عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Israeli Occupation Army Hints at Re-occupying Palestinian Towns

Israeli machineries, guarded by Israeli forces, bulldoze lands near the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the Israeli occupied West Bank (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli machineries, guarded by Israeli forces, bulldoze lands near the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the Israeli occupied West Bank (File photo: Reuters)
TT
TT

Israeli Occupation Army Hints at Re-occupying Palestinian Towns

Israeli machineries, guarded by Israeli forces, bulldoze lands near the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the Israeli occupied West Bank (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli machineries, guarded by Israeli forces, bulldoze lands near the Palestinian village of Qusra, in the Israeli occupied West Bank (File photo: Reuters)

Israeli occupation army might re-occupy a number of Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank if it felt that the decision to end coordination might negatively affect the security situation, according to military sources.

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Authority (PA) suspended security coordination with Tel Aviv, in protest of the Israeli decision to annex the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea lands, in addition to imposing Israeli law on them.

Initially, Israeli officials did not take the Palestinian decision seriously and expected coordination to remain effective. However, the security services informed their leaders in Tel Aviv that coordination had been halted.

The sources said that the Authority has informed Israel that halting security coordination does not mean its forces will allow chaos in the West Bank.

Israeli army leadership in the West Bank is preparing for a situation of “organized chaos”, saying that in all cases it should be ready for a new situation that requires a new policy, which might include the deployment of occupation forces in the Palestinian cities and resumption of field intelligence activities.

The sources confirmed that since assuming his position as an Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Benny Gantz has been initiating contacts with the Palestinian officials for several objectives.

Gantz wants to ensure the new situation will not lead to escalation and clashes. He also wants to pave the way for the resumption of peaceful negotiations through understandings between two sides.

Earlier, he announced that his support to the annexation plan, given that it is coordinated with Arab neighbors, including the Palestinians.

However, the far-right parties of the Israeli government rejected Gantz’s position saying ending the security coordination is a malicious scheme by the PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who wants to draw Hamas into a confrontation with Israel in the event that the Gaza crossings were closed.

They said there are several indications of an atmosphere of hostility towards Israel among the Palestinian police and security services.

Last Wednesday, a Palestinian policeman pulled his gun at an Israeli vehicle near Nablus and a Palestinian crossing prevented an Israeli patrol from entering Hebron.

Meanwhile, a number of Palestinian gunmen of various cities of the occupied West Bank shot several celebratory gunfire in support of Abbas’s recent decisions.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
TT
TT

Hezbollah Fires about 250 Rockets, Other Projectiles into Israel in Heaviest Barrage in Weeks

Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
Members of the Israeli forces inspect a site following a rocket fired from Lebanon hit an area in Rinatya, outskirts of Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Hezbollah fired about 250 rockets and other projectiles into Israel on Sunday, wounding seven people in one of the group's heaviest barrages in months, in response to deadly Israeli strikes in Beirut while negotiators pressed on with ceasefire efforts to halt the all-out war.

Some of the rockets reached the Tel Aviv area in the heart of Israel.

Meanwhile, an Israeli strike on an army center killed a Lebanese soldier and wounded 18 others in the southwest between Tyre and Naqoura, Lebanon's military said.  

The Israeli military expressed regret, saying that the strike occurred in an area of combat against Hezbollah and that the military's operations are directed solely against the fighters.

Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the latest strike as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

Hezbollah fires rockets after strikes on Beirut  

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel launched retaliatory airstrikes at Hezbollah, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several top commanders.

The Israeli military said about 250 projectiles were fired Sunday, with some intercepted.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it treated seven people, including a 60-year old man in severe condition from rocket fire on northern Israel, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast in the central city of Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, and a 70-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire there.  

In Haifa, a rocket hit a residential building that police said was in danger of collapsing.

The Palestine Red Crescent reported 13 injuries it said were caused by an interceptor missile that struck several homes in Tulkarem in the West Bank. It was unclear whether the injuries and damage elsewhere were caused by rockets or interceptors.

Sirens wailed again in central and northern Israel hours later.

Israeli airstrikes without warning on Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 29 people and wounding 67, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.

Smoke billowed above Beirut again Sunday with new strikes. Israel's military said it targeted Hezbollah command centers in the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, where the group has a strong presence.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,700 people in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardment in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

EU envoy calls for pressure to reach a truce  

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region last week.

The European Union’s top diplomat called Sunday for more pressure on Israel and Hezbollah to reach a deal, saying one was "pending with a final agreement from the Israeli government.”

Josep Borrell spoke after meeting with Mikati and Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally who has been mediating with the group.

Borrell said the EU is ready to allocate 200 million euros ($208 million) to assist the Lebanese military, which would deploy additional forces to the south.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the monthlong 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol with the presence of UN peacekeepers.