Israeli Forces Kill 2 Palestinians Who Carried Out Attack

Israeli soldiers secures the site of a reported attack in the Kdumim settlement, north of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on July 6, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Israeli soldiers secures the site of a reported attack in the Kdumim settlement, north of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on July 6, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
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Israeli Forces Kill 2 Palestinians Who Carried Out Attack

Israeli soldiers secures the site of a reported attack in the Kdumim settlement, north of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on July 6, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)
Israeli soldiers secures the site of a reported attack in the Kdumim settlement, north of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank on July 6, 2023. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Israeli security forces on Friday killed two Palestinians who carried out a shooting attack against police this week, Israel's military said.

Israeli forces raided the occupied West Bank town of Nablus, the military said, and "both terrorists were killed following an exchange of fire."

The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said Israeli troops had cordoned off a house where the two had holed up and that they had been "executed".

The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a major faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization, claimed the two men as members and said they had carried out the attack on Israeli police.

Palestinian health officials reported a casualty in a separate incident near the city of Ramallah, when violence erupted at an anti-settlement protest. Palestinian residents said Jewish settlers arrived and a stone-throwing clash ensued. Israeli soldiers at the scene opened fire, they said.

One Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire, but the exact circumstances were unclear, according to Palestinian officials. An Israeli army spokesperson was checking the report.

Most countries view Israel’s settlements on occupied land as illegal. Israel disputes this.

Friday's violence followed a two-day Israeli operation earlier this week in the densely populated Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank, which has been a flashpoint in a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence that has convulsed the West Bank for more than a year.

The Israeli military said it had targeted infrastructure and weapons depots of Palestinian armed factions in Jenin in the operation.

Twelve Palestinians, most confirmed as militant fighters, were killed and around 100 wounded in the incursion that began with late-night drone strikes, followed by a sweep involving more than 1,000 troops.

The raid damaged homes, left a trail of wrecked streets and burned-out cars and prompted the evacuation of thousands of people from the refugee camp. Israel says all the Palestinians killed were combatants. One Israeli soldier was killed.

The Jenin operation was the most intense in two decades, said the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that provides public services in Gaza and the West Bank.

UNRWA said it had set up a temporary healthcare facility because a part of its health center was destroyed, and appealed for foreign aid to help rebuild damaged buildings.

The Israeli army during its operation had said it struck a militant command center in Jenin that was situated next to an UNRWA school and medical center. 



Germany Moves Troops Out of Iraq, Citing Mideast 'Tensions'

FILE PHOTO: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visits the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 (Transporthubschrauberregiment 30) at the Hermann-Koehl-Kaserne in Niederstetten, Germany, August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
FILE PHOTO: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visits the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 (Transporthubschrauberregiment 30) at the Hermann-Koehl-Kaserne in Niederstetten, Germany, August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
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Germany Moves Troops Out of Iraq, Citing Mideast 'Tensions'

FILE PHOTO: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visits the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 (Transporthubschrauberregiment 30) at the Hermann-Koehl-Kaserne in Niederstetten, Germany, August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski
FILE PHOTO: German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen visits the Transport Helicopter Regiment 30 (Transporthubschrauberregiment 30) at the Hermann-Koehl-Kaserne in Niederstetten, Germany, August 20, 2018. REUTERS/Ralph Orlowski

Germany's military has "temporarily" moved some troops out of Erbil in northern Iraq because of "escalating tensions in the Middle East," a German defense ministry spokesman told AFP on Thursday.

Dozens of German soldiers had been relocated away from the base in Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.

"Only the personnel necessary to maintain the operational capability of the camp in Erbil remain on site," the spokesman said.

The spokesman did not specify the source of the tensions, but US President Donald Trump has ordered a major build-up of US warships, aircraft and other weaponry in the region and threatened action against Iran.

German troops are deployed to Erbil as part of an international mission to train local Iraqi forces.

The spokesman said the German redeployment away from Erbil was "closely coordinated with our multinational partners".


UN: At Least 15 Children Killed in Sudan Drone Strike

The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
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UN: At Least 15 Children Killed in Sudan Drone Strike

The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)
The war in Sudan, ongoing since mid-April 2023, has caused extensive destruction across the country (AFP)

A drone strike on a displacement camp in Sudan killed at least 15 children earlier this week, the United Nations reported late on Wednesday.

"On Monday 16 February, at least 15 children were reportedly killed and 10 wounded after a drone strike on a displacement camp in Al Sunut, West Kordofan," the UN children's agency said in a statement.

Across the Kordofan region, currently the Sudan war's fiercest battlefield, "we are seeing the same disturbing patterns from Darfur -- children killed, injured, displaced and cut off from the services they need to survive," UNICEF's Executive Director Catherine Russell said.


MSF Will Keep Operating in Gaza 'as Long as We Can'

(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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MSF Will Keep Operating in Gaza 'as Long as We Can'

(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
(FILES) A Palestinian man walks on his crutches to the Doctors Without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) clinic, in the al-Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City on new year's Eve, December 31, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The head of Doctors Without Borders in the Palestinian territories told AFP the charity would continue working in Gaza for as long as possible, following an Israeli decision to end its activities there.

In early February, Israel announced it was terminating all the activities in Gaza by the medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, after it failed to provide a list of its Palestinian staff.

MSF has slammed the move, which takes effect on March 1, as a "pretext" to obstruct aid.

"For the time being, we are still working in Gaza, and we plan to keep running our operations as long as we can," Filipe Ribeiro told AFP in Amman, but said operations were already facing challenges.

"Since the beginning of January, we are not anymore in the capacity to get international staff inside Gaza. The Israeli authorities actually denied any entry to Gaza, but also to the West Bank," he said.

Ribeiro added that MSF's ability to bring medical supplies into Gaza had also been impacted.

"They're not allowed for now, but we have some stocks in our pharmacies that will allow us to keep running operations for the time being," he said.

"We do have teams in Gaza that are still working, both national and international, and we have stocks."

In December, Israel announced it would prevent 37 aid organizations, including MSF, from working in Gaza from March 1 for failing to submit detailed information about their Palestinian employees, drawing widespread condemnation from NGOs and the United Nations.

It had alleged that two MSF employees had links with Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which the medical charity has repeatedly and vehemently denied.

MSF says it did not provide the names of its Palestinian staff because Israeli authorities offered no assurances regarding their safety.

Ribeiro warned of the massive impact the termination of MSF's operations would have for healthcare in war-shattered Gaza.

"MSF is one of the biggest actors when it comes to the health provision in Gaza and the West Bank, and if we are obliged to leave, then we will create a huge void in Gaza," he said.

The charity says it currently provides at least 20 percent of hospital beds in the territory and operates around 20 health centers.

In 2025 alone, it carried out more than 800,000 medical consultations, treated more than 100,000 trauma cases and assisted more than 10,000 infant deliveries.