Israel defense minister calls for use of ‘all forces’ to hit West Bank militants

Israel defense minister calls for use of ‘all forces’ to hit West Bank militants
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on June 25, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. (AFP/File)
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Updated 04 September 2024
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Israel defense minister calls for use of ‘all forces’ to hit West Bank militants

Israel defense minister calls for use of ‘all forces’ to hit West Bank militants

JENIN: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday said the military should use its “full strength” to strike at Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank, where a sweeping military operation has killed dozens.

“In the face of the resurgence of terrorism, we are eradicating terrorist organizations throughout Judea and Samaria (the West Bank),” Gallant said in a statement issued by his ministry.

“These terrorist organizations that have various names, whether in Nur Al-Shams, Tulkarem, Faraa or Jenin, must be wiped out,” he said, referring to cities and refugee camps where an Israeli military operation is currently underway.

“Every terrorist must be eliminated, and if they surrender, they must be arrested. There is no other option, use all the forces, everyone who is needed, with full strength.”

Gallant, speaking after meeting officers to assess the operation, compared the campaign against the militants to “mowing” a lawn.

“Essentially, we are mowing the grass, but the time will come when we will also uproot the roots, and that must be done,” he said.

The Israeli defense minister said he had ordered the military to carry out air strikes “wherever necessary” in order to “avoid endangering soldiers.”

On August 28, Israeli forces launched simultaneous raids across the northern West Bank cities of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem.

The raids have so far left dead at least 30 Palestinians, including militants, and wounded 140, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry.

Nineteen have been killed in Jenin governorate, seven in Tulkarem and four in Tubas, it said.

In recent days, the focus of Israeli raids has been in and around Jenin city, a known militant hub.

On Wednesday, an AFP journalist in Jenin saw empty streets, with residents leaving their homes only to purchase necessities.

The streets were strewn with the rubble of overturned asphalt as armored military vehicles rumbled past.

Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp — where army bulldozers destroyed infrastructure — have long been a bastion of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israel, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967.

The military carries out regular incursions into Palestinian population centers, but such operations are rarely conducted simultaneously as in the northern West Bank since last week.

Violence in the West Bank has surged since Hamas’s October 7 attack triggered war in the Gaza Strip, which is separated from the West Bank by Israeli territory.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 661 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 23 Israelis, including soldiers and police officers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks during the same period, according to Israeli officials.


Israel says Hamas has not given ‘status of hostages’ it says ready to free

Israel says Hamas has not given ‘status of hostages’ it says ready to free
Updated 7 sec ago
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Israel says Hamas has not given ‘status of hostages’ it says ready to free

Israel says Hamas has not given ‘status of hostages’ it says ready to free
JERUSALEM: Israel said on Monday that Hamas had so far not provided the status of the 34 hostages the group declared it was ready to release in the first phase of a potential exchange deal.
“As yet, Israel has not received any confirmation or comment by Hamas regarding the status of the hostages appearing on the list,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after a Hamas official gave a list of 34 hostages the group was ready to free in the first phase.

Shooting attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank kills 3

Shooting attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank kills 3
Updated 11 min 19 sec ago
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Shooting attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank kills 3

Shooting attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank kills 3
  • The attack occurred in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the territory

JERUSALEM: A shooting attack on a bus carrying Israelis in the occupied West Bank killed at least three people and wounded seven others on Monday, Israeli medics said.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said those killed included two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza ignited the ongoing war there.
The attack occurred in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the territory. The identities of the attackers and those killed were not immediately known. The military said it was looking for the attackers, who fled.
Palestinians have carried out scores of shooting, stabbing and car-ramming attacks against Israelis in recent years. Israel has launched near-nightly military raids across the territory that frequently trigger gunbattle with militants.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 835 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.
Some 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administering population centers. Over 500,000 Israeli settlers live in scores of settlements, which most of the international community considers illegal.
Meanwhile, the war in Gaza is raging with no end in sight, though there has reportedly been recent progress in long-running talks aimed at a ceasefire and hostage release.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in a massive surprise attack nearly 15 months ago, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,800 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who say women and children make up more than half of those killed. They do not say how many of the dead were militants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 fighters, without providing evidence.
The war has destroyed vast areas of Gaza and displaced 90 percent of the territory’s population of 2.3 million, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are enduring a cold, rainy winter in tent camps along the windy coast. At least seven infants have died of hypothermia because of the harsh conditions, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
Aid groups say Israeli restrictions, ongoing fighting and the breakdown of law and order in many areas make it difficult to provide desperately needed food and other assistance.


New Syria foreign minister begins first visit to UAE: state media

New Syria foreign minister begins first visit to UAE: state media
Updated 17 min 59 sec ago
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New Syria foreign minister begins first visit to UAE: state media

New Syria foreign minister begins first visit to UAE: state media

Damascus: Syria’s new foreign minister Asaad Al-Shaibani landed in the United Arab Emirates Monday on his first visit to the country since rebels toppled president Bashar Assad last month, official news agency SANA said.
“Shaibani, accompanied by defense minister Murhaf Abu Qasra and intelligence chief Anas Khattab, has arrived in the United Arab Emirates,” SANA reported.
Shaibani also posted a picture of himself on X stepping off a plane, and said he looked forward “to building constructive bilateral relations.”
The officials took office after Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus in early December, toppling Assad after more than 13 years of civil war.
Their trip to the UAE comes after they visited its Gulf neighbors Qatar on Sunday and Saudi Arabia last week.
Both Qatar and Turkiye, which backed the anti-Assad opposition, reopened their embassies in Damascus in the aftermath of Assad’s flight to Moscow.
Turkiye has long maintained a working relationship with the HTS rebels, leaving it with a direct line to Damascus.


US to ease aid restrictions for Syria while keeping sanctions in place, sources say

US to ease aid restrictions for Syria while keeping sanctions in place, sources say
Updated 06 January 2025
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US to ease aid restrictions for Syria while keeping sanctions in place, sources say

US to ease aid restrictions for Syria while keeping sanctions in place, sources say
  • Department to issue waivers to aid groups and companies providing essentials such as water, electricity and other humanitarian supplies

The US is set to imminently announce an easing of restrictions on providing humanitarian aid and other basic services such as electricity to Syria while still keeping its strict sanctions regime in place, according to people briefed on the matter.
The decision by the outgoing Biden administration will send a signal of goodwill to Syria’s new Islamist rulers and aims to pave the way for improving tough living conditions in the war-ravaged country while also treading cautiously and keeping US leverage in place.
US officials have met several times with members of the ruling administration, since the dramatic end on Dec. 8 of more than 50 years of Assad family rule after a lightning rebel offensive.
HTS, the faction that led the advance, has long-since renounced its former Al Qaeda ties and fought the group but they remain designated a terrorist entity by the US and Washington wants to see them cooperate on priorities such as counterterrorism and forming a government inclusive of all Syrians.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the Biden administration approved the easing of restrictions over the weekend, saying the move authorizes the Treasury Department to issue waivers to aid groups and companies providing essentials such as water, electricity and other humanitarian supplies.


Turkiye investigates opposition mayor’s comments about Syrians

Turkiye investigates opposition mayor’s comments about Syrians
Updated 06 January 2025
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Turkiye investigates opposition mayor’s comments about Syrians

Turkiye investigates opposition mayor’s comments about Syrians
  • Opposition mayor’s claims that he unlawfully revoked some of their business licenses in his northwestern district of Bolu

Turkiye has launched an investigation into an opposition mayor’s comments about Syrians, including his claims that he unlawfully revoked some of their business licenses in his northwestern district of Bolu.
Mayor Tanju Ozcan talked about the measures he said he took against Syrian residents of his district on a news program that aired on Saturday, including the removal of Arabic language business signs and the revocations of business licenses.
Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on Sunday that the Bolu Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office “opened an investigation into the Bolu Mayor over his remarks regarding Syrians in our country.” He did not specify the remarks being probed.
However, Ozcan, of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), said on Sunday on social media website X “I said and did what I did regarding the refugees, taking the consequences into consideration. I am ready to pay the price for this.”
In his comments on the news program on Saturday he said the Syrians he targeted “might have won” had they challenged his moves in the administrative court.
Syrians have faced bouts of anti-migrant sentiment and even violence in Turkiye in recent years.
More than 3 million Syrians migrated to neighboring Turkiye after the outbreak of civil war in Syria 13 years ago. A rebellion last month ousted former president Bashar Assad from Damascus, leading to a rise in those returning home.