Death toll rises as Israeli West Bank raids enter 2nd day

JENIN

The death toll climbed on Thursday as Israel pressed a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank for a second day, despite U.N. concerns it is "fueling an already explosive situation.”

Israel began coordinated raids in the northern West Bank cities of Jenin, Tubas and Tulkarem early on Aug. 28, in what the military called a "counterterrorism" operation.

Columns of Israeli armored vehicles backed by troops and warplanes were sent in before soldiers encircled refugee camps in Tubas and Tulkarem, as well as Jenin, and exchanged fire with Palestinian militants.

The army said it killed five militants in a mosque within a refugee camp in Tulkarem during the latest operations in the West Bank yesterday, bringing the overall toll to 14 dead.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad confirmed the death of Muhammad Jabber, also known as Abu Shujaa, its commander in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem.

The violence has caused significant destruction, especially in Tulkarem, whose governor described the raids as "unprecedented" and a "dangerous signal.”

Media footage showed bulldozers ripping up the asphalt from streets in the city as a precaution against concealed explosives. Authorities reported widespread damage to infrastructure, including to water and sewage networks.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said at least 45 people had been arrested since the start of the Israeli operation in the northern West Bank.

The United Nations expressed concern over the Israeli operations in the West Bank, with U.N. chief Antonio Guterres calling for for an "immediate cessation of these operations.”

Before attending the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussel yesterday, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell said that the Israeli foreign minister’s call to displace people from the West Bank is “completely unacceptable.

He expressed the wish that the EU ministers would raise their voices against this, and also “the treatment of the United Nations and the way this war is being performed in accordance on all violation of humanitarian law.”

US slaps sanctions on Israeli settlers

In the meantime, the United States on Aug. 28 announced new sanctions on West Bank settlers over violence against Palestinians.

"Extremist settler violence in the West Bank causes intense human suffering, harms Israel's security and undermines the prospect for peace and stability in the region," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

The latest sanction targets included Hashomer Yosh, an Israeli group that has supported the unauthorized settler outpost of Meitarim Farm in the south Hebron Hills.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who relies on support from far-right politicians who advocate for the establishment of new settlements on Palestinian land, denounced the move.

"Israel views with utmost severity the imposition of sanctions on citizens of Israel. The issue is in a pointed discussion with the U.S.," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.