Twelve dead in three Israeli operations in the West Bank - assault with a weapon on a policewoman
The Palestinian Ministry of Health initially reported a total of eight deaths. The Red Crescent aid organization attributed the deaths and injuries in Jenin to "shelling from two vehicles in the eastern quarter of Jenin." Previously, it was reported that there were "four martyrs," with three others injured, one seriously. The Ministry of Health reported "four martyrs and seven injured" in the Tubas region, affecting the village of Akaba.
Residents of Akaba said that Israeli security forces reached the village at dawn and surrounded the house of a resident named Amid Ghanam. Clashes then ensued between soldiers and young men. Ghanam and two others were killed, as well as another youth near a hospital, according to Tubas Governor Ahmed Assad.
The situation in the West Bank, occupied by Israel, has also escalated since the start of the war between Israel and the Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas in Gaza. According to a count by the AFP news agency based on Palestinian figures, at least 617 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank since October 7. At least 17 Israelis have been killed by Palestinian militants, according to Israeli figures.
On Tuesday, Israeli police shot and killed a man who stabbed a border police officer near Jerusalem with a screwdriver. The man attacked the officer at a checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The police described the attacker as a "terrorist" and said he was "neutralized immediately with gunfire."
Just last Sunday, an attacker from the West Bank killed two people in a stabbing attack in Holon and injured two others. The victims were a 66-year-old woman and an approximately 80-year-old man. The police described the attack as a "suspected terror attack" in the suburb of Tel Aviv.
The European Union expressed concern over the escalating violence in the West Bank, calling for an immediate de-escalation and respect for international law. The European Union recently suspended its funding to the Palestinian security forces due to alleged human rights violations.
