Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian in West Bank Clash, Palestinian Health Ministry Says

A Palestinian demonstrator hurls a stone during a protest against Jewish settlements near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Feb. 11, 2022. (Reuters)
A Palestinian demonstrator hurls a stone during a protest against Jewish settlements near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Feb. 11, 2022. (Reuters)
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Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian in West Bank Clash, Palestinian Health Ministry Says

A Palestinian demonstrator hurls a stone during a protest against Jewish settlements near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Feb. 11, 2022. (Reuters)
A Palestinian demonstrator hurls a stone during a protest against Jewish settlements near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Feb. 11, 2022. (Reuters)

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian during a clash in the occupied West Bank as troops prepared to demolish the home of a man accused of killing an Israeli, the Palestinian Health Ministry and witnesses said on Monday.

The fighting erupted late on Sunday in the village of Silat al-Harithiya, home to a Palestinian who has been detained and charged with the killing, in a shooting attack on a car, near the Jewish outpost of Homesh on Dec. 16.

Witnesses said soldiers and Palestinian gunmen exchanged fire after the troops arrived to carry out the demolition. The Israeli military said it would destroy a floor of the home where the assailant had lived.

Hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks and petrol bombs at the soldiers, who responded with "riot dispersal equipment and also fired at gunmen they had spotted", the Israeli military said, without confirming the fatality.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, one Palestinian was killed and 10 were wounded.

Israel says demolitions carried out at assailants' homes can help deter future assaults. Rights groups have denounced the measure, which often targets homes where other family members also live, as collective punishment.



EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
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EU Urges Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah War

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, left, meets with Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, right, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024. (AP)

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to Lebanon on Sunday, as the group claimed attacks deep into Israel.  

The Israeli military said Iran-backed Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into Israel during the day. Some of them were intercepted but others caused damage to houses in central Israel, according to AFP images.  

A day after the health ministry said Israeli strikes on Beirut and across Lebanon killed 84 people, state media reported two strikes on Sunday on the capital's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold.

Israel's military said it had attacked "headquarters" of the group "hidden within civilian structures" in south Beirut.

War between Israel and Hezbollah escalated in late September, nearly a year after the group began launching strikes in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas following that group's October 7 attack on Israel.

The conflict has killed at least 3,754 people in Lebanon since October 2023, according to the health ministry, most of them since September.  

On the Israeli side, authorities say at least 82 soldiers and 47 civilians have been killed.  

Earlier this week, US special envoy Amos Hochstein said in Lebanon that a truce deal was "within our grasp" and then headed to Israel for talks with officials there.  

In the Lebanese capital, Borrell held talks with parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of ally Hezbollah.

"We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701," Borrell said.  

"Lebanon is on the brink of collapse", he warned.  

Under Resolution 1701, which ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006, Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces present in the southern border area.  

The resolution also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon, and reiterated earlier calls for "disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon."