An Israeli soldier and a Palestinian militant were killed in a shootout early yesterday when Israeli troops raided a village near the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm hunting for militants, the army said.
The shootout came amid a marked increase in tension between the two sides in recent weeks, despite a three-month-old truce agreement that both sides hoped would signal the end of the four-and-a-half years of violence.
Residents of the Palestinian village of Sida said that Israeli troops had entered before dawn and imposed a curfew while they searched for suspects before withdrawing to the surrounding hills.
PHOTO: EPA
Sida was one of several villages Palestinian authorities wanted Israel to withdraw from when it handed over nearby Tulkarm to the Palestinian security forces in March.
Israel refused, saying that the villages were full of militants, including those who were behind a February suicide bombing in Tel Aviv that killed five Israelis.
Palestinians identified the dead man as Shafiq Abdel Hamad, an Islamic Jihad militant who had been on the run since escaping from Palestinian police custody several weeks ago.
On Sunday, Israeli troops briefly entered Tulkarm itself, arresting a man they said was an Islamic Jihad militant preparing to carry out an imminent suicide bombing.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the latest Israeli operations jeopardized the truce, which has slashed the number of deaths and injuries on both sides.
"The ceasefire can't be held by one side," Erekat said. "The continuation of Israeli incursions, assassinations and arrests is seriously threatening the ... understandings."
Violence has slowly increased in recent weeks, though it is still far lower than it was during the height of the fighting over the past four-and-a-half years.
Israelis have carried out several arrest raids, and Palestinian militants have fired salvos of mortar shells and rockets into Gaza Strip settlements.
Israel pledged to turn over five West Bank towns to Palestinian security control as part of the Feb. 8 ceasefire agreement, but only Tulkarm and Jericho have been transferred.
The Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said last week that he was putting further handovers on hold until the Palestinian Authority disarmed militants in the two towns that they already control.
Israel has demanded Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas crack down on militant groups to prevent attacks on Israel. Abbas has said he preferred to use persuasion to maintain calm.
However, Abbas took a firmer tone last week, warning militants that he would use force against anyone who violated the truce.
His comments appeared aimed at the militants firing mortar and rocket barrages at Gaza settlements in recent weeks in an effort to make it appear that they are pushing Israel out of the volatile coastal strip.
Israel plans to pull out of Gaza and four West Bank settlements this summer.
Israeli military planners said recently they are proposing that the abandoned West Bank homes be turned over to Palestinian security forces for use as barracks, although the area to be vacated will remain under overall Israeli military control, security officials said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the