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Palestinians Say Five Injured in Israeli Settler West Bank Attack

TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp in eastern Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp in eastern Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Palestinians Say Five Injured in Israeli Settler West Bank Attack

TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp in eastern Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Israeli soldiers patrol a street during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp in eastern Nablus, Israeli-occupied West Bank, on March 2, 2026. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Israeli settlers injured five Palestinians, including two with gunshot wounds, in a fresh attack against a village in the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian official said Saturday, while the military reported a 'violent confrontation' in the area.

Palestinian news agency WAFA said a group of settlers attacked in the area of Rashayda, near the village of Kisan, "firing live ammunition".

Musa Abayat, the mayor of the area east of Bethlehem, told AFP that two people were hospitalized with gunshot wounds and three others beaten with sharp objects or hit by stones.

"The settlers also stole 100 sheep," Abayat said, decrying "daily attacks" by settlers in this part of the West Bank.

The Israeli military said there was a "violent confrontation" involving Israeli civilians who fired toward Palestinians.

"As a result of the incident, an Israeli civilian was injured and evacuated to the hospital for medical treatment," it said in a statement to AFP.

"Two additional Palestinians were evacuated by the Red Crescent for medical treatment."

Israeli police had detained two Israeli civilians who fired their weapons, while three Palestinians were also apprehended, the military added.

There has been a spike in deadly settler attacks in the West Bank in recent days, with at least five Palestinians killed since the start of March, according to Palestinian authorities and the United Nations.

Violence more broadly in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has also risen sharply since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war. It has continued despite a ceasefire since October 10.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,045 Palestinians, many of them militants, but also scores of civilians, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.

At least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.

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Arab World

French Boats Set Sail to Join Gaza Aid Flotilla

Activists gather in l'Estaque, part of Marseille's harbor, southern France, on April 4, 2026, during a rally in support of a flotilla carrying activists from “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” movement as they prepare to set sail. (AFP)
Activists gather in l'Estaque, part of Marseille's harbor, southern France, on April 4, 2026, during a rally in support of a flotilla carrying activists from “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” movement as they prepare to set sail. (AFP)
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French Boats Set Sail to Join Gaza Aid Flotilla

Activists gather in l'Estaque, part of Marseille's harbor, southern France, on April 4, 2026, during a rally in support of a flotilla carrying activists from “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” movement as they prepare to set sail. (AFP)
Activists gather in l'Estaque, part of Marseille's harbor, southern France, on April 4, 2026, during a rally in support of a flotilla carrying activists from “Thousand Madleens to Gaza” movement as they prepare to set sail. (AFP)

Some 20 French boats set sail from Marseille on Saturday to join up with an international flotilla making a renewed effort to break an Israeli blockade and deliver aid to Gaza, AFP reporters saw.

"Gaza, Marseille is with you" shouted around a thousand people who had come to the docks to support the initiative.

The ships, mostly sailboats, set off to a round of applause and songs shortly after 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) to join the "Global Sumud Flotilla", named after a Gazan fisherman.

The international flotilla of some 100 boats, mostly setting sail from Barcelona on April 12, will head towards Gaza around April 20, according to the organizers. A week-long stopover is planned in southern Italy for "non-violence training."

"The goal is to give Palestine more visibility. We're not talking about it much right now, because of the international context," said Manon, a crew member who declined to give her full name.

In late 2025, an initial flotilla of about 50 boats, composed of political figures and activists such as Sweden's Greta Thunberg, was boarded by the Israeli navy -- illegally according to the organizers and Amnesty International.

The crew members were arrested and expelled by Israel.

The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Israel and the Palestinian movement accuse each other of violating a ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, 2025, after two years of war.

Arab World

Tens of Thousands of Sadr Supporters Rally in Baghdad Against War

Followers of Iraq's Moqtada al-Sadr wave Iraqi national flags during a protest against the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as they gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, 04 April 2026. (EPA)
Followers of Iraq's Moqtada al-Sadr wave Iraqi national flags during a protest against the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as they gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, 04 April 2026. (EPA)
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Tens of Thousands of Sadr Supporters Rally in Baghdad Against War

Followers of Iraq's Moqtada al-Sadr wave Iraqi national flags during a protest against the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as they gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, 04 April 2026. (EPA)
Followers of Iraq's Moqtada al-Sadr wave Iraqi national flags during a protest against the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran, as they gather in Tahrir Square, Baghdad, Iraq, 04 April 2026. (EPA)

Tens of thousands of supporters of Iraqi Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr rallied in Baghdad and across the country on Saturday, condemning Israel and the United States and demanding an end to the war.

The massive crowds came as the Middle East war was due to enter its sixth week after strikes launched by the US and Israel against Iran on February 28.

Iraq has been unwillingly drawn into the conflict, with strikes targeting US interests on its soil as well as attacks against pro-Iran groups in the country.

Tens of thousands of men and some women packed into the streets around Baghdad's central Tahrir Square on Saturday, waving the national flag and chanting: "No, no to Israel" and "No, no to America".

"What America and Israel are doing in their aggression against the countries of the region is not a war of a military nature, but a senseless war," Dhirgham Samir, attending the rally, told AFP.

"Today's demonstration is an expression of rejection of aggression, arrogance, and injustice throughout the world, not just in Iraq," he said.

Samir, who was in his forties, added that "this is a senseless war, targeting civilians".

Across the region since the onset of war thousands have been killed.

In a statement, Sadr called for peaceful demonstrations "to condemn the Zionist-American aggression and to establish peace in the region".

Under the giant Freedom Monument, commemorating Iraq's declaration of independence, demonstrators also railed against what they said was US and Israeli meddling in the region.

"They violate the rights of all the peoples of the region first, and then the world," cleric Ali Al-Fartousi told AFP.

"Humanity must speak out against these people and stop them," he said, adding: "The time has come for the entire world to stand united against global Zionist-American arrogance."

Sadr retains a devoted following of millions among Iraq's majority Shiite population, and has previously mobilized huge crowds.

As well as popular support, Sadr also has representatives among Iraqi ministries and official institutions, despite opposing several governments over the years.

Arab World

Israeli Forces Destroy 17 UN Peacekeeper Cameras in South Lebanon

A dog lies an empty road outside a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
A dog lies an empty road outside a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Destroy 17 UN Peacekeeper Cameras in South Lebanon

A dog lies an empty road outside a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)
A dog lies an empty road outside a Lebanese army outpost in the area of Naqoura in southern Lebanon on March 27, 2026. (AFP)

Israeli forces destroyed 17 surveillance cameras linked to the United Nations peacekeepers' main headquarters in southern Lebanon in 24 hours, a UN security official told AFP on Saturday.

Since the start of the Israel-Hezbollah war on March 2, the UN force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been caught in the crossfire in the country's south, with Hezbollah launching attacks on Israel and its troops, and Israeli forces pushing into border towns.

The official, who requested anonymity, said "17 of our headquarters' cameras have been destroyed by the Israeli army" in the coastal town of Naqoura.

On Thursday, UNIFIL spokeswoman Kandice Ardiel told AFP peacekeepers had seen "Israeli soldiers conducting demolitions of large parts" of Naqoura since the start of the week.

"Not only have these demolitions destroyed civilian homes and businesses, but the strength of the blasts have caused damage to UNIFIL's headquarters," she added.

Three Indonesian peacekeepers from the UN force have been killed in two separate incidents over the past week.

UNIFIL also reported Friday an "explosion" in one of its bases near Adaisseh in south Lebanon that wounded three personnel, adding that they "do not yet know the origin of the explosion".

The Israeli army accused Hezbollah of firing " a rocket that landed in a UNIFIL outpost".

The UN office in Jakarta said on Saturday the wounded were Indonesian.

Indonesia condemned the incident as "unacceptable", saying "these events underscore the urgent need to strengthen protection for UN peacekeeping forces amid an increasingly dangerous conflict situation".

According to the UN, 97 force members have been killed in violence since its establishment in 1978 to monitor the withdrawal of Israeli forces after they invaded Lebanon.

"This has been a difficult week for peacekeepers working near the central part of UNIFIL's area of operations," Ardiel said in her statement.

She added that UNIFIL "reminds all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers, including by avoiding combat activities nearby that could put them in danger".