8 Palestinians Killed in 'Shocking' West Bank Crash

Members of Israeli border police patrol near the scene of a security incident at an Israeli military base near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 7, 2021. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
Members of Israeli border police patrol near the scene of a security incident at an Israeli military base near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 7, 2021. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
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8 Palestinians Killed in 'Shocking' West Bank Crash

Members of Israeli border police patrol near the scene of a security incident at an Israeli military base near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 7, 2021. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
Members of Israeli border police patrol near the scene of a security incident at an Israeli military base near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 7, 2021. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta

Eight Palestinians died on Thursday when the van they rode in collided with a cement truck in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian official media said.

The two vehicles slammed into each other at a junction on Route 90, which runs up the Jordan Valley and is under Israeli security control near the northern West Bank village of Fasayil, according to the Wafa news agency.

A medic with the Magen David Adom Israeli rescue services said in a statement that the scene at the crash site was "shocking".

"We saw a truck and a private vehicle crushed on the side of the road," he said.

The victims were not officially identified but local news outlets reported they were teenagers between 14 and 17 years old.

AFP was not able to verify this.

Wafa said that Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas declared a day of mourning to be observed on Friday across the Palestinian territories in honor of the victims.

Medics declared seven people dead at the scene, and Wafa later reported an additional victim.

Three injured people were evacuated to Israeli hospitals via helicopter.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a note of sympathy published in Arabic and Hebrew.

"I would like to convey my heartfelt condolences to the Palestinian families who lost eight of their loved ones today" in the crash, he said.

Neighboring Jordan also expressed condolences.

Palestinian police told AFP that the victims were workers from the town of Aqraba, near Nablus.



Egypt Needs to Import $1.18 Billion in Fuel to End Power Cuts, PM Says

The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
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Egypt Needs to Import $1.18 Billion in Fuel to End Power Cuts, PM Says

The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)
The moon is seen after the day of Strawberry Moon over old houses in Cairo, Egypt, June 22, 2024. (Reuters)

Egypt needs to import around $1.18 billion worth of mazut fuel oil and natural gas to end persistent power cuts exacerbated by consecutive heat waves, its Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in a televised address on Tuesday.

It hopes the shipments will arrive in full around the third week of July, by which point the government aims to stop cutting power during the remaining summer months, he added.

It has already started contracting for 300,000 tons of mazut worth $180 million to boost its strategic reserves which are expected to arrive early next week.

Egypt's government on Monday extended daily power cuts to three hours from two hours previously in response to a surge in domestic electricity consumption during the latest heat wave.

These three-hour cuts will continue until the end of June, before returning to two hours in the first half of July with the aim of stopping completely for the rest of the summer, Madbouly said on Tuesday.

Egyptian social media has lit up with complaints about the impact of the blackouts, with some saying they have been forced to purchase private power generators.

The problem has particularly affected teenagers preparing for the crucial high school certificate, with some posting about students studying by candlelight and others in coffee shops.

A wedding hall owner in the coastal city of Port Said said he would turn one of his ballrooms into a study hall.

Since July last year, load shedding linked to falling gas production, rising demand and a shortage of foreign currency has led to scheduled two-hour daily power cuts in most areas.

"We had said that we planned to end load shedding by the end of 2024... we do not have a power generation problem or a network problem, we are unable to provide fuel," Madbouly said on Tuesday.

"With the increase in consumption related to the major development and population increase, there has been a lot of pressure on our dollar resources," he added.

He said production in a neighboring country's gas field had come to a full halt for 12 hours leading to an interruption in the supply, without naming the country or the gas field.

Egypt's Abu Qir Fertilizers said on Tuesday three of its plants had halted production because their supply of natural gas was cut.