Hamas Says Israeli Airstrike Kills Two of its Members in West Bank

A woman walks with children next to an ambulance as Israeli military vehicles pass by during a raid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 14, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo
A woman walks with children next to an ambulance as Israeli military vehicles pass by during a raid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 14, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo
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Hamas Says Israeli Airstrike Kills Two of its Members in West Bank

A woman walks with children next to an ambulance as Israeli military vehicles pass by during a raid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 14, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo
A woman walks with children next to an ambulance as Israeli military vehicles pass by during a raid, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank December 14, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File Photo

An Israeli airstrike killed two of its members in the city of Tulkarm on Monday, Hamas said, underscoring Israel's renewed focus on armed groups in the occupied West Bank since the start of the ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that controls Gaza, said the two killed on Monday were members of its armed wing. Witnesses in the city said a raid was underway but there was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed that two people had been killed, without identifying them, Reuters reported.

In Jenin, further north, a major operation with hundreds of Israeli troops backed by armoured vehicles, drones and helicopters, looked set to go into a second week, with smoke rising above the refugee camp adjacent to the city, a longtime centre of armed militant groups.

Armoured bulldozers and diggers have destroyed buildings and roads in the camp, a crowded township built for descendants of Palestinians who fled or were forced from their homes in the 1948 war around the creation of the state of Israel, and thousands of people have left their homes.

At least 16 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin and surrounding areas since the start of the operation a week ago, including four claimed as fighters by Hamas and the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad.

Late on Saturday, Israeli forces also shot a two-year old girl during a raid on the village of Ash-Shuhada, just to the south of Jenin, Palestinian officials said.

"They started to shoot at us through the windows without any warning," said Ghada Asous, grandmother of two year-old Laila Muhammad Al-Khatib. "All of a sudden, the special forces raided us and were shooting through the windows."

The Israeli military said troops on a counterterrorism operation had fired at a structure where suspected militants had barricaded themselves.

"The army is aware of the claim that uninvolved civilians were injured as a result of the fire. The incident is under review," it said in a statement.



Lebanese Govt. to Seek New IMF Program, Policy Statement Says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
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Lebanese Govt. to Seek New IMF Program, Policy Statement Says

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas//File Photo

Lebanon's new government will negotiate with the International Monetary Fund for a new program and will work to deal with the country's financial default and public debt, according to a policy statement approved by the cabinet late on Monday.

The statement, a copy of which was reviewed by Reuters, said the government would work for an economical revival that could only be achieved through restructuring the banking sector.

Lebanon has been in deep economic crisis since 2019, when its financial system collapsed under the weight of massive state debts, prompting a sovereign default in 2020 and freezing ordinary depositors out of their savings in the banking system.

Beirut reached a draft funding deal with IMF in 2022 - contingent on reforms that authorities failed to deliver.

Finance Minister Yassine Jaber, who took office as part of a new government agreed earlier this month, told Reuters an IMF mission is expected to visit Lebanon in March.

Jaber said he had met the IMF's resident representative in Lebanon, Frederico Lima, and confirmed that the government plans to move ahead with reforms.

Lebanon's political landscape has been turned on its head since the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, long a dominant player in Lebanese politics, was badly pummelled in last year's war with Israel.

Reflecting the shift in the power balance, the government policy statement did not include language used in previous years that was seen to legitimize a role for Hezbollah in defending Lebanon, saying instead "we want a state that has the decision of war and peace".

The statement said it was required to adopt a national security strategy and a foreign policy that works to 'neutralize' Lebanon from conflicts.

In the field of energy, the Lebanese government will seek to resume work in oil and gas exploration, according to the cabinet statement. It said the government planned to establish a Ministry of Technology and Artificial Intelligence.

With a new administration in neighboring Syria, the statement said the Lebanese government believed it has an opportunity to start a serious dialogue aimed at controlling and demarcating the borders and working to resolve the issue of displaced Syrians in Lebanon.