Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian in West Bank Clashes, Palestinian Sources Say

An Israeli soldier uses a weapon amid clashes with Palestinian protesters, in Hebron, in the Israeli- occupied West Bank April 1, 2022. (Reuters)
An Israeli soldier uses a weapon amid clashes with Palestinian protesters, in Hebron, in the Israeli- occupied West Bank April 1, 2022. (Reuters)
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Israeli Forces Kill Palestinian in West Bank Clashes, Palestinian Sources Say

An Israeli soldier uses a weapon amid clashes with Palestinian protesters, in Hebron, in the Israeli- occupied West Bank April 1, 2022. (Reuters)
An Israeli soldier uses a weapon amid clashes with Palestinian protesters, in Hebron, in the Israeli- occupied West Bank April 1, 2022. (Reuters)

Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, in clashes that broke out in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron.

The Israeli military said its soldiers were at immediate risk from a petrol bomb the man threw at them and had therefore opened fire. The military described the confrontation as "a riot" and Palestinian residents said clashes had broken out.

Tensions have risen over the past week after a string of deadly Arab attacks in Israel. Israeli officials had warned about a potential surge in assaults in the run-up in April to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a period during which violence has surged in the past.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian gunman shot dead five people in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak before he was killed by police. The shooting, condemned by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, raised to 11 the number of people killed by Arab attackers in Israel over the past week.

On Thursday, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in clashes that erupted during a West Bank raid and in a separate incident, a Palestinian stabbed a passenger on an Israeli bus near a West Bank Jewish settlement and was shot dead by another passenger.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has announced a series of measures to deal with what he has described as a new wave of attacks, saying more police would be put on city streets and security would be tightened in areas bordering the West Bank.



Members of UN Security Council Call for Surge in Assistance to Gaza

 Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
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Members of UN Security Council Call for Surge in Assistance to Gaza

 Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian man Moein Abu Odeh searches for clothes through the rubble of a house destroyed in the Israeli military offensive, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2024. (Reuters)

Members of the United Nations Security Council called on Monday for a surge in assistance to reach people in need in Gaza, warning that the situation in the Palestinian enclave was getting worse.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said there needs to be a "huge, huge rise in aid" to Gaza, where most of the population of 2.3 million people has been displaced and the enclave's health officials say more than 43,922 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive.

"The situation is devastating, and frankly, beyond comprehension, and it's getting worse, not better. Winter's here. Famine is imminent, and 400 days into this war, it is totally unacceptable that it's harder than ever to get aid into Gaza," Lammy said.

Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel in October last year, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council that Washington was closely watching Israel's actions to improve the situation for Palestinians and engaging with the Israeli government every day.

"Israel must also urgently take additional steps to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza," she said.

President Joe Biden's administration concluded this month that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore not violating US law, even as Washington acknowledged the humanitarian situation remained dire in the Palestinian enclave.

The assessment came after the US in an Oct. 13 letter gave Israel a list of steps to take within 30 days to address the worsening situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have possible consequences on US military aid to Israel.

Thomas-Greenfield said Israel was working to implement 12 of the 15 steps.

"We need to see all steps fully implemented and sustained, and we need to see concrete improvement in the humanitarian situation on the ground," she said, including Israel allowing commercial trucks to move into Gaza alongside humanitarian assistance, addressing persistent lawlessness and implementing pauses in fighting in large areas of Gaza to allow assistance to reach those in need.

Tor Wennesland, the UN coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said humanitarian agencies face a challenging and dangerous operational environment in Gaza and access restrictions that hinder their work.

"The humanitarian situation in Gaza, as winter begins, is catastrophic, particularly developments in the north of Gaza with a large-scale and near-total displacement of the population and widespread destruction and clearing of land, amidst what looks like a disturbing disregard for international humanitarian law," Wennesland said.

"The current conditions are among the worst we’ve seen during the entire war and are not set to improve," he said.