Shooting, explosions in Jenin as Israel presses raid

A Palestinian woman walks past Israeli army vehicles during a military raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank, on January 22, 2025.(AFP)
Short Url
Updated 22 January 2025
Follow

Shooting, explosions in Jenin as Israel presses raid

  • The operation, launched just days after a ceasefire paused fighting in Gaza, has left at least 10 Palestinians dead
  • Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the assault

JENIN: Gunfire and explosions rocked the occupied West Bank’s Jenin area on Wednesday, a Palestinian official and an AFP reporter said, as the Israeli military pressed on for a second day with a large-scale raid.
The operation, launched just days after a ceasefire paused fighting in Gaza, has left at least 10 Palestinians dead, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israeli officials have said the raid is part of a broader campaign against militants in the occupied West Bank, citing thousands of attack attempts since the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas began in October 2023.
“The situation is very difficult,” Kamal Abu Al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, told AFP.
“The occupation army has bulldozed all the roads leading to the Jenin camp and leading to the Jenin Governmental Hospital... There is shooting and explosions,” he added, referring to the Israeli military.
Israeli forces have detained around 20 people from villages around Jenin since the operation began on Tuesday, the official said.
An AFP correspondent reported that gunfire and explosions could be heard coming from Jenin refugee camp, a hotbed of militancy where Israeli forces have regularly carried out raids.
In December, security forces from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority were also involved in similar clashes with the militants in and around Jenin.

The Israeli military on Wednesday said it was continuing on with the operation, dubbed “Iron Wall,” adding that they have “neutralized over 10 terrorists.”
“Additionally, aerial strikes on terror infrastructure sites were conducted and numerous explosives planted on the routes by the terrorists were dismantled,” it said in a statement.
The raid in Jenin aims to counter “hundreds of terrorist attacks, both in Judea and Samaria and the rest of Israel,” military spokesman Nadav Shoshani said at a press briefing, referring to the biblical name that Israel uses for the Palestinian territory it has occupied since 1967.
He said that since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel saw “over 2,000 terror attack attempts” from the West Bank, adding that the army had “eliminated around 800 terrorists.”
Shoshani said the explosive devices planted along roads had recently killed a soldier in the area.
Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the raid in Jenin.

“It is a decisive operation aimed at eliminating terrorists in the camp,” Katz said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the military would not allow a “terror front” to be established there.
“It is a key lesson learned from Gaza... we do not want terrorism to recur in the camp once the operation ends,” he said, referring to how the military had to return to several areas in Gaza that were previously declared clear of militants.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid aimed to “eradicate terrorism” in Jenin.
He linked the operation to a broader strategy of countering Iran “wherever it sends its arms — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen,” and the West Bank.
The Israeli government has accused Iran, which supports armed groups across the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza, of attempting to funnel weapons and funds to militants in the West Bank.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for “maximum restraint” from Israeli security forces and expressed deep concern, according to his deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq.
Jenin and its refugee camp are known strongholds of Palestinian militant groups, and Israeli forces frequently carry out raids targeting armed factions in the area.
Violence has surged throughout the occupied West Bank since the Gaza war erupted on October 7, 2023.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 848 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza conflict began.
Meanwhile, at least 29 Israelis including soldiers have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory during the same period, according to official Israeli figures.


Sirens in north Israel after army detects Iranian missiles

Updated 6 sec ago
Follow

Sirens in north Israel after army detects Iranian missiles

  • Israel and Iran on Tuesday accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to end their 12-day war
  • Iran has not formally accepted a ceasefire

The Israeli military reported two missiles fired from Iran mid-morning on Tuesday, leading sirens to blare in the north several hours after US President Trump announced a ceasefire plan.

“Two missiles were launched from Iran and they were intercepted,” a military official told AFP on condition of anonymity, with the army saying people could leave shelters around 15 minuutes after the first alert.

Trump announced a phased 24-hour ceasefire process beginning at around 0400 GMT Tuesday, which Israel said it had agreed to. Iran has not formally accepted a ceasefire.

Israeli defence minister orders attacks on Iran after ceasefire 'violation'

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday he had ordered the country’s military to respond forcefully to what he said was Iran’s violation of a ceasefire with Israel.

The directive followed an announcement by the military that it had detected missile launches from Iran towards Israel.

Less than three hours earlier, US President Donald Trump had said that the ceasefire was now in effect.

Katz said the military had been instructed to carry out high-intensity operations against targets in Tehran.

Israel and Iran on Tuesday accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to end their 12-day war. (AFP)

Israel and Iran accept ceasefire

Israel and Iran on Tuesday accepted a ceasefire plan proposed by US President Donald Trump to end their 12-day war that roiled the Middle East, after Tehran launched a retaliatory limited missile attack on a US military base in Qatar.

The acceptance of the deal by both sides came after Tehran launched a final onslaught of missiles targeting Israel that killed at least four people early Tuesday morning, while Israel launched a blitz of airstrikes targeting sites across Iran before dawn.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel had agreed to a bilateral ceasefire with Iran in coordination with Trump.


UN condemns ‘weaponization of food’ in Gaza

Updated 24 June 2025
Follow

UN condemns ‘weaponization of food’ in Gaza

GENEVA: The United Nations on Tuesday condemned Israel’s apparent “weaponization of food” in Gaza, a war crime, and urged Israel’s military to “stop shooting at people trying to get food.”
“Israel’s militarised humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution,” the UN human rights office said in written notes provided before a briefing.
“Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food.”
The US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began food distribution operations in Gaza on May 26 after Israel completely cut off supplies into the occupied Palestinian territory for more than two months, sparking warnings of mass famine.
The UN said in May that “100 percent of the population” of the besieged territory were ” at risk of famine.”
The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF — an officially private effort with opaque funding — over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
UN rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan warned in the briefing notes of “scenes of chaos around the food distribution points” of the GHF.
Since the organization began operating, “the Israeli military has shelled and shot Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points, leading to many fatalities,” he said.
He pointed to reports that “over 410 Palestinians have been killed as a result, (while) at least 93 others have also been reportedly killed by the Israeli army while attempting to approach the very few aid convoys of the UN and other humanitarian organizations.”
“At least 3,000 Palestinians have been injured in these incidents,” he said.
“Each of these killings must be promptly and impartially investigated, and those responsible must be held to account.”
Kheetan cautioned that the system “endangers civilians and contributes to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
“The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime, and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law,” he warned.
The UN rights office demanded immediate action to rectify the situation.
“The Israeli military must stop shooting at people trying to get food,” Kheetan said, also demanding that Israel “allow the entry of food and other humanitarian assistance needed to sustain the lives of Palestinians in Gaza.”
“It must immediately lift its unlawful restrictions on the work of UN and other humanitarian actors,” he said.
And he called on other countries to “take concrete steps to ensure that Israel — the occupying power in Gaza — complies with its duty to ensure that sufficient food and lifesaving necessities are provided to the population.”


Oman Air resumes flights as Iraq, Syria reopen airspace after Iran-Israel truce announcement

Updated 24 June 2025
Follow

Oman Air resumes flights as Iraq, Syria reopen airspace after Iran-Israel truce announcement

  • Iraq reopened its airspace 12 days after closing it amid the Iran-Israel conflict

DUBAI: Oman Air announced on Tuesday the resumption of flights, as Iraq and Syria reopened their airspace following Israel and Iran’s acceptance of a ceasefire plan to end their 12-day war that had destabilized the region.

Iraq reopened its airspace 12 days after closing it amid the Iran-Israel conflict, aviation authorities confirmed. The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority said the move came “following a comprehensive assessment of the security situation and coordination with relevant national and international authorities.”

The reopening of airspace and resumption of flights is expected to ease regional flight disruptions and allow airlines to resume more direct and efficient routes. 


Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces killed 21 people waiting for aid

Updated 24 June 2025
Follow

Gaza rescuers say Israeli forces killed 21 people waiting for aid

  • Thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations in Gaza, as famine looms across the territory after more than 20 months of war

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed 21 people waiting for aid near a distribution site in the center of the Palestinian territory on Tuesday, the latest deadly incident targeting aid-seekers.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 21 people were killed and around 150 wounded “as a result of the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of gatherings of citizens waiting for aid... in the central Gaza Strip with bullets and tank shells” in the early hours of Tuesday.

AFP has contacted the Israeli military for comment on the incident.

Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the Palestinian territory.

Bassal added that five people were killed and several injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted a house in Gaza City at dawn.

Thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations in Gaza, as famine looms across the territory after more than 20 months of war.

According to figures issued on Saturday by the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, at least 450 people have been killed and nearly 3,500 injured by Israeli fire while seeking aid since late May.

Many of those have been near sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to rescuers.

The privately run foundation’s operations in Gaza have been marred by chaotic scenes. UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with it over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Israel’s opposition leader on Tuesday called for an end to the war in Gaza, after Israel announced it had agreed to a ceasefire with Iran.

“And now Gaza. It’s time to finish it there too. Bring back the hostages, end the war,” Yair Lapid wrote on X.


Over 40 people, including children, killed in Sudan hospital attack, says WHO chief

Updated 24 June 2025
Follow

Over 40 people, including children, killed in Sudan hospital attack, says WHO chief

  • Saturday’s attack on the Al Mujlad Hospital took place in West Kordofan, near the front line between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces

GENEVA: Over 40 people, including children and health care workers, were killed in an attack on a hospital in Sudan at the weekend, the head of the World Health Organization said on Tuesday.
Saturday’s attack on the Al Mujlad Hospital took place in West Kordofan, near the front line between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for attacks on health infrastructure to stop, without saying who was responsible.