West Bank: Israeli attacks kill 8 Palestinians in Tubas, Tulkarem

WAFA reports:

TUBAS: Five Palestinian citizens were killed at dawn on Wednesday in an airstrike carried out by Israeli occupation aircraft targeting a group of citizens near Al-Tawhid Mosque in the city of Tubas.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that its crews were able to retrieve the bodies of five people from the bombing site, where they were transferred to the hospital, while the occupation forces prevented ambulances from reaching the targeted site.

The slain youths were idenfitied to be Mohammad Saeed Hussein Sawafta,19, Majd Burhan Jamil Sawafta, 23, Qais Saeb Rateb Sawafta, 24, Yassin Ahmed Ali Sawafta, 22, and Talaba Mahmoud Jamil Basharat,18.

This bombing comes as part of an escalation campaign launched by the occupation forces on the city of Tubas, which saw a large-scale storming of its outskirts and neighborhoods in the early hours of dawn, as the occupation forces declared a curfew on the city, and deployed in its northern areas.

The raid was accompanied by intensive flying of reconnaissance planes and helicopters at low altitudes over the governorate.

TULKAREM: Three Palestinians were killed, on Wednesday evening, in Israeli drone bombings that targeted a Palestinian vehicle in the Aktaba suburb, east of Tulkarm city.

Local and security sources said that the occupation drones bombed a vehicle in the Aktaba suburb, causing it to catch fire completely.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that its crews transferred the bodies of three Palestinians who were killed in the drone attack.

The occupation forces have been launching a large-scale offensive on the West Bank, especially against the governorates of Tulkarem, Jenin and Tubas, which has so far resulted in the killing of 47 citizens, including 21 from Jenin, nine from Tulkarem, 13 from Tubas, three from Hebron and one from Nablus.

This raises the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, since October 7, 2023, to 701, including 159 children, ten women, and nine elderly people.

West Bank experiences a week of Israeli military, settler violence

Weekly update (Sept. 3-9) from OCHA:

During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, including three children. Israeli forces and settlers injured 59 Palestinians, including nine children. In addition, Israeli forces killed one female foreign national.

In Kafr Dan, Jenin refugee camp, and on the eastern side of Jenin, a violent Israeli operation resulted in 19 Palestinian fatalities, and the destruction of at least 45 residential buildings, displacing at least 74 households, comprising 297 people, including 102 children. At least 1,900 housing units have been damaged.

In Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, the Israeli operation led to seven Palestinian fatalities and caused damage to 400 housing units. 61 were rendered uninhabitable, displacing a total of 89 households, comprising 327 people, including 123 children.

During the Israeli forces’ wide-scale operation in the northern West Bank, access to hospitals and medical facilities was severely restricted. PRCS has expressed deep concern over the shrinking humanitarian space, particularly in Jenin and Jenin refugee camp.

According to PRCS, Israeli forces have directly targeted their ambulances, injuring two Emergency Medical Team (EMT) members and a volunteer doctor. These obstructions have hindered the delivery of essential supplies and medical services, worsening conditions for civilians. The PRCS urges the international community to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law and address the escalating humanitarian crisis.

During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 43 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in one fatality and 10 injuries, and damage to property. Palestinians perpetrated two attacks against settlers in this period, resulting in one injury.

Between 7 October 2023 and 9 September 2024, at least 17 Palestinian households comprising at least 80 people, including 41 children, were displaced due to Israeli settler violence and harassment, and the takeover of Palestinian property. Since 7 October 2023, 276 Palestinians households comprising 1,627 people, including 794 children, have been displaced in the context of incidents related to Israeli settlers.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the heads of the Israeli security services have warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, expressing their fears of an “imminent explosion” that could lead to hundreds of Israelis being killed, Channel 13 has reported.

The warning was made during the latest session of the political and security cabinet by Gallant; the head of the Shin Bet security service, Ronen Bar; and the IDF Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi.

According to the report, security officials confirmed that the number of weapons in the West Bank “is the largest in the history of the area,” as a result of “security breaches on the eastern border and theft of weapons” from Israeli army bases.

The security heads warned that the deterioration of the situation could lead to large-scale bombing operations that extend into Israel. They proposed several steps to calm the situation, including allowing Palestinian workers to work inside Israel.

It was also recommended to transfer withheld funds to the Palestinian Authority, which far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is blocking. Moreover, they said that the “status quo” at Al-Aqsa Mosque should be maintained, against the backdrop of Itamar Ben-Gvir’s provocations.

NOTE: While Israel tends to assume that weapons in the West Bank were somehow smuggled in by Iran or Jordan, insiders know that the Palestinian resistance simply purchase black market arms that were stolen from the Israeli army.

Palestine takes seat at UN General Assembly in ‘historic first’

The Cradle reports:

Palestine was seated for the first time among UN member states on 10 September during the first session of the 79^th General Assembly in New York.

Permanent Observer to Palestine at the UN, Riyad Mansour, was seated at a table labeled “State of Palestine” between Sri Lanka and Sudan. The seating was approved by UN General Assembly president Philemon Yang.

“This is not merely a procedural matter. This is a historic moment for us,” said Egyptian ambassador to the UN Osama Mahmoud Abdelkhalek Mahmoud.

Israel’s representative at the UN strongly denounced the seating of Palestine among the UN member states.

 

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NOTE: Israel’s narrative has it that Hamas “started a war” on October 7th, implying that on October 6th there was peace. In reality, Israel has been at war with the Palestinian people since its creation. Hamas was exercising – albeit imperfectly – its internationally recognized right to resist the oppressor and occupier of its people.

For years, Palestinians have tried rational, peaceful methods of achieving justice: they have petitioned the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. They have held thousands of peaceful protests. In the ICC and ICJ, the United States always exercises veto power in Israel’s favor. When it comes to peaceful protests, Israeli soldiers shoot to kill.

Netanyahu vows to build barrier along border with Jordan

Andalou Agency reports:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Wednesday to build a barrier along the border with Jordan to prevent what he said are attempts to smuggle weapons and fighters into the West Bank and Israel.

“This is a border of peace. We are partnering with the Kingdom of Jordan to ensure that it remains so,” Netanyahu said, adding, “there is an attempt to smuggle both terrorists and weapons across Jordan into Judea and Samaria (West Bank) and into the cities of Israel.”

Netanyahu did not specify who he believes is behind the alleged smuggling attempts.

His comments were made after the killing Sunday of three Israeli security guards at the King Hussein Bridge by gunfire from a Jordanian truck driver.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, the “Wadi Araba” agreement, in 1994.​​​​​​​

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi responded in a tweet: “No amount of disinformation by radical Israeli officials spreading lies, including about Jordan, will change the fact that Israel’s continued aggression on Gaza, its violation of international law and the rights of the Palestinian people are the biggest threat to regional security.”

Israel deploys white phosphorous in attack in southern Lebanon

Middle East Eye reports:

Israeli forces attacked the southern Lebanese twn of Khiam with white phosphorous munitions, Lebanese media is reporting.

Following criticism for repeating Israeli claims, Biden now says he’s ‘outraged’ over killing of U.S. citizen

Mondoweiss reports:

On Wednesday President Joe Biden released a new statement on the killing of Aysenur Eygi, the American activist who was shot by an Israeli sniper during a protest in the occupied West Bank last week.

“I am outraged and deeply saddened by the death of Aysenur Eygi. Aysenur was a recent U.S. college graduate,” said Biden.

“She was also an activist whose idealism led her to travel to the West Bank to peacefully protest the expansion of settlements. The shooting that led to her death is totally unacceptable.”

Vice president and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris released a similar statement on Eygi’s death, calling it “a horrific tragedy that never should have happened.”

“The shooting that led to her death is unacceptable and raises legitimate questions about the conduct of IDF personnel in the West Bank,” said Harris. “Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”

The statements come just a day after Biden was criticized for telling reporters that Eygi’s death was “apparently was an accident,” as an Israeli bullet had “ricocheted off the ground” before hitting her.

Eyewitness accounts from both activists with Eygi and doctors who treated her reported that she had been directly shot in the head.

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Trump and Harris Agree: More Bombs for Israel

The Intercept reports:

On stage Tuesday night during the presidential debate, as the war on Gaza grinds on, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump battled over who had the most pro-Israel and anti-Iran credentials. After a brief moment of hope that Harris might offer something different to American voters, this seemed to confirm a grim status quo: No matter who is elected president, the U.S. will remain deeply invested in structures of violence and repression across the Middle East.

On Israel, Harris spent time during the debate stating her commitment to helping Israel “defend itself,” which is Harris-speak for a continued blank check of U.S. military support for Israel. This oft-repeated Harris position, now enshrined on her campaign website, undermines the hope that many Democratic voters might have had for a future Harris administration that would prioritize an end to Israel’s war in Gaza

Trump tried to outflank Harris from the right by claiming that Harris “hates Israel” and that she would destroy the country. In one of Trump’s many ridiculous statements of the night, he argued, “If she’s president, I believe that Israel will not exist within two years.” Harris responded by doubling down on her pro-Israel bona fides: “I have my entire career and life supported Israel and the Israeli people.”

Harris did mouth words of sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza, declaring once again that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.” She went on to say, “This war must end, it must end immediately and the way it will end is we need a ceasefire deal and we need the hostages out.”

But such statements won’t amount to much if Harris’ underlying policy is to maintain U.S. military support for Israel. So long as Harris is committed to arming Israel, she has no leverage with which to end Israel’s genocide of Palestinians.

(Read the full article here.)

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