2 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire in Occupied West Bank, Officials Say 

Israeli military vehicles on a road on the second day of an Israeli military raid at Tulkarem refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 28 January 2025. (EPA)
Israeli military vehicles on a road on the second day of an Israeli military raid at Tulkarem refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 28 January 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

2 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire in Occupied West Bank, Officials Say 

Israeli military vehicles on a road on the second day of an Israeli military raid at Tulkarem refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 28 January 2025. (EPA)
Israeli military vehicles on a road on the second day of an Israeli military raid at Tulkarem refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Tulkarem, 28 January 2025. (EPA)

The Palestinian Health Ministry said two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank overnight and into Wednesday.

A 23-year-old man was shot dead in Tulkarem and a 25-year-old man was killed in a strike on Jenin, where Israel launched a large operation earlier this month.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its reports. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. The ministry says over 800 Palestinians have been killed. Most appear to have been gunmen killed in battle during Israeli arrest raids, but the dead also include people killed during violent protests, as well as civilian bystanders.

There has also been an uptick in settler violence against Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis since the start of the war.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.



Egypt, Spain Reject US Plan to Displace Gazans

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

Egypt, Spain Reject US Plan to Displace Gazans

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (R) and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hold a signed agreements following their meeting at Moncloa Palace in Madrid, Spain, 19 February 2025. (EPA)

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday rejected a controversial proposal by US President Donald Trump to displace Palestinians from the war-devastated Gaza Strip.  

The Arab League is scheduled to hold an extraordinary meeting in Cairo on March 4 in response to Trump's plan to take over Gaza and permanently move its Palestinian inhabitants elsewhere, including to Egypt and Jordan, and then redevelop the coastal territory into the "Riviera of the Middle East".  

Speaking in Madrid ahead of the gathering, Sisi called for the "international community's support and adoption of a plan to rebuild the Gaza Strip without displacing the Palestinian people -- I repeat, without displacing the Palestinian people -- from their land, which they cling to, and their homeland, which they do not agree to relinquish".

Sanchez, one of the staunchest defenders of the Palestinian cause within the European Union, agreed, saying "Gaza belongs to the Palestinians and is part of the future Palestinian state".

"Their expulsion would not only be immoral and contrary to international law and United Nations resolutions, but would also have a destabilizing effect," the Socialist premier added.  

The two leaders also signed a declaration upgrading Egypt-Spain relations to a "strategic partnership", as well as several memorandums of understanding in various fields including illegal migration and defense.  

Trump's plan sparked an outcry from Arab governments as well as from world leaders, and the United Nations warned against "ethnic cleansing" in the Palestinian territory.