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)
TT

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.



France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
TT

France Declines to Comment on Algeria’s Anger over Recognition of Morocco’s Claim over Sahara

French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. (AFP file)

Paris declined to comment on Algeria’s “strong condemnation” of the French government’s decision to recognize Morocco’s claim over the Sahara.

The office of the French Foreign Ministry refused to respond to an AFP request for a comment on the Algeria’s stance.

It did say that further comments could impact the trip Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune is set to make to France in late September or early October.

The visit has been postponed on numerous occasions over disagreements between the two countries.

France had explicitly expressed its constant and clear support for the autonomy rule proposal over the Sahara during Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s visit to Morocco in February, reported AFP.

The position has helped improve ties between Rabat and Paris.

On Thursday, the Algerian Foreign Ministry expressed “great regret and strong denunciation" about the French government's decision to recognize an autonomy plan for the Western Sahara region "within Moroccan sovereignty”.

Algeria was informed of the decision by France in recent days, an Algerian foreign ministry statement added.

The ministry also said Algeria would draw all the consequences from the decision and hold the French government alone completely responsible.