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Bloody Clashes in Jenin Refugee Camp in the Wake of Tel Aviv Attack

Activists set up a Palestinian flag overlooking an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. (AFP file photo)
Activists set up a Palestinian flag overlooking an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. (AFP file photo)
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Bloody Clashes in Jenin Refugee Camp in the Wake of Tel Aviv Attack

Activists set up a Palestinian flag overlooking an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. (AFP file photo)
Activists set up a Palestinian flag overlooking an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. (AFP file photo)

Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian, injured 14 others and arrested wanted people on Saturday in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, home of the gunman behind a recent deadly Tel Aviv attack.

The Palestinian killed was identified as Ahmad al-Saadi, 23, who was reportedly a member of al-Quds Brigades (Saraya al-Quds), the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement.

Two of the wounded Palestinians were hit in the abdomen by live bullets, including a 19-year-old girl, and one was hit by shrapnel in the head.

The Israeli army said a military operation was ongoing in the Jenin camp, a stronghold of Palestinian armed factions in the north of the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians in the camp threw bullets, stones and bottles at Israeli soldiers as violent, bloody and prolonged clashes erupted.

The Israeli army announced in a statement on Saturday the end of its operation, saying that its forces “killed and arrested activists who were planning to carry out offensive operations inside Israel.”

The Hebrew website Ynet quoted an Israeli army spokesman as saying that among the detainees was an activist in the Hamas movement and a gunman from the Islamic Jihad movement.

Saturday’s raid came a day after Israel said it had killed Raad Hazem, 28, the alleged gunman who went on a shooting spree Thursday in a popular nightlife district of Tel Aviv, killing three Israelis and wounding more than a dozen others.

A total of 14 people have been killed in attacks in Israel since March 22. Over the same period, at least 10 Palestinians have been killed.

The operation targeted the arrest of Hazem’s father, Fathi, who refused to turn himself in, along with his three brothers.

Fathi is a former security prisoner who previously served as an officer in the Palestinian Authority’s security services in Jenin. He has refused an Israeli request to be questioned.

On Friday, Fathi praised his son’s actions to a crowd gathered in front of the family home.

He promised people to see the victory and change soon, asserting they will obtain their freedom and independence.

Hazem went on the run after the attack and was found hiding near a mosque in Jaffa after hours long of manhunt involving hundreds of security officers.

While initially raising his hands in surrender, Hazem reportedly then drew a gun and opened fire on the officers, who fired back and killed him.

Dozens of Palestinians attended Saadi’s funeral, while many gunmen vowed to “retaliate his killing.”

The Islamic Jihad group identified the dead man as one of its fighters, warning that and that the occupation will pay dearly for its crimes.

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Arab World

Sudan War Moves Closer to Ethiopian Border

Sudanese refugees at Ura camp in Assosa, Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region (AFP)
Sudanese refugees at Ura camp in Assosa, Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region (AFP)
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Sudan War Moves Closer to Ethiopian Border

Sudanese refugees at Ura camp in Assosa, Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region (AFP)
Sudanese refugees at Ura camp in Assosa, Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region (AFP)

Days after tensions rose along Sudan’s western border with Chad, the war’s fallout has edged closer to its eastern frontier with Ethiopia.

Fighting has intensified in Blue Nile state, where the army said it shot down drones that came from the direction of Ethiopian territory. The Rapid Support Forces and its allies also said they had seized strategic positions in the border state.

The developments bring two of Sudan’s neighbors — Chad to the west and Ethiopia to the east — increasingly close to a war now in its fourth year. They have also fueled fears that expanding military operations near the borders could increase the risk of regional spillover.

N’Djamena raised its alert level along the Sudanese border after accusing the Sudanese army of carrying out a strike inside Chad that targeted a vehicle convoy. Khartoum rejected holding the army responsible without an independent investigation.

Advance in Blue Nile

On the eastern front, the RSF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, said they seized the Sirkam and Bakori bases near the Ethiopian border after fierce fighting with the army.

RSF spokesperson al-Fateh Qurashi said forces from the Sudan Founding Alliance, known as Tasis, captured the two bases, inflicted losses on the army and its allied forces, and seized combat vehicles, tanks, weapons and ammunition.

The RSF released videos that it said showed its fighters inside the army’s Sirkam military base. Its full account and the scale of the reported losses could not be independently verified.

Local sources, however, said the army had repelled an attack on Bakori. Control of the area remained disputed, with no detailed army statement clarifying the situation on the ground.

Sirkam and Bakori are militarily important because of their location on routes that could allow attacking forces to push north towards Damazin, the capital and political, military and administrative center of the Blue Nile region.

The escalation came a day after the army said it shot down what it described as a “hostile strategic drone” that entered from the direction of Ethiopian territory. It said the aircraft was the third drone it had downed in less than a week.

No independent investigation has established where the drones were launched or who operated them.

The RSF and its ally, the SPLM-N, seized the strategic areas of Kurmuk and Geissan on the Ethiopian border in early August. The advance triggered large waves of displacement and made the Blue Nile one of the war’s most active fronts.

Drone Strikes Kill Civilians

At least eight people were killed and dozens of civilians wounded in two drone attacks in the Sharu area, north of Sodari locality in North Kordofan state, as fighting continued in Blue Nile.

Emergency Lawyers, a group that documents wartime violations, said a drone targeted civilians before striking again as people tried to help the wounded. Four civilian vehicles were also destroyed.

The group did not identify who was responsible. Neither the army nor the RSF commented.

Emergency Lawyers called for an independent investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. It said the targeted area was civilian and had no visible military presence.

Drone use in the war has risen sharply in recent months. Strikes have hit military positions, civilian areas, and energy and water facilities, particularly in the Kordofan region.

The shift in fighting between Sudan’s western border with Chad and its southeastern frontier with Ethiopia underscores the war’s widening geographical reach.

It has also raised fears that border areas could turn from routes for supplies and displaced people into battlefields, increasing friction with neighboring countries.

 

 

Arab World

Barrack Congratulates Syria on Week of ‘Historic Accomplishments’

US Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack (AP) 
US Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack (AP) 
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Barrack Congratulates Syria on Week of ‘Historic Accomplishments’

US Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack (AP) 
US Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack (AP) 

US Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack congratulated Syria on a week of “historic accomplishments” after meeting Syrian Chargé d’Affaires in Washington Mohammad Qanatri.

“Great meeting with Syrian Chargé d’Affaires Mohammad Qanatri,” Barrack said on X Friday, adding: “Congratulations on a week of historic accomplishments for Syria.”

The United States removed Syria from its list of state sponsors of terrorism on Monday.

On Tuesday, Mazloum Abdi announced the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as an independent military force following its integration into Syrian army brigades, describing the move as a transition toward peace, stability and building a new Syria.

 

 

 

Arab World

Smotrich Announces Plan to 'Judaize the Galilee and Negev'

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reviews the 'E1' settlement map in the West Bank (Archival - AFP)
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reviews the 'E1' settlement map in the West Bank (Archival - AFP)
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Smotrich Announces Plan to 'Judaize the Galilee and Negev'

Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reviews the 'E1' settlement map in the West Bank (Archival - AFP)
Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich reviews the 'E1' settlement map in the West Bank (Archival - AFP)

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party, announced a broad plan to “Judaize” the Galilee and the Negev under the slogan “Yes. We Judaize!”

The plan targets the Arab presence in the north and south, the two regions with large Arab populations. It includes the establishment of dozens of Jewish communities and farms and the expansion of existing settlements.

It also calls for the cancellation of development plans for Arab communities, in what critics describe as an openly discriminatory policy targeting Israel’s Arab citizens.

Speaking at an election rally, Smotrich said that following what he described as initial results showing the success of his “Decisive Plan” for the West Bank, his party would demand, in the next government, control of the Planning Administration and the Israel Land Authority in order to impose sweeping changes on planning policy and land allocation.