Israeli Military Says it Killed 'Islamic Jihad' Member in West Bank Air Strike

The rubble of destroyed structures during an Israeli military operation in the Al Nusairat refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, 19 February 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
The rubble of destroyed structures during an Israeli military operation in the Al Nusairat refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, 19 February 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
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Israeli Military Says it Killed 'Islamic Jihad' Member in West Bank Air Strike

The rubble of destroyed structures during an Israeli military operation in the Al Nusairat refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, 19 February 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
The rubble of destroyed structures during an Israeli military operation in the Al Nusairat refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, 19 February 2024. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER

The Israeli military said on Friday it had targeted a member from the Islamic Jihad group in an air strike in the occupied West Bank who was on his way to carry out an attack.
The Palestinian news agency WAFA said a 17-year-old was also killed in the strike late on Thursday in the city of Jenin, with more than a dozen others injured.
The Israeli military said the strike targeted Yasser Hanoun, who had carried out several shooting attacks over the past few weeks, reported Reuters.
Violence in the West Bank, among the territories which the Palestinians want for an independent state, was on the rise before the Gaza war and has increased since, with frequent Israeli arrest raids and often deadly clashes.
Israel began its military offensive in Gaza after fighters from Hamas-ruled Gaza killed 1,200 people and took 253 hostages in southern Israel on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.
The offensive against Hamas has killed more than 29,000 Palestinians, according to local authorities, laying waste much of the enclave to waste and displacing most of its 2.3 million population.
Israel says its goal is to eliminate Hamas, a group sworn to Israel's destruction.



Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.