Israel war on Gaza: Israeli forces kill 9 in occupied West Bank raids
- At least nine Palestinians have been reported killed in the occupied West Bank as the Israeli military continues its biggest raid in close to two decades, involving hundreds of troops and air attacks in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem.
- Israel’s foreign minister has called for the displacement of Palestinians from areas of the West Bank, as its soldiers besiege a hospital in Jenin.
- At least 20 people have been killed in the most recent Israeli strikes mainly targeting Deir el-Balah in central Gaza and Khan Younis in the south, our correspondent in the Gaza Strip reports.
- “The timing could hardly be worse” says a UN official as staff are forced to abandon Gaza headquarters and halt operations ahead of a polio vaccination campaign.
- At least 40,534 people have been killed and 93,778 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza
Israel’s priority is West Bank: analyst
Israel’s intense raids in the occupied West Bank, where they have continued to expand settlements during the Gaza war, shows that exerting control over the territory is a top priority, says Hassan Barari, a professor of international affairs at Qatar University.
“Israel’s objective number one is not Gaza, it is the West Bank. This is the heart of what they say is the Biblical land,” Barari told Al Jazeera, adding that Israel aims to expel even more Palestinians.
However, the Israeli military is likely to continue facing fierce resistance from a new generation of hardened fighters that are just as committed to protecting their homeland, he says.
The Palestinians “born after the second intifada are more “insistent to realise their objectives, even by violent means,” Barari said, without putting their hopes in the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Israeli forces threaten to storm Jenin hospital: Report
Israeli forces are continuing to cut off access to leading medical facilities in Jenin and now threaten a military operation in one hospital, warns the local governor.
Speaking to the Wafa news agency, Kamal Abu al-Rub said Israeli troops are still blocking the roads leading to Ibn Sina Specialized Hospital while surrounding and threatening to storm Jenin Government Hospital.
They also continue to close all entrances to the city, Abu al-Rub said.
Israeli raids in West Bank could last several days: Reports
The Times of Israel and YNet News are reporting that Israeli military sources expect the continuing raids in the occupied West Bank to last for several days.
The operation is mostly focused on Tulkarem, as the military believes the group that planned and directed an attempted suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on August 18 operates in the area, the outlets said.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad have claimed responsibility for the blast.
At the time, Israeli authorities said the man who was carrying the bomb was killed when his explosives detonated before he managed to reach a more heavily populated area.
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kt comments:
West Bank constitutes most of the Israeli's desired land of Judea & Samaria, hence Gaza is just a side target whereas the West Bank has been what the Israelis wanted all this while. Thus they aim to eliminate-cleanse the West Bank of Palestinians.
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