Israeli strike kills 3 in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

Palestinians inspect a damaged road following an Israeli army raid in Tulkarem, in the occupied West Bank (AFP)

Short Url

https://arab.news/8c9kt

Updated 22 August 2024

AP

August 22, 2024 07:21

Follow

Israeli strike kills 3 in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

It said the apparent strike was carried out overnight into Thursday in the Tulkarem refugee camp

Updated 22 August 2024

AP

August 22, 2024 07:21

Follow

The Palestinian Health Ministry says three people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the occupied West Bank.
It said the apparent strike was carried out overnight into Thursday in the Tulkarem refugee camp, a built-up residential area dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. It did not say whether those killed were fighters or civilians.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israeli forces carry out near-daily raids in the West Bank that often ignite gunbattles with Palestinians. Palestinian militants have carried out a series of attacks against Israelis.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 637 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for a future state. Israel has built scores of settlements across the West Bank that are home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers. They have Israeli citizenship, while the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar seeking to secure a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain. Diplomatic efforts have redoubled as fears grow of a wider regional war after the recent targeted killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, both blamed on Israel, and threats of retaliation.
Meanwhile, key mediator Egypt expressed skepticism Wednesday as more details emerged of the proposal meant to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas.
Hamas is believed to still be holding around 110 hostages captured during the Oct. 7 attacks that started the war. Israeli authorities estimate around a third are dead. During the Oct. 7 attack, militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The war has caused widespread destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, often multiple times.

Follow

AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people

Updated 10 sec ago

AP

February 18, 2025 22:25

Follow

AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people

After a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s use of Microsoft and OpenAI technology skyrocketed, an investigation found
The investigation also revealed new details of how AI systems select targets and ways they can go wrong, including faulty data or flawed algorithms

Updated 10 sec ago

AP

February 18, 2025 22:25

TEL AVIV: US tech giants have quietly empowered Israel to track and kill many more alleged militants more quickly in Gaza and Lebanon through a sharp spike in artificial intelligence and computing services.

But the number of civilians killed has also soared, along with fears that these tools are contributing to the deaths of innocent people.

Militaries have for years hired private companies to build custom autonomous weapons. However, Israel’s recent wars mark a leading instance in which commercial AI models made in the US have been used in active warfare, despite concerns that they were not originally developed to help decide who lives and who dies.

The Israeli military uses AI to sift through vast troves of intelligence, intercepted communications and surveillance to find suspicious speech or behavior and learn the movements of its enemies.

After a surprise attack by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, 2023, its use of Microsoft and OpenAI technology skyrocketed, an investigation found.

The investigation also revealed new details of how AI systems select targets and ways they can go wrong, including faulty data or flawed algorithms.

It was based on internal documents, data and exclusive interviews with current and former Israeli officials and company employees.

Israel’s goal after the attack that killed about 1,200 people and took over 250 hostages was to eradicate Hamas, and its military has called AI a “game changer” in yielding targets more swiftly.

Since the war started, more than 70,000 people have died in Gaza and Lebanon and nearly 70 percent of the buildings in Gaza have been devastated, according to health ministries in Gaza and Lebanon.

“This is the first confirmation we have gotten that commercial AI models are directly being used in warfare,” said Heidy Khlaaf, chief AI scientist at the AI Now Institute and former senior safety engineer at OpenAI.

“The implications are enormous for the role of tech in enabling this type of unethical and unlawful warfare going forward.”

Among US tech firms, Microsoft has had an especially close relationship with the Israeli military spanning decades.

Israel’s war response strained its own servers and increased its reliance on outside, third-party vendors, according to a presentation last year by Col. Racheli Dembinsky, the military’s top information technology officer.

As she described how AI had provided Israel “very significant operational effectiveness” in Gaza, the logos of Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services appeared on a large screen behind her.

Follow

Topics: War on Gaza Israel

Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar

Updated 5 min 48 sec ago

AFP

February 18, 2025 22:21

Follow

Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar

Updated 5 min 48 sec ago

AFP

February 18, 2025 22:21

DOHA: Qatar, a key mediator in the Gaza conflict, said on Tuesday that Palestinians — not outsiders — must decide the territory’s future after the Israel-Hamas war.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told a Doha news conference that the issue was “a Palestinian question,” after Israel insisted on removing Hamas and the US proposed taking over the territory.

“From our perspective, this is a Palestinian question on what happens post this conflict,” said Ansari when asked about Israel’s stated objective to eliminate Hamas.

“It is a Palestinian question on who represents the Palestinians in an official capacity and also the political groups and parties in the political sphere,” he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said earlier on Tuesday that negotiations for the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which Qatar helped broker, would begin this week.

The second phase of the truce is meant to facilitate the release of all remaining hostages seized during Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 attack that sparked the war.

Saar said Israel demanded the “complete demilitarization of Gaza” and would “not accept the continued presence of Hamas or any other terrorist groups” in the territory, ruled by Hamas since 2007.

More hostage-prisoner exchanges are expected before the end of the first phase, which has also allowed humanitarian aid into besieged Gaza.

Hamas however has accused Israel of blocking the entry of prefabricated structures and heavy machinery to clear rubble.

Ansari, the Qatari spokesman, said that “the aid that enters the Gaza Strip today is insufficient.

“Using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip in negotiations is a crime in and of itself.”

Follow

Topics: War on Gaza Qatar Israel

Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader

Updated 18 February 2025

AFP

February 18, 2025 19:33

Follow

Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader

“The airport will be closed, and takeoffs and landings... will halt on February 23, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. (1000 GMT) until 4:00 pm,” the authority said
Qassem at the weekend called for broad participation as a demonstration of the group’s strength

Updated 18 February 2025

AFP

February 18, 2025 19:33

BEIRUT: Beirut airport will close for four hours on Sunday during the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, Lebanon’s civil aviation authority has announced.
“The airport will be closed, and takeoffs and landings... will halt on February 23, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. (1000 GMT) until 4:00 pm,” the authority said in a statement carried by official media on Tuesday.
Nasrallah was killed in a huge Israeli air strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on September 27, as Israel scaled up its campaign against the Iran-backed group following almost a year of cross-border hostilities.
Sunday’s funeral will also be for Hashem Safieddine, a senior Hezbollah figure who had been chosen to succeed Nasrallah, before he too was killed in an Israeli raid in October.
The funeral is to begin at 1:00 p.m. at a sports stadium in Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.
It will include a speech by current Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, and is to be followed by a procession to Nasrallah’s burial site.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday that Iran “will participate in this ceremony at a high level,” without specifying who would attend.
Qassem at the weekend called for broad participation as a demonstration of the group’s strength.
“We want to transform this funeral into a show of support and an affirmation of (Hezbollah’s) plan and approach, and hold our heads high,” Qassem said.
After decades at the helm of the group once seen as invincible, the killing of the charismatic Nasrallah sent shock waves across Lebanon and the wider region.
Hezbollah has said 79 countries would be involved in the commemoration, whether at an official or “popular” level.
Earlier this month in a security alert about the funeral, the US embassy urged its nationals to avoid the area “which includes the airport.”
Qassem has said Nasrallah would be buried on the outskirts of Beirut “in a plot of land we chose between the old and new airport roads.”
Safieddine will be buried in his hometown of Deir Qanun in southern Lebanon, he added.
Nasrallah had been temporarily buried elsewhere because of security concerns, Qassem said, and the group had also put off the public funeral for security reasons.
A November 27 ceasefire deal put a halt to two months of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah that saw the group weakened and numerous senior commanders killed.

Follow

Topics: Lebanon Beirut airport Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah

Lebanese army deploys to border after Israeli withdrawal excludes 5 sites

Updated 11 min 24 sec ago

NAJIA HOUSSARI

February 18, 2025 18:58

Follow

Lebanese army deploys to border after Israeli withdrawal excludes 5 sites

Top Lebanese official to use any means necessary to liberate every inch occupied by Israel

Updated 11 min 24 sec ago

NAJIA HOUSSARI

February 18, 2025 18:58

BEIRUT: President Joseph Aoun, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam announced on Tuesday that “the continued Israeli presence in any inch of Lebanese territory is considered an occupation, with all the legal consequences that entails under international legitimacy.”

They also affirmed “Lebanon’s right to use all means to ensure the withdrawal of the Israeli enemy.”

In a joint statement following Tuesday’s meeting at the presidential palace, the three leaders stressed the need for a full Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territories, in adherence to international laws and UN resolutions, primarily Resolution 1701.

They added that Lebanon’s full commitment to this resolution came “at a time when the Israeli side continues to violate it repeatedly and disregard its terms.”

They also emphasized “the role of the Lebanese army and its full readiness to take over its duties along the internationally recognized borders, in a manner that preserves national sovereignty, protects the people of southern Lebanon, and ensures their security and stability.”

The stance came hours after Israeli forces completed their withdrawal from the last villages and towns. However, they maintained a military presence at five key points along the border — the Labouneh hills, on the outskirts of Naqoura, which overlook Rosh HaNikra, Shlomi and Nahariyya; Jabal Blat, between Marwahin and Ramyah, facing Shtula and Zar’it; the Jal Al-Deir and Jabal Al-Bat site, on the outskirts of Aitaroun, facing Avivim, Yiftah, and Malikiya; Dawawir, along the Markaba–Hula road, which faces Wadi Hunayn and the Margaliot settlement; and the Hammamis hill, which faces Metula.

A military source said the continued presence at these locations was likely for political reasons, possibly a message of reassurance to settlement residents to encourage their return.

On Monday night, Israeli forces continued to withdraw from villages in the central and eastern sectors, while the Lebanese army promptly deployed its units in the vacated areas. At dawn, residents of Yaroun, Maroun al-Ras, Blida, Mays al-Jabal, Houla, Markaba, Adaisseh, Kfar Kila, and al-Wazzani gathered to return to their homes.

The Lebanese army cleared roads and dismantled barriers raised by the Israeli army, advancing to Khirbet Yaroun, its final military outpost along the border. A moment captured on social media shows a soldier from the Lebanese army removing an Israeli flag from an electricity pole in Mays al-Jabal.

UN Interim Force in Lebanon forces conducted simultaneous patrols and established several points alongside the Lebanese Army.

Municipalities requested that residents wait until Wednesday before entering their towns to allow inspection “after the Lebanese army has completed the clearance of the areas from unexploded ordnance and shells.”

Some people, however, climbed over remaining barriers and debris to search for remaining bodies belonging to Hezbollah fighters killed during hostilities; in Kfar Kila alone, 30 are still missing.

Residents of Maroun al-Ras entered the town on foot due to excavations and earth-moving operations affecting the roads. Hezbollah supporters raised images of their leaders and the party’s flags as they did so.

Meanwhile, Israeli reconnaissance aircraft flew overhead, while a military drone dropped a sound bomb on a gathering of journalists in Kfar Shouba.

In Kfar Kila, two fighters emerged from the rubble, having survived despite being presumed dead for over three months. Their deaths had been announced by Hezbollah.

The emotional reunion with their families was shared on social media, and the two were taken to hospital with their conditions later described as “stable.”

A joint statement by UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and UNIFIL Force Commander and head of its mission Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lazaro said: “Any further delay in the complete withdrawal contradicts our hopes for progress, particularly as it constitutes a continued violation of Resolution 1701.”

It added: “A sense of safety among communities of southern Lebanon, who are grappling with the wide-scale destruction of their villages and towns, as well as residents of northern Israel who had to leave their homes, will not be built overnight and cannot come from a continuation of military operations. Rather, sustained political commitment is the only way forward.”

The US embassy in Beirut issued a warning to its citizens, advising them to avoid the area around Bir Hassan and Beirut airport on Feb. 23 due to the funeral processions of former Hezbollah chiefs Hassan Nasrallah and Hashem Safieddine. The embassy also urged citizens to be extra cautious around large gatherings and stay up to date with events through local media outlets.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport announced that all flights would be suspended on that day from noon until 4 p.m.

Follow

Topics: Battlefield Lebanon Lebanon Israel Hezbollah Lebanese President Joseph Aoun

Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws under ceasefire deal

Updated 18 February 2025

AP

February 18, 2025 17:27

Follow

Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws under ceasefire deal

Most of the villages waited by the roadside for permission to go and check on their homes but some pushed aside the roadblocks to march in
In the border village of Kfar Kila, people were stunned by the amount of destruction, with entire sections of houses wiped out

Updated 18 February 2025

AP

February 18, 2025 17:27

DEIR MIMAS, Lebanon: Israeli forces withdrew Tuesday from border villages in southern Lebanon under a deadline spelled out in a US-brokered ceasefire agreement that ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, but stayed put in five strategic overlook locations inside Lebanon.
Top Lebanese leaders denounced the continued presence of the Israel troops as an occupation and a violation of the deal, maintaining that Israel was required to make a full withdrawal by Tuesday. The troops’ presence is also a sore point with the militant Hezbollah group, which has demanded action from the authorities.
Lebanese soldiers moved into the areas from where the Israeli troops pulled out and began clearing roadblocks set up by Israeli forces and checking for unexploded ordnance. They blocked the main road leading to the villages, preventing anyone from entering while the military was looking for any explosives left behind.
Most of the villages waited by the roadside for permission to go and check on their homes but some pushed aside the roadblocks to march in. Elsewhere, the army allowed the residents to enter.
Many of their houses were demolished during the more than year-long conflict or in the two months after November’s ceasefire agreement, when Israeli forces were still occupying the area.
In the border village of Kfar Kila, people were stunned by the amount of destruction, with entire sections of houses wiped out.
“What I’m seeing is beyond belief. I am in a state of shock,” said Khodo Suleiman, a construction contractor, pointing to his destroyed home on a hilltop.
“There are no homes, no plants, nothing left,” said Suleiman, who had last been in Kfar Kila six months ago. “I am feeling a mixture of happiness and pain.”
In the main village square, Lebanese troops deployed as a military bulldozer removed rubble from the street.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Israeli army “will stay in a buffer zone in Lebanon in five control posts” to guard against any ceasefire violations by Hezbollah. He also said the army had erected new posts on the Israeli side of the border and sent reinforcements there.
“We are determined to provide full security to every northern community,” Katz said.
However, Lebanon’s three top officials — the country’s president, prime minister and parliament speaker — in a joint statement said that Israel’s continued presence at the five locaions was in violation of the ceasefire agreement. They called on the UN Security Council to take action to force a complete Israeli withdrawal.
“The continued Israeli presence in any inch of Lebanese territory is an occupation, with all the legal consequences that result from that according to international legitimacy,” the statement said.
The Israeli troop presence was also criticized in a joint statement by the UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the head of the UN peacekeeping force in the country, Lt. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro.
The two, however, warned that this should not “overshadow the tangible progress that has been made” since the ceasefire agreement.
Near the Lebanese villages of Deir Mimas and Kfar Kila, hundreds of villagers were gathered early on Tuesday morning as an Israeli drone flew overhead.
Atef Arabi, who had been waiting with his wife and two daughters before sunrise, was eager to see what’s left of his home in Kfar Kila.
“I am very happy I am going back even if I find my home destroyed,” said the 36-year-old car mechanic. “If I find my house destroyed I will rebuild it.”
Later on Tuesday, Kfar Kila’s mayor Hassan Sheet told The Associated Press that 90 percent of the village homes are completely destroyed while the remaining 10 percent are damaged. “There are no homes nor buildings standing,” he said, adding that rebuilding will start from scratch.
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah began firing rockets across the border on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon, and the two sides became locked in an escalating conflict that became a full-blown war last September.
More than 4,000 people were killed in Lebanon and more than 1 million were displaced at the height of the conflict, more than 100,000 of whom have not been able to return home. On the Israeli side, dozens of people were killed and some 60,000 are displaced.
Hussein Fares left Kfar Kila in October 2023 for the southern city of Nabatiyeh. When the fighting intensified in September he moved with his family to the city of Sidon where they were given a room in a school housing displaced people.
Kfar Kila saw intense fighting and Israeli troops later detonated many of its homes.
“I have been waiting for a year and the half to return,” said Fares who has a pickup truck and works as a laborer. He said he understands that the reconstruction process will take time.
“I have been counting the seconds for this day,” he said.

Follow

Topics: Lebanon Israel Lebanese army South Lebanon Hezbollah

Israeli strike kills 3 in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

Israeli strike kills 3 in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

Israeli man killed in attack in West Bank settlement: hospital

British FM condemns ‘abhorrent’ settler attack in West Bank

AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people

AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people

Senior UK judge slams political leaders over Gaza asylum verdict response

Israel confirms planned handover of six living Gaza hostages, four bodies this week

Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar

Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar

Senior UK judge slams political leaders over Gaza asylum verdict response

At UNSC, Pakistan calls for permanent ceasefire in Gaza, urgent humanitarian support to Palestinians

Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader

Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader

Operations at Beirut airport running efficiently, says Lebanon interior minister

Israel escalates attacks on Lebanon as strikes hit near Beirut airport

Lebanese army deploys to border after Israeli withdrawal excludes 5 sites

Lebanese army deploys to border after Israeli withdrawal excludes 5 sites

Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws under ceasefire deal

UN says delay in Israel’s Lebanon withdrawal ‘violation’ of resolution on ending war

Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws under ceasefire deal

Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws under ceasefire deal

UN says delay in Israel’s Lebanon withdrawal ‘violation’ of resolution on ending war

Israel kills Hamas official in southern Lebanon

Latest updates

White House says Elon Musk is not in charge at DOGE, but is advising the president

Ethiopia and Somalia hold a first round of technical talks in Turkiye toward resolving their dispute

Arab countries welcome Saudi Arabia’s hosting of talks between US, Russia

What We Are Reading Today: ‘California Amphibians and Reptiles’

AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people

Recommended

What do people want from a leader in a rapidly changing world?

Frankly Speaking: Is a Palestinian state more remote than ever?

How Syrians can pursue justice, fast-track peace in post-conflict era

Search form

Print Edition

Search form

Search form

You are here

Israeli strike kills 3 in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

Israeli strike kills 3 in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

Related

AI models supplied to Israel by tech giants contributed to deaths of innocent people

Related

Palestinians to decide Gaza future: Qatar

Related

Beirut airport to close Sunday during funeral of slain Hezbollah leader

Related

Lebanese army deploys to border after Israeli withdrawal excludes 5 sites

Related

Villagers in southern Lebanon prepare to return home as Israeli army withdraws under ceasefire deal

Related

Latest updates

Recommended

Search form

Print Edition