Two Wounded in West Bank Drive-by Shooting

Israeli soldiers patrol Huwara in the occupied West Bank, on March 20, 2023, a day after a shooting attack on an Israeli settler's car in the Palestinian town. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers patrol Huwara in the occupied West Bank, on March 20, 2023, a day after a shooting attack on an Israeli settler's car in the Palestinian town. (AFP)
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Two Wounded in West Bank Drive-by Shooting

Israeli soldiers patrol Huwara in the occupied West Bank, on March 20, 2023, a day after a shooting attack on an Israeli settler's car in the Palestinian town. (AFP)
Israeli soldiers patrol Huwara in the occupied West Bank, on March 20, 2023, a day after a shooting attack on an Israeli settler's car in the Palestinian town. (AFP)

A suspected Palestinian gunman wounded two people in a drive-by shooting in the flashpoint town of Huwara in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Israeli military said.

Israeli media said the two casualties were Israeli. There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. The military said it was in pursuit of the suspect.

It was the third shooting incident reported around Huwara within a month, raising fears of violence flaring further during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan that partly coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover in April.

On Sunday, the same day Israeli and Palestinian officials made commitments at a meeting in Egypt to de-escalate violence, a Palestinian gunman opened fire on an Israeli couple in their car in Huwara, wounding the man.

A gunman from the Hamas militant group killed two settlers in a car in the same town during the first round of Israeli-Palestinian de-escalation talks last month in Aqaba.

Settlers responded to that attack by setting fire to Palestinians' homes and cars, killing at least one Palestinian.

Over the past year, Israeli forces have made thousands of arrests in the West Bank and killed more than 200 Palestinians, including fighters and civilians, while more than 40 Israelis and three Ukrainians have died in Palestinian attacks.



US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
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US Defers Removal of Some Lebanese, Citing Israel-Hezbollah Tensions

Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)
Smoke billows from a site targeted by Lebanon's Hezbollah, along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon on July 25, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (AFP)

The United States is deferring the removal of certain Lebanese citizens from the country, President Joe Biden said on Friday, citing humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon amid tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

The deferred designation, which lasts 18 months, allows Lebanese citizens to remain in the country with the right to work, according to a memorandum Biden sent to the Department of Homeland Security.

"Humanitarian conditions in southern Lebanon have significantly deteriorated due to tensions between Hezbollah and Israel," Biden said in the memo.

"While I remain focused on de-escalating the situation and improving humanitarian conditions, many civilians remain in danger; therefore, I am directing the deferral of removal of certain Lebanese nationals who are present in the United States."

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since Hezbollah announced a "support front" with Palestinians shortly after its ally Hamas attacked southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, triggering Israel's military assault in Gaza.

The fighting in Lebanon has killed more than 100 civilians and more than 300 Hezbollah fighters, according to a Reuters tally, and led to levels of destruction in Lebanese border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

On the Israeli side, 10 Israeli civilians, a foreign agricultural worker and 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed. Tens of thousands have been evacuated from both sides of the border.