Israeli army announces death of soldier during West Bank operation

An Israeli bulldozer drives as fire breaks out in a fruit market in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin amid ongoing Israeli raids on August 31, 2024. (AFP)
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An Israeli bulldozer drives as fire breaks out in a fruit market in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin amid ongoing Israeli raids on August 31, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 01 September 2024
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Israeli army announces death of soldier during West Bank operation

Israeli army announces death of soldier during West Bank operation
  • The United Nations said on Wednesday that at least 637 Palestinians had been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war began

JENIN, Palestinian Territories: Israel’s army on Saturday announced the first death of a soldier during its ongoing raid in the occupied West Bank that began four days ago.

An army statement said 20-year-old Elkana Navon “fell during operational activity” on Saturday and that another soldier was “severely injured” in the same incident, without providing details.

Since Wednesday at least 22 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army, most of them militants, in simultaneous raids in several cities in the northern West Bank.




Palestinians are stopped by Israeli security forces, during an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, August 31, 2024. (REUTERS)

Since Friday, soldiers have concentrated their operations on the city of Jenin and its refugee camp, long a bastion of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israel.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations said on Wednesday that at least 637 Palestinians had been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war began.

Twenty Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during army operations over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.

During a visit to Jenin on Saturday, Israeli army chief of staff Herzi Halevi said Israeli forces “have no intention of letting terrorism (in the West Bank) raise its head” to threaten Israel.

“Therefore the initiative is to go from city to city, refugee camp to refugee camp, with excellent intelligence, with very good operational capabilities, with a very strong air intelligence envelope... We will protect the citizens of Israel just like that.”

Of the 22 Palestinians reported dead since Wednesday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have said at least 14 were members of their armed wings.

Earlier on Saturday, Hamas issued a statement saying one of its fighters carried out an “ambush” using “a highly explosive device” in the Jenin refugee camp “which led to the deaths and injuries of members of the advancing (Israeli) force.”

 

 


Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two

Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two
Updated 27 sec ago
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Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two

Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill two
  • Two people were killed Thursday in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said

BEIRUT: Two people were killed Thursday in separate Israeli strikes on south Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry said, in the latest attacks despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The ministry said that “an Israeli drone strike targeted a car” in the Nabatiyeh district, killing one person and wounding two others.

Another strike “targeted a truck in the town of Naqura” in southern Lebanon “resulting in one martyr,” it said in a statement.

The Israeli army did not immediately comment on the incidents.

Israel has repeatedly bombed Lebanon despite a November ceasefire seeking to end over a year of hostilities with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Under the agreement, Hezbollah was to pull its fighters back north of the Litani river, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the Israeli border, leaving the Lebanese army and United Nations peacekeepers as the only armed parties in the region.

Israel was required to fully withdraw its troops from the country but has kept them in five places it deems strategic.


Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel

Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel
Updated 15 min 6 sec ago
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Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel

Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel
  • Belgian court orders regional government to stop military exports to Israel, Belga reports

BRUSSELS: A court in Brussels on Thursday ordered the regional Flemish government to stop all transit of military equipment to Israel, Belgian news agency Belga reported.

The region is home to the Antwerp-Bruges port — one of the largest in Europe.


Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts

Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts
Updated 31 min 41 sec ago
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Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts

Israel to boost defense spending by $12.5 billion amid regional conflicts on multiple fronts
  • The budget is expected to enable the Defense Ministry to advance urgent deals critical to national security, a statement said

JERUSALEM: Israel will increase defense spending by 42 billion shekels ($12.5 billion) this year and in 2026, the finance and defense ministries announced on Thursday, citing mounting security challenges.

The budget agreement will enable the Defense Ministry to "advance urgent and essential procurement deals critical to national security," the ministries said in a joint statement.

The funding boost comes as Israel remains engaged on multiple regional fronts, including its ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, marked by heavy casualties and widespread destruction. As well as cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and recent strikes with Iran last month in an unprecedented escalation between the two countries.

Israel has also intensified its airstrikes in Syria, targeting sites near the presidential palace and the defense ministry in central Damascus. Meanwhile, it has carried out a series of aerial attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks. 


Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan

Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan
Updated 17 July 2025
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Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan

Drone attack targets Tawke oilfield in Iraq’s Kurdistan
BAGHDAD: A drone attack targeted Norwegian oil and gas firm DNO's oilfield in Tawke in the Zakho Administration area of northern Iraq on Thursday, according to the Kurdistan region's counter-terrorism service.
It is the second attack on the DNO-operated field amid a wave of drone attacks that began early this week.

PHOTO GALLERY: Massive demonstrations in Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs

PHOTO GALLERY: Massive demonstrations in Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs
Updated 17 July 2025
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PHOTO GALLERY: Massive demonstrations in Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs

PHOTO GALLERY: Massive demonstrations in Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs

Israel’s airstrikes blew up part of Syria’s defense ministry and hit near the presidential palace as it vowed to destroy government forces attacking Druze in southern Syria and demanded they withdraw.

People took to the streets of Aleppo in rejection of foreign intervention in Syria’s internal affairs.