Jewish settlers launched multiple attacks on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank overnight, setting homes ablaze and engaging in clashes with Israeli troops, report Associated Press (AP)
The Israeli military reported that settlers targeted the village of Beit Furik after soldiers arrived to dismantle an unauthorised farming outpost constructed by the settlers. Stones were thrown at the troops, injuring two paramilitary Border Police officers, while some settlers entered the village and set property on fire. No Palestinian casualties were immediately reported.
Hamas and Fatah are near an agreement on who will oversee postwar Gaza
Since the onset of the war, the West Bank has experienced a significant rise in settler violence.
Meanwhile, in Lebanon, a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah remains in place, despite Israeli forces conducting several drone and artillery strikes on Tuesday that resulted in the death of a shepherd in southern Lebanon. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to continue responding to Hezbollah's ceasefire violations "with an iron fist."
Hezbollah began its rocket, drone, and missile attacks on Israel last year in support of Hamas militants engaged in conflict in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza war erupted after Hamas-led militants infiltrated southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing approximately 1,200 individuals, mainly civilians, and taking around 250 hostages.
UN halts aid shipments through Gaza's main crossing after looting
Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has claimed the lives of at least 44,500 Palestinians, over half of whom were women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The Ministry has not specified how many casualties were combatants, while Israel claims over 17,000 militants have been killed, although evidence has not been provided.
The extensive military operations in Gaza have devastated large portions of the coastal territory, displacing 90% of its 2.3 million residents, with many forced to relocate multiple times.