out of the room to avoid being hit again.

Majida, a mother of five daughters and a son, lived in Jenin with two of her daughters, Kifaya and Shireen.

Kifaya described her mother as a simple, religious person who always prayed to God to die a martyr. She was fasting when she was killed, Kifaya said.

“This is the first time the Israeli soldiers targeted my house and my family with such brutality; they were shooting at every moving target,” Kifaya said.

“A house without the mother’s presence would be difficult to live in, but I am proud that I became a martyr’s daughter,” Kifaya said.

As soon as her death was confirmed, her father, 58-year-old Omar Obaid, who works in a factory in Israel, returned home to attend his wife’s funeral.

One of their married daughters lives in Beersheba, southern Israel, and another in Jordan. The funeral was delayed until the family members arrived.

Kifaya said she could still not understand why Israeli soldiers would target her mother while she was inside her house, adding she was unsure whether there would be a fair investigation into the killing.

“I do not trust their investigations because no one is held accountable. The example of what happened to Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh confirms my belief,” she said.

Abu Akleh, a Palestinian American journalist who worked as a reporter for Al Jazeera for 25 years, was killed by an Israeli soldier on May 11, 2022, while reporting on an Israeli raid in Jenin.

Omar Obeid told Arab News that the “despicable Israeli occupation does not discriminate between a woman or a child.”

He added: “What do we expect from these haters? Majida was sitting in her house when bullets were fired at her directly, killing her. She did not resist and did not shoot at the army to be targeted in such a horrible manner.

“We do not trust their investigations. They were shooting randomly, and no army in the world shoots randomly like these killers.

“I never expected that this would happen. My life will be difficult and harsh after her death, and I will miss her a lot.”

Majida is the first woman to be killed in Jenin this year. Last year, the total death toll in the city as a result of clashes with Israel reached 59, including 34 civilians.

 


Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say

A charred tank truck stands at an oil storage facility after Israeli strikes in Yemen’s Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah.
Updated 11 May 2025
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Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say

  • Strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis

HODEIDAH: Israel attacked Hodeidah in Yemen after the Israeli army said it had warned residents of three ports under Houthi control to evacuate, the Houthi interior ministry said on Sunday.
The strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
There was no immediate comment on the attack from Israel.
The strikes came a few days after a missile launched toward Israel by the Houthis was intercepted.
The attack came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week.
Trump, who had launched an intensified military campaign against Houthi strongholds in Yemen on March 15, agreed to an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal with the group, who said the accord did not include Israel.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at Israel as well as attacking vessels in global shipping lanes, in a campaign that they say is aimed at showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel has carried out numerous retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.


Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living US hostage in Gaza, to be released in truce efforts

US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander has been held by Hamas since the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war. (File/AFP
Updated 11 May 2025
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Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living US hostage in Gaza, to be released in truce efforts

  • Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States
  • Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months

GAZA CITY: Hamas says Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the delivery of aid.
The Hamas statement Sunday night does not say when the release will happen.
The announcement comes shortly before US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week. Trump is not planning to visit Israel.
Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza.
Khalil Al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the US administration over the past few days.
He said in a statement Hamas is ready to “immediately start intensive negotiations” to reach a final deal for a long-term truce which includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats.
Alexander’s parents did not immediately return requests for comment, and there was no immediate response from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months.
“Every time they say Edan’s name, it’s like they didn’t forget. They didn’t forget he’s American, and they’re working on it,” Edan’s mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press in February.
Bombardment continues
Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
The UN and aid groups say food and other supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.
Children carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp said the water was brought by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza. Without it, they rely on wells that are salty and often polluted.
“I am forced to drink salty water, I have no choice,” said Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal disease, and there’s no medicine to treat it.”
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, says enough aid entered during a two-month ceasefire this year and that two of the three main water lines from Israel are still functioning. Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the 19-month war.


Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army

Updated 11 May 2025
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Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army

  • Delivery is third and final shipment of fuel for 25
  • Qatar’s actions indicate its support for the Lebanese people

LONDON: Qatar dispatched more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanon on Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the country’s security capabilities.

The Qatar Fund for Development delivered the third and final fuel shipment for 2025, which comprised 62,000 tonnes of fuel, to the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.

The fund stated that the shipment is intended to strengthen the Lebanese army’s operational capabilities and contribute to Lebanon's security and stability, the Qatar News Agency reported.

The delivery is a sign of Qatar’s support for the Lebanese people, as well as a contribution to prosperity and stability in the country, the QNA added.


Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister

Updated 11 May 2025
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Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister

  • Hussein Al-Sheikh calls for Palestinian Authority to take on civil, security responsibilities in Gaza
  • Qatari official briefed on latest developments in West Bank

LONDON: Hussein Al-Sheikh, the vice president of Palestine, has discussed in Doha the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.

Al-Sheikh spoke of the Palestinian stance on Gaza, calling for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave to allow the Palestinian Authority to take on civil and security responsibilities, the Palestine News Agency reported.

The officials looked at the preparations for the upcoming Arab League Summit in Baghdad and the anticipated visit of US President Donald Trump to the region this week.

Al-Sheikh also briefed the Qatari official on the latest developments in the West Bank, highlighting the urgent need for a ceasefire and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Qatar’s prime minister reaffirmed his country’s strong support for the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the importance of international law and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the WAFA Agency added.

Al-Sheikh was appointed vice president by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after being selected as the deputy chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in April.

He met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Jeddah last week during his first regional visit following his appointment.


UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port

Updated 11 May 2025
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UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port

CAIRO: The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday it received a report of an incident 80 nautical miles off the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port.
UKMTO said a vessel in the area reported a small craft colliding with it and was seen attempting to collide with other vessels in the area, adding that all crew were safe.