Palestinian Authority accuses Israel of 'war crime' after summary 'execution' in West Bank

Israeli soldiers on Thursday appeared to kill a pair of Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank after they had surrendered to troops, drawing Palestinian accusations that the men were executed “in cold blood.” The Israeli military said it was investigating. FRANCE 24's Noga Tarnopolsky reports from Jerusalem.

Melanie Phillips conveys one message: Israel will always be at war

David Hearst, editor-in-chief of Middle East Eye, says that Melanie Phillips used her speech at the Rage Against the Hate conference in New York to deny the existence of Palestine, claim all land between the river and the sea belongs to Jews, and describe Islam as a “death cult.”

He notes she told diaspora Jews they were “too soft” and should emulate the “warrior Jews of the Tanakh who killed real people.” Hearst says that Phillips’s core message was clear: Israel will be permanently at war. For decades, liberals fed willingly at the trough of Israeli myths, believing peace depended on finding Palestinian moderates to talk to.

Now, he says, they are being told the opposite, that Israel’s biblical destiny is to reclaim a far larger land because it has been assigned to them by God. Such rhetoric, he argues, only reinforces what Palestinians, Lebanese and Syrians under bombardment already know. And while messages like these have already cost Israel support among Democrats, it is the Christian isolationist wing of Trump’s MAGA base that Israel has most to fear, as they increasingly reject the burden of endless war.

Hearst concludes that Phillips’ unvarnished Islamophobic vitriol will not bar her from BBC platforms, nor will anyone challenge her zealotry. “Phillips is right,” Hearst says. “The West, and the BBC along with it, is sinking, but it is sinking because it tolerates and accommodates voices like hers.”

At least nine Syrians killed in Israeli attacks in Beit Jinn

At least nine Syrians have been killed and others wounded in Israeli artillery and missile strikes targeting the southern town of Beit Jinn, near the capital, Damascus, according to Syria’s state media.

Local sources confirmed to Al Jazeera that the Israeli dawn raid and strikes forced dozens of families to flee.

Women and children among Beit Jinn casualties: Report

Syrian state television reports that women and children are among those killed by Israeli military attacks in Beit Jinn. “Others remain trapped in the rubble”, said the media, adding that dozens of local families have fled the area.


_{Destroyed equipment following an Israeli incursion in Beit Jinn}

Syria death toll rises

At least 12 people, including children, have been killed in Beit Jinn as Israel launched another incursion into Syrian territory in the Damascus countryside, according to state media. The Syrian Civil Defence said their teams were unable to enter Beit Jinn to rescue the wounded as the Israeli military continues to target any movement.

Beit Jinn killings followed arrests of 3 Syrian men: Reports

We have more information about what led to the deaths of at least 12 Syrians in Beit Jinn overnight. Syria’s state news agency SANA reports that the Israeli military raided the southern town to arrest three individuals. The agency also posted a photo of a truck with significant damage from shooting.

Local official Abdul Rahman Al-Hamrawi told the AFP news agency that the Israeli military began fighting with residents as they arrested the trio.

“The Israeli occupation army raided Beit Jinn to arrest three young men from the town, leading to clashes with residents who tried to resist the Israeli incursion,” he said.


_{A casualty receives medical treatment inside a hospital, following an Israeli raid in the Beit Jinn area of southern Syria, in Damascus, Syria, November 28}


Israeli forces target Syria’s Quneitra countryside with overnight shelling

The Israeli military hit Syria’s town of Tal al-Ahmar in the southern province of Quneitra with multiple artillery rounds overnight, state news agency SANA reports.

Shelling also struck the outskirts of Kouya town, while three Israeli military vehicles advanced near Umm Batna village, according to SANA’s reporter on the ground.

Israel has escalated the frequency and intensity of incursions into Quneitra since the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad last December.

Israel may be seizing chance to impose ‘new security zone’ in southern Syria

Israeli political analyst Akiva Eldar says Israel has “double vision” in Syria, viewing President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s new administration as an improvement over his predecessor’s, while also seeing Syria’s instability as an opportunity to assert greater military force along the border.

“There are people and groups in Israel who believe that this is an opportunity,” Eldar told Al Jazeera. “Any kind of unrest and instability on the other side of the border is an opportunity to start a kind of a new security zone.

“It goes across the board – it’s in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon and Syria. Israel has adopted a kind of philosophy, strategy, that ‘we will control what our safe borders are,'” he added.

However, Eldar said Israel has to be “very careful when confronting” Syria, which the US is improving relations with.

Syria death toll rises again

At least 13 people have been killed in the Israeli incursion on the southern town of Beit Jinn, with at least 25 wounded, sources have told Al Jazeera. The Syrian Civil Defence – which was previously unable to access the area – has now entered Beit Jinn to transport the dead and aid the wounded, SANA said.

Israel’s military says six soldiers injured in Beit Jinn, three severely

Israel’s military has said six Israeli soldiers were injured in clashes in the Syrian town – three severely, one moderately and two lightly. The army said its operation there has been “completed”, with its forces having killed several fighters and arrested other “suspects”.

As we’ve been reporting, Syria’s state news agency says Israel’s attacks in the town have killed 13 people, including women and children.


_{A wounded girl lies on a hospital bed at Al-Mouwasat Hospital in Damascus, following a operation by Israeli forces in Beit Jin on November 28}

Israel’s Beit Jinn incursion ‘full-fledged war crime’: Syria’s Foreign Ministry

Syria’s Foreign Ministry has condemned Israel’s incursion into the town of Beit Jinn “in the strongest terms”, calling it a “full-fledged war crime”.

In a statement released on social media, the ministry said it “holds the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for this serious aggression and the resulting casualties and destruction”.

“The continuation of these criminal attacks threatens security and stability in the region and comes within the context of a systematic policy to destabilise the situation and impose an aggressive reality by force,” the statement added.

The ministry urged the United Nations Security Council and the Arab League to “take immediate action to put an end to the policy of aggression and repeated violations”.

Israel’s government views Syrian territory as ‘fair game’

Israel doesn’t feel the need to justify these kinds of military operations. Ever since the fall of the former Syrian regime and even before that, Israel was carrying out air strikes and going deep into Syrian territory.

For a year now, Israel has been occupying more and more Syrian land, carrying out operations and detaining Syrian nationals, taking them inside Israel.

In Israel itself, the latest operation is being described as extraordinary – not because Syrians were killed, but because Israeli soldiers were injured. There is criticism about the kind of preparations that took place before such an operation, even though the Israeli army admits it took weeks of preparation.

For now, the Israeli army and government treat Syrian territory as fair game.

The Israeli prime minister was inside Syrian territory occupied by Israel to make such a statement two weeks ago – that Israel will stay in Syrian territory, that it is in no hurry to reach an agreement with Damascus and that it will continue to operate to serve its perceived security interests.

Stop calling it security interests, its about Greater Israel, taking more territory in Southern Lebanon, Western Syria, the Jordan Valley.


‘Broad Israeli support’ for military action in Syria

The support for extraterritorial Israeli action in Syria, in Lebanon and elsewhere in the region does enjoy broad support across the Israeli political spectrum, whether it’s the coalition or the opposition.

This is an interesting development because, paradoxically, Damascus enjoys the support of the administration of US President Donald Trump, but it is that administration which recognises Israel’s illegal annexation of the Golan Heights.

There are contradictory policies at play, and so far, we haven’t seen any pushback to Israeli action in Syria. There have been interventions to avoid further deterioration, like when Israel struck the Ministry of Defence in Damascus or when Israel was not allowing Syrian forces to enter southern Syria because Israel wants the entire area, until 60km (37 miles) from Damascus, to be demilitarised.

Those interventions are tactical, to de-escalate, but not really to stop Israel from doing exactly what it has been doing in Syria, Lebanon and beyond.

That's Israel's playbook, keep their surrounding countries weak and divided while stealing more territory.

Injured survivor recounts Israeli attack on Syria’s Beit Jinn

Iyad Daher was asleep in bed when Israeli forces descended on the southern Syrian town of Beit Jinn, wounding him with shrapnel to the neck.

“We were asleep when we were woken up at three in the morning by gunfire,” Daher told the AFP news agency from Al Mouwasat hospital in Damascus, located about 40km (25 miles) from his village.

“We went outside to see what was happening and saw the Israeli army in the village, soldiers and tanks,” Daher recalled. “Then they withdrew, the air force came – and the shells started falling.”


_{A man at a destroyed site following a deadly Israeli raid in Beit Jinn on Friday}

Syria’s Beit Jinn residents insist Israeli raid ‘unfounded’

Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, who recently visited an area of southern Syria near Beit Jinn where Israeli forces carried out their deadly incursion, says communities there have been dealing with similar raids over the past year.

“Israeli forces have been coming in, setting up checkpoints, carrying out raids, arresting people,” said Bin Javaid. “This is the deadliest of these incidents so far.”

He said local sources in Beit Jinn insist the attack affected civilians and was completely “unfounded”.

“Israeli forces have been saying they’re carrying out attacks against sleeper cells, against Iranian-linked groups … but this place has been always against [former President Bashar] al-Assad … and not a single shot has been fired from Syria towards Israel,” he added. “So people have been baffled by these claims.”

_{A damaged kitchen following an Israeli raid in the village in southern Syria}

Israeli attack kills at least one in southern Gaza’s Bani Suheila area

We are getting reports of multiple Israeli attacks near southern Gaza’s Khan Younis and Rafah. In the Bani Suheila municipality, to the east of Khan Younis, an Israeli drone attack killed one person, according to a local medical report cited by our colleagues on the ground.

Israeli forces also carried out artillery attacks and shot from helicopters in Khan Younis city and air strikes in nearby Rafah, our colleagues report, without noting casualties.

Israeli tank fire injures Palestinian child in southern Gaza

We have more information about recent Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip. Israeli tank fire injured one child in the Rafah area, according to local Palestinian media reports cited by our colleagues on the ground.

Earlier, we reported that Israeli forces have been carrying out air strikes in Rafah, along with artillery attacks in nearby Khan Younis city and a drone attack in the Bani Suheila municipality that killed one person.

Man in Gaza transforms abandoned Israeli tank into charging station

_{An abandoned Israeli tank, converted into a solar-powered charging station by 27-year-old Palestinian Yahya Khzaik in Tal al-Hawa near Gaza City, on November 28}

_{With electricity severely limited after the Israeli attacks, residents are using Khzaik’s setup to charge their phones}

Israel’s military claims to have killed 9 fighters in southern Gaza’s Rafah

Israel’s military claims it has tracked down and killed nine fighters stuck in underground tunnels in Israeli-controlled areas of eastern Rafah in southern Gaza.

In a statement, the army said the fighters were killed when Israel destroyed tunnels in the area “through air strikes and engineering means”. The latest casualties bring the total number of fighters killed after being trapped in tunnels in southern Gaza to 30, said the Israeli military, promising its “manhunt” would continue.

Yesterday, the AFP news agency quoted several sources, including an unnamed Hamas leader, as saying negotiations with mediators were under way to secure safe passage of the remaining Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels on the Israeli-controlled side of the yellow line in southern Gaza.

That's not a ceasefire... But nothing about the 'peace' plan is a ceasefire.

Gaza Civil Defence warns new storm could be deadly for displaced families

Gaza’s Civil Defence agency has issued an urgent appeal as a new winter storm is expected to hit the enclave in the coming days, warning war-displaced Palestinians remain exposed to life-threatening cold.

In a message addressed to truce mediators, aid agencies, and the international community, spokesman Mahmoud Basal said: “We are on the verge of another weather front that will strike Gaza within days, bringing us back to the same humiliating scenes.

“What are you doing? Will you wait for our children to die from the cold? Will you wait for people to carry the bodies of their little ones just to prove the catastrophe is real?”

He urged immediate action to prevent cold-related deaths, saying the coming storm could turn “the cold into a killer”.

_{Gaza’s displaced population lives in overcrowded tents that provide little protection from the cold}

Israeli forces continue three-day raid in Far’a camp: Report

Israeli forces have carried out several raids in the occupied West Bank, targeting the governorates of Tubas and Ramallah. This includes the continuation of a three-day incursion into Far’a refugee camp in Tubas, where Israeli forces deployed infantry units and raided numerous homes, according to the Wafa news agency.

In addition, Israeli forces raided the town of Birzeit, near Ramallah, and arrested a former prisoner, said Wafa.

Israeli forces arrest 2 Palestinians in West Bank’s Askar refugee camp

Israeli forces have raided the Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, arresting two people after ransacking homes, according to the Wafa news agency.

Separately, the military stormed the area near the Balata refugee camp to the east, though no arrests were reported, Wafa said. As we reported earlier, Israeli forces are also conducting a three-day incursion into the Far’a refugee camp in Tubas.

No justification for Israeli extrajudicial killings in Jenin: Palestinian politician

Israel’s extrajudicial killings of two unarmed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin have no justification, Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative political party, has told Al Jazeera.

Footage and witness accounts showed the pair holding their hands up and surrendering to the military before being shot dead.

“Israel is not fighting with anybody. They are just conducting attacks on a civilian population,” Barghouti said.

The Israeli army said it was “reviewing” the shootings, but recent examples make clear that no Israeli investigation will lead to punishment or policy change within the military, Barghouti added, referencing the leaked footage of Israeli soldiers gang-raping a prisoner at the Sde Teiman prison last year.

“They will claim that these were terrorists; they will try to dehumanise them,” Barghouti said. “They will claim the Israeli soldiers were afraid, and they will just bring any excuses.”


Israeli settlers attack, threaten shepherds in occupied West Bank village: Report

A group of Israeli settlers have attacked shepherds in the Palestinian village of Mukhmas at gunpoint, forcing them to leave the area and warning them not to return, according to the Wafa news agency.

Israeli settlers also carried out a separate attack on a Palestinian shop near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, ransacking it and destroying its goods, said Wafa.

Israel announces plans to demolish dozens of buildings in West Bank’s Jenin camp

Israel’s military has said it will demolish 24 buildings in the occupied West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp for “operational” purposes. In a statement, the army said Israeli authorities had notified Jenin residents of the upcoming demolition campaign.

Last week, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of attempting to forcibly displace Palestinians in Jenin camp and two other West Bank refugee camps earlier this year, including by intentionally demolishing Palestinian homes and other infrastructure.

It said those acts amount to war crimes and a crime against humanity.

_{A rubble barrier, built by Israeli army bulldozers, at one of the main entrances of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank}

More than 1,000 Palestinians injured in settler attacks this year: OCHA

Israeli settler attacks have injured more than 1,000 Palestinians so far this year – more than double the total for all of last year, the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) says in its latest update.

Here’s what OCHA reported this week:

Save the Children says Israeli raids in West Bank forcing children out of school

Global child advocacy group Save the Children says Israel’s latest raids in areas of the northern occupied West Bank have confined entire communities to their homes, meaning children there cannot go to school.

The organisation says it also had to suspend its educational classes and child protection work in areas subjected to expansive raids, blocking more than 700 children from crucial services.

“While attention has been focused on Gaza, we must not take our eyes off child rights violations in the West Bank,” said Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe Ahmad Alhendawi.

“All children deserve to go to school and have the fulfilling and productive futures it helps to unlock. Education is a right, as is a safe environment,” he said.

_{Children walk past a damaged car along a street that was bulldozed by Israeli troops in an eastern neighbourhood of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin}

Israel’s army starts demolishing buildings in Jenin

Israeli forces have started tearing down homes and buildings in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, report our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

The operation follows an earlier warning from the Israeli military that troops would raze 24 structures in the camp, which it said is required for “operational” purposes.

The practice of declaring areas of the West Bank military training zones was revealed by an Israeli-Palestinian research group, Akevot, as a tactic to expel Palestinian villagers proposed in 1981 by then-Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon, who later became Israel’s prime minister in the early 2000s.

Homes are repeatedly demolished under military orders. Residents say the justifications vary – construction without permits, proximity to military training areas, or land claimed for settlement outposts – but the goal is the same: displacement.