Israeli fire has killed four people and wounded 14 in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Palestinian officials said, even as a fragile ceasefire with Hamas has largely held.
Israeli strikes have killed dozens of Palestinians who the army says had approached its troops or entered unauthorized areas in violation of the January truce.
Israel last week suspended supplies of goods and electricity to the territory of more than 2 million Palestinians as it tries to pressure the militant group to accept an extension of the first phase of their ceasefire. That phase ended March 1. Israel wants Hamas to release half of the remaining hostages in return for a promise to negotiate a lasting truce.
Hamas instead wants to start negotiations on the ceasefire’s more difficult second phase, which would see the release of remaining hostages from Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and a lasting peace. Hamas is believed to have 24 living hostages and the bodies of 35 others.
Palestinians say settlers attacked a garage in West Bank
Palestinians say settlers attacked a garage in the occupied West Bank overnight, torching three cars.
Rafaat Sabah, the owner of the garage, said the attack overnight was not the first. He said settlers had broken into his garage previously and stolen oil, tools and other things. This time they set fire to cars belonging to his customers, he said.
The Israeli military said it was investigating the incident.
Marwan Sabah, head of the Umm Safa village council, said settlers have recently brought livestock to graze on village lands with the aim of eventually taking them over.
The West Bank has seen a surge in violence, including settler attacks on Palestinians, since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there.
Over 500,000 settlers with Israeli citizenship live in well over 100 settlements across the West Bank, ranging from hilltop outposts to fully-developed suburbs. The territory’s 3 million Palestinians live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering cities and towns.
Funeral held for a Palestinian struck by an Israeli military vehicle
Palestinians held a funeral on Tuesday for a 32-year-old man who died after being struck by an Israeli military vehicle in the volatile West Bank city of Jenin.
The military described Monday’s incident as an accident, saying the man rode a motorcycle into an intersection where it collided with the military vehicle.
Israel has been carrying out a major military operation in Jenin in recent weeks that it says is aimed at rooting out militants. Palestinians view such operations as a way of cementing Israeli control over the territory, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.
