[ad_1]
conflict West Coast Palestinian influx has dropped sharply since Israel and Hamas went to war in Gaza, as Israel stepped up its crackdown on militants in the region and Jewish settlers launched frequent lynching attacks on Palestinian communities.
The armed factions of Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah said in separate statements that their gunmen detonated bombs at Israeli military vehicles as they engaged Israeli troops in three areas of the West Bank.
Islamic Jihad says Israel is trying to Expanding the conflict from Gaza to the West BankIt added that its fighters used machine guns in close combat with Israeli troops and attacked military bulldozers with explosives.
Reuters verified CCTV footage showing Israeli military vehicles driving down a street in Jenin on Wednesday.
Early Israeli Special Forces Rescue an Israeli hostage He was freed from a tunnel in southern Gaza in a “complex rescue operation” more than 10 months after he was kidnapped by Hamas-led gunmen.
The military said Qaid Farhan Alkadi, 52, a member of Israel’s southern Bedouin community who worked as a security guard at a kibbutz near the Gaza border, was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Daniel Hajari said Arcadi had been rescued in an underground tunnel but gave no details of the operation, arguing that the remaining hostages would remain in the Gaza Strip and require Israeli military security.
A military official told Reuters that soldiers were operating in the area where Arkadi was found, moving through a complex underground system suspected of holding hostages, militants and explosives.
“Farhan was alone and was found by troops and rescued from the tunnel,” the official said.
“As part of our preparation for this operation, we learned from previous incidents and encounters with hostages.”
Israeli media quoted Arcadi as saying that he had not seen the sun for nearly eight months and that another hostage who had been with him for two months “also died next to me.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he had spoken to Arcadi, praised the troops’ rescue operation and said Israel would “work tirelessly” to get all the hostages returned.
The move was welcomed by Israeli leaders, who were desperate for good news after nearly a year of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas, during which pressure has mounted on the government to do more to bring home 100 hostages.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the rescue was “a moment of joy for the State of Israel and for all of Israeli society.”
The Israeli Hostage Families Forum called Arcadi’s return “nothing short of a miracle,” but said military action alone could not free the remaining hostages, “who have already suffered 326 days of abuse and terror.”
Arcadi was being held hostage at Kibbutz Magan, one of a string of Israeli communities around the Gaza Strip that were attacked in a cross-border incursion by Hamas-led militants on October 7.
More than 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in the attacks, and approximately 1,200 people were killed.
After Arcadi’s rescue, 108 Israeli and foreign hostages remain in Gaza, but about a third of them are known to be dead and the fate of the others is unknown.
There has reportedly been little progress in negotiations to halt the Gaza war and for Israel to release hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners being held there.
– With AP and EFE
[ad_2]
Source link
