As more assault continues by Israeli army in West Bank, more bodies are retrieved from rubble in Gaza
By Abdul Adil
(AA, Al Jazeera, NNA, Wafa, The Muslim News):
GAZA
Palestinian medics and rescue teams retrieved seven more bodies from the rubble in the Gaza Strip, pushing the overall death toll from Israel’s indiscriminate attacks since Oct. 2023 to 48,329, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.
A ministry statement said that the toll also included two Palestinians killed by Israeli army fire in the last 48 hours.
Nearly 111,753 others were injured in the Israeli onslaught on Gaza since October 2023, the Health Ministry added.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the ministry said.
The Government Media Office updated its death toll to at least 61,709, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
WEST BANK
The ongoing Israeli military assault on in the West Bank towns and and refugee camps has entered its 33rd consecutive day. The offensive has resulted in the killing of 27 Palestinians, with dozens more injured and detained.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports a group of illegal Israeli settlers under the protection of Israeli forces attacked the town of Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah.
Wafa said the settlers stole about 800 sheep, three horses, two donkeys, and water tanks from local residents.
Palestinian security sources told WAFA that the settlers, accompanied by the Israeli army, raided the town and carried out the thefts, adding that the livestock stolen belonged to local citizens Naif Mansara and Abdelhalim Awada.
Later, Israeli forces raided the town and stormed a home, confiscating the security camera footage from the property.
Illegal Israeli settlers are Israeli citizens who live illegally on private Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israel started building settlements after capturing the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza Strip in the June 1967 Six-Day War.
Now, more than 700,000 settlers – 10 percent of Israel’s nearly seven million population – live in 150 settlements and 128 outposts spread across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Several residents of Qusra, a town south of Nablus, have suffered breathing problems after Israeli forces stormed the area, Wafa news agency reports.
Antisettlement activist Fouad Hassan told Wafa that the Israeli army opened fire and shelled the area with tear gas.
The Israeli military has carried out large-scale raids across the West Bank for several weeks, including in Tulkarem, Jenin and Nablus.
A group of Israeli settlers attacked the homes and vehicles of Palestinian residents this evening in the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, according to local sources.
Osama Makhamreh, a local activist, told WAFA that dozens of settlers attacked homes and vehicles belonging to Al-Adra and Rabai families in the Abu Shaban area and the village of At-Tuwani in Masafer Yatta. The settlers threw stones at the properties, causing damage to several of the vehicles and homes.
No injuries were reported among the local Palestinian population.
A group of Israeli settlers from the extremist Price Tag militia set fire to a house and a vehicle in a Bedouin community east of the village of Jaba, north of Jerusalem, on Saturday evening, according to local sources.
Hassan Melihat, a local anti-colonization activist, reported in a press statement that a group from the Price Tag militia burned the home and vehicle of Daoud Mohammad Mousa Ka’abneh, a resident of the community.
The settlers also fired heavy gunfire at local residents and vandalized their properties during the assault. No injuries were reported.
Israeli occupation forces raided the homes of two Palestinian prisoners from the village of al-Mughayer, northeast of Ramallah, on Saturday evening. The two prisoners, Jabr and Atef Abu Alian, are scheduled to be released as part of the seventh batch of the exchange deal under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
Rabi Abu Naim, a local Palestinian resident, told WAFA that Israeli forces stormed al-Mughayer, launching an assault on the homes of the two prisoners. The forces fired stu grenades and toxic gas canisters around the houses, causing a child to suffer from suffocation, after which he was transported to hospital for treatment.
Abu Naim added that Israeli forces posted threatening notices around the homes, warning against holding any celebrations to mark the prisoners’ release.
Israeli occupation forces placed barbed wire around several Palestinian homes in the Jenin refugee camp on Saturday, making them inaccessible to their residents.
Local sources reported that the homes, located in the western area of the camp, were encircled with barbed wire, and their residents were forcibly displaced and informed that they were prohibited from returning until further notice.
SYRIA
The Israeli army claimed Saturday evening that it carried out airstrikes on several locations along the Syria-Lebanon border, alleging the sites were being used for weapons transfers to Hezbollah.
“The air force raided transportation corridors on the Syria-Lebanon border a short while ago, which Hezbollah is reportedly using to transfer weaponry to Lebanon,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
It further claimed that such smuggling efforts “are a blatant violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.”
This marks the second time in less than 48 hours that Israel has announced airstrikes in the border region.
There has been no immediate official response from Lebanese or Syrian authorities regarding the attack.
Since the removal of Bashar al-Assad’s regime on Dec. 8, 2024, Israel has intensified airstrikes targeting Syrian military positions.
Additionally, it has expanded its occupation of the Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone and Mount Hermon, actions that violate the 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.
Israel’s recent military advances in the Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, have drawn condemnation from the United Nations and several Arab nations.
LEBANON
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun confirmed that Israel’s full withdrawal from the occupied territories and the release of Lebanese prisoners are prerequisites for achieving stability along the southern border.
According to a statement from the Lebanese presidency, Aoun received US Senator Ronny Jackson at the presidential palace in Baabda, east of Beirut, in the presence of American Ambassador Lisa Johnson.
During the meeting, Aoun emphasized that “stability in the south and along the borders requires the withdrawal of the Israelis from the hilltops where they were stationed and the return of the Lebanese prisoners who were detained during the last war.”
“This Lebanese position is firm and final,” said Aoun.
He reiterated: “By continuing to occupy the hilltops, Israel violates this agreement, stressing that the countries sponsoring the agreement, especially the United States of America, must pressure it to abide by it fully.”
For his part, Senator Jackson began the meeting by congratulating President Aoun on his election, stressing that he will work with US President Donald Trump and his fellow senators and representatives to provide the necessary material and equipment support to the Lebanese army.
“We want to see Lebanon, and the entire Middle East, enter a new era of peace and prosperity, and I think that is possible right now,” Jackson told journalists following the meeting.
“I think we will continue to work to try to mediate between the Lebanese leadership and the Israeli leadership. We want the border to be fully redrawn, for Lebanon to have full control over its border, but we also want that border to be secure,” he added.
On Tuesday, the Israeli army withdrew from southern Lebanese towns but maintained a military presence at five border outposts.
Photo: Palestinians continue their daily life under harsh conditions as they struggle to survive in open tents as their homes have been bombed into rubbles by Israeli army after the ceasefire agreement entered into force in Khan Yunis, Gaza on February 22, 2025. Photojournalist: Abed Rahim Khatib/AA]
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