Two Palestinians Killed in West Bank Clashes

Palestinians sit in a shelter at the rubble of their house destroyed in the three-day Israel-Gaza fighting, in Gaza City, August 14, 2022 - Reuters
Palestinians sit in a shelter at the rubble of their house destroyed in the three-day Israel-Gaza fighting, in Gaza City, August 14, 2022 - Reuters
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Two Palestinians Killed in West Bank Clashes

Palestinians sit in a shelter at the rubble of their house destroyed in the three-day Israel-Gaza fighting, in Gaza City, August 14, 2022 - Reuters
Palestinians sit in a shelter at the rubble of their house destroyed in the three-day Israel-Gaza fighting, in Gaza City, August 14, 2022 - Reuters

Two Palestinians were killed early Thursday in separate clashes with the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that Samer Khaled, 25, from Al-Ain camp in Nablus, suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the neck, and Yazan Afana, 26, from Qalandia camp outside Jerusalem, died after being shot in the heart.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Khaled was killed when Israel soldiers stormed Balata refugee camp near Nablus, in the northern West Bank.

Afana was killed during an operation in Al-Bireh, near Ramallah, the health ministry said.

A Palestinian official said the death of Afana was linked to fire from Palestinian militants, rather than the Israeli army.

The army said in a statement that its soldiers arrested six wanted men in operations throughout the West Bank overnight.

"During the operation (in Balata), the forces responded by firing after a shot was fired at them," the army statement said, AFP reported.

"There are claims of a dead Palestinian," it added.

The army said that during the operation in Al-Bireh, its forces were attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails and responded using "riot dispersal means".

It added that in this case too it had been informed of the death of a Palestinian.

On Tuesday, four Palestinians and two Israelis were injured in separate incidents near Nablus, the scene of recurrent violence in recent months.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, when it captured the territory from Jordan.



Israel’s Netanyahu: Attempt by Hezbollah to Assassinate Me Is ‘A Grave Mistake’

Israeli security forces secure a road near where Israel's government says a drone launched toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in Caesarea, Israel Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP)
Israeli security forces secure a road near where Israel's government says a drone launched toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in Caesarea, Israel Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP)
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Israel’s Netanyahu: Attempt by Hezbollah to Assassinate Me Is ‘A Grave Mistake’

Israeli security forces secure a road near where Israel's government says a drone launched toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in Caesarea, Israel Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP)
Israeli security forces secure a road near where Israel's government says a drone launched toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house in Caesarea, Israel Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attempt of Iran's proxy Hezbollah to assassinate him and his wife on Saturday was "a grave mistake," after his spokesman said a drone was launched from Lebanon at his holiday home.

None of the groups firing on Israel over the last year, including the Iran-backed Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, have claimed responsibility for that attack.

Israel’s government said a drone was launched toward the prime minister’s house Saturday, with no casualties.  

Sirens wailed Saturday morning in Israel, warning of incoming fire from Lebanon, with a drone launched toward Netanyahu’s house in Caesarea, the Israeli government said.

Neither he nor his wife were home, said his spokesperson in a statement.

The strikes into Israel come as its war with Lebanon’s Hezbollah — a Hamas ally — has intensified in recent weeks.  

Hezbollah said Friday that it planned to launch a new phase of fighting by sending more guided missiles and exploding drones into Israel. The armed group’s longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in late September, and Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon earlier in October.  

A standoff is also ensuing between Israel and Hamas, which it’s fighting in Gaza, with both signaling resistance to ending the war after Israel’s killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar this week.  

On Friday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, said Sinwar’s death was a painful loss but noted that Hamas carried on despite the killings of other Palestinian militant leaders before him.  

“Hamas is alive and will stay alive,” Khamenei said.