Philippines Says China Has No Right to Object or Interfere with Its ‘Lawful’ Activities in South China Sea 

In this handout photo grabbed from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard/Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR), a Chinese Coast Guard ship, left, uses a water cannon and sideswiped a Philippine fisheries vessel on a research mission near one of three sandbars called Sandy Cay in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday May 21, 2025. (PCG/BFAR via AP)
In this handout photo grabbed from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard/Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR), a Chinese Coast Guard ship, left, uses a water cannon and sideswiped a Philippine fisheries vessel on a research mission near one of three sandbars called Sandy Cay in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday May 21, 2025. (PCG/BFAR via AP)
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Philippines Says China Has No Right to Object or Interfere with Its ‘Lawful’ Activities in South China Sea 

In this handout photo grabbed from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard/Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR), a Chinese Coast Guard ship, left, uses a water cannon and sideswiped a Philippine fisheries vessel on a research mission near one of three sandbars called Sandy Cay in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday May 21, 2025. (PCG/BFAR via AP)
In this handout photo grabbed from video provided by the Philippine Coast Guard/Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (PCG/BFAR), a Chinese Coast Guard ship, left, uses a water cannon and sideswiped a Philippine fisheries vessel on a research mission near one of three sandbars called Sandy Cay in the disputed South China Sea on Wednesday May 21, 2025. (PCG/BFAR via AP)

The Philippine foreign ministry said on Thursday that China has no right to object to or interfere with its lawful and routine activities in the South China Sea.

The ministry said it also "rejects and refutes" recent statements of the Chinese embassy in Manila that Beijing has indisputable sovereignty over the Spratly islands.

The Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and China between them have claims and a presence on dozens of features in the Spratly archipelago, ranging from reefs and rocks to islands, natural and artificial. China's manmade islands there include runways, radar towers, ports and missile systems.

"We urge China to respect the Philippines' sovereignty and jurisdiction, even as we continue to pursue peaceful and legal means to manage differences and the situation at sea," foreign ministry spokesperson Teresita Daza said in a statement.

China and the Philippines traded accusations last week following a confrontation between two of their vessels in contested waters of the South China Sea, the latest incident in a long-running row in the strategic waterway.

The Philippines' fisheries bureau said the lives of a civilian crew were put at risk when the Chinese coast guard fired water cannons and sideswiped a vessel as it conducted marine research around a disputed reef.

The Chinese coast guard said two Philippine vessels had illegally entered waters near Subi Reef, a Chinese-built artificial island, and organized personnel to land on the unoccupied sandbars of Sandy Cay.

"The Philippines is clearly within its rights to conduct routine maritime operations and scientific research in and around these features, and will continue to do so," Daza said. "China has no right to object much less interfere with these lawful and routine activities."

China claims sovereignty over nearly all the South China Sea, including parts of the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. An international arbitral tribunal in 2016 said Beijing's expansive claim has no basis under international law.

The Chinese embassy in its statement sent to media on Monday said the Philippines had since January made 27 "unauthorized landings" on features, despite a 2002 agreement among Southeast Asian countries and China to refrain from doing so.



US Aware of Reported Death of American after Beating by Israeli Settlers

Israeli soldiers stand guard as Israeli settlers tour in the old city-center and market of the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on June 28, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
Israeli soldiers stand guard as Israeli settlers tour in the old city-center and market of the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on June 28, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
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US Aware of Reported Death of American after Beating by Israeli Settlers

Israeli soldiers stand guard as Israeli settlers tour in the old city-center and market of the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on June 28, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)
Israeli soldiers stand guard as Israeli settlers tour in the old city-center and market of the Palestinian city of Hebron in the occupied West Bank on June 28, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP)

The US State Department said on Friday it was aware of the reported death of a US citizen in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after reports emerged of Israeli settlers fatally beating a Palestinian American.

Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing the local health ministry, said Saif al-Din Kamel Abdul Karim Musallat, aged in his 20s, died after he was beaten by Israeli settlers on Friday evening in an attack that also injured many people in a town north of Ramallah.

Relatives of Musallat, who was from Tampa, Florida, were also quoted by the Washington Post as saying he was beaten to death by Israeli settlers.

"We are aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank," a State Department spokesperson said, adding the department had no further comment "out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones" of the reported victim.

The Israeli military said Israel was probing the incident in the town of Sinjil. It said rocks were hurled at Israelis near Sinjil and that "a violent confrontation developed in the area", reported Reuters.

Israel has expanded and consolidated settlements in the West Bank as part of the steady integration of these territories into the state of Israel in breach of international law, the UN human rights office said in March.

Settler violence in the West Bank, including incursions into occupied territory and raids, has intensified since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in late 2023.

Israel's military offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza's health ministry, and led to accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Israel denies the accusations and says it is fighting in self-defense after the October 2023 Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Israeli killings of US citizens in the West Bank in recent years include those of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Palestinian American teenager Omar Mohammad Rabea and Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

The United Nations' highest court said last year Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and settlements there were illegal and should be withdrawn as soon as possible.