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Israeli forces targeted with ‘vehicle-borne’ IEDs in West Bank: Monitors
The Israeli military intentionally detonated a “vehicle-borne improvised explosive device” (VBIED) it encountered in the occupied West Bank’s Tubas city on Monday, in what was the second discovery of a vehicle-borne IED in the area since the war in Gaza began in October, monitors report.
In their daily update on the war in Gaza and the conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters in the occupied territory, two US-based defence think tanks said the use of vehicle-borne bombs by Palestinian resistance groups comes at a time when they are “using larger and higher quality explosives to target Israeli forces”.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) said in their joint, daily report that it was unknown just how sophisticated the VBIED was that the Israeli forces detonated in Tubas.
Gallant expands law that allows evicted Israeli settlers to return
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Defense Minister Gallant has announced he will expand the law to allow Israeli settlers, who were evicted during a 2005 disengagement plan, to return to settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Haaretz reported that the expanded law includes areas where the settlements of Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim were located.
Settlers are Israeli citizens who live illegally on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The vast majority of the settlements have been built either entirely or partially on private Palestinian land.
Israel behaves like a 3 year old with temper tantrums.
Smotrich calls for ‘punitive measures’ on PA
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says he will no longer transfer tax funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) after Norway, Spain and Ireland said they will recognise a Palestinian state.
In a post on X, the far-right minister added that he would cancel the set-up in which Norway collects the PA’s tax funds. “Norway was the first to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state today, and it cannot be a partner in anything related to Judea and Samaria,” he said.
Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA under the Oslo Accords, but in November, it froze funds meant for Palestinians in Gaza.
In February, Palestinian and Israeli officials agreed that Norway would serve as an intermediary for holding revenues that Israel had withheld.
Smotrich also demanded “punitive measures” from Netanyahu, including establishing a settlement on the occupied West Bank “for every country that unilaterally recognizes a Palestinian state” and promoting the construction of tens of thousands of housing units in settlements, which are illegal under international law.
Ben-Gvir visits Al-Aqsa Mosque compound
Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, declaring that the holy site belongs “only to the state of Israel”.
Ben-Gvir said the visit was a response to three European countries unilaterally recognizing an independent Palestinian state. “We will not even allow a statement about a Palestinian state,” he said.
For Muslims, the Noble Sanctuary is home to Islam’s third holiest site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the Dome of the Rock, a seventh-century structure believed to be where the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven.
Jews refer to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as the Temple Mount, and some believe it is where the first and second ancient Jewish temples stood.
Jordan says Palestine recognition ‘important step towards two-state solution’
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has hailed the coordinated move by Ireland, Norway and Spain to recognise Palestine as a state as an “important and essential step towards Palestinian statehood”.
“We value this decision and consider it an important and essential step towards a two-state solution that embodies an independent, sovereign Palestinian state along the July 1967 borders,” he told a news conference.
France says it’s not right moment to recognise Palestinian state: Report
France says recognising Palestine as a state is not “taboo” for the country, but Paris considers that now is not the right moment for it to do so, the AFP news agency reports.
“Our position is clear: The recognition of a Palestinian state is not a taboo for France,” Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne wrote in a statement to AFP. “France does not consider that the conditions have been present to date for this decision to have a real impact in this process.”
