Jerusalem: Israel’s finance minister on Tuesday dismissed Washington’s criticism of new settlement construction in the West Bank, promising to double down and legalise dozens of wildcat outposts in the occupied territory.
Bezalel Smotrich reaffirmed his commitment to expand Israeli authority in the lands that the Palestinians seek for a future state less than a day after the United States expressed opposition to the move.
On Tuesday, Europe’s top diplomats also condemned Israel’s plans to build thousands of new homes in the West Bank and retroactively legalise nine outposts, saying they are “deeply troubled” and “strongly oppose these unilateral actions”.
The joint statement from the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom echoed the American condemnation, with no sign they would any action against Israel.
Smotrich, a religious ultranationalist settler, appeared defiant on Tuesday. He and his right-wing allies, he said, remain “committed to removing completely the restrictions on building in Judea and Samaria”, referring to the West Bank by its biblical names.
Smotrich said the Israeli government has “clarified (its) position to the Americans.”
“Disagreements are allowed, even between friends,” he added.
In a contentious coalition deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised Smotrich authority over the defense body responsible for planning for both settlements and Palestinian construction in parts of the West Bank where Israel maintains civilian control.
Once he receives those powers, Smotrich has vowed to “normalise” life for more than 500,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank, erasing the differences between living in a settlement and within Israel’s internationally recognised border and effectively annexing West Bank territory. Such a move would draw widespread global condemnation.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war.
Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements illegal and and an obstacle to peace. Some 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
On Sunday, after a surge in violence in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu’s Cabinet unanimously authorised the legalization of nine settlement outposts and said it would soon approve 10,000 new homes in existing settlements.
Ultranationalists who oppose Palestinian statehood comprise a large part of Israel’s new government, which has declared settlement construction a top priority.
Israel’s newest settlement plans have also drawn condemnation from Israel’s Arab neighbours Jordan and Egypt, as well as Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday, Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt also joined the chorus of criticism.
“The Israeli settlement policy on occupied land is contrary to international law and must be stopped,” Huitfeldt said.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Ramallah: A Palestinian teenager on Tuesday died of critical wounds sustained in clashes with Israeli soldiers that broke out in the Far’a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The ministry said that Mahmoud Al-Aydi, 17, died of his wounds after being shot in the head by Israeli soldiers, Xinhua news agency reported.
Local sources and eyewitnesses said that an Israeli army force stormed the refugee camp to arrest Palestinians allegedly involved in attacks against the Israeli army in the West Bank.
An Israeli army spokesman said in a statement that the Israeli army and the security forces carried out regular operations in several West Bank areas, adding that Israeli soldiers confiscated weapons and arrested Palestinians wanted by Israel.
The statement added that a Palestinian suspect approached the soldiers with an explosive device, and the soldiers opened fire in response.
The killing was the latest in a year-long surge of violence between Israelis and the Palestinians.
Israel’s security forces have carried out daily raids in the West Bank, in which at least 45 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of 2023. Israel says that the raids are aimed at arresting suspects in a string of attacks against Israelis.
Tension has been mounting in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, mainly after the formation of the Israeli right-wing government headed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December last year.
BRUSSELS — With Ukraine’s partners racing to send more weapons to Kyiv amid an emerging Russian offensive, fulfilling Ukrainian requests is becoming trickier.
Ukraine is still waiting for promised deliveries of modern tanks. Combat jets, though much discussed, are mired in the throes of government hesitation.
On top of that, Kyiv is using thousands of rounds of ammunition per day — and Western production simply can’t keep up.
As members of the U.S.-led Ukraine Defense Contact Group gather in Brussels on Tuesday to coordinate arms assistance to Ukraine, they face pressure to expedite delivery and provide even more advanced capabilities to Ukrainian forces.
“We have received good signals,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a video address following visits to London, Paris and Brussels.
“This applies both to long-range missiles and tanks, and to the next level of our cooperation — combat aircraft,” he said, however adding, “We still need to work on this.”
And while most of Ukraine’s partners are committed to responding to Zelenskyy’s stump tour with expanded support as the conflict threatens to escalate, Western governments will have to overcome political and practical hurdles.
“It is clear that we are in a race of logistics,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters on Monday. “Key capabilities like ammunition, fuel, and spare parts must reach Ukraine before Russia can seize the initiative on the battlefield.”
Existing and future supply of weapons to Ukraine will both be on the table when the defense group — made up of about 50 countries and popularly known at the Ramstein format — meets at NATO headquarters.
NATO allies will also hold a meeting of defense ministers directly afterward to hear the latest assessment from Ukrainian counterparts and discuss the alliance’s future defense challenges.
Ukrainian officials will use the session, which would typically be held at the U.S. base in Ramstein, Germany, to share their latest needs with Western officials — from air defense to ground logistics — while it will also be a venue for Kyiv’s supporters to check in on implementation of earlier pledges and availabilities in the near future.
The aim of the session, said a senior European diplomat, is “to step up military support as much as needed — not only commitments, but actual speedy deliverables is of particular significance.”
“Tanks are needed not on paper but in the battlefield,” said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of discussions.
Ammo, ammo, ammo
One of the most pressing issues on the table in Brussels this week is how to keep the weapons already sent to Ukraine firing.
“Of course it is important to discuss new systems, but the most urgent need is to ensure that all the systems which are already there, or have been pledged, are delivered and work as they should,” Stoltenberg said.
During meetings with EU heads on Thursday, Zelenskyy and his team provided each leader with an individualized list requesting weapons and equipment based on the country’s known stocks and capabilities.
But there was one common theme.
“The first thing on the list was, everywhere, the ammunition,” Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said.
“If you have the equipment and you don’t have the ammunition, then it’s no use,” the Estonian leader told reporters on Friday.
And while Ukraine is in dire need of vast amounts of ammo to keep fighting, Western countries’ own stocks are running low.
“It’s a very real concern,” said Ben Hodges, a former commander of U.S. Army Europe. “None of us, including the United States, is producing enough ammunition right now,” he said in a phone interview on Sunday.
Munitions will also be top of mind at the session of NATO defense ministers on Wednesday, who will discuss boosting production of weapons, ammunition and equipment, along with future defense spending targets for alliance members.
Boosting stockpiles and production, Stoltenberg emphasized on Monday, “requires more defense expenditure by NATO allies.”
Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas | Kenzo Tribouillard/AFP via Getty images
And while the NATO chief said some progress has been made on work with industry on plans to boost stockpile targets, some current and former officials have expressed frustration about the pace of work.
Kallas last week raised the idea of joint EU purchases to help spur production and hasten deliveries of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, although it’s not clear whether this plan would enjoy sufficient support within the bloc — and how fast it could have an impact.
Hodges thinks companies need a clearer demand signal from governments. “We need industry to do more,” he said.
But he noted, “These are not charities … they are commercial businesses, and so you have to have an order with money before they start making it.”
Jets fight fails to take off (for now)
Fighter jets are a priority ask for Ukrainian officials, although Western governments seem not yet ready to make concrete commitments.
Numerous countries have expressed openness to eventually providing Ukraine with jets, indicating that the matter is no longer a red line. Regardless, hesitation remains.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg | Valeria Mongelli/AFP via Getty Images
The U.K. has gone the furthest so far, announcing that it will train Ukrainian pilots on fighter jets. But when it comes to actually providing aircraft, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace cautioned that “this is not a simple case of towing an aircraft to the border.”
Polish President Andrzej Duda, meanwhile, said sending F-16 aircraft would be a “very serious decision” which is “not easy to take,” arguing that his country does not have enough jets itself.
For some potential donors, the jets debate revolves around both timing and utility.
“The essential question is: What do they want to do with planes? It’s not clear,” said one French diplomat, who was unauthorized to speak publicly. “Do they think that with 50 or 100 fighter jets, they can retake the Donbas?” the diplomat said.
The diplomat said there is no point in training Ukrainians on Western jets now. “It’ll take over six months to train them, so it doesn’t respond to their immediate imperatives.”
But, the diplomat added, “maybe some countries should give them MiGs, planes that they can actually fly.”
Slovakia is in fact moving closer to sending MiG-29 jets to Ukraine.
“We want to do it,” said a Slovak official who was not at liberty to disclose their identity. “But we must work out the details on how,” the official said, adding that a domestic process and talks with Ukraine still need to take place.
No big jet announcements are expected at the Tuesday meeting, though the issue is likely to be discussed.
Where are the tanks?
And while Western governments have already — with great fanfare — struck a deal to provide Ukraine with modern tanks, questions over actual deliveries will also likely come up at Tuesday’s meeting.
Germany’s leadership in particular has stressed it’s time for countries that supported the idea of sending tanks to live up to their rhetoric.
“Germany is making a very central contribution to ensuring that we provide rapid support, as we have done in the past,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said last week.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is shown an anti-aircraft gun tank Gepard | Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images
“We are striving to ensure that many others who have come forward in the past now follow up on this finger-pointing with practical action,” he went on. Germany’s goal is for Ukraine to receive tanks by the end of March, and training has already begun.
Along with tanks, another pending request that Ukrainian officials will likely bring up this week is long-range missiles.
Hodges, who has been advocating for the West to give Ukraine the weapons it would need to retake Crimea, said he believes long-range precision weapons are the key. “That’s how you defeat mass with precision.”
Any such weapon, he argued, “has got to be at the top of the list.”
Clea Caulcutt contributed reporting from Paris and Hans von der Buchard contributed from Berlin.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
Ramallah: Israeli forces raided the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in Jericho, in the West Bank region of Palestine and injured at least 13 Palestinians, Al Jazeera reported citing the Palestinian health ministry on Saturday.
Two of the injured are critically hurt.
During the raid, the Israeli forces fired bullets, missiles and tear gas at the Aqbat Jabr refugee camp in Jericho city in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli radio confirmed that during the raid to apprehend Palestinians, Israeli forces launched an anti-tank guided missile, Al Jazeera reported.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society charged Israel with impeding ambulance access. After the operation, however, they were eventually permitted to attend to the injured.
This is not the first raid by the Israeli forces in the West Bank region of Palestine.
In the last week of January, nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed by Israeli forces on Thursday during clashes in the refugee camp of Jenin, CNN reported, referring to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC), Israeli forces first made it impossible for medical personnel to get to the Jenin camp, where four injured people were in serious condition.
According to CNN, it went on to say that Israeli forces also shot tear gas canisters at the Jenin Government Hospital, resulting in children suffering from inhalation injuries.
However, the Israeli force refuted claims of innocent Palestinians being killed in the raid and added that they were operating in Jenin Thursday to catch a “terror squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization,” saying in a statement that it killed three “terrorists,” the American broadcaster reported.
As bloodshed continues to remain a part of Palestine, the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh called on the United Nations and international human rights organizations to “intervene urgently to provide protection to the children, youth and women.”
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Ramallah: A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli soldiers near the village of Huwara south in the West Bank city of Nablus, according to authorities.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that Abdulla Qalalweh, 24, died after being shot by Israeli soldiers at an army checkpoint near the village, Xinhua news agency.
Meanwhile, Israeli media reported that a Palestinian driving a car approached the checkpoint, got out of his vehicle, and tried to grab the weapon of a soldier before he was shot dead by other soldiers.
Israeli authorities did not comment on the incident.
The latest development comes amid a series of deadly incidents in the region.
On January 26, Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied northern West Bank and killed nine Palestinians and wounded 16 others.
A day later, a gunman opened fire on people near a synagogue at a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, killing at least seven people.
Since early January, some 35 Palestinians have been killed in the ensuing violence.
More than 170 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank in 2022, and at least 29 have been killed in January this year, according to figures from the Palestinian Health Ministry.
According to the UN, 2022 was the deadliest year for Palestinians since 2006.
The tensions have been further aggravated since Israel’s most right-wing government, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, took office in December 2022.
Kota: A 20-year-old NEET aspirant from West Bengal died after falling from the sixth floor of his hostel building in the Jawahar Nagar area here, police said on Friday.
It is suspected that Ishanshu Bhattacharya lost his balance and fell on the aluminium railing of a balcony which couldn’t take his weight and broke, Circle Officer Amar Singh said.
He fell from the sixth floor of the building and died on the spot, the officer said, adding that he was declared brought dead by a hospital.
Bhattacharya, a resident of Dhupguri in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district came to Kota in August last year and was preparing for medical entrance exam NEET.
The circle officer said, Bhattacharya along with three of his hostel mates was talking in the balcony on the building’s sixth floor.
Around midnight, when they were going back to their rooms, it is suspected that Bhattacharya lost his balance and fell.
The victim’s body has been sent to the mortuary of MBS hospital for postmortem, which will be conducted after his family members arrive, he said.
In a similar incident on January 29, a 17-year-old JEE Mains aspirant from Maharashtra who was preparing for the entrance test in Kota sustained critical injuries after he allegedly fell from the balcony on first floor of his hostel building.
The injured student is still in critical condition and undergoing treatment in a city’s private hospital.
The West isn’t really saying “never” on fighter jets for Ukraine — it just wants to focus first on getting Kyiv weapons for a looming offensive.
That’s the sentiment emerging in the wake of U.S. President Joe Biden’s blunt “no” — echoed to various degrees by leaders in Germany and the U.K. — to the question of whether he would be sending Ukraine the fighter jets it is requesting. While officials have publicly remained relatively unequivocal that no jets are forthcoming, private discussions indicate it may actually just be a matter of time.
At the Pentagon, senior U.S. officials acknowledge Ukraine will need to modernize its aging Air Force with new fighter jets — eventually. But for now, officials are focused on sending the weapons Kyiv needs for the immediate fight.
The same conversations are happening in Europe. Countries like Poland, the Netherlands and France have indicated an openness to the idea, but officials stress there’s considerable work to be done just to get Ukraine the taboo-shattering weapons promised in recent weeks.
“I think it is an issue of longer-term perspective,” said one Eastern European senior diplomat. “We need to deliver what was committed in January as soon as possible. It is really impressive, but time is of the essence.”
The chatter indicates that while the tenor is negative for now, the issue is one likely to linger behind the scenes and eventually reemerge.
It’s a pattern that has occurred over and over for the Western alliance since the war began: Something that was once forbidden — from German weapons in a war zone to Ukraine receiving modern tanks — creeps its way toward reality as the war grinds on, the West’s commitment deepens and equipment requiring significant training no longer seems irrelevant.
“A lot of people still don’t understand that the war is far from over,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk told POLITICO. “In fact, Putin appears to have even more of an appetite than ever. Without air support you can’t fight a modern war.”
The world has changed
The possibility of sending Ukraine fighter jets stretches back to the war’s early days.
In the weeks after Russia sent troops streaming across the border, the Polish government claimed it was ready to transfer Soviet-era fighter planes to the U.S. so they could then go to Ukrainian pilots.
A stunned Washington shot down the offer. The training was too difficult, officials said, and sending planes from a NATO base into Ukraine could risk a direct confrontation with Russia. The subject faded away.
At the Pentagon, senior U.S. officials acknowledge Ukraine will need to modernize its aging Air Force with new fighter jets | Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Nearly a year later, much has changed. An early blitz on Kyiv has morphed into trench warfare. A war that may last days or weeks now could linger for years.
Along the way, Western allies have blown through one red line after another. Heavy weaponry, howitzers, long-range rocket systems, armored vehicles — all eventually made their way to Ukraine. And finally, in a watershed moment last month, allies joined together to pledge roughly 80 modern, Western-made tanks.
Suddenly, the idea of fighter jets didn’t seem so outlandish. Ukraine seized the moment, renewing its request. Momentum seemed to be growing. Then Biden and his European cohorts stepped in to slow things down.
Their caution reflected behind-the-scenes arguments from Western diplomats, who said it was impossible to send Kyiv jets and train pilots in time for a looming Russian offensive. And, they noted, new planes are not crucial for those upcoming battles anyway.
Still, a military adviser to the Ukrainian government said the discussion on jets is simply in its “early days” and expressed confidence the Western position will evolve in the coming weeks.
“In Germany,” Melnyk recalled, “I learned that it was helpful to take people out of their comfort zone. Much of the population had no idea what weapons system the army even had in its arsenal. We helped to educate them.”
U.S. officials, congressional aides and advisers involved conceded they are continuing to work on possible jet deliveries behind the scenes.
“They remember him saying ‘no’ to Patriot and Abrams for a while too,” said one U.S. defense official, recalling Biden’s evolving comments on air-defense systems and tanks.
Fuel up for months of jet talk
Indeed, the jets chatter is far from dead.
Kyiv has focused its demands on so-called fourth-generation jets like the U.S.-made F-16s, which have been in service since the 1980s. Ukrainian military officials estimate the F-16 training could take six months; some U.S. officials say it could even be as little as three to four months for seasoned Ukrainian pilots. The cutting-edge F-35s, meanwhile, have never been on the table.
While it’s unlikely the U.S. would send its own fighter jets, which are in high demand for national security missions around the world, officials might consider letting other countries transfer their own F-16s, said a senior U.S. Defense Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic. The U.S. must sign off on any F-16 transfers because of export restrictions.
The West isn’t really saying “never” on fighter jets for Ukraine — it just wants to focus first on getting Kyiv weapons for a looming offensive | Omar Marques/Getty Images
Some European countries with F-16s in their inventory, like the Netherlands, have already shown they are open to doing exactly that. France is also transitioning to an air force of Rafale planes, meaning Paris will have older jets it could give to Ukraine — jets that wouldn’t need American sign-off.
“There are other countries that are talking about this. So, as they come forward with proposals for them to do it, I think we’ll have those conversations,” the senior DoD official said. “I don’t think we are opposed on the fourth-generation aircraft issue, I just think we have to make sure that we continue to prioritize.”
Right now, officials are more focused on sending Ukraine air defenses to protect Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, as well as armor and artillery for the expected spring offensive. Sending Kyiv fighter jets “does not solve the cruise missile problem, it does not solve the drone problem,” the official said, adding that there have been no high-level discussions yet about sending F-16s.
Behind the scenes, U.S. administration officials are careful not to rule out jet shipments. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby refused multiple requests to elaborate on the president’s comments on Tuesday. A Pentagon spokesperson said there were no new announcements.
“The biggest risk is prolonging the conflict,” former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told POLITICO on Wednesday. “That’s why we have an interest in ending the war quickly with weapons.”
Western allies, Rasmussen said, must ship Ukraine everything it needs without delay.
“If we deliver all the weapons Ukraine needs, they can win,” he argued, stressing that even included retaking Crimea, the region Russia annexed in 2014 that many Western allies consider a no-go zone for the moment.
The next major moment on defense ministers’ calendar is February 14, when officials gather at NATO headquarters in Brussels for a meeting of the so-called Ramstein format — the grouping for allies to discuss weapons shipments for Ukraine.
While the issue of jets is likely to come up at the gathering, officials see the conversation on jets as a “long-term” project, as one senior European defense official put it. Ukraine may raise the topic at the February meeting, the official said, “but the focus will still be on air defense, tanks, ammo.”
Back in Paris, the mood was nonetheless upbeat on Tuesday as Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov met with French officials. Reznikov predicted Ukraine could receive F-16s, the Swedish-made Gripens “or something from France.”
During the recent discussions around tanks, France moved early to send Ukraine light tanks — a decision it argues set the stage for allies to later approve the norm-breaking battalion of heavy tanks. Now, France is sending cryptic signals it may aim to play a similar role.
“I wonder what the messaging means,” said Pierre Haroche, a Paris-based lecturer in international security at the Queen Mary University of London. “If France wants to retain leadership, it has to follow words with actions.”
Lili Bayer and Matthew Karnitschnig contributed reporting.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
East London: Spinner Deepti Sharma’s three-fer and Pooja Vastrakar’s two-wicket haul restricted West Indies to 94 for 6 as India won the last match of the Women’s T20I Tri-series by eight wickets here on Monday.
After Deepti Sharma claimed 3-11 in her four overs and Pooja bagged 2-19, Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur shared an unbeaten stand of 54 to help India race to 94/5 in 13.5 overs.
It was a great performance by the Indian bowlers as the Indian bowlers kept the West Indies women under a tight leash. Rajeshwari Gayakwad claimed 1-9 in her four overs and Renuka Singh gave away only 22 runs off her four overs as West Indies batters failed to get going.
Ror West Indies women, opener and skipper Hayley Matthews top scored with a run-a-ball 34, hitting five boundaries. But her opening partner Rashada Williams was bowled by Deepti Sharma for eight off 12 balls as West Indies lost their first wicket with 18 runs on the board. She claimed the wicket of Shemaine Campbelle off the next ball to claim two wickets in two balls, accori
Zaida James scored 21 off 31 balls towards the end of the innings, hitting two sixes in the process as West Indies could manage only 94/6 in their 20 overs.
Chasing a small target, India lost Smriti Mandhana early for five runs with the score reading eight runs in the second over. However, fellow opener Jemimah Rodrigues struck an unbeaten 42 off 39 balls, hitting five fours while skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hammered an unbeaten 32 off 23 balls s India raced to 95/2 in 13.5 overs to win by eight wickets with 37 balls to spare.
India and hosts South Africa have already secured a place in the final of the series, which will be played on Thursday.
With this dominant performance, India remained unbeaten in this Tri-series while West Indies lost all their matches ahead of the T20 World Cup. West Indies women have not a T20I game since September 2022.
Ramallah: A Palestinian was killed on Monday morning by Israeli soldiers in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.
In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that Nsim Abu Fouda, 24, died after he was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers.
However, Palestinian eyewitnesses said Israeli soldiers stationed at one of the Israeli army checkpoints in the city centre opened fire at a Palestinian car and seriously wounded Abu Fouda. He died from his wounds in hospital.
The Israeli authorities did not comment on the incident, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Health Ministry, it is the third killing of Palestinians in the West Bank in the last 24 hours. Since January 1, the Israeli Army has killed 34 Palestinians, including children and women, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
An ambulance drives past an Israeli military vehicle as smoke rises from objects set on fire by Palestinian rioters, in the West Bank city of Jenin, on January 26, 2023. (Zain Jaafar / AFP)
Cairo: Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit condemned in the “strongest terms” an Israeli raid on Jenin city and Jenin refugee camp that reportedly killed at least nine Palestinians.
Aboul Gheit follows the development in the occupied territories with great concern and calls for the international community to protect the Palestinian people, Xinhua news agency reported, citing an Arab League statement.
The state of indifference encourages the occupying forces to commit more crimes under the leadership of a government with hardline plans, Gheit said.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the raids on the Palestinian cities, which threaten the security in the West Bank, must stop immediately.
The ministry warned against the dangerous repercussions of such assaults on the security and stability of the occupied territories.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli soldiers on Thursday “killed at least nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, and injured 20 others, four of whom are in critical conditions, in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank”.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
