12 Palestinians Killed in Israel's 2-day West Bank Operation

Palestinian doctors and hospital staff react during the funeral of Dr. Osayd Kamal Jabaren at Jenin Hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 May 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Palestinian doctors and hospital staff react during the funeral of Dr. Osayd Kamal Jabaren at Jenin Hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 May 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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12 Palestinians Killed in Israel's 2-day West Bank Operation

Palestinian doctors and hospital staff react during the funeral of Dr. Osayd Kamal Jabaren at Jenin Hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 May 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Palestinian doctors and hospital staff react during the funeral of Dr. Osayd Kamal Jabaren at Jenin Hospital in the West Bank city of Jenin, 23 May 2024. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

The Israeli military said Thursday it has completed a two-day operation in the occupied West Bank that the Palestinian Health Ministry says killed 12 Palestinians and wounded 25.
Israel launched the operation Tuesday in the city of Jenin and an adjacent urban refugee camp as part of a crackdown against militants in the area. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group said its fighters battled the Israeli forces.
Militant groups claimed at least eight of the dead as fighters: one from Hamas and seven from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade. Islamic Jihad group said an unspecified number of its fighters were killed.
Among those killed was a surgeon at a local hospital, according to Wissam Abu Baker, the director of Jenin Governmental Hospital. The surgeon was killed on his way to work, Abu Baker said.
Israel did not immediately disclose additional details about the operation.
Jenin and the adjacent urban refugee camp have long been a bastion of armed struggle against Israel’s occupation, and the frequency of raids by Israeli troops has increased during the war in Gaza.



Biden Calls Israeli Strike that killed Nasrallah a ‘Measure of Justice’

Rubble of damaged buildings lies at the site of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Alloush
Rubble of damaged buildings lies at the site of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Alloush
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Biden Calls Israeli Strike that killed Nasrallah a ‘Measure of Justice’

Rubble of damaged buildings lies at the site of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Alloush
Rubble of damaged buildings lies at the site of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon September 28, 2024. REUTERS/Ali Alloush

US President Joe Biden on Saturday called the Israeli strike that killed Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah a “measure of justice.”

The comments came after Hezbollah confirmed earlier Saturday that Nasrallah, one of the group’s founders, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut the previous day.

Biden noted that the operation to take out Nasrallah took place in the broader context of the conflict that began with Hamas’ attack on Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023.

“Nasrallah, the next day, made the fateful decision to join hands with Hamas and open what he called a ‘northern front’ against Israel,” Biden said in a statement.

He also noted that Hezbollah under Nasrallah’s watch has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of Americans.

The State Department on Saturday ordered the departure of the families of US diplomats who are not employed by the embassy in Beirut. It also authorized the departure of those who are, as well as nonessential employees because of “the volatile and unpredictable security situation” in Lebanon’s capital.

The State Department has previously advised American citizens to consider leaving Lebanon and reiterated its warning against all travel to the country.

“Due to the increased volatility following airstrikes within Beirut and the volatile and unpredictable security situation throughout Lebanon, the US Embassy urges US citizens to depart Lebanon while commercial options still remain available,” the department said in a statement Saturday.

The State Department routinely orders or authorizes the departure of nonessential embassy staffers and the families of diplomats when security conditions in the country where they are posted deteriorate.

An ordered departure is not technically an evacuation but does require those affected to leave. An authorized departure allows those affected to leave the country voluntarily at government expense.