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Israeli Airstrikes Kill Dozens More 09/11 06:06
(AP) -- Israeli strikes on Palestinian territories have killed more than
two-dozen Palestinians on Wednesday, according to local officials. They say an
Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and at
least 20 people, including 16 women and children, were killed in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza's Health Ministry says Tuesday's strike on a tent camp in an
Israeli-designated humanitarian zone killed at least 19 people.
The Health Ministry says over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza
since the Israel-Hamas war began. It does not differentiate between fighters
and civilians in its count. The war has caused vast destruction and displaced
around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million, often multiple times.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in their
Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war. They abducted another 250 and are still
holding around 100. Around a third of them are believed to be dead.
Here's the latest:
Fuel tanker crashes into a bus stop in West Bank, injuring a man in what
Israeli officials say was an attack
JERUSALEM -- A fuel tanker crashed into a bus stop in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank, seriously injuring one person in what Israeli officials said was an
attack.
The Israeli military said the driver was "neutralized" at the scene after
the incident on Wednesday. It did not immediately identify the driver or
provide evidence that the crash was an attack.
The Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating the man who was
injured, saying he is in critical condition.
Palestinians have carried out a number of stabbing, shooting and car-ramming
attacks against Israelis in recent years. The army carries out near-daily raids
into Palestinian communities in the West Bank that it says are aimed at
dismantling militant groups and preventing attacks.
The violence has escalated since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack ignited the war in
Gaza.
Gaza polio vaccination campaign has reached over 82% of targeted children,
Palestinian health officials say
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank says
an ongoing polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip has reached 82.5% of
targeted children.
The ministry said on Wednesday that 527,776 children under the age of 10
have received the first dose of the vaccine across the war-ravaged enclave.
The campaign began earlier this month after the detection of the first
confirmed polio case in Gaza in 25 years. It aims at vaccinating about 640,000
children there.
Israel agreed to limited humanitarian pauses to facilitate the campaign,
according to the World Health Organization, and there have been no major
disruptions from the ongoing war.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is part of
the Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out of Gaza when Hamas
seized power there in 2007 and set up its own government.
The two Palestinian health ministries coordinate with one another and
exchange information.
Israeli military helicopter crashes in a non-combat-related incident
overnight in Gaza, killing 2 soldiers
TEL AVIV, Israel -- The Israeli military says two Israeli soldiers died and
seven were injured when their helicopter crashed in the southern Gaza Strip.
The military said Wednesday that the overnight helicopter crash was not the
result of enemy fire and is under investigation. The helicopter was on a
mission to evacuate wounded soldiers from Gaza for treatment in Israeli
hospitals.
There have been 340 Israeli soldiers killed since the ground operation began
in Gaza in late October, at least 50 of whom have been killed in accidents
within Gaza -- not as a result of combat with Palestinian militants, according
to the military.
Dozens of Palestinian patients expected to leave Gaza through an Israeli
crossing, heading to the UAE for medical care
JERUSALEM -- An Israeli official says dozens of Palestinian patients were
expected to leave the Gaza Strip on Wednesday by way of an Israeli crossing, in
order to travel to the United Arab Emirates for medical care.
The official says over 200 people, mostly children, are expected to leave,
along with relatives to accompany them. It is the biggest exit of medical
patients through Israel since the war erupted nearly a year ago.
Gaza has been completely sealed off since May, when Israeli forces captured
the Gaza side of the border with Egypt, including the Rafah crossing between
Egypt and the coastal strip, leading to its closure. Rafah had been the only
entry or exit point for Palestinians, including medical patients, since the
start of the war.
Since then, Israel has only allowed a small number of children and
accompanying relatives to leave for medical treatment.
Israel's military offensive, launched in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack,
has gutted Gaza's already fragile health system. With few exceptions, Israel
has barred Gaza's Palestinians from entering Israel throughout the war.
The official says the patients are leaving through the Kerem Shalom crossing
and heading to the Ramon airport in southern Israel, where they will board a
flight to the UAE.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement
by Israeli authorities.
-- By Josef Federman in Jerusalem;
In his first statement as Hamas' top leader, Yahya Sinwar thanks Algeria for
its support
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip -- Hamas released the first public statement from
Yahya Sinwar since he was appointed its overall leader in August.
In the written statement late Tuesday, Sinwar congratulated Algeria's
President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on his reelection and thanked the country for
its support for the Palestinian cause. Algeria, the Arab representative on the
United Nations Security Council, circulated a draft resolution in May demanding
an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and a halt to Israel's military operation in
the southern city of Rafah.
A hard-liner within Hamas, Sinwar would have to approve any potential
agreement for a cease-fire and hostage release. The United States, Qatar and
Egypt have spent most of the year trying to broker such a deal but the
negotiations have repeatedly stalled.
Sinwar was one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack into Israel that
ignited the war in Gaza. He has not been seen since the start of the war and is
believed to be alive and hiding inside the territory. Israel has vowed to kill
him.
Israeli strike kills 5 Palestinians in the West Bank, officials say
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- An Israeli airstrike has killed five Palestinians in
the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say.
The Israeli military said it targeted a group of militants in the northern
city of Tubas early Wednesday.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank confirmed the toll but does
not say whether those killed by Israeli fire are militants or civilians.
Israel has stepped up its military raids across the territory in recent
weeks and says it is working to dismantle militant groups and prevent attacks.
Palestinians say such operations are aimed at cementing Israel's seemingly
open-ended military rule over the territory.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip,
in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories for their
future state. The West Bank has seen a surge in violence since Hamas' Oct. 7
attack out of Gaza ignited the war there.
Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip add at least 20 to the death toll,
authorities say
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip -- Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes in
the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people, including 16 women and children.
An airstrike early Wednesday killed 11 people, including six siblings
ranging from 21 months to 21 years old, according to the European Hospital,
which received the casualties. The dead from the strike near the southern city
of Khan Younis included three other women, a child and a man, according to the
hospital.
A strike late Tuesday on a home in the urban Jabaliya refugee camp in
northern Gaza killed nine people, including six women and children, according
to the Gaza Health Ministry and the Civil Defense first responders. The Civil
Defense says the home belonged to Akram al-Najjar, a professor at the al-Quds
Open University, who survived the strike.
Israel says it only targets militants, claiming 17,000 militant deaths
without providing evidence. It blames civilian deaths on Hamas because its
fighters are embedded in dense residential neighborhoods. The military rarely
comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.
The Health Ministry says Israel's offensive, launched in response to Hamas'
Oct. 7 attack, has killed at least 41,020 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded
nearly 95,000. It does not distinguish between fighters and civilians but says
more than half of those killed were women and children.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on Oct. 7
and abducted around 250. Around 100 hostages are still held in Gaza, about a
third of whom are believed to be dead.
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