Israel strikes West Bank, Syria in retaliation to attacks: Military

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-KISSUFIM
An Israeli soldier secures an area, following a deadly infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Kibbutz Kissufim in southern Israel October 21, 2023. Photo: Amir Cohen/Reuters

West Bank: Israeli forces on an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank came under fire by a group of Palestinians whom the military then targeted with a drone strike, the Israeli military said on Wednesday, and medics said two Palestinians were killed.

The military said armed Palestinians "fired and hurled explosive devices" at its forces in Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank. The military then struck them with a drone, and "hits were identified", it added.

The Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance service said two Palestinians were killed, with others injured.

The strike was at least the third use of Israeli air power in the West Bank since violence in the territory surged after Hamas' October 7 gun rampage in southern Israel.

Jenin refugee camp, a Palestinian militant stronghold, was the focus of a major Israeli military operation earlier this year.

Strike in Syria

Israel's military said its jets struck Syrian army infrastructure and mortar launchers early on Wednesday in what it described as a response to rocket launches from Syria toward Israel.

The military said it had identified two rocket launches from Syria that had landed in open areas late on Tuesday, and that it had responded with artillery fire at the sources of the launches.

In a further response, the military said its fighter jets "struck military infrastructure and mortar launchers belonging to the Syrian Army".

The military did not provide further details. It did not accuse Syria's army of firing the two rockets, which set off air raid sirens in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday.

There was no immediate comment from Syria.

Israel has traded fire with Lebanon's Hezbollah and militants in Syria in recent days, a wider conflict over its northern border as it battles Islamist Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip following a deadly attack in Israel.

Trucks carrying aid arrive at the Palestinian side of the border with Egypt, as the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

World leaders seek to suspend fighting for Gaza aid

The United States and Russia were among several nations pushing for a pause in fighting or a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to allow humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip as Israel maintained its bombardment of the enclave.

Late on Tuesday eight trucks with water, food and medicine entered Gaza from Egypt.

Nearly three weeks after Hamas militants attacked southern Israeli towns in a rampage that killed 1,400 people, most of them civilians, world leaders sought to prevent the conflict from spreading across a region key to global energy supplies.

US President Joe Biden and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke by phone on Tuesday and agreed on broader diplomacy "to maintain stability across the region and prevent the conflict from expanding," the White House said.

The comments posted here/below/in the given space are not on behalf of Onmanorama. The person posting the comment will be in sole ownership of its responsibility. According to the central government's IT rules, obscene or offensive statement made against a person, religion, community or nation is a punishable offense, and legal action would be taken against people who indulge in such activities.