An Israeli drone strike on a vehicle near the West Bank town of Qubatia killed two people on Monday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, on the fourth day of a major Israeli operation in the nearby city of Jenin launched after a ceasefire in Gaza.
The Israeli military said the airstrike hit a vehicle with what it said was a "terrorist cell" inside, but gave no further details.
The army is carrying out a major operation in Jenin aimed at suppressing Palestinian militant groups it claims are backed by Iran, launched just two days after a ceasefire in the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip came into effect.
At least 12 Palestinians were killed during the operation, according to Palestinian health officials, including two for which Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility. The Israeli military said it also arrested 20 wanted suspects and seized weapons.
Armored bulldozers and excavators demolished houses and dug roads in an overcrowded refugee camp near Jenin, a major hub for armed militant groups, where thousands of people have fled their homes.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Thameen Al-Kheetan expressed deep concern about the use of unlawful lethal force and said the operation in Jenin raises serious concerns about unnecessary or disproportionate force.
Fighting in Gaza has stopped with the start of the six-week first phase of a ceasefire backed by the United States.
Israeli officials say the operation in Jenin is part of a multi-front war against Iranian groups in the West Bank, southern Lebanon and Yemen.
(Reuters)
Hamas has announced the names of four hostages who will be released on January 25th under the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
They say the soldiers in question are Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy and Liri Albag.
They will be released in exchange for 180 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
It will be the second exchange since the ceasefire came into effect last Sunday. The first exchange saw the release of three hostages and 90 prisoners.
The ceasefire halted the war that began when Palestinian Hamas, a group considered terrorist by the US and the European Union (EU), attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. About 1.200 people were killed and 251 were returned to Gaza as hostages.
More than 47.200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed in the ensuing Israeli offensive, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
Hamas is also expected to release information about the remaining 26 hostages who are due to be released in the next five weeks, the BBC reports. The Bibas family - two parents and two children, one of whom, Kfir, was 10 months old when he was captured and is the youngest hostage.
The prisoners to be released are of a more serious category than those released in the first exchange. Among them will be those convicted of murder, some of whom are serving sentences of more than 15 years.
Israel has insisted that no one involved in the October 7 attacks will be released.
The ceasefire agreement was reached after months of indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, led by the US, Qatar and Egypt.
It will be implemented in three phases, with the second phase set to begin six weeks after the ceasefire begins.
About 1.900 Palestinian prisoners will be released during the first phase in exchange for 33 hostages. Israeli forces will also begin withdrawing from positions in Gaza, and hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians will be able to return to areas they fled or were forced out of.
The ceasefire should lead to a permanent end to the war in Gaza.
Ninety-one hostages who were kidnapped on October 7, 2023, are still being held in Gaza. Israel believes that 57 of them are still alive. Three others - two of whom are alive - have been held for a decade or more.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel will not complete its withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Sunday, January 26, within the 60-day period stipulated in the ceasefire agreement in the war with the Lebanese organization Hezbollah.
This is the first public confirmation of the withdrawal delay after weeks of speculation, Israeli media reported.
A statement from Netanyahu's cabinet states that the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) withdrawal process is conditional on the deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon and the full and effective implementation of the agreement, along with the withdrawal of Hezbollah across the Litani River, about thirty kilometers north of the border.
Netanyahu stated that the phased withdrawal process will continue in full cooperation with the US, as Lebanon has not yet fully fulfilled its obligations under the ceasefire.
The text of the agreement states that the withdrawal process "should not last more than 60 days."
The Israeli leader, however, said the agreement was formulated "with the understanding that the withdrawal process could continue beyond 60 days."
The Israeli army is currently deployed in several villages in southern Lebanon, mainly in the east.
The Lebanese Armed Forces have been deployed in villages in the west over the past weeks following the IDF withdrawal.
The Israeli military is preparing for the possibility of renewed hostilities with Hezbollah.
The pro-Iranian organization warned on Thursday that it would not accept the IDF remaining in southern Lebanon beyond the scheduled deadline.
The clashes between the Israeli army and the extremist Hezbollah began the day after the outbreak of war between the Palestinian Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, triggered by an attack by Palestinian extremists on southern Israeli territory.
At the end of September, the conflicts escalated into open war, and a ceasefire agreement was reached at the end of November thanks to the mediation of the US and France.
(BETA)
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