Israeli security forces examine a car after an explosion at a gas station in the West Bank settlement of Gush Etzion, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

The Israeli military struck the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, the third day of heavy fighting in the Palestinian territory. The Israeli military said it struck Palestinian militants and killed a senior Hamas commander in the city.

Such airstrikes, while common over the months-long Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, have been rare in the West Bank in the time since. Israel says the raids across the northern West Bank — which have killed at least 20 people, mostly militants, since late Tuesday — are aimed at preventing attacks. The Palestinians see them as a widening of the war in Gaza and an effort to perpetuate Israel’s decades-long military rule over the territory.

The latest Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank was the largest and the deadliest since the war began. The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 663 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since then.

In the Gaza Strip, where the Health Ministry says more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on Oct. 7 with Hamas' attack on Israel, an Israeli missile hit a convoy carrying medical supplies and fuel to an Emirati hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing several people from a local transportation company. Israel claimed without evidence that it opened fire after gunmen seized the convoy.

Here's the latest:

Israeli military says it thwarted an attempted car bombing in the West Bank

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said early Saturday there was an attempted car bombing by a militant near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank.

The attack happened near Karmei Tzur, where the vehicle exploded at a gas station in the Gush Etzion junction. Israeli forces killed a suspected militant there, the military said.

“The initial examination of the vehicle explosion at the Gush Etzion gas station indicated that the incident was an attempted car bombing,” the Israeli military said. It said three of its forces were injured in the attack.

2 missiles target a ship in the Gulf of Aden

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Two missiles suspected to have been fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden late Friday, splashing down nearby without causing any damage, authorities said.

The attack Friday saw two missiles “exploding in close proximity to the vessel” some 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Aden, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

The ship “reports all crew are safe and proceeding to next port of call,” the UKMTO said. “Investigations are ongoing.”

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.

The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. The rebels’ campaign disrupts the $1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the in the Gaza Strip, as well as halting some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military’s Central Command said Saturday it destroyed two drones over Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.

Israeli soldiers shoot dead 2 Palestinians suspected of attempting to attack Israelis in West Bank

JERUSALEM — Israeli soldiers shot dead late Friday two Palestinians suspected of attempting to attack Israelis in two separate incidents the West Bank, the Israeli army said.

The army said in a statement that troops responding to a vehicle catching fire and exploding at a gas station in the Gush Etzion junction killed a suspected assailant “who exited the vehicle and attempted to attack” the soldiers.

In a second incident assailants rammed a car into the gates leading into the West Bank settlement of Karmei Tzur and infiltrated the settlement. One assailant was killed.

Large security forces have been dispatched to the area in search of other assailants, the army said.

Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating three people for moderate and light injuries. Two of them were injured by gunfire at Gush Etzion Junction and a third was injured when his vehicle collided with that of the assailants, the rescue service said.

Death toll from Israel's raid into occupied West Bank reaches 20

JERUSALEM — Palestinian health authorities say that the death toll from Israel’s most intensive raid into the occupied West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war has reached at least 20.

Israel moved forward with the operation in the flashpoint city of Jenin late Friday as international criticism mounted.

The Palestinian Health Ministry on Friday reported the killing by Israeli forces of “an elderly man” in the city of Jenin, without specifying his age, bringing the total death toll from the military raids in the occupied territory to 20 since late Tuesday. Israel says it has killed 20 Palestinian militants and arrested 17 others. Hamas has claimed at least 10 of those killed as its fighters.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, or UNRWA, said the Palestinians killed in the West Bank raids included a person with disabilities and a number of children, without specifying how many. Palestinian health authorities also reported that a Palestinian doctor and two medics tending to patients in Jenin were wounded by Israeli fire.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the claims.

The Israeli police on Friday said that their special forces had killed Wissam Khazem, a Hamas commander in Jenin, releasing video footage that purported to show the firefight that killed him. Hamas claimed Khazem as a senior commander in its Jenin branch, confirming his killing and vowing revenge.

The Israeli military and police also said that two Palestinian militants in Jenin who tried to flee were killed in an airstrike.

Israeli forces have killed over 663 Palestinians in the West Bank, including at least 150 children, since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

The climbing deaths in the West Bank drew further international criticism of Israeli tactics on Friday, with European Union chief diplomat Josep Borrel saying that Israel’s operations were “worsening an already tense situation.”

“Any escalation is a disaster in the making,” he added. “Israel’s genuine security concerns cannot justify civilian casualties and the destruction of infrastructure.”

The Israeli incursion in Jenin left a trail of destruction and cut off running water, internet and electricity in the city.

The Israeli military says the raids are necessary to crack down on surging Palestinian militancy in the northern West Bank. The Palestinians see them as a widening of the war in Gaza and an effort to perpetuate Israel’s decades-long military rule over the territory.

Authorities are unloading thousands of pallets of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza

JERUSALEM — Israel’s government body responsible for coordinating aid deliveries into Gaza says that authorities in the country’s southern port are unloading more than 3,500 pallets of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza.

The Israeli agency COGAT said Friday that an American cargo ship, called Cape Trinity, departed Cyprus ferrying 3,577 wooden pallets of food, water and medical supplies from international relief organizations to the Israeli port of Ashdod, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Gaza.

After the vessel docked in Ashdod on Thursday, COGAT said Israeli officials inspected and cleared the shipments for entry into the besieged enclave.

Israel described this shipment as the latest in its multipronged efforts to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the enclave, with so far 10,700 pallets of aid delivered to Gaza by sea

The entry of aid into Gaza has been heavily restricted by Israel since the war started, creating what aid groups say is a humanmade humanitarian crisis as hunger grows.

UN humanitarian office says aid organizations can return to two areas after Israel lifted evacuation orders, which still affect over 85% of Gaza Strip

UNITED NATIONS — More than 40 Israeli evacuation orders affecting over 85% of the Gaza Strip remain in effect despite the Israeli military’s first announcements allowing Palestinians to return to two areas since the war began last October, the U.N. humanitarian office says.

The Israeli military announced Thursday that it was lifting the evacuation order for some areas of central Deir al-Balah, and on Friday it announced the lifting for some areas of southern Khan Younis.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs known as OCHA said Friday this will allow multiple aid organizations that were forced to leave Deir al-Balah and relocate to go back to their premises.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said the U.N. humanitarian operations center in Deir al-Balah, whose operations were disrupted by the evacuation order on Aug. 25, will now be allowed to return.

OCHA said the number of humanitarian missions and movements within Gaza that were denied access by Israeli authorities in August almost doubled, compared with July.

Between August 1st and 29th, only 74 of the 199 planned humanitarian missions coordinated with Israeli authorities for northern Gaza were facilitated, OCHA said. “The rest were either denied, impeded, or cancelled due to logistical, operational, or security issues.”

In southern Gaza, it said, just 173 of 372 coordinated humanitarian movements were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

On the West Bank, OCHA warned that Israel’s ongoing operations that use lethal military tactics “seemingly exceed law enforcement standards.” The humanitarian office said according to its information, 19 Palestinians, including two children, have died in the West Bank since Wednesday.

OCHA said humanitarian officials from the U.N. and its partner organizations are planning to visit some affected areas in the West Bank over the weekend to assess damage to homes and infrastructure. “They stand ready to provide a response based on what people need most,” the U.N. humanitarian office said.

Palestinians trickle back to Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah to check on their homes after Israeli pullout

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Some Palestinians are returning to check on their homes after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from parts of southern Gaza, following what Israel said was a major military operation in the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.

But in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment and weeks of pitched battles, many found only destruction.

“My feeling is indescribable,” one Khan Younis resident, who gave her name only as Um Mohammad Abu Samra, said as she surveyed her home for the first time since the war erupted with Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

At the Israeli military’s announcement that evacuated Palestinians from the area could return, she hurried back to find her home in ruins and entire neighborhood blocks transformed into giant craters of sand.

“We were displaced countless times," she said, her voice breaking. "We’re in a horrible situation, from the loss of our homes, our family, our brothers, our neighbors.”

Hosam Shobair, another displaced resident, also returned to Khan Younis with his family on Friday to see what had happened to his apartment, which he said had been struck by Israeli shelling at the beginning of the war.

He found the home where he’d lived for years reduced to rubble, but said there was still some solace in seeing even that.

“We are happy to be back home,” Shobair said, as his wife, children and other relatives sat on the twisted rebar and mounds of concrete that had once been their home.

Israel’s continued military offensive in besieged Gaza has displaced roughly 90% of the strip’s population of 2.3 million. Most have been displaced multiple times over the course of the war.

Israel's military says it killed 250 militants in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Friday it had finished a major operation in the southern Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, adding that it killed 250 militants during the operation.

Over the course of the operation, the military said it also destroyed kilometers of underground tunnels and recovered the bodies of six hostages.

The military did not say whether it was withdrawing troops from the areas and said it was “preparing for further missions.” The military’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, announced that Palestinians evacuated from parts of both cities would be allowed to return.

The announcement came as the war nears the 11-month mark. Israel’s offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians since Oct. 7, injured more than 90,000, and displaced the vast majority of the strip’s population.

Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians in the West Bank

JERUSALEM — Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in the north of the occupied West Bank on Friday, the third day of a large-scale operation in the territory, Palestinian health officials said.

The Israeli military said its troops identified and killed a senior leader of Hamas in Jenin, Waseem Khazem, while he was driving. When two others in the car — whom the military also identified as militants — attempted to flee, troops killed both in an airstrike.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the three were killed in Zababdeh, a town south of Jenin city, but did not immediately confirm their identities.

Israeli forces have killed at least 19 Palestinians since the start of the operation early Wednesday, which they say is geared to root out militancy in the restive territory and prevent attacks on Israeli citizens. Hamas has claimed at least 10 of the dead as their fighters.

Since the start of the , at least 663 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank, Palestinian health officials say, mostly in Israeli raids into Palestinian cities and towns. Attacks on Israelis in the territory have also risen.

Mourners gather at a funeral for two families killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Mourners at Al-Aqsa Hospital in the Gaza Strip gathered early Friday to hold a funeral for several members of two different families killed Thursday night after an Israeli airstrike hit their house.

A video filmed by The Associated Press shows a man holding his dead child wrapped in a bloodied white shroud. Another man is seen holding an infant who was born dead that night.

More than 14,000 children have been killed since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, according to Gaza health officials.

Several people gathered at the hospital complex and performed a funeral prayer before the bodies were taken for burial.

Israel strikes medical supply convoy that it claims was seized by gunmen

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An Israeli missile hit a convoy carrying medical supplies and fuel to an Emirati hospital in the Gaza Strip, killing several people from a local transportation company, the American Near East Refugee Aid group said Friday.

Israel claimed without evidence that it opened fire after gunmen seized the convoy.

The strike Thursday hit the first car in the convoy on the Salah al-Din Road in the Gaza Strip, killing several people employed by a transportation company that the aid group was using to bring supplies to the Emirates Red Crescent Hospital in Rafah, said Sandra Rasheed, Anera’s director for the Palestinian territories.

The convoy, which was coordinated by Anera and approved by Israeli authorities, included an Anera employee who was unharmed, Rasheed said in a statement. "Our understanding is that the remaining vehicles in the convoy were able to continue and successfully deliver the aid to the hospital.”

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday from The Associated Press. However, Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee posted to the social platform X that “gunmen seized a car at the head of the convoy (a jeep) and began driving.”

He wrote that the military determined only one vehicle was seized before acting, and added, “The presence of armed men inside a humanitarian convoy in an uncoordinated manner makes it difficult to secure the convoys and their staff and harms the humanitarian effort.”

The United Arab Emirates, which reached a diplomatic recognition deal with Israel in 2020 and has been providing aid to Gaza since the began, did not immediately acknowledge the attack.

Israeli military hits Jenin as its West Bank raid pushes forward

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military conducted an airstrike in the West Bank city of Jenin amid days of heavy fighting in the Palestinian territory, authorities said Friday.

The Israeli military said in a brief statement that a military aircraft “struck a terrorist cell during an encounter with security forces in a counterterrorism operation in the area of Jenin.” It did not immediately elaborate.

Such airstrikes, while common over the months-long in the Gaza Strip, have been rare in the West Bank in the time since.

Israel says the — which have killed 16 people, nearly all militants, since late Tuesday — are aimed at preventing attacks. The Palestinians see them as a widening of the war in Gaza and an effort to perpetuate Israel’s decades-long military rule over the territory.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says over 650 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the war.

Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.

US rebukes Israel over attacks on UN vehicles in Gaza

UNITED NATIONS — In a rare rebuke, the United States sharply criticized Israel’s attacks on United Nations vehicles and called for an end to assaults and threatening rhetoric against the U.N. and humanitarian organizations.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood singled out the Israeli military’s repeated firing at a clearly marked vehicle of the U.N. food agency, which was hit by at least 10 bullets as it was moving toward an Israeli military checkpoint at the central Wadi Gaza bridge, despite having received multiple clearances from Israeli authorities.

In response, the World Food Program announced Wednesday it is pausing all staff movement in Gaza until further notice. U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Thursday that all WFP convoys and staff remain on hold, though the staff was in contact with some humanitarian partners who deliver aid in Gaza.

Wood expressed alarm at the WFP incident and said Israel has told the U.S. their initial review said it was “a result of a communication error” between Israeli military units.

On July 23, UNICEF said two of its vehicles were hit with live ammunition while waiting at a designated holding point near the Wada Gaza checkpoint, waiting to reunite five children including a baby with their father. It was the second shooting involving a UNICEF car in 12 weeks.

News from © The Associated Press, 2024