Palestinians killed in West Bank as world leaders try to avoid regional war

Five Palestinians were killed, including four teenagers, and seven others were wounded in an Israeli military assault in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said on Tuesday, as world leaders sought to ease tensions in Palestine. Avoiding regional war in the Middle East.

Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it launched a drone attack in northern Israel early Monday, which the Israeli military said wounded two Israeli soldiers.

The violence follows the killings of a senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon and a top political leader of Iran’s Hamas a week earlier, raising fears the violence could spark an all-out regional war.

Israel and Hezbollah There have been almost daily attacks between the two sides over the past 10 months. During the Gaza War.

Egyptian and Turkish leaders say they are doing everything possible to prevent Israel’s war with Hamas from turning into a wider regional conflict.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet over the weekend that Israel is already locked in a “multi-front war” with Iran and its proxies.

The head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guards on Monday threatened Israel over the assassination of Haniyeh, warning that Israel was “digging its own grave” by its actions against Hamas.

Israel’s defense minister said the army was ready to “quickly go on the offensive.”

Here are the latest developments:

Israeli strikes in West Bank kill 5 Palestinians, injure 7

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Five Palestinians, including four teenagers, were killed and seven others were wounded in a military raid in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.

Four people, including two teenagers aged 19 and a 14, were killed in an overnight attack in the village of Aqaba in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

An 18-year-old was reportedly killed in another attack in Jenin, a frequent site of conflict, where Islamic Jihad reported heavy fighting between the group and government forces.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Israel has launched military raids in the West Bank almost every day since Hamas launched an attack from the Gaza Strip on October 7, sparking the ongoing war. Palestinians in the West Bank have also launched numerous attacks on Israelis.

The Health Ministry says more than 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war. Most have died in military arrests and violent protests.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians want all three tracts of land to be part of their future state.

The West Bank’s 3 million Palestinians live under seemingly indefinite Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority exercising limited control over population centers.

More than 500,000 Jewish settlers hold Israeli citizenship and live in dozens of settlements on Israeli territory that most of the international community considers illegal or illegitimate.

Australian PM condemns Iranian ambassador’s social media comments as ‘abhorrent’

SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday condemned as “abhorrent” comments made by the Iranian ambassador about Israel on social media.

Mr Albanese said DFAT officials had summoned Ambassador Ahmed Sadeghi to meet with him to discuss his recent posts on social media platform X.

Sadeghi quoted Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin, who advocated “eliminating the Zionist plague from the Palestinian holy lands by 2027 at the latest.” Sadeghi added: “Looking forward to such a divine promise, Inshaa-Allah,” which means “if God wills” in Arabic.

“Let me be clear: comments like these made by the Iranian ambassador on social media are unacceptable,” Albanese told reporters.

“They are abominable. They are full of hate, they are anti-Semitic, and they should not exist,” Albanese added.

When asked by reporters whether the ambassador should be expelled from Australia, Albanese did not give a direct answer.

Iran’s embassy in Australia later told The Associated Press in an email that Sadeghi’s posts “have nothing to do with Jews, anti-Semitism, incitement to hate speech or violent methods.”