Five Wounded in West Bank Shooting, Attacker Killed

Paramedics outside a hospital in Jerusalem following the Hebron shooting incident. (AFP)
Paramedics outside a hospital in Jerusalem following the Hebron shooting incident. (AFP)
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Five Wounded in West Bank Shooting, Attacker Killed

Paramedics outside a hospital in Jerusalem following the Hebron shooting incident. (AFP)
Paramedics outside a hospital in Jerusalem following the Hebron shooting incident. (AFP)

A gun attack in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron wounded five people on Saturday, including four Israelis and a Palestinian, with the assailant shot dead.

Extreme-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir claimed on Twitter that his Hebron home was the target.

Israel's security forces have not confirmed the allegation and Israeli media, citing security sources, have reported Ben-Gvir's home in a Hebron settlement was not targeted.

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency response service reported five wounded.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Palestinian victim was being treated at a Hebron area hospital.

Israel's army said an attacker "shot live fire" near a checkpoint in Hebron, a West Bank city which is also home to a community of hardline Jewish settlers.

An army spokesperson told AFP that an Israeli security guard shot the attacker dead at the scene.

"Soldiers are conducting searches in the area" for additional suspects, the army said.

The United Nations envoy for Middle East peace, Tor Wennesland, warned on Friday that the West Bank was "caught in a downward spiral" of bloodshed. This year is on track to be the deadliest in the territory in more than a decade.

More than 100 Palestinians, including fighters and attackers, have been killed across the West Bank as Israel has conducted near daily raids targeting alleged militants.

The raids were launched following a spate of deadly attacks targeting Israelis that began in March.



Palestinian NGO to Ask UK Court to Block F-35 Parts to Israel over Gaza War

Protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a legal challenge brought by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq over Britain's exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, amid its conflict with Hamas, in London, Britain, November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin
Protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a legal challenge brought by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq over Britain's exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, amid its conflict with Hamas, in London, Britain, November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin
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Palestinian NGO to Ask UK Court to Block F-35 Parts to Israel over Gaza War

Protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a legal challenge brought by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq over Britain's exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, amid its conflict with Hamas, in London, Britain, November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin
Protesters demonstrate outside the Royal Courts of Justice ahead of a legal challenge brought by the Palestinian NGO Al-Haq over Britain's exports of parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel, amid its conflict with Hamas, in London, Britain, November 18, 2024. REUTERS/Sam Tobin

Britain is allowing parts for F-35 fighter jets to be exported to Israel despite accepting they could be used in breach of international humanitarian law in Gaza, lawyers for a Palestinian rights group told a London court on Monday.

West Bank-based Al-Haq, which documents alleged rights violations by Israel and the Palestinian Authority, is taking legal action against Britain's Department for Business and Trade at London's High Court, Reuters reported.

Israel has been accused of violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza war, with the UN Human Rights Office saying nearly 70% of fatalities it has verified were women and children, a report Israel rejected.

Israel says it takes care to avoid harming civilians and denies committing abuses and war crimes in the conflicts with Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Al-Haq's case comes after Britain in September suspended 30 of 350 arms export licences, though it exempted the indirect export of F-35 parts, citing the impact on the global F-35 programme.

Al-Haq argues that decision was unlawful as there is a clear risk F-35s could be used in breach of international humanitarian law.

British government lawyers said in documents for Monday's hearing that ministers assessed Israel had committed possible breaches of international humanitarian law (IHL) in relation to humanitarian access and the treatment of detainees.

Britain also "accepts that there is clear risk that F-35 components might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of IHL", its lawyer James Eadie said.

Eadie added that Britain had nonetheless decided that F-35 components should still be exported, quoting from advice to defense minister John Healey that suspending F-35 parts "would have a profound impact on international peace and security".

A full hearing of Al-Haq's legal challenge is likely to be heard early in 2025.

The Gaza health ministry says more than 43,800 people have been confirmed killed since the war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.