JENIN, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli military on Monday said it had “eliminated over 15 terrorists” and arrested 40 wanted people during a major raid that began last week in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
The raid began two days after a truce took hold in the Gaza Strip, seeking to put an end to more than 15 months of the Israel-Hamas war that ravaged the Palestinian coastal territory.
The military said in a statement that during the Jenin operation troops seized dozens of weapons and “located an explosive device hidden inside a washing machine in one of the buildings in Jenin.”
Soldiers “also dismantled dozens of explosives planted beneath roads intended to attack troops,” it said.
During another operation, “an observation command center was located, containing gas canisters intended for manufacturing explosive devices,” it said.
Backed by bulldozers and warplanes, the military launched last Tuesday its “Iron Wall” operation in Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp, militant strongholds frequently targeted in Israeli raids.
AFP images on Monday showed Israeli troops still in the area, and black smoke rising over the camp.
Salim Al-Saadi, a member of the Jenin camp’s management committee, told AFP that 80 percent of its residents had fled since the raid began.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on its website that more than 24,000 refugees were registered in the camp in 2023, though the actual population is not known.
AFP pictures on Thursday showed rows of women, men and children filing out of the camp, some of them carrying their belongings in bags, accompanied by Palestine Red Crescent ambulances.
A number of Palestinian officials reported that Israel had ordered residents to leave the camp, but the military denied this.
The Palestinian health ministry had earlier reported that the Israeli operation killed at least 12 Palestinians and injured 40 more around Jenin.
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed more than 860 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the health ministry.
At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Israel says ‘eliminated’ 15 Palestinians in Jenin raid
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Israel says ‘eliminated’ 15 Palestinians in Jenin raid
- A number of Palestinian officials reported that Israel had ordered residents to leave the camp, but the military denied this
Israel is not committed to any ceasefire or prisoner release with Hamas
DUBAI: Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel did not commit to any ceasefire or prisoners’ release with Hamas in a statement early on Monday.
The agreement only stipulates a safe corridor that would allow Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander’s release he said.
Israel’s blockade means Gaza’s hospitals cannot provide food to recovering patients
- Hospital patients are among the most vulnerable as Palestinians across Gaza struggle to feed themselves, with Israel’s blockade on food and other supplies entering the territory now in its third month
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip: It cost a fortune, she said, but Asmaa Fayez managed to buy a few zucchinis in a Gaza market. She cooked them with rice and brought it to her 4-year-old son, who has been in the hospital for the past week. The soup was his only meal of the day, and he asked for more.
“It’s all finished, darling,” Fayez replied softly. Still, it was an improvement from the canned beans and tuna she brings on other days, she said.
Hospital patients are among the most vulnerable as Palestinians across Gaza struggle to feed themselves, with Israel’s blockade on food and other supplies entering the territory now in its third month.
With hospitals unable to provide food, families must bring whatever they can find for loved ones.
“Most, if not all, wounded patients have lost weight, especially in the past two months,” Dr. Khaled Alserr, a general surgeon at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, told The Associated Press. Nutritional supplements for intensive care unit patients are lacking, he said.
“Our hands are tied when it comes to making the best choice for patients. Choices are limited,” he said.
Hunger worsens as supplies dwindle
Malnutrition is on the rise across Gaza, aid groups say. Thousands of children have been found with acute malnutrition in the past month, but adults as well are not getting proper nutrients, according to the UN It estimates that 16,000 pregnant women and new mothers this year face acute malnutrition.
Since Israel’s blockade began on March 2, food sources have been drying up. Aid groups have stopped food distribution. Bakeries have closed. Charity kitchens handing out bowls of pasta or lentils remain the last lifeline for most of the population, but they are rapidly closing for lack of supplies, the UN says.
Markets are empty of almost everything but canned goods and small amounts of vegetables, and prices have been rising. Local production of vegetables has plummeted because Israeli forces have damaged 80 percent of Gaza’s farmlands, the UN says, and much of the rest is inaccessible inside newly declared military zones.
Fayez’s son, Ali Al-Dbary, was admitted to Nasser Hospital because of a blocked intestine, suffering from severe cramps and unable to use the bathroom. Fayez believes it’s because he has been eating little but canned goods. She splurged on the zucchini, which now costs around $10 a kilogram (2.2 pounds). Before the war it was less than a dollar.
Doctors said the hospital doesn’t have a functioning scanner to diagnose her son and decide whether he needs surgery.
Israel says it imposed the blockade and resumed its military campaign in March to pressure Hamas to release its remaining hostages and disarm.
Hamas ignited the war with its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage, most of whom have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants.
Concern over Israeli plans to control aid
Israeli officials have asserted that enough food entered Gaza during a two-month ceasefire earlier this year. Rights groups have disputed that and called the blockade a “starvation tactic” and a potential war crime.
Now Israeli plans to control aid distribution in Gaza, using private contractors to distribute supplies. The UN and aid groups have rejected the idea, saying it could restrict who is eligible to give and receive aid and could force large numbers of Palestinians to move — which would violate international law.
Those under care at hospitals, and their families who scrounge to feed them, would face further challenges under Israel’s proposal. Moving to reach aid could be out of the question.
Another patient at Nasser Hospital, 19-year-old Asmaa Faraj, had shrapnel in her chest from an airstrike that hit close to her tent and a nearby charity kitchen in camps for displaced people outside Khan Younis.
When the AP visited, the only food she had was a small bag of dates, a date cookie and some water bottles. Her sister brought her some pickles.
“People used to bring fruits as a gift when they visited sick people in hospitals,” said the sister, Salwa Faraj. “Today, we have bottles of water.”
She said her sister needs protein, fruits and vegetables but none are available.
Mohammed Al-Bursh managed to find a few cans of tuna and beans to bring for his 30-year-old son, Sobhi, who was wounded in an airstrike three months ago. Sobhi’s left foot was amputated, and he has two shattered vertebrae in his neck.
Al-Bursh gently gave his son spoonfuls of beans as he lay still in the hospital bed, a brace on his neck.
“Everything is expensive,” Sobhi Al-Bursh said, gritting with pain that he says is constant. He said he limits what he eats to help save his father money.
He believes that his body needs meat to heal. “It has been three months, and nothing heals,” he said.
Trump hails US-Israeli hostage release as ‘monumental news’
WASHINGTON: Donald Trump on Sunday celebrated an announcement by Hamas that it would release US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander from Gaza, with the US president saying he hoped all hostages would be released and fighting ended.
“I am grateful to all those involved in making this monumental news happen,” Trump said in a post on social media, describing the release as a “good faith gesture,” adding: “Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict.”
Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say
- Strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis
HODEIDAH: Israel attacked Hodeidah in Yemen after the Israeli army said it had warned residents of three ports under Houthi control to evacuate, the Houthi interior ministry said on Sunday.
The strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
There was no immediate comment on the attack from Israel.
The strikes came a few days after a missile launched toward Israel by the Houthis was intercepted.
The attack came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week.
Trump, who had launched an intensified military campaign against Houthi strongholds in Yemen on March 15, agreed to an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal with the group, who said the accord did not include Israel.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at Israel as well as attacking vessels in global shipping lanes, in a campaign that they say is aimed at showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel has carried out numerous retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Hamas, Trump envoy say last living US hostage in Gaza to be released in truce efforts
- Envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed that Hamas had agreed to release Edan Alexander as a good will gesture toward Trump
- Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States
- Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Hamas said Sunday that the last living American hostage in Gaza, Edan Alexander, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the Israeli-blockaded territory and resume the delivery of aid. Two Hamas officials told The Associated Press they expect the release in the next 48 hours.
US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed late Sunday in a message to AP that Hamas had agreed to release Alexander as a good will gesture toward Trump.
The announcement of the first hostage release since Israel shattered a ceasefire in March comes shortly before Trump visits the Middle East this week. It highlighted the willingness of Israel’s closest ally to inject momentum into ceasefire talks for the 19-month war as desperation grows among hostages’ families and Gaza’s over 2 million people under the new Israeli blockade.
Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in New Jersey. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the US informed it of Hamas’ intent to release Alexander “without compensation or conditions” and that the step is expected to lead to negotiations on a truce. Netanyahu’s government was angered by US direct talks with Hamas earlier this year — which led to a Hamas offer to release Alexander and the bodies of four other hostages if Israel recommitted to a stalled ceasefire deal. Days later, however, Israel resumed the war.
Witkoff told the AP that Hamas’ goal in releasing Alexander was to restart talks on a ceasefire, the release of additional hostages and a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza before Israel carries out a threatened total takeover of the territory.
Khalil Al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the US administration over the past few days.
Al-Hayyah said in a statement Hamas is ready to “immediately start intensive negotiations” to reach a final deal for a long-term truce, which includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats.
Indirect talks between Hamas and the US began five days ago, an Egyptian official and a senior Hamas official told the AP, with both describing the release of Alexander as a gesture of goodwill.
The senior Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said Alexander is expected to be released on Monday. Hamas was advised to “give a gift to President Trump and in return he will give back a better one,” the official said.
Another Hamas official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss negotiations, said Alexander’s release is expected in the next 48 hours, adding that it requires Israel to pause fighting for a couple of hours.
The Egyptian official involved in ceasefire negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss talks, said Hamas received assurances from the Trump administration through Egyptian and Qatari mediators that Alexander’s release “will put all files on the negotiating table” including an end to the war.
Alexander’s parents did not immediately return requests for comment.
Trump and Witkoff have frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months. Witkoff was traveling to the region on Monday ahead of Alexander’s expected release.
“Every time they say Edan’s name, it’s like they didn’t forget. They didn’t forget he’s American, and they’re working on it,” Edan’s mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press earlier this year.
Hamas released a video of Alexander in November during the Thanksgiving weekend, his mother said. The video was difficult to watch as he cried and pleaded for help, but it was a relief to see the latest sign that he was alive, she said.
Fifty-nine hostages are still in Gaza, around a third of them believed to be alive. Most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. The Hostages Families Forum, the grassroots forum representing most hostage families, said Alexander’s release “must mark the beginning of a comprehensive agreement” that will free everyone.
Trump, whose administration has voiced full support for Israel’s actions, is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates this week in a regional tour.
Bombardment continues
Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel in March shattered the ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the war, with food running low.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostage.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants or civilians. The offensive has destroyed vast areas of the territory and displaced some 90 percent of its population.
Israel recovers remains of soldier killed in Lebanon in 1982
In a separate development, Israel said it retrieved the remains of a soldier killed in a 1982 battle in southern Lebanon after he had been classified as missing for more than four decades.
The Israeli military said Sgt. 1st Class Tzvi Feldman’s remains were recovered from deep inside Syria, without providing further details.
Netanyahu visited Feldman’s surviving siblings and told them that the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad late last year led to an “opportunity” that allowed the military and the Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, to gather additional intelligence and locate and retrieve the body, according to video released by his office.
Feldman went missing, along with five other Israeli soldiers, in a battle with Syrian forces in the Lebanese town of Sultan Yaaqoub.
