Palestinians Cut Security Ties With Israel After Deadly Raid
Marissa Newman
Fri, January 27, 2023
(Bloomberg) --
The Palestinian Authority said it’s ending security ties with Israel after eight militants and one civilian were killed in a West Bank gunfight, in an escalation in violence that was later followed by a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian government body, on Thursday announced three days of mourning following the clashes in the city of Jenin. Hamas, the Islamic movement that rules Gaza, warned Israel would “pay the price for the massacre.”
The hostilities, which resulted in one of the highest daily death tolls in years, showed little sign of abating on Thursday night into Friday morning.
Palestinian militants fired rockets on southern Israel and the Israeli air force carried out reprisal airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported on either side and no one claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.
Violence is escalating just days ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the region next week. Abbas has previously threatened to end security cooperation and it was not immediately clear what immediate changes the latest statement would bring if any.
The uptick in the fighting came just a month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government was sworn in after pledging to implement policies such as loosening open-fire rules for some security forces.
The new administration, which includes some far-right figures, has also proposed expanding or building more settlements in the West Bank, where Palestinians are seeking to establish an independent state.
The Israeli army said violence broke out as security forces entered the Jenin refugee camp to arrest members of Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based militant group, who it said were planning multiple terror attacks including the shooting of soldiers and civilians.
Egypt, the United Nations, and Qatar are mediating in a bid to avoid an escalation, according to a statement from Islamic Jihad. The United Arab Emirates, which established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, condemned the Israeli raid.
‘Deeply Alarmed’
“I am deeply alarmed and saddened by the continuing cycle of violence in the occupied West Bank,” Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process said in an email. “It is crucial to reduce tensions immediately and prevent more loss of life.”
Another Palestinian was killed in a clash elsewhere in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed security forces to increase activity in the West Bank and along Israel’s borders, including the Gaza Strip. “Our security forces are prepared for any development,” he said in a statement from his office.
Overnight, the Israeli army said three rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by air defenses, while another fell in a unpopulated area in southern Israel.
Israeli fighter jets early Friday carried out a series of airstrikes on facilities belonging to militant groups in the Gaza Strip in response, including a Hamas underground manufacturing facility, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Palestinian eyewitnesses said that more than 14 missiles were fired at a military post that belongs to Gaza militant groups. Palestinian medical sources said that no injuries were reported during the strikes.
--With assistance from Gwen Ackerman and Saud Abu Ramadan.
Marissa Newman
Fri, January 27, 2023
(Bloomberg) --
The Palestinian Authority said it’s ending security ties with Israel after eight militants and one civilian were killed in a West Bank gunfight, in an escalation in violence that was later followed by a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip.
Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian government body, on Thursday announced three days of mourning following the clashes in the city of Jenin. Hamas, the Islamic movement that rules Gaza, warned Israel would “pay the price for the massacre.”
The hostilities, which resulted in one of the highest daily death tolls in years, showed little sign of abating on Thursday night into Friday morning.
Palestinian militants fired rockets on southern Israel and the Israeli air force carried out reprisal airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported on either side and no one claimed responsibility for the rocket fire.
Violence is escalating just days ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to the region next week. Abbas has previously threatened to end security cooperation and it was not immediately clear what immediate changes the latest statement would bring if any.
The uptick in the fighting came just a month after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition government was sworn in after pledging to implement policies such as loosening open-fire rules for some security forces.
The new administration, which includes some far-right figures, has also proposed expanding or building more settlements in the West Bank, where Palestinians are seeking to establish an independent state.
The Israeli army said violence broke out as security forces entered the Jenin refugee camp to arrest members of Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based militant group, who it said were planning multiple terror attacks including the shooting of soldiers and civilians.
Egypt, the United Nations, and Qatar are mediating in a bid to avoid an escalation, according to a statement from Islamic Jihad. The United Arab Emirates, which established diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, condemned the Israeli raid.
‘Deeply Alarmed’
“I am deeply alarmed and saddened by the continuing cycle of violence in the occupied West Bank,” Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process said in an email. “It is crucial to reduce tensions immediately and prevent more loss of life.”
Another Palestinian was killed in a clash elsewhere in the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant instructed security forces to increase activity in the West Bank and along Israel’s borders, including the Gaza Strip. “Our security forces are prepared for any development,” he said in a statement from his office.
Overnight, the Israeli army said three rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by air defenses, while another fell in a unpopulated area in southern Israel.
Israeli fighter jets early Friday carried out a series of airstrikes on facilities belonging to militant groups in the Gaza Strip in response, including a Hamas underground manufacturing facility, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Palestinian eyewitnesses said that more than 14 missiles were fired at a military post that belongs to Gaza militant groups. Palestinian medical sources said that no injuries were reported during the strikes.
--With assistance from Gwen Ackerman and Saud Abu Ramadan.
Israeli, Gaza Fighters Trade Air Strikes, Rocket Fire After Deadly West Bank Raid
ISABEL DEBRE / AP
Thu, January 26, 2023
Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City as Israel launched air strikes on the Palestinian enclave early Friday in response to militant rocket fire
JERUSALEM (AP) — Gaza militants fired rockets and Israel carried out airstrikes early Friday as tensions soared following an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank that killed nine Palestinians, including at least seven militants and a 61-year-old woman.
It was the deadliest single raid in the territory in over two decades. The flare-up in violence poses an early test for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and casts a shadow on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s expected trip to the region next week.
Of the five rockets fired at Israel, three were intercepted, one fell in an open area and another fell short inside Gaza, the military said. It said the airstrikes targeted an underground rocket manufacturing site for Hamas as well as militant training areas.
The rockets set off air raid sirens in southern Israel but there were no reports of casualties on either side.
Both the Palestinian rockets and Israeli airstrikes seemed limited so as to prevent escalation into a full-blown war. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller skirmishes since the militant group seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
Thursday’s deadly raid in the Jenin refugee camp was likely to reverberate on Friday as Palestinians gather for weekly Muslim prayers that are often followed by protests. Hamas had earlier threatened revenge for the raid.
Raising the stakes, the Palestinian Authority said it would halt the ties that its security forces maintain with Israel in a shared effort to contain Islamic militants. Previous threats have been short-lived, in part because of the benefits the authority enjoys from the relationship and also due to U.S. and Israeli pressure to maintain it.
The Palestinian Authority already has limited control over scattered enclaves in the West Bank, and almost none over militant strongholds like the Jenin camp. But the announcement could pave the way for Israel to step up operations it says are needed to prevent attacks.
On Thursday, Israeli forces went on heightened alert as Palestinians filled the streets across the West Bank, chanting in solidarity with Jenin. President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning, and in the refugee camp, residents dug a mass grave for the dead.
Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Abbas had decided to cut security coordination in “light of the repeated aggression against our people.” He also said the Palestinians planned to file complaints with the U.N. Security Council, International Criminal Court and other international bodies.
Barbara Leaf, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, said the Biden administration was deeply concerned about the situation and that civilian casualties reported in Jenin were “quite regrettable.” But she also said the Palestinian announcement to suspend security ties and to pursue the matter at international organizations was a mistake.
Thursday’s gun battle that left nine dead and 20 wounded erupted when Israel’s military conducted a rare daytime operation in the Jenin camp that it said was meant to prevent an imminent attack on Israelis. The camp, where the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group has a major foothold, has been a focus of near-nightly Israeli arrest raids.
Hamas’ armed wing claimed four of the dead as members, while Islamic Jihad claimed three others.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the 61-year-old woman killed as Magda Obaid, and the Israeli military said it was looking into reports of her death.
The Israeli military circulated aerial video it said was taken during the battle, showing what appeared to be Palestinians on rooftops hurling stones and firebombs on Israeli forces below. At least one Palestinian can be seen opening fire from a rooftop.
Later in the day, Israeli forces fatally shot a 22-year-old and wounded two others, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as Palestinians confronted Israeli troops north of Jerusalem to protest Thursday’s raid. Israel’s paramilitary Border Police said they opened fire on Palestinians who launched fireworks at them from close range.
Tensions have soared since Israel stepped up raids in the West Bank last spring, following a series of Palestinian attacks.
Israel’s new national security minister, far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who seeks to grant legal immunity to Israeli soldiers who shoot Palestinians, posted a video of himself beaming triumphantly and congratulating security forces.
The raid left a trail of destruction in Jenin. A two-story building, apparently the operation’s target, was a charred wreck. The military said it entered the building to detonate explosives.
Palestinian Health Minister May Al-Kaila said paramedics struggled to reach the wounded during the fighting, while Akram Rajoub, the governor of Jenin, said the military prevented emergency workers from evacuating them.
Both accused the military of firing tear gas at the pediatric ward of a hospital, causing children to choke. Video at the hospital showed women carrying children into a corridor.
The military said forces closed roads to aid the operation, which may have complicated rescue efforts, and that tear gas had likely wafted into the hospital from nearby clashes.
The Israeli rights group B’Tselem said Thursday marked the single bloodiest West Bank incursion since 2002, at the height of an intense wave of violence known as the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which left scars still visible in Jenin.
U.N. Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland said he was “deeply alarmed and saddened” by the violence. Condemnations came from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Turkey, which recently reestablished full diplomatic ties with Israel. Neighboring Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries also condemned the Israeli raid.
The Islamic Jihad branch in Gaza has repeatedly fought against Israel, most recently in a fierce three-day clash last summer that killed dozens of Palestinians and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem last year, making 2022 the deadliest in those territories since 2004, according to B’Tselem. So far this year, 30 Palestinians have been killed.
Israel says most of the dead were militants. But youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations also have been killed. So far this year, not including Thursday, one-third of the Palestinians killed by Israeli troops or civilians had ties to armed groups.
Last year, 30 people were killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
Israel says its raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart attacks. The Palestinians say they further entrench Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of the West Bank, which Israel captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim those territories for their hoped-for state.
srael has established dozens of settlements in the West Bank that now house 500,000 people. The Palestinians and much of the international community view settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace, even as talks to end the conflict have been moribund for over a decade.
___
Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Fares Akram in Hamilton, Ontario, contributed.
ISABEL DEBRE / AP
Thu, January 26, 2023
Fire and smoke rise above buildings in Gaza City as Israel launched air strikes on the Palestinian enclave early Friday in response to militant rocket fire
JERUSALEM (AP) — Gaza militants fired rockets and Israel carried out airstrikes early Friday as tensions soared following an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank that killed nine Palestinians, including at least seven militants and a 61-year-old woman.
It was the deadliest single raid in the territory in over two decades. The flare-up in violence poses an early test for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government and casts a shadow on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s expected trip to the region next week.
Of the five rockets fired at Israel, three were intercepted, one fell in an open area and another fell short inside Gaza, the military said. It said the airstrikes targeted an underground rocket manufacturing site for Hamas as well as militant training areas.
The rockets set off air raid sirens in southern Israel but there were no reports of casualties on either side.
Both the Palestinian rockets and Israeli airstrikes seemed limited so as to prevent escalation into a full-blown war. Israel and Hamas have fought four wars and several smaller skirmishes since the militant group seized power in Gaza from rival Palestinian forces in 2007.
Thursday’s deadly raid in the Jenin refugee camp was likely to reverberate on Friday as Palestinians gather for weekly Muslim prayers that are often followed by protests. Hamas had earlier threatened revenge for the raid.
Raising the stakes, the Palestinian Authority said it would halt the ties that its security forces maintain with Israel in a shared effort to contain Islamic militants. Previous threats have been short-lived, in part because of the benefits the authority enjoys from the relationship and also due to U.S. and Israeli pressure to maintain it.
The Palestinian Authority already has limited control over scattered enclaves in the West Bank, and almost none over militant strongholds like the Jenin camp. But the announcement could pave the way for Israel to step up operations it says are needed to prevent attacks.
On Thursday, Israeli forces went on heightened alert as Palestinians filled the streets across the West Bank, chanting in solidarity with Jenin. President Mahmoud Abbas declared three days of mourning, and in the refugee camp, residents dug a mass grave for the dead.
Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Abbas had decided to cut security coordination in “light of the repeated aggression against our people.” He also said the Palestinians planned to file complaints with the U.N. Security Council, International Criminal Court and other international bodies.
Barbara Leaf, the top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East, said the Biden administration was deeply concerned about the situation and that civilian casualties reported in Jenin were “quite regrettable.” But she also said the Palestinian announcement to suspend security ties and to pursue the matter at international organizations was a mistake.
Thursday’s gun battle that left nine dead and 20 wounded erupted when Israel’s military conducted a rare daytime operation in the Jenin camp that it said was meant to prevent an imminent attack on Israelis. The camp, where the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group has a major foothold, has been a focus of near-nightly Israeli arrest raids.
Hamas’ armed wing claimed four of the dead as members, while Islamic Jihad claimed three others.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the 61-year-old woman killed as Magda Obaid, and the Israeli military said it was looking into reports of her death.
The Israeli military circulated aerial video it said was taken during the battle, showing what appeared to be Palestinians on rooftops hurling stones and firebombs on Israeli forces below. At least one Palestinian can be seen opening fire from a rooftop.
Later in the day, Israeli forces fatally shot a 22-year-old and wounded two others, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as Palestinians confronted Israeli troops north of Jerusalem to protest Thursday’s raid. Israel’s paramilitary Border Police said they opened fire on Palestinians who launched fireworks at them from close range.
Tensions have soared since Israel stepped up raids in the West Bank last spring, following a series of Palestinian attacks.
Israel’s new national security minister, far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who seeks to grant legal immunity to Israeli soldiers who shoot Palestinians, posted a video of himself beaming triumphantly and congratulating security forces.
The raid left a trail of destruction in Jenin. A two-story building, apparently the operation’s target, was a charred wreck. The military said it entered the building to detonate explosives.
Palestinian Health Minister May Al-Kaila said paramedics struggled to reach the wounded during the fighting, while Akram Rajoub, the governor of Jenin, said the military prevented emergency workers from evacuating them.
Both accused the military of firing tear gas at the pediatric ward of a hospital, causing children to choke. Video at the hospital showed women carrying children into a corridor.
The military said forces closed roads to aid the operation, which may have complicated rescue efforts, and that tear gas had likely wafted into the hospital from nearby clashes.
The Israeli rights group B’Tselem said Thursday marked the single bloodiest West Bank incursion since 2002, at the height of an intense wave of violence known as the Second Intifada, or Palestinian uprising, which left scars still visible in Jenin.
U.N. Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland said he was “deeply alarmed and saddened” by the violence. Condemnations came from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Turkey, which recently reestablished full diplomatic ties with Israel. Neighboring Jordan, as well as Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries also condemned the Israeli raid.
The Islamic Jihad branch in Gaza has repeatedly fought against Israel, most recently in a fierce three-day clash last summer that killed dozens of Palestinians and disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis.
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and east Jerusalem last year, making 2022 the deadliest in those territories since 2004, according to B’Tselem. So far this year, 30 Palestinians have been killed.
Israel says most of the dead were militants. But youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in the confrontations also have been killed. So far this year, not including Thursday, one-third of the Palestinians killed by Israeli troops or civilians had ties to armed groups.
Last year, 30 people were killed in Palestinian attacks against Israelis.
Israel says its raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart attacks. The Palestinians say they further entrench Israel’s 55-year, open-ended occupation of the West Bank, which Israel captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim those territories for their hoped-for state.
srael has established dozens of settlements in the West Bank that now house 500,000 people. The Palestinians and much of the international community view settlements as illegal and an obstacle to peace, even as talks to end the conflict have been moribund for over a decade.
___
Associated Press writers Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel; Areej Hazboun in Jerusalem; Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Fares Akram in Hamilton, Ontario, contributed.
9 Palestinians killed after Israel storms West Bank refugee camp
JON HAWORTH
Thu, January 26, 2023
Nine Palestinians were killed when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly stormed the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank early Thursday morning, ABC News has learned.
The IDF allegedly stormed the camp looking for a person of interest and Israel says that the resulting deaths came when clashes erupted between the IDF and Palestinians at the camp.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that elderly women are among those who died in the early morning conflict.
In Ramallah, a spokesperson for Mahmoud Abbas -- the president of Palestine -- said that the Israeli army committed a massacre inside the Jennie refugee camp on Thursday.
Palestinian stone-throwers gather amid clashes with Israeli troops during a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 26, 2023.
Saudi Arabia condemns Israeli raid in JeninJON HAWORTH
Thu, January 26, 2023
Nine Palestinians were killed when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reportedly stormed the Jenin refugee camp on the West Bank early Thursday morning, ABC News has learned.
The IDF allegedly stormed the camp looking for a person of interest and Israel says that the resulting deaths came when clashes erupted between the IDF and Palestinians at the camp.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that elderly women are among those who died in the early morning conflict.
In Ramallah, a spokesperson for Mahmoud Abbas -- the president of Palestine -- said that the Israeli army committed a massacre inside the Jennie refugee camp on Thursday.
Palestinian stone-throwers gather amid clashes with Israeli troops during a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 26, 2023.
(Raneen Sawafta/Reuters)
An Israeli army statement following the conflict said that the IDF targeted an active cell for the Palestinian Islamic jihad and killed some of the fighters but that they will be investigating any deaths of civilians that may have occurred.
"Earlier this morning, Israeli security forces, including the IDF, ISA, Israel Border Police and 'Yamam' police forces, conducted a counterterrorism operation in the center of the Jenin camp," read the statement from the IDF spokesperson regarding Jenin. "It has been cleared for publication that the security forces operated to apprehend a terror squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization. During the operation, the terror squad opened fire toward the Israeli security forces. A crossfire was instigated, during which three terrorists were neutralized."
No IDF injuries were reported in the conflict.
The IDF said that the Islamic Jihad terror operatives they were targeting were "heavily involved in executing and planning multiple major terror attacks, including shooting attacks on IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians."
Palestinian stone-throwers gather amid clashes with Israeli troops during a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 26, 2023. (Ali Sawafta/Reuters)
"During the operation, the security forces operated to surround the building in which the suspects were located. Two armed suspects were identified fleeing the scene and were neutralized by the security forces," the IDF confirmed. "One of the suspects who was in the building surrendered himself to the security forces. IDF combat engineering soldiers entered the building in order to detonate two explosive devices used by the suspects, where there was an additional armed suspect who was neutralized by the soldiers at the scene."
The IDF said "additional armed suspects opened fire toward the security forces" during their operation and that they responded with live fire.
"Claims regarding additional casualties during the exchange of fire are being looked into," the IDF said.
An Israeli army statement following the conflict said that the IDF targeted an active cell for the Palestinian Islamic jihad and killed some of the fighters but that they will be investigating any deaths of civilians that may have occurred.
"Earlier this morning, Israeli security forces, including the IDF, ISA, Israel Border Police and 'Yamam' police forces, conducted a counterterrorism operation in the center of the Jenin camp," read the statement from the IDF spokesperson regarding Jenin. "It has been cleared for publication that the security forces operated to apprehend a terror squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization. During the operation, the terror squad opened fire toward the Israeli security forces. A crossfire was instigated, during which three terrorists were neutralized."
No IDF injuries were reported in the conflict.
The IDF said that the Islamic Jihad terror operatives they were targeting were "heavily involved in executing and planning multiple major terror attacks, including shooting attacks on IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians."
Palestinian stone-throwers gather amid clashes with Israeli troops during a raid in Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank January 26, 2023. (Ali Sawafta/Reuters)
"During the operation, the security forces operated to surround the building in which the suspects were located. Two armed suspects were identified fleeing the scene and were neutralized by the security forces," the IDF confirmed. "One of the suspects who was in the building surrendered himself to the security forces. IDF combat engineering soldiers entered the building in order to detonate two explosive devices used by the suspects, where there was an additional armed suspect who was neutralized by the soldiers at the scene."
The IDF said "additional armed suspects opened fire toward the security forces" during their operation and that they responded with live fire.
"Claims regarding additional casualties during the exchange of fire are being looked into," the IDF said.
Israeli troops, in Hebron
Thu, January 26, 2023
(Reuters) - Saudi Arabia on Thursday strongly condemned a raid by Israeli commandos on the Palestinian town of Jenin that killed seven people and injured two, state news agency SPA reported.
The Saudi foreign ministry said it denounced Israeli forces' "storming of the city" that led to "the fall of a number of victims".
The ministry said Saudi Arabia rejected "serious violations of international law by the Israeli occupation forces" and called on the international community to take responsibility to "end the occupation, stop the Israeli escalation and aggressions, and provide the necessary protection for civilians," SPA said.
Kuwait and Oman also condemned the attack, their state news agencies said on Thursday.
The Israeli military said it sent special forces into Jenin to detain members of the Islamic Jihad armed group suspected of having carried out and planning "multiple major terror attacks", shooting several of them after they opened fire.
U.N. and Arab mediators said they were in talks with Israel and Palestinian factions in hope of heading off escalation after the clash in Jenin, among areas of the northern West Bank that have seen intensified Israeli operations in the last year.
(Reporting by Alaa Swilam in Cairo; Writing by Yousef Saba in Dubai; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
