News

Red Crescent says 14 dead in Israeli West Bank raid

Israel to summon ambassadors of countries that voted for Palestinian UN membership

By AFP

April 21, 2024 12:10 PM


Representational image

Twitter Share Facebook Share WhatsApp Share

 

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Saturday at least 14 people had been killed in an Israeli raid on Nur Shams refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli army said troops had killed 10 militants during the operation, which it said started on Thursday.

AFP journalists saw bodies in the streets and houses hit by blasts as Israeli drones flew overhead and armoured vehicles moved through the camp.

Since early last year, violence has flared in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967. It has escalated further since war broke out in Gaza on October 7.

"So far, our crews have evacuated 14 martyrs from Nur Shams camp to the hospital," the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

Earlier, the Palestinian health ministry said it had confirmed 11 injured in the Israeli raid, seven of them "wounded by live gunshots". Among them was a paramedic shot while trying to get to the wounded, it added.

Medics had been alerted to "a number of killed and injured" inside the camp, but the army was "denying them access to tend to the wounded", the ministry said.

An AFP journalist said paramedics had tried to enter the camp but had been refused access by the army. Gunshots rang out and soldiers carried out door-to-door raids, the journalist said.

- Residents say power cut -

The Israeli army said that it had "eliminated 10 terrorists" and made eight arrests around Nur Shams. Eight soldiers and a police officer were wounded, it added.

Israeli forces say their frequent raids target Palestinian militants, but civilians are often among the dead.

On Friday, the health ministry said 16-year-old Qais Fathi Nasrallah had been killed by Israeli troops in the nearby Tulkarem refugee camp.

Official Palestinian news agency Wafa said he had died after being "shot in the head by Israeli live gunfire". It was unclear exactly when he died.

A 30-year-old man, Salim Faisal Ghanem, had been "killed by Israeli troops" on Friday in the Nur Shams camp, Wafa said.

Residents contacted by AFP on Saturday said there was no electricity in the camp and food was running short, but nobody was being allowed to enter or leave.

Minister Muayad Shaaban, head of the Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, said residents were suffering from the "destruction of homes, shops, the electricity grid, the sewerage, the water network and infrastructure".

- Paramedic killed -

Around 480 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to Palestinian official sources.

Excluding annexed east Jerusalem, the West Bank is home to around 490,000 Israeli settlers who live in communities considered illegal under international law.

On Saturday, an ambulance driver was killed in clashes between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank village As-Sawiya, the Palestinian Red Crescent and the health ministry said.

"Volunteer paramedic Mohammed Awad Allan of the Palestine Red Crescent was killed while treating those injured by settlers' gunfire," the organisation said.

One witness said Israeli soldiers were present and had fired shots along with the settlers, but said it was not clear whether the army or settlers had shot at the ambulance driver.

The army has not responded to AFP's request for comment.

Israel to summon ambassadors

Israel will summon ambassadors of countries that voted for full Palestinian UN membership "for a protest talk" on Sunday, a foreign ministry spokesman said.

It came after the Palestinian Authority said it would "reconsider" its relationship with the United States after Washington vetoed the Palestinian membership bid earlier this week.

Thursday's vote saw 12 countries on the UN Security Council back a resolution recommending full Palestinian membership and two -- Britain and Switzerland -- abstain.

Only the United States, Israel's staunchest ally, voted against, using its veto to block the resolution.

On Saturday, Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein said the ministry "will summon for a protest talk the ambassadors of the countries that voted in the Security Council in favour of upgrading the status of the Palestinians in the UN".

"The ambassadors of France, Japan, South Korea, Malta, the Slovak Republic and Ecuador will be summoned tomorrow for a demarche, and a strong protest will be presented to them," he said in a post on X.

"An identical protest will be presented to additional countries," he said.

"The unambiguous message that will be delivered to the ambassadors: A political gesture to the Palestinians and a call to recognise a Palestinian state – six months after the October 7 massacre – is a prize for terrorism."

The draft resolution called for recommending to the General Assembly "that the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations" in place of its current "non-member observer state" status, which it has held since 2012.

The majority of the UN's 193 member states -- 137, according to a Palestinian count -- have recognised a Palestinian state.


AFP


Most Read

  1. Durefishan and Bilal Abbas are secretly Nikahfied, claims YouTuber Maria Durefishan and Bilal Abbas are secretly Nikahfied, claims YouTuber Maria
  2. Hurray! Summer vacations for Punjab schools announced Hurray! Summer vacations for Punjab schools announced
  3. Resham issued notice for not paying vehicle's tax Resham issued notice for not paying vehicle's tax
  4. Trouble in paradise? Saif sparks divorce rumors after erasing Kareena's name tattoo Trouble in paradise? Saif sparks divorce rumors after erasing Kareena's name tattoo
  5. SC adjourns NAB amends case indefinitely, asks Imran to come back on next hearing SC adjourns NAB amends case indefinitely, asks Imran to come back on next hearing
  6. Audience throw objects at Mahira Khan during Pakistan Literature Festival Audience throw objects at Mahira Khan during Pakistan Literature Festival

Opinion

  1. Alice Munro, Canada's 'Chekhov'
    Alice Munro, Canada's 'Chekhov'

    By AFP

  2. Pak-Saudi-Iran economic proximity
    Pak-Saudi-Iran economic proximity

    By News Desk

  3. Military Establishment rules out any deal with what it terms a ‘bunch of anarchists’
    Military Establishment rules out any deal with what it terms a ‘bunch of anarchists’

    By Salim Bokhari

  4. 9th May - A year later
    9th May - A year later

    By Mutaza Solangi

  5. Everything but the truth in Telegraph
    Everything but the truth in Telegraph

    By Mutaza Solangi

  6. PM Shehbaz Sharif, WEF and Pakistan
    PM Shehbaz Sharif, WEF and Pakistan

    By Naveed Aman Khan