Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank overnight and into Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry says.
A 23-year-old man was shot dead in Tulkarem and a 25-year-old man was killed in a strike on Jenin, where Israel launched a large operation earlier this month.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its reports. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. The ministry says over 800 Palestinians have been killed. Most appear to have been militants killed in battle during Israeli arrest raids, but the dead also include people killed during violent protests, as well as civilian bystanders.
There has also been an uptick in settler violence against Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis since the start of the war.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.
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Israeli drone strike wounds 5 in southern Lebanon as residents demand to return to their land
BEIRUT — An Israeli drone strike wounded five people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, according to the country's Heath Ministry, in a village where civilians were protesting for Israeli soldiers to let them access their lands.
The Health Ministry said the strike in Majdal Selm hit “families,” a term it uses for civilians trying to reenter their villages. The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike.
Despite a Sunday deadline, Israel's military did not withdraw from southern Lebanon under the terms of its ceasefire with the militant group Hezbollah.
Protests have since been held daily, and the Israeli military has sometimes responded with gunfire, killing 26 people. The U.S. and Lebanon announced a ceasefire extension until Feb. 18.
Two Israeli strikes on Tuesday wounded 36 people, the Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said it targeted “a Hezbollah truck and an additional vehicle that transferred weapons.”
The strikes were north of the Litani River. The ceasefire prohibits Hezbollah from having a military presence south of the river.
One of the strikes hit an amusement park, leaving it in ruins with shattered bumper cars, a twisted Ferris wheel and carousel. “This city is meant as an entertainment facility for children,” said Haitham Alam, the park's manager.
Egypt's president rejects Trump proposal to remove Palestinians from Gaza
CAIRO — Egypt’s president rejected on Wednesday a suggestion by President Donald Trump that Palestinians from the war-torn Gaza Strip be moved to neighboring Egypt and Jordan, saying it would undermine the idea of an independent Palestinian state and that an influx of refugees could destabilize his country.
In his first public comments on Trump’s suggestion, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said “there are historical rights that cannot be ignored” and called the idea “an injustice” which Egypt would not be party to.
He said his government would work with the Trump administration to achieve a peace that's based on the two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
He warned that any transfer of Palestinians out of their territories “means destabilizing not only the Egyptian national security, but also the Arab national security.”
Both Egypt and Jordan are key U.S. allies that have made peace with Israel but support the creation of a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
Kremlin says Russian visit to Syria was important for building dialogue
MOSCOW — Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday that a Russian delegation’s visit to Damascus the day before, the first since the fall of former President Bashar Assad, an ally of Russia, was “an important trip" for building dialogue with Syrian authorities.
Peskoy refused to comment on reports that the Syrian authorities demanded that Moscow pay some kind of compensation to Syria or on unnamed sources claiming another demand was to extradite Assad, who fled to Russia and was granted asylum there.
“I am leaving this without any comment. We will continue the dialogue with the Syrian authorities,” Peskov said in a response to a reporter's question.
Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported Wednesday that the discussions had included “Russia’s role in rebuilding trust with the Syrian people through concrete measures such as reparations, reconstruction and recovery." It said the talks were also on “transitional justice mechanisms aimed at ensuring accountability and justice for the victims of the brutal war waged by the Assad regime.”
Israeli authorities say they arrested 12 Palestinians in east Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Israeli authorities say they have arrested 12 Palestinians in east Jerusalem who celebrated the release of prisoners under the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.
Israel’s internal Shin Bet security service and the police said they arrested the men late Tuesday after videos taken earlier in the week showed the men celebrating the release of the prisoners by waving Hamas flags and firing guns into the air.
They say the Palestinians who celebrated the release had violated the ban on “expressions of joy” and “identification with Hamas” that Israel has imposed since the ceasefire took hold. They said a search revealed Hamas flags, posters, fireworks, a BB gun and cash.
Under the first phase of the deal, Hamas is releasing 33 hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war in exchange for the release for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including some serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis.
Palestinians generally view the prisoners as heroes imprisoned for fighting against Israel’s decades-long occupation of lands they want for a future state.
