What is the human cost of Israel’s relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza?

Children react after Israeli bombardment as they take refuge at the Jaouni school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip on July 6, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Updated 24 July 2024
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What is the human cost of Israel’s relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza?

  • Hundreds of Palestinians have died in operations that Israeli forces say targeted Hamas fighters or aimed to free hostages
  • The civilian toll following Israel’s recent bombing of Al-Mawasi and Khan Younis has drawn international condemnation

LONDON: Israel’s military has killed dozens of Palestinian civilians and wounded hundreds more, including children, in its relentless pursuit of Hamas commanders in Gaza, despite designating many of its areas of operation as “safe zones.”

Palestinian health officials said on Monday that 16 civilians were killed in eastern Khan Younis under Israeli shelling, even after Israel issued new orders to evacuate some neighborhoods to keep the civilian population away from areas of combat.

This latest bloodshed followed Israel’s July 13 airstrike on Al-Mawasi camp, another designated safe zone in southern Gaza, which killed at least 90 Palestinians and wounded 300 others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Israel said the target of this strike was Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, as well as Rafa Salama, commander of the group’s Khan Younis Brigade, whom Israel believes was a mastermind of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack.

Denying reports of his death, a Hamas official told the AFP news agency following the strike that Deif was “well and directly overseeing” operations, but he provided no proof for the claim.

Meanwhile, Daniel Hagari, the spokesman for the Israeli military, has said “there are increasing signs that we succeeded in the elimination of Mohammed Deif.”




Smoke rises from Gaza, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict. (Reuters)

Speaking to Al-Arabiya TV channel on Friday, he said: “Rafa Salama was certainly eliminated; Mohammed Deif and Salama sat side by side during the strike. Hamas is hiding what happened to Deif.”

Herzi Halevi, Israel’s chief of the general staff, has also accused Hamas of “concealing the results” of the strike on a west Khan Younis compound, where both Deif and Salama were purportedly hiding.

Regardless of whether the strike on Al-Mawasi was successful or not, the attack on an area packed with civilians drew global condemnation, with observers accusing the Israeli military of violating international humanitarian law.

Josep Borrell Fontelles, the high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, wrote on the social media platform X: “Wars have limits enshrined in international law; end can’t justify all means. We condemn the violation.”

He added: “Once again we call for access to independent investigations and accountability, and for an end to the appalling situation of innocent civilians in Gaza.”

On the day of the attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi “to express our serious concern about the recent civilian casualties in Gaza.”




Women react after Israeli bombardment as they take refuge at the Jaouni school. (AFP)

The deadly Al-Mawasi strike was not the first incident since the conflict began on Oct. 7 in which the Israeli military has been accused of disregarding the safety of civilians and violating international humanitarian law in the pursuit of Hamas commanders.

In the fighting since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attack, at least 38,900 Palestinians, including more than 13,000 children, have been killed, according to the UN Human Rights Office. The proportion of the dead who were combatants is a matter of dispute.

The Israeli army’s bombing campaign, which Israeli officials say is aimed at Hamas and not civilian targets, has also destroyed medical, sanitation, and educational infrastructure across the Palestinian enclave.

Last month, in an operation that rescued four hostages, the Israeli military killed and injured hundreds of Palestinians in the densely populated Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Israeli military said there were “under 100” Palestinian casualties but was uncertain how many of them were “terrorists.”

But almost a quarter of the 142 killed in the operation were women and children, Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat told BBC Arabic’s “Gaza Today” show, adding that 250 others were injured.




Children walk past a destroyed classroom in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)

Expressing “profound shock” at the impact on civilians in Nuseirat, UN spokesman Jeremy Laurence said the Israeli forces’ actions “seriously call into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality, and precaution … were upheld.”

In March, the Israeli military mounted a raid on Gaza’s largest medical facility, Al-Shifa Hospital, where it claimed Hamas fighters and other Palestinian militants were hiding.

Some 3,000 people were sheltering in Al-Shifa at the time of Israel’s raid, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said. At least 1,500 Palestinians, including 13 children and 21 patients, were killed in the two-week raid, according to the Euro-Med Monitor, a nongovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva.

Israeli officials said that “over 200 terrorists” were killed in and around Al-Shifa, as well as hundreds detained, including several Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives.

It has been impossible to independently verify the reported numbers due to a lack of reporting access to Gaza.




Israeli soldiers travel in a military vehicle by the Israel-Gaza border. (Reuters)

Between July 8 and 12, Israel attacked six schools operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency, killing dozens of civilians sheltering in the area, before reportedly razing the UN agency’s headquarters in Gaza City on July 15.

Israel has accused local staff at UNRWA of participating in the Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel, prompting the UN agency to launch an internal investigation and several major donors, including the US, to suspend funding for its operation in Gaza and throughout the region.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini called Israel’s attack on his agency’s Gaza headquarters “another episode in the blatant disregard of international humanitarian law.”

In a post on X, he said: “UN facilities must be protected at all times. They must never be used for military or fighting purposes. Every war has rules. Gaza is no exception.”

In a separate post, Lazzarini stressed that “schools must never be used for fighting or military purposes by any party to the conflict.”

NOTABLE CIVILIAN CASUALTY EVENTS

• Oct. 7, 2023: 1,200 Israeli and other nationals killed in southern Israel, hundreds taken hostage, in Hamas-led attack.

• Oct. 31, 2023: 110+ Palestinians killed in Israeli strike targeting ‘senior Hamas commander’ in Jabalya refugee camp in northern Gaza.

• Feb. 29, 2024: 112 Palestinians waiting for aid killed, 760 more injured outside Gaza City amid Israeli gunfire and panic.

• April 1: 7 World Central Kitchen workers killed in Israeli strikes in violation of military procedures on convoy delivering aid in Gaza.

• May 27: 45+ Palestinians killed in Israeli strike targeting ‘two senior Hamas commanders’ in Rafah.

• June 9: 274 Palestinians killed in Israeli military raid that freed 4 hostages who were held in Nuseirat refugee camp.

• July 13: 90+ Palestinians killed, 300 wounded in Israeli airstrike targeting Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif in Al-Mawasi.

Source: Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli govt.

Warning that “all rules of war have been broken in Gaza,” he said: “The blatant and constant disregard of international humanitarian law continues unabated.”

Israel has consistently denied accusations that it targets civilian infrastructure, accusing Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups of using tunnels under Gaza’s hospitals to mount attacks and conceal weapons, thereby using the population as human shields.

Commenting on Israel’s conduct, a New York-based international lawyer, who asked to remain anonymous, told Arab News that in the Gaza war, “international law remains relevant as a framework for accountability and justice by providing mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable for war crimes, genocide, and other atrocities.”




Palestinians walk on a street flooded with sewage water in Deir El-Balah. (AFP)

The International Criminal Court, which prosecutes individuals accused of war crimes, has made an attempt to hold “both parties to the conflict” accountable for alleged war crimes.

Israeli officials believe the ICC is likely to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant within the next two weeks, Israeli media reported on July 17.

Karim Khan, ICC chief prosecutor, filed an application in May for arrest warrants against two Israeli and three Palestinian individuals suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Hamas commander Deif was among the Palestinians listed in the ICC’s arrest warrant, alongside Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, and Yahya Sinwar, head of the Islamist movement in Gaza.

The arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant accused them of using starvation as a tool of war, extermination, and deliberately attacking civilian populations, alongside other war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Khan said he had “reasonable grounds” to believe the five men bore “criminal responsibility” for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza.

The decision caused anger among the Hamas leadership, in Israel, and even in the US. US President Joe Biden described the move as “outrageous,” saying there was “no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.”

Hamas said the ICC’s prosecutor was “equating the victim with the executioner” and demanded the withdrawal of the allegations against its leaders.




Israel has consistently denied accusations that it targets civilian infrastructure. (AFP)

The New York-based international lawyer said that although international law and ongoing developments “create a foundation for addressing atrocities and fostering a more just and peaceful world,” its enforcement “can be inconsistent and subject to political influence.”

On July 19, the UN’s International Court of Justice at The Hague declared Israel’s occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip, the West Banks and East Jerusalem, to be “unlawful” in a landmark ruling.

Stating that Israel’s discriminatory laws and policies against Palestinians violate the prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid, the ICJ also ordered Israel to end its occupation of the Palestinian territories “as rapidly as possible.”

Israel has since Oct. 7 also mounted dozens of raids on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, killing at least 500 Palestinians, 143 of them children, according to UN figures.

The ICJ’s recent ruling, however, is a non-binding advisory opinion that was sought by the UN General Assembly in 2022, preceding the Israeli onslaught on Gaza and not directly linked to it.

Responding to the ruling, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement saying: “The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land — not in our eternal capital Jerusalem, nor in our ancestral heritage of Judea and Samaria (the occupied West Bank).

“No decision of lies in The Hague will distort this historical truth, and similarly, the legality of Israeli settlements in all parts of our homeland cannot be disputed.”

In December last year, South Africa brought a case against Israel before the ICJ, alleging it had committed genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.




Between July 8 and 12, Israel attacked six schools operated by the UN Relief and Works Agency, killing dozens of civilians sheltering in the area. (Reuters)

The ICJ issued a provisional ruling in January, modified in May, ordering Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive” and urging Hamas to release the hostages immediately and unconditionally.

Regardless, Israel has continued to bomb Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip where well over a million displaced Palestinians are sheltered, while Hamas is believed to still hold 116 hostages.

No amount of legal wrangling has brought the conflict closer to resolution.

Diplomats and region watchers continue to call on both sides to accept an immediate ceasefire, to exchange hostages and prisoners, and to actively pursue a solution to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

 


Iran-backed Houthis claim fourth attack against US warships

Updated 54 min 6 sec ago
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Iran-backed Houthis claim fourth attack against US warships

  • The U.S. launched a wave of strikes in areas of Yemen controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthis, who said last week they were resuming attacks on Red Sea shipping to support Palestinians in Gaza

SANAA: Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said on Wednesday they launched another attack against American warships in the Red Sea, their fourth time firing on the carrier group in 72 hours.
The Houthis’ military spokesperson said the operation entailed “a number of cruise missiles and drones, targeting the aircraft carrier ‘USS Harry Truman’ and a number of enemy warships,” adding that the attack was “the fourth within 72 hours.”
 

 


After one of the deadliest days in Gaza, here’s the conflict in numbers

Updated 19 March 2025
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After one of the deadliest days in Gaza, here’s the conflict in numbers

  • The renewed Israeli offensive threatens to escalate the spiraling humanitarian crisis for Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians

JERUSALEM: Israel’s wave of predawn airstrikes across Gaza shattered two months of relative calm during a ceasefire with Hamas. Tuesday was one of the deadliest days in Gaza since the war began, with over 400 Palestinians killed and hundreds more wounded.
The first phase of the ceasefire saw Hamas release 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. The deal also called on Israel to ramp up delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. After those exchanges wrapped up, Israel cut off all aid to Gaza to pressure Hamas to extend the ceasefire.
The renewed Israeli offensive threatens to escalate the spiraling humanitarian crisis for Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians. Hamas says the pounding bombardments put the 24 remaining hostages’ lives in danger.
Here’s a look at the 17-month-old conflic t by the numbers, sourced from the Gaza Health Ministry, the Israeli military and government, and the United Nations.
Current situation inside Gaza
Palestinians killed Tuesday — at least 404
Women and children killed Tuesday — 263
Senior Hamas officials killed Tuesday — 6
Aid trucks Israel let into Gaza since March 2 — zero
Overall war statistics
Palestinians killed — at least 48,981
(The Hamas-linked Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says more than half of them were women and children.)
Palestinians wounded — at least 112,603
Average number of aid trucks entering Gaza each day in December — 93 (UN), 163 (Israel)
Aid trucks entering Gaza each day between the start of the ceasefire and March 2 — 600
People killed in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 — 1,200
Israeli soldiers killed in Israel’s subsequent ground operation in Gaza — 407
Palestinians displaced at war’s peak — 1.9 million, or roughly 90 percent of the population
Hostages/Prisoners
Living hostages held by Hamas — 24
Non-Israelis — 1 Thai and 1 Nepalese (alive), 2 Thais and 1 Tanzanian (dead)
Living Israeli hostages — 22, including 4 soldiers
Bodies of hostages held by Hamas — 35, including 9 soldiers
Hostages released during recent ceasefire — 33
Hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023 — 251
Palestinian prisoners released during recent ceasefire — more than 1,700

 


Why did Netanyahu end the Gaza ceasefire?

Updated 19 March 2025
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Why did Netanyahu end the Gaza ceasefire?

  • Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas was claiming flexibility in public while making “entirely impractical” demands
  • The agreement reached in January, under pressure from the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump one, called for a phased ceasefire aimed at freeing all the hostages abducted in Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack and ending the war it caused

JERUSALEM: The wave of Israeli strikes that killed hundreds of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday was the culmination of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to get out of the ceasefire with Hamas that he agreed to in January.
Since the start of the war, Netanyahu has faced dueling, possibly incompatible pressures: Families of the hostages want him to cut a deal with Hamas to free them, while his far-right coalition partners want to continue the war with the aim of annihilating the militant group.
On Tuesday, he appeared to cast his lot with the latter — and US President Donald Trump’s administration has backed Netanyahu’s decision to unilaterally walk away from the ceasefire it took credit for brokering.
Both Israel and the United States blame the renewed hostilities on Hamas’ refusal to release more hostages before negotiations on ending the war proceed — which was not part of the ceasefire agreement. Israel has accused Hamas of preparing for new attacks, without providing evidence. The militant group has denied those allegations.
Hamas — which has yet to respond militarily to the Israeli strikes — has spent weeks calling for serious talks on the ceasefire agreement’s second phase, which calls for the release of the remaining living hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a lasting ceasefire.
Those talks were supposed to begin in early February. Now they may never happen.
What did the ceasefire agreement say?
The agreement reached in January, under pressure from the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump one, called for a phased ceasefire aimed at freeing all the hostages abducted in Hamas’ Oct 7, 2023, attack and ending the war it caused.
Under the first phase, which ran from Jan. 19 to March 1, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in return for nearly 1,800 Palestinian prisoners, including senior militants serving life sentences for deadly attacks. Israeli forces pulled back to a buffer zone, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians returned to what remained of their homes, and there was a surge of humanitarian aid.
Each side accused the other of violations, and Israeli strikes killed dozens of Palestinians the military accused of engaging in militant activities or entering no-go zones. But the truce held.
Still, the second phase was always seen as far more difficult.
Through months of negotiations, Netanyahu had repeatedly cast doubt on it, insisting Israel was committed to returning all the hostages and destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities — two war goals that many believe are irreconcilable.
In a TV interview last June, Netanyahu cast doubt on the possibility of a lasting ceasefire before Hamas is destroyed. “We are committed to continuing the war after a pause, in order to complete the goal of eliminating Hamas. I’m not willing to give up on that,” he said.
On Jan. 18, the eve of the ceasefire, he said “we reserve the right to return to war if necessary with the backing of the United States.”
Why did Netanyahu back out of the ceasefire?
Agreeing to a permanent ceasefire would almost certainly plunge Netanyahu into a political crisis that could end his nearly uninterrupted 15-year rule.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had threatened to leave the coalition if Netanyahu progressed to Phase 2 instead of restarting the offensive. Opposition parties have promised to support him in any agreement that brings back hostages, but his coalition would still be severely weakened, making early elections likely.
By resuming the fighting, Netanyahu ensured Smotrich’s continued support. After the strikes, the Israeli leader regained another far-right partner, Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose party had bolted in January over the ceasefire but returned to the coalition Tuesday.
Beyond the political jockeying, Netanyahu’s stated goal of annihilating Hamas would have almost certainly eluded him had he stuck with the ceasefire agreement.
Hamas survived 15 months of Israeli bombardment and ground operations that killed over 48,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, and destroyed much of Gaza. When the truce took hold, the militant group immediately reasserted its rule.
There’s no agreement on who should govern Gaza after the war, and even if the Western-backed Palestinian Authority were granted nominal control, Hamas would have strong influence on the ground and could rebuild its military capabilities.
For many Israelis, especially Netanyahu’s hawkish base and far-right allies, that would look like defeat. It would add to the criticism he already faces over security failures surrounding the Oct. 7 attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251.
How did Netanyahu end the truce?
After the first phase ended, Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to what he described as a new US proposal in which Hamas would release half the remaining hostages in return for a seven-week extension of the truce and a vague promise to launch negotiations over a lasting ceasefire.
Hamas refused, pointing out that the new proposal was different from the one they had agreed to in January and again called for the immediate launch of talks on Phase 2.
It even offered to return an America-Israeli and the bodies of four other hostages to get the talks back on track, an offer dismissed as “psychological warfare” by Israel. Trump’s Mideast envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Hamas was claiming flexibility in public while making “entirely impractical” demands.
In an attempt to impose the new arrangement on Hamas, Israel halted the import of all food, fuel and other humanitarian aid to Gaza. It later cut off electricity, affecting a vital desalination plant. Israel also said it would not withdraw from a strategic corridor on Gaza’s border with Egypt, as stipulated in the agreement.
In recent days, Israel stepped up strikes across Gaza, targeting people it said were planting explosives or engaging in other militant activities. On Tuesday, at around 2 a.m., it launched one of the deadliest waves of strikes since the start of the war.
What has Trump said about the ceasefire?
Trump took credit for brokering the ceasefire in January, but since then has appeared to sour on it. He has warned that “all hell” will break loose if Hamas does not immediately release the hostages, while saying that’s a decision for Israel to make.
Trump has also proposed that Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians be permanently relocated so the US can take ownership of Gaza and develop it as a tourist destination. Netanyahu has embraced the plan, which has been universally condemned by Palestinians, Arab countries and human rights experts, who say it would violate international law.
The White House said it was consulted ahead of Tuesday’s strikes and supported Israel’s decision.
 

 


At least 10 US strikes target areas in Yemen

Updated 19 March 2025
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At least 10 US strikes target areas in Yemen

CAIRO: At least 10 US strikes targeted areas in Yemen, including Sanaa, the capital, and Hodeidah, Yemen’s Houthi media reported early on Wednesday.
The US launched a wave of strikes in areas of Yemen controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthis, who said last week they were resuming attacks on Red Sea shipping to support Palestinians in Gaza.


West Bank livestock theft symbol of tensions and settler ‘impunity’

Updated 19 March 2025
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West Bank livestock theft symbol of tensions and settler ‘impunity’

  • Throughout the Gaza war, violence in the West Bank — a separate Palestinian territory — has soared, as have calls to annex it, most notably from Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich

JERICHO, Palestinian Territories: A community of Palestinian Bedouins has decried a major theft of their livestock in the occupied West Bank, where the UN says violence from Israeli settlers is taking place in a climate of impunity.
On March 7, dozens of Israeli settlers, some of them armed, attacked Palestinian residents in Ras Ein al Auja while under the protection of Israeli forces, according to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Resident Haitham Suleiman Zayed described how around 40 vehicles arrived in the pastoral area in the Jordan Valley, accompanied by “army forces and armored Israeli vehicles.” More than 1,500 livestock were stolen, he said.

An Israeli settler herds a flock near the bedouin community of al-Auja west of Jericho in the Israel-occupied West Bank on March 16, 2025, which was attacked the previous week by Israeli settlers who reportedly stole sheep. (AFP)

“We tried to confront them by throwing stones at them to make them move away from this enclosure, but we could not do that,” Zayed, 25, told AFP, adding that Israeli forces had intervened to protect the thieves, whom he referred to as settlers.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military referred to a police statement issued the day after the incident.
The statement said police had intervened after receiving a report regarding the theft of 50 sheep from Zohar’s farm — a settler outpost run by Zohar Sabah, an Israeli targeted in November by United States sanctions against settlers involved in acts of violence.

This picture shows a view of the Bedouin community of al-Auja west of Jericho in the Israel-occupied West Bank on March 16, 2025, which was attacked the previous week by Israeli settlers who reportedly stole sheep. (AFP)

The sanctions introduced by the administration of former president Joe Biden were canceled by President Donald Trump on his return to power.

“Police and (Israeli) forces began searching for the flock and arrived at a Bedouin encampment near the Palestinian village of Auja, where they located the (settler’s) stolen flock,” the Israeli police statement said.
“The Palestinian suspect was arrested and taken for interrogation, where he admitted to the act,” it added.

A boy from the bedouin community of al-Auja looks at an empty sheepfold after sheep were reportedly stolen by Israeli settlers in an attack the previous week, west of Jericho in the Israel-occupied West Bank on March 16, 2025. (AFP)

OCHA said that according to eyewitnesses, “settlers physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian man, stole approximately 1,400 livestock, killed 12 goats, and damaged at least three houses and several solar panels.”
The Palestinian man injured during the confrontation was “restrained by Israeli police while settlers beat him,” the UN office added.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, the territory is home to nearly three million Palestinians and around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.
“The transfer by Israel of parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies amounts to a war crime,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Israel must immediately and completely cease all settlement activities and evacuate all settlers, stop the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population, and prevent and punish attacks by its security forces and settlers,” he added.
His comments came as his office released a new report on the situation in the West Bank between October 2023 and last November.
“The line between settler and state violence (has) blurred to a vanishing point, further enabling an increase in violence and impunity,” the report said.

OCHA said that Israeli settlers in February bulldozed an area of Ras Ein al Auja to build a road connecting two settlement outposts.
“From Masafer Yatta in the south to the northern Jordan Valley in the north, there is not a single square meter safe from settler attacks,” said Zayed.
“The main goal is to displace people,” he added.
Throughout the Gaza war, violence in the West Bank — a separate Palestinian territory — has soared, as have calls to annex it, most notably from Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.
Since early last year, the territory has seen a string of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli targets, as well as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities.
Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 911 Palestinians, including many militants, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 32 Israelis over the same period, according to official figures.