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Israeli Raid Leaves 4 Palestinians Dead in West Bank Camp

A picture shows the Jalame checkpoint near the Palestinian city of Jenin in the Israeli occupied West Bank on September 14, 2022. (AFP)
A picture shows the Jalame checkpoint near the Palestinian city of Jenin in the Israeli occupied West Bank on September 14, 2022. (AFP)
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Israeli Raid Leaves 4 Palestinians Dead in West Bank Camp

A picture shows the Jalame checkpoint near the Palestinian city of Jenin in the Israeli occupied West Bank on September 14, 2022. (AFP)
A picture shows the Jalame checkpoint near the Palestinian city of Jenin in the Israeli occupied West Bank on September 14, 2022. (AFP)

Israeli forces killed four Palestinian gunmen on Wednesday in a flashpoint town that has been a focus of a half-year-long campaign of raids in the occupied West Bank following a series of street attacks within Israel.

The strike in Jenin targeted two Palestinians suspected of carrying out attacks, Israeli police said. They opened fire and set off a bomb as commandos closed in, and were shot, it said. Palestinian medics said 40 people were wounded.

"The Dens of Lions", a Palestinian umbrella group formed of militants from different factions, said one of the slain gunmen also worked for the security services of the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under interim peace deals with Israel from the early 1990s.

Israel and the United States have been pressing the PA to do more to boost security. The PA accuses Israel of undermining its credibility, eight years after US-sponsored negotiations on Palestinian statehood stalled.

The Dens of Lions identified a second man killed in Jenin on Wednesday as the brother of a Palestinian who shot dead three people in Tel Aviv in April - among a series of street attacks within Israel that triggered its intensified West Bank raids.

More than 70 Palestinians, among them gunmen and civilians, have been killed in Israel's Operation Breakwater campaign.

A third gunman was killed by the Israeli forces in Jenin on Wednesday, the Dens of Lions said. The Israeli police statement said commandos had traded fire with other gunmen.

US-brokered peace talks between the sides, aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, collapsed in 2014, while Israel has expanded settlements in several areas. Gaza is ruled by the Hamas movement that is opposed to coexistence with Israel.

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Arab World

Israel Expands Warnings to Hezbollah-linked Money Changers

Lebanese security personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting senior military commander Youssef Hashem in the Jnah area on the outskirts of Beirut (Reuters). 
Lebanese security personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting senior military commander Youssef Hashem in the Jnah area on the outskirts of Beirut (Reuters). 
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Israel Expands Warnings to Hezbollah-linked Money Changers

Lebanese security personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting senior military commander Youssef Hashem in the Jnah area on the outskirts of Beirut (Reuters). 
Lebanese security personnel at the site of an Israeli strike targeting senior military commander Youssef Hashem in the Jnah area on the outskirts of Beirut (Reuters). 

The Israeli army said it has killed a senior Hezbollah commander, Youssef Ismail Hashem, in a naval strike, as it widened its warnings in Lebanon to include individuals it accuses of handling the group’s finances.

The military described Hashem as Hezbollah’s “southern front commander”, adding he had more than 40 years of experience and was one of Hezbollah’s “major pillars”.

A security source told AFP that Hashem, also known as Sayyed al-Sadeq, was responsible for Hezbollah’s military and security file in Iraq and was killed in a strike on the Jnah area of Beirut. Lebanon’s health ministry said the attack killed seven people.

The source noted that Hashem “was in a meeting with other party members inside a tent near several vehicles” at the time of the attack.

A source close to Hezbollah confirmed the killing, describing him as “the most senior official targeted since the start of the war”. Hezbollah also announced the death of one of its members, Mohammad Baqer al-Nabulsi, who was killed in the same strike.

US sanctions

Hashem has been under US sanctions since 2018 for working for or on behalf of Hezbollah, according to the US Treasury.

The Treasury noted that he oversaw Hezbollah’s operational activities in Iraq and was responsible for protecting the group’s interests there.

It added that he managed relations with armed groups in Iraq, including coordinating the deployment of fighters to Syria.

Senior figure

Hashem is the most senior military figure killed since the start of the war, succeeding Ali Karaki, who was assassinated in an Israeli strike that targeted former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sept. 27, 2024.

Israel had previously targeted lower-ranking commanders, including Hassan Salameh, head of Hezbollah’s “Nasr Unit”, who was killed on March 10.

According to Israeli media, Hezbollah’s southern front is divided into three sectors — the Nasr, Aziz and Badr units — which operate independently, with Hashem overseeing all three.

Warnings broadened

Israel has expanded its warnings in Lebanon to include “money changers working in the service of Hezbollah”.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X that the military had targeted Hezbollah funding sources during the war, including the Al-Qard al-Hassan association and fuel networks.

“Another source that has been targeted is the network of money changers, which constitutes the main and most important financial source for this terrorist organization,” he added.

He named Mohammad Noureddine and Hussein Ibrahim as key money changers working for Hezbollah.

Addressing them directly, he said: “Due to your involvement in financing Hezbollah, the IDF warns you that continuing to fund Hezbollah puts you at risk.”

He also urged Lebanese citizens to avoid “any contact with Hezbollah money changers” and to “stay away from them” for their own safety.

Security zone plans

The intensified strikes come as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “at the end of the operation, the Israeli army will establish a security zone inside Lebanon along a defensive line against anti-tank missiles”.

He added that Israel would maintain security control over the area up to the Litani River, about 30 kilometers from the border.

Lebanese Defense Minister Michel Menassa condemned the remarks, saying they “no longer constitute mere threats, but reflect a clear intention to impose a new occupation of Lebanese territory”.

Arab World

US Embassy in Baghdad Warns of Attacks in City over Next 24-48 Hours

A view of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archival - Reuters)
A view of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archival - Reuters)
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US Embassy in Baghdad Warns of Attacks in City over Next 24-48 Hours

A view of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archival - Reuters)
A view of the US Embassy in Baghdad (archival - Reuters)

The US embassy in Baghdad warned Thursday that pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq may attack the city in the coming one or two days.

"Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours," the embassy said in a statement on X, again urging Americans in the country to leave immediately.

Arab World

Strike in Darfur Kills Senior Figure in RSF-backed Government

Osama Hassan, a leader in the “Taasis” coalition, who was killed in a strike on his home in the city of Nyala (Taasis coalition). 
Osama Hassan, a leader in the “Taasis” coalition, who was killed in a strike on his home in the city of Nyala (Taasis coalition). 
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Strike in Darfur Kills Senior Figure in RSF-backed Government

Osama Hassan, a leader in the “Taasis” coalition, who was killed in a strike on his home in the city of Nyala (Taasis coalition). 
Osama Hassan, a leader in the “Taasis” coalition, who was killed in a strike on his home in the city of Nyala (Taasis coalition). 

A senior figure in a Sudanese coalition that formed a government backed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) was killed in a strike by the Sudanese army on his home in Nyala, South Darfur, late Tuesday, while Health Minister Alaaeldin Naqd and others survived.

Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, prime minister of the “Taasis” government, said in a statement that an army drone targeted Osama Hassan, a member of the coalition’s leadership body, killing him instantly and seriously wounding four of his aides, two of them critically.

Al-Taishi strongly condemned the killing, describing it as “the beginning of a dangerous pattern of political assassinations targeting civilian and democratic leaders”.

He said targeting the home of a civilian political leader in a populated area constituted “a flagrant violation of international and humanitarian law and moral norms” and undermined any real chance for a ceasefire or a peaceful settlement.

He called on the international community, rights groups and the United Nations to open “an independent, transparent and urgent international investigation” to establish the circumstances of the attack and hold those responsible accountable.

Major blow

The killing of Hassan in Nyala, a stronghold of the Taasis administration, is seen as one of the most significant blows dealt to the RSF, raising expectations the conflict could enter a new phase marked by the targeting of leaders on both sides.

Hassan headed the Democratic Alliance for Social Justice party and was considered a leading candidate for the youth and sports portfolio in the Taasis administration.

Pro-army media outlets reported his death shortly before it was officially confirmed by Taasis authorities.

RSF reaction

The presidential council of the Taasis government, headed by RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, known as Hemedti, also mourned Hassan.

In a statement posted on Facebook, it said he was targeted by a Turkish-made Akinci drone that struck his home.

The council described Hassan as “a prominent national figure who contributed effectively to the struggle and was a staunch defender of the causes of freedom and justice, and an example of steadfastness in principle”.

The Sudanese army rarely claims direct responsibility for strikes it carries out on cities in Darfur controlled by the RSF, while the group maintains strict silence regarding its losses.

Since the outbreak of war in April 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have exchanged near-daily drone attacks.