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Clashes near Tell
Israel launched a military operation in the West Bank around Nablus and nearby villages after clashes near the Tell village southwest of Nablus left four Palestinians and one Israeli dead, with the Israeli army saying it was pursuing the attackers.
“The Israeli military has launched “counterterrorism” operations and ordered a curfew in the occupied West Bank following an outbreak of violence in which six people were killed”
The BBC reported that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz announced a series of steps including raids on Palestinian villages suspected of sheltering militants and accelerating the regularization of agricultural outposts and the establishment of new outposts.
The BBC also described conflicting accounts of how the clashes began, with a Palestinian witness saying residents confronted about 30 settlers attacking Palestinian homes while the Israeli army said Israeli civilians were attacked and troops intervened to defend them.
The Israeli army said a Palestinian wrested a weapon from a member of the Israeli security forces from the adjacent Havat Gilad outpost and opened fire, injuring several Israelis before he was killed, while the army also said four Palestinians were killed.
In the same context, the BBC said Israeli forces imposed a siege on the city of Nablus and the Tel village and set up roadblocks on the routes leading to them.
Netanyahu, Smotrich, and hospital raids
In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the security forces must be allowed to act freely and with full force against terrorism, calling for more troops to the West Bank and the razing of the homes of the accused in Tell.
The Economic Times reported that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich went farther, saying the villages of Tell, Iraq Burin and Beit Furik "need to look exactly like the refugee camps in Nablus and Tulkarm," referring to a mass demolition campaign that displaced tens of thousands in the West Bank towns last year.
The BBC said Israeli forces raided Nablus Specialist Hospital on Friday, arresting two brothers, one of whom was injured, and assaulted the emergency department staff, while Dani Masri, deputy head of the board of Nablus Specialist Hospital, told the Palestinian news agency that Israeli forces surrounded the hospital and handcuffed the doctors and nurses.
The BBC also reported that the IDF later announced the death of a second Israeli, Captain Yoav Ezra, a resident of Beit Dagan, who led the platoon that arrived at the scene.
In parallel, the BBC said the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called on the army to take stern measures after the clashes and the far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said the Palestinian villages in the area should meet the same fate as Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
Escalation and what’s at risk
The UN warned of escalating violence in the occupied West Bank and called for the protection of civilians, saying the rise in violence over the past week continued to cause civilian casualties, displacement, damage to property, and a growing sense of insecurity.
UN News said the violence that occurred today in the southwest of Nablus left four Palestinians and two Israelis dead and caused extensive damage to Palestinian property, underscoring the urgent need to protect civilians and prevent further escalation in the occupied West Bank.
The UN also stressed that there is no military solution to the conflict and that only a political path that reunites Gaza and the West Bank under a single legitimate Palestinian government, addresses Israel’s legitimate security concerns, and moves toward a two-state solution in line with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions can achieve lasting peace and security.
In Gaza, UN News said funding shortages are the greatest threat to food security, warning that the on-the-ground situation remains extremely fragile and that most households in Gaza still lack the means to secure food without assistance.
UN News reported that the World Food Programme and partners are assisting 1.5 million people in Gaza each month, representing 70 percent of the population, and said it needs a little more than $420 million to continue operations in Gaza and the West Bank for the remainder of the year.
