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SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

Israeli air attacks have killed 136 Palestinians in the West Bank since October

The UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) has released its weekly update on the situation in the occupied West Bank. It said from August 20 to 26, some 13 Palestinians, including four children, were killed in the territory. Of these eight were killed in Israeli air attacks.

The update did not include the 11 Palestinians killed in the Israeli attacks on August 28 as it was outside of the reporting period.

OCHA noted that some 136 Palestinians have been killed and 41 wounded in Israeli air attacks since October 2023. All of the killings except one occurred in the West Bank’s northern governorates.

In contrast, between 2020 and October 2023, just six Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes, all in 2023, it added.


Israeli foreign minister doubles down on forced displacement in West Bank

In a post on social media, Foreign Minister Israel Katz reiterated that Palestinians “in some cases” will be forcibly displaced from the occupied West Bank as Israel’s military continues its largest incursion into the Palestinian territory in decades.

Katz described the forced removal of Palestinians in the West Bank in terms of “temporary evacuation from one neighbourhood to another … to prevent civilian harm” amid “intense combat”.

The forced removal of Palestinians in the West Bank was necessary to enable Israel’s “dismantling of terror infrastructures”, he said. “We must address this threat by all necessary means,” he wrote on X.

Katz’s notice that Palestinians will be forcibly removed from their homes in the West Bank appears to mirror Israel’s dislocation of around 90 percent of Gaza’s some 2.1 million people under so-called military “evacuation orders”, and which have been described as a war crime by rights groups.


Palestinians face escalation in ‘unlawful killings’ by Israel in West Bank: Amnesty

Israeli forces have followed their “escalation in unlawful killings” in the occupied West Bank with a major military assault on the Palestinian territory that puts “more Palestinians at risk”, Amnesty International said.

Describing an already “horrifying spike in lethal force” against Palestinians by Israeli soldiers and armed settlers, Amnesty said the new military operation will result “in further loss of Palestinian lives” as well as “an increase in forced displacement, destruction of critical infrastructure and measures of collective punishment”.

“Amid alarming reports that Israeli forces have encircled and blocked off access to hospitals, Amnesty International urges the Israeli authorities to take action to safeguard health facilities and personnel,” Amnesty’s Erika Guevara Rosas said in a statement.

“As the occupying power, Israel has a clear obligation to protect Palestinians, their homes and the infrastructure throughout the occupied Palestinian territory,” Guevara Rosas said.



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SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

No shit, Sherlock

US says Israeli settler violence is undermining regional security

The Biden administration has sanctioned an Israeli NGO known as Hashomer Yosh as well as three members within this group. This group is funded in part by the Israeli government and is affiliated with far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir as well as Bezalel Smotrich.

We also understand that it raises money inside the US as well as online.

Another Israeli individual – Yitzhak Levi Filant – has also been sanctioned, for acting outside the scope of his authority as a law enforcement officer in the West Bank. He allegedly led an effort to prevent 250 Palestinians in a village from returning to their homes after volunteers from Hashomer Yosh walled off that village.

The US’s concern is that this ongoing and escalating settler violence is undermining peace and security in the region. And the Biden administration hopes the move will lead Israel to hold these individuals accountable, even though the Israeli government is funding much of this operation.

Now, the Israeli government has taken issue with these sanctions.

In fact, Netanyahu’s office has released a statement saying the Israeli government views with “the utmost severity the imposition of sanctions on citizens of Israel” and that “the issue will be a point of discussion” with the US.

We should also point out that Amnesty International has looked into these instances and says this is part of a wider state-backed campaign to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem – given the fact that many of these acts of violence have occurred while the Israeli military has been present.

WFP chief slams Israeli attack on its team in Gaza

Cindy McCain, the WFP’s executive director, has described the Israeli attack on a vehicle carrying members of its team near a military checkpoint in Gaza as “unacceptable”.

McCain said it was “the latest in a series of unnecessary security incidents that have endangered the lives of WFP’s team in Gaza”.

She added, “As last night’s events show, the current deconfliction system is failing and this cannot go on any longer. I call on the Israeli authorities and all parties to the conflict to act immediately to ensure the safety and security of all aid workers in Gaza.”



Aid delivery in Gaza is nearly impossible. Why hasn’t the US intervened?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/8/29/aid-delivery-in-gaza-is-nearly-impossible-why-hasnt-the-us-intervened

The United Nations has warned that threats to aid delivery in Gaza are reaching crisis levels as Israel’s war on Gaza enters its 11th month. But the United States – a critical ally of Israel and the largest donor to the UN – has been conspicuously silent on the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Amid the silence, advocates say the US must speak out, particularly as childhood malnutrition surges in Gaza and cases of polio spread.

UN Security Council set to meet on Gaza

The UNSC will meet in New York later today, at the request of the United Kingdom and Switzerland, to discuss the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. The move comes after Israeli forces opened fire on a “clearly marked UN humanitarian convoy” with the World Food Programme in the war-torn enclave.

The UK’s mission to the UN posted on X: “The UN has warned aid operations and staff in Gaza are at risk, at a time when a vaccine campaign is urgently needed to stop a polio outbreak.”



SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

Killing of Palestinian man brings death toll in occupied West Bank to 12

The Wafa news agency reports that a 35-year-old man – identified as Firas Bassam Alaqma – has died from wounds sustained by Israeli gunfire in Jenin, bringing the total number of Palestinians now killed since the start of the Israeli military incursion to 12.

More than 20 other Palestinians have been wounded in the major military operation that has targeted the cities of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem, as well as refugee camps in the areas, Wafa reports.

Wafa has reported Israeli raids, injuries and arrests across the West Bank overnight, including:

  • Three Palestinian men were injured – one from bullet shrapnel and two from being beaten by Israeli soldiers – in the Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas.
  • Israeli forces opened fire with live bullets during clashes with local people in the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.
  • Electricity and internet services have been cut in large parts of Jenin city and the Jenin refugee camp after Israeli forces targeted power lines.
  • Israeli forces stormed Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron.
  • A large number of local homes were raided and searched in the Nur Sham refugee camp, located east of Tulkarem.
  • Houses were raided in Nablus city.
  • Soldiers raided and searched homes in the village of Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah.


At least 20 Palestinians arrested in Israel’s West Bank operation

Palestinian officials said in a statement that children were among those detained since Israel’s military launched its large-scale operations in the occupied West Bank at dawn on Wednesday.

The statement by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said the number of those detained could rise as the Israeli raids continue.

It added that the bodies of some of those who were detained and later released bore “clear marks” of “torture and abuse”.

Tulkarem refugee camp, two hospitals under siege by Israeli forces: Report

Israeli forces have besieged Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank following a dawn raid by Israeli special forces, who infiltrated the area as snipers took up positions on top of nearby buildings, the Wafa news agency reports.

Israeli aircraft are flying at low altitude over the camp and Israeli soldiers have attacked a house with rifle-fired antitank shells, Wafa’s correspondent reports, adding that a fire has erupted in the targeted building but it is not known if there are casualties as rescue workers cannot enter the camp.

Israeli forces are reported to be “firing randomly at everything moving in the camp”, according to Wafa, and have also besieged the Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital and the al-Israa Specialised Hospital.



SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

US imposes sanctions on Israeli NGO for supporting violence in occupied West Bank

Eli Clifton, a senior adviser at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft – a US-based think tank – said there is no evidence that US sanctions have deterred Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory.

But announcing such measures provides cover for the US administration’s provision of military aid to Israeli forces, and Washington’s decision to not designate certain Israeli military units as participating in human rights abuses linked to settler activity.

According to Clifton, the US wants to be seen as acting on settler violence but does not want to do anything that affects the US-Israel relationship long-term.


Belgium’s deputy PM calls for sanctions on Smotrich, Ben-Gvir

Petra De Sutter said she will offer full support for the imposition of sanctions on the far-right Israeli cabinet ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, during an upcoming meeting of the European Union’s top diplomats.

“Genocidal policies and statements should not go unpunished,” she said in a post on X. De Sutter did not provide specifics on the statements and policies.

Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich has previously prompted outrage, including from the EU, for saying that “it might be justified and moral” to starve the two million Palestinians in Gaza as well as for calling for the expulsion of Palestinians from the coastal enclave.

National Security Minister Ben-Gvir has also drawn anger for advocating the resettlement of Palestinians outside Gaza and for saying that his right to move around the occupied West Bank outweighed those of the Palestinians living there.


Israel announces push to prevent punitive EU measures

Israel Katz, the Israeli foreign minister, said his government was “now working with our friends in Europe to prevent the adoption of resolutions against Israel” at the upcoming meeting of EU’s top diplomats.

“The message we are conveying is clear: in a reality where Israel is faced with the threats of Iran and its proxy terrorist organizations – the free world must stand by Israel, and not act against it,” he wrote on X.

The statement came as Belgium’s deputy prime minister called for sanctions on far-right Israeli ministers as well as Israeli settler groups. The meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers is set to take place later today in Brussels.

The EU said the UN’s Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, will join the discussion to brief the diplomats on the situation in the Palestinian enclave.



SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

Fifteen Israeli soldiers killed in August

Fifteen Israeli soldiers have died in combat in August, according to Israel’s military, in one of its deadliest stretches of the 11-month war on the Gaza Strip.

The latest to be killed was Staff Sergeant Yochai Hai Glam, a member of the Jerusalem Brigade. He was killed by sniper fire in central Gaza on August 28, said the military.

His death brings the total number of Israeli soldiers killed since October 7 to 704, according to the military’s tally.


Death toll from Israel’s attack on Gaza City rises to eight

The Wafa news agency, citing its correspondent, said at least eight people, including a child, have been killed following the Israeli attack on the building near al-Amal Hotel.

Earlier, Palestinian civil defense crews said they had recovered the bodies of six people from the site and that three people had been wounded. The bombing caused a huge fire that trapped several people on the building’s second floor, they said.


Rockets from Gaza hit southern Israel: Report

The Times of Israel is reporting that the two rockets landed in open areas in the Kissufim community near the Gaza perimeter fence and caused no injuries.


Israel forces hit by mortars, rockets and IEDs on Netzarim Corridor: Monitors

Five Palestinian armed groups used mortars, rockets, improvised explosive devices (IEDS) and small arms in attacks on Wednesday against Israeli forces deployed on the Netzarim Corridor, south of Gaza City, war monitors report.

The Israeli-built road, which dissects the Gaza Strip from east to west, has become a focal point of attacks on Israeli forces by Palestinian fighters, and also a base from which Israel’s military launches “clearing operations” in surrounding areas.

Israeli forces claimed on Wednesday that they had destroyed a three-kilometre-long (1.8-mile) military tunnel used by Palestinian fighters in the vicinity of the corridor, US-based defence think tanks the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) report.

In the centre of the territory, Israeli tanks and bulldozers appeared to be operating to the east of Deir el-Balah, the ISW-CTP report, while further south, Israeli forces came under rocket and mortar fire near the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Gaza’s death toll rises

Israeli military attacks in Gaza have killed 68 people and injured 77 in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The casualties bring the enclave’s total death toll during the war to 40,602, with 93,855 injured.



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SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

Girls killed by flying shrapnel in overnight Israeli attacks

We have confirmation that two girls were killed in overnight attacks – one in az-Zawayda and the other in eastern Deir el-Balah. They were killed as a result of flying shrapnel, which hit them directly in the head.

In the western part of Gaza City, near al-Amal Hotel, Israeli air strikes caused a fire. In footage that we’ve seen, we can clearly hear people inside a building and neighbouring homes screaming for help as the fire rages. The attack happened without prior warning.


Children, women hurt in Khan Younis attack

An Israeli military attack has hit a group of displaced people in Khan Younis’s al-Amal neighbourhood, killing or injuring more than a dozen of them, reports the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

Two of those killed and 10 of those injured were taken to al-Amal Hospital, while several others injured have been taken to the Kuwaiti field hospital, said the PRCS. The majority of the victims are women and children, according to the relief group.


Bloodied children seen on floor of Khan Younis hospital after attack

The European Hospital in Khan Younis is inundated with victims of Israel’s latest assault in the area, which killed at least five people to the east of the city, according to the Wafa news agency.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency shows injured people, including women and children, being frantically carried into the facility. Some of the victims are seen on beds and even the hospital’s floor, bleeding, dazed or groaning in pain.


Three killed in Gaza City’s Zeitoun

An Israeli attack has killed three people and injured others in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, reports the Wafa news agency. Meanwhile, the death toll of an attack we’ve been reporting on in Khan Younis has risen to five, the agency said.



SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

Gaza’s civil defence says its ambulances are deteriorating

A spokesman for the group, which is one of the main emergency response organisations operating in the Gaza Strip, says Israel’s targeted attacks on its ambulances and a lack of spare parts for repairs are leading to the degradation of its fleet of vehicles, including fire trucks.

“The [Israeli] occupation targeted and destroyed all shops, especially in Gaza [City] and the north, which the Civil Defense relied on to provide the spare parts needed for its work”, Mahmoud Basal said in a statement.

He called on the UN’s World Health Organization to intervene and provide the group with the spare parts it needs to carry out its life-saving operations in the Strip.

Meanwhile, Israel’s blockade of Gaza continues, with an official from the UN telling Al Jazeera yesterday that the amount of aid Israel lets in to the Strip is at its lowest level in months.


Mother of baby with polio in Gaza pleads for medical care

The mother of a 10-month-old baby who has been diagnosed with Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years, says her child should be given treatment abroad.

“I was shocked that my son got this disease amid the war and the closure of border crossings, under these conditions and lack of medicine,” Abu al-Jidyan told Reuters news agency.

“Would he remain like this?” she asked of her child, who has been partially paralysed by the disease.

“He is my only baby boy. It’s his right to travel and be treated; it’s his right to walk, run and move like before … It is unfair that he stays thrown in the tent without care or attention,” she said from a tent in Deir el-Balah.


EU urges ‘immediate humanitarian pauses’ for Gaza polio vaccinations

The European Union has called for “immediate humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to allow for a critical vaccination campaign against polio, according to a statement from the EU High Representative’s Office.

“It is alarming that poliovirus was detected and that the first case was confirmed there again in July affecting children,” the statement said.

This follows a recent announcement from Gaza’s Health Ministry, which confirmed the first polio case in the region in 25 years involving a 10-month-old baby in Deir el-Balah.

The EU statement said the bloc “welcomes the delivery of more than 1.2 million oral polio vaccines as well as the cooperation by Israel in delivering the vaccines to Gaza, and underlines the importance of further cooperation by all sides with WHO, UNRWA and UNICEF to conduct the vaccination rollout”.

The aim of the campaign is to vaccinate about 640,000 children under the age of 10.



SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

Israel preliminarily agrees to ‘humanitarian pauses’ for Gaza polio vaccinations

The World Health Organization (WHO) has “a preliminary commitment for area specific humanitarian pauses” in fighting in the Gaza Strip to allow for a polio vaccination campaign to be carried out, a senior WHO official has announced.

The United Nations is preparing to vaccinate an estimated 640,000 children in Gaza, where the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed on August 23 that at least one baby has been paralysed by the type 2 polio virus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.

On July 30, the Health Ministry in Gaza declared the Palestinian territory to be a “polio epidemic zone”, blaming the reappearance of the virus on Israel’s 10-month military offensive and the resulting destruction of health facilities.


WHO says Israel agrees to 3 days of pause in fighting for polio campaign in Gaza

The UN’s health agency says Israel has agreed to at least three days of “humanitarian pauses” in Gaza to allow UN health officials to administer polio vaccinations in the territory. That means that the humanitarian pauses could potentially continue after the three days.

WHO says that the agreement is for pauses for nine hours a day, between 6am and 3pm local time.

“The way we discussed and agreed, the campaign will start on the first of September, in central Gaza, for three days, and there will be a humanitarian pause during the vaccination,” said Rik Peeperkorn, the agency’s representative for Palestinian territory.


Israel gives in to polio vaccination pressure amid concerns of spread

The polio vaccination campaign in Gaza came about after intense pressure from UN officials and the US with Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly appealing to Israel.

There are also warnings that the virus could spread to Israel amid expectations that it will spread rapidly through Gaza given the lack of sanitation and the disruptions in medical care and vaccinations that have happened there.

What is happening is that the vaccines will be rolled out on September 1 over a three-day period.

UN officials say they’ve been given assurances by Israeli authorities that if they do not accomplish as many shots as they need in those three days, they’ll be given an extra day [where necessary].

The UN has more than 2,000 workers ready to go to make this happen.


Israel agrees to pauses – but doesn’t want a ceasefire

Analyst Mohamad Elmasry says the news that Israel has agreed to humanitarian pauses to allow the administration of polio vaccines is “welcome”, but he emphasises the need for a sustainable ceasefire.

“What about all the other Gazans who are suffering from myriad conditions now, with people quite literally starving. Why not a larger, more sustainable ceasefire?” Elmasry, a professor of media studies at the Doha Institute of Graduate Studies, asked.

“The answer to that question is obvious, and that’s because Israel doesn’t want a ceasefire. They’ve made that clear … that they want more or less indefinite war in Gaza.”

Moreover, Elmasry told Al Jazeera, implementing the polio vaccinations will be “quite scary” for aid workers as well as regular residents.

“If you listen to the Palestinians on the ground, … they’re saying they’re terrified of being displaced because time and time again – it’s been documented – Israel orders the Palestinians to go to a particular location. They declare it a safe zone, and then they bomb it,” he added.

“My guess is Palestinians will be scared to even go [to] vaccinate their children.”


Logistics of polio campaign in Gaza likely to be ‘complex’

Mukesh Kapila, a doctor who was formerly a United Nations staffer, says the three-day pause agreed to by Israel is unlikely to be long enough to administer the polio vaccine to all those in need in Gaza.

“Let’s not underestimate the complex logistics here. Almost certainly, three days are not going to be enough,” Kapila, professor emeritus at the University of Manchester, told Al Jazeera.

“I don’t know whether we can build on this and that they can do some other immunisations as well … but of course, that might be a prayer and a wish too far.” Kapila said it was “extremely important” to win the trust of the people in Gaza for them to “bring their children forward” to get vaccinated.

“Many of them will be afraid. Many of them will not trust what’s going on because they’ve already been bombed despite being assured of their safety,” he added. “That’s why I hope very much that people are not fixated with the three-day period, but they allow a decent amount of time to get the job done.”

How long did it take to vaccinate against Covid-19... Not 3 days.


Humanitarian pauses for vaccinations will only be in specific areas, and not across the whole of Gaza

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris says teams on the ground will need the next 48 hours to ensure all logistics are in place. “Waiting is something we don’t want anybody to do, but we want to be sure that everything’s in place,” she told Al Jazeera.

“One of the critical things is this preliminary commitment to area-specific humanitarian pauses. This means that the pauses will only happen in certain places at certain times. We have to ensure that the vaccinators can move around in safety and that parents and children can reach the vaccination points in safety.”

Harris said the situation in Gaza was a “perfect storm” for enabling the poliovirus to “spread like wildfire”. “You’ve got no clean water, you’ve got poor sanitation, you’ve got overcrowding,” she added.



SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

Israel paving asphalt road along Philadelphi Corridor: war monitors

The Israeli military is paving an asphalt road along a section of the Gaza Strip’s southern border with Egypt, according to satellite imagery analysed by two US-based war monitors.

“Paving the Philadelphi Corridor will make it harder for Palestinian militias to plant improvised explosive devices (IED) along it,” the Critical Threats Project and Institute for Study of War report.

Not having the IDF there will make it pointless to plant IEDs along the corridor... Seems the IDF is dead set on staying there.


Palestinians suffering from lack of water, hygiene kits: MSF

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is distributing emergency sanitation units in the Gaza Strip amid a deteriorating situation for the approximately 90 percent of the enclave’s population that is forcibly displaced due to Israeli attacks.

“We live a very difficult life like the rest of the displaced. There’s a lack of water, bathrooms, difficulty getting food and other necessities,” said Shahd Abu Samra, a young displaced woman from north Gaza.

“There’s a lack of hygiene kits, making them difficult to find. When available, they are very expensive.”


Deaths, injuries reported after Israeli attack in Deir el-Balah

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that several people have been killed and wounded following an Israeli shelling at the al-Baraka roundabout in the central Gaza area.

Israeli attacks have killed dozens of people in the past 24 hours.


PRCS medics transport casualties after air raid on Khan Younis tents

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has released the footage below of the aftermath of the latest Israeli air raids on displaced people in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.


Israeli bombardment reduces central Gaza neighbourhoods to rubble, displacing residents again

In Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, Israeli bombardment has devastated entire neighbourhoods, reducing them to rubble. Residents, repeatedly displaced, have returned to find their homes and infrastructure destroyed.

The destruction has left the area uninhabitable, with families left homeless and nowhere safe to go.


Israeli strike in Gaza kills nine members of the same family

An Israeli strike on a residential building in central Gaza has killed nine members of the same family, as Israel’s punishing assault on the Strip continues to decimate families.

“These are Israel’s goals!” Osama al-Taweel told reporters next to a hospital morgue, where five dead babies wrapped in bloodied shrouds were among the victims.

The Associated Press reported that medics at the al-Awda Hospital said that a pregnant woman was also killed in the strike, along with her unborn child.

Al-Awda Hospital is struggling to accommodate dozens of patients. Many of them are seeking assistance after being forced to leave the larger Al-Aqsa Hospital earlier this week after Israeli authorities placed that facility under evacuation orders.



SvennoJ on 29 August 2024

Tulkarem camp gripped by fear as raid persists for second day

We’ve been reporting on Israeli raids on a daily basis. But this one is on a different scale.

Israeli forces have raided four refugee camps at the same time – an operation that is now continuing for a second day. There is a lot of fear and anxiety among residents.

Today it seems calmer in the Tulkarem camp, but it may be because of the Israeli announcement that they killed five Palestinian fighters, including Abu Shuja’a, the leader of the Tulkarem battalion. Back in April, some Israeli media outlets reported the possible killing of Abu Shuja’a during a three-day raid of the camp, but the battalion denied the reports. He was later targeted again and survived another assassination attempt. But he now seems to have been killed.


Death toll from West Bank raids rises to 18

The latest casualties in Tulkarem and Nur Shams have brought the death toll from Israel’s two-day military operation in the occupied West Bank to at least 18. Those killed include eight people in Jenin governorate, six in Tulkarem governorate and four in Tubas governorate.

Dozens more have been injured in the raids, according to the Wafa news agency.


Israeli forces arrest 12 in Hebron

As major raids continue in Jenin and Tulkarem, Israeli forces have also stormed Hebron and arrested at least 12 people, reports the Wafa news agency.

They also raided a home in Wadi al-Hariya, south of Hebron, and confiscated some 40,000 shekels ($10,900) from its owner, said Wafa.


Islamic Jihad group says top commander killed in raids

Palestinian Islamic Jihad has confirmed that the commander of its armed wing has been killed in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem. Earlier, the Israeli military said it had “eliminated” five fighters, including Mohamed Jabber, also known as Abu Shuja’a.

“Abu Shujaa, commander of the Tulkarem Brigade of the Al-Quds Brigades, died along with several brothers of his brigade after a heroic battle against the soldiers of the (Israeli) occupation”, the group said in a statement.


Father of killed commander Abu Shuja’a said he ‘dedicated his life to defending homeland’

Samer Jaber, the father of Mohamed Jaber, the commander of the Tulkarem Battalion who was killed by Israeli forces, says he welcomed the “martyrdom of our son”.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Arabic’s presenter Fida Bassil, Jaber said that despite numerous arrests and four previous assassination attempts his son, also known as Abu Shuja’a, remained steadfast in his mission to defend Palestine.

“We congratulate the Arab and Islamic nations, as well as the heroes of Gaza,” Jaber said. “From the age of 17, he was deeply passionate about our nation and land, dreaming of a free Palestine. He dedicated his life to defending his homeland.”

Abu Shuja’a, 26, had previously spent five years in Israeli prisons.