expressing his “deep concern”UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Thursday, August 29, on the social network “immediate end” of the Israeli military operation in the West Bank, condemning “firmly the loss of human lives, especially of children”.
The Israeli army launched this skilled operation. “anti-terrorist” On Wednesday, it sent its armoured columns to Jenin, Tulkarem, Toubas and their refugee camps in the north of the occupied West Bank, where armed groups are particularly active.
The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned of the continuation “military operations near hospitals” and the “serious damage” inflicted on infrastructure, cutting off electricity and telecommunications in some places.
After reporting the deaths of nine fighters, the Israeli army said on Thursday it had killed seven others: two in Jenin and five holed up. “in a mosque” in the Nour Chams camp in Tulkarem, including a commander of the Islamic Jihad group, an ally of Hamas, who confirmed his death. But according to the governor of Tulkarem, Mostafa Taqatqa, all five were killed. “in a rocket attack on a house”without fighting.
The Palestinian Health Ministry also recorded sixteen deaths in forty-eight hours, including, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, two teenagers aged 13 and 17, described as “terrorists” by the Israeli army.
Violence has erupted in the West Bank since October 7
Clashes continued Thursday afternoon in Jenin and Israeli soldiers continued to operate in Tulkarem, according to two journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP). However, the army has withdrawn from the Toubas refugee camp, according to witnesses.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, at least 45 people have been arrested since Wednesday and the army recorded ten arrests. Israel “He wants to put pressure on the resistance” but each one “Zionist escalation” reinforces it, Mohamed Mansour, a political leader, told AFPTV in Toubas.
Israeli incursions into Palestinian autonomous zones are a daily occurrence in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. But they are rarely on this scale.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, violence in the West Bank has soared. The UN on Wednesday cited at least 637 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army or settlers since October 7. At least nineteen Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed there in Palestinian attacks or military operations, according to official Israeli data.
“Humanitarian pauses” against polio
In the Gaza Strip, still bombed by Israel and engulfed in fighting, the civil defence announced on Thursday eight deaths in an Israeli attack on Gaza City (north). Three Palestinians were killed in a drone attack in Rafah (south), according to an AFP medical source. The Israeli army said it had killed 1,000 Palestinians in the past 24 hours. “tens” of fighters, one of whom participated in the October 7 attack, she said.
The global application
The morning of the world
Every morning, find our selection of 20 articles not to be missed
Download the app
Israeli troops are continuing their operations in Rafah, in the Khan Younes region (south) and on the outskirts of Deir Al-Balah (center), according to the army. Displaced residents returned to certain areas in the east of the city on Thursday and found their homes destroyed. “We lost everything”Ibrahim Al-‘Assad, trying to recover some belongings from the rubble, laments.
“What happened to our basic humanity?”Joyce Msuya, acting head of the UN humanitarian office, told the Security Council on Thursday, describing the suffering of residents as“beyond what any human being should endure”.
Most of the 2.4 million residents of the Palestinian territory have been displaced in nearly eleven months of war. The only ray of hope: a World Health Organization (WHO) official announced Thursday that Israeli authorities had agreed to a series of “humanitarian pauses” three days each – several hours a day – throughout Gaza to begin vaccinating children against polio on Sunday, following the announcement of a first confirmed case.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had previously said that it was not a question of “Ceasefire on polio vaccination but provision of certain places”.
