UN ‘Alarmed’ at West Bank Violence Day After Israeli Raid

Israeli soldiers argue with a demonstrator holding a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israeli settlements in Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 6, 2022. Picture taken June 6, 2022. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers argue with a demonstrator holding a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israeli settlements in Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 6, 2022. Picture taken June 6, 2022. (Reuters)
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UN ‘Alarmed’ at West Bank Violence Day After Israeli Raid

Israeli soldiers argue with a demonstrator holding a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israeli settlements in Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 6, 2022. Picture taken June 6, 2022. (Reuters)
Israeli soldiers argue with a demonstrator holding a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israeli settlements in Jordan Valley in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 6, 2022. Picture taken June 6, 2022. (Reuters)

The UN Middle East peace envoy urged Israel and the Palestinians Wednesday to calm surging violence in the occupied West Bank, a day after the latest Israeli raid killed six peopl

"We are in the midst of a cycle of violence that must be stopped immediately," Tor Wennesland said in a statement.

"The Security Council has spoken with one voice, calling on the parties to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions, incitement and inflammatory rhetoric."

The call came a day after intense fighting during an Israeli raid in the flashpoint northern West Bank city of Jenin, in which the soldiers killed six Palestinians, including a member of Hamas accused of killing two Israeli settlers last month, AFP reported.

Wennesland said he was "alarmed" at the violence, which the army said included soldiers launching shoulder-fired rockets amid ferocious gunfire.

Nabil Abu Rudeina, spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, called the use of rockets in Jenin refugee camp on Tuesday an act of "all-out war", Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The Jenin raid was the latest in a string of deadly military operations in the Palestinian territory, which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967.

Among the six killed was Abdel Fatah Hussein Khroushah, 49. The Israeli army said he was a "terrorist operative" suspected of killing two Israeli settlers in the Palestinian town of Huwara on February 26.

The killing of the two settlers, which came just hours after Israeli and Palestinian officials pledged in Jordan to "prevent further violence", sparked fury among Israeli settlers, with hundreds later torching Palestinian homes and cars in the West Bank town.

"I am deeply disturbed by the continuing violence," Wennesland said, condemning both Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

"Israel, as the occupying power, must ensure that the civilian population is protected and perpetrators are held to account," he said.

Overnight, a rocket was fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip but fell short and exploded inside the coastal enclave, the Israeli military said.

Commitments made by the two sides in Jordan last month, when they agreed to "commit to de-escalation", must be implemented if "we are to find a way forward", Wennesland said.

"The parties must refrain from further steps that would lead us to more violence," he added.



Israel Strikes Kill Five People in Gaza, Local Medics Say

Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Israel Strikes Kill Five People in Gaza, Local Medics Say

Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
Men and children stand next to a destroyed car amidst debris and rubble by a collapsed building at the site of Israeli bombardment on a residential block in Jalaa Street in Gaza City on January 14, 2025 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

An Israeli air strike killed three Palestinian men in Gaza on Monday as they tried to gather firewood, medics said, with no sign of progress from renewed talks on sustaining a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

In the latest bloodshed to underline the fragility of the Gaza war's three-stage truce, the three, all from the same family, had left their homes in central Gaza to collect the wood for cooking.

That has become a daily task for many Gazans as Israel has continued to ban fuel, food, and medical goods from entering Gaza for over two weeks, residents said.

The Israeli military said in a statement it struck "terrorists" operating near their forces and attempting to plant a bomb, Reuters reported.

At Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza's Deir Al-Balah, relatives rushed to pay farewell to the three white-shrouded bodies.

"They were targeted - and when their cousins and others in the area came to rescue them, the drone targeted them with bombs," said Jabr Abou Hajeer, the father of one of the victims.

Later on Monday, medics said an Israeli air strike killed a father and his son inside a school sheltering displaced families in Bureij camp, near the site of the earlier strikes, raising the day's death toll to five. There was no immediate Israeli comment.

Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office, said Israel's "violations" could "undermine all efforts for de-escalation".

He put the number of Palestinians killed since the January ceasefire at 150.

Israel's military says it has repeatedly thwarted attempts by Palestinians to plant bombs or otherwise threaten their forces.

Israel's suspension of goods entering Gaza for 16 days has increased pressure on Gaza's 2.3 million people, most of whom have been made homeless by the war. The suspension, which Israel said was aimed at pressuring Hamas in ceasefire talks, applies to food, medicine, and fuel imports.