Friday, August 30, 2024
0753 GMT –– Israeli army continues military offensive in Jenin for 3rd day
The Israeli army continued its military offensive in the city of Jenin and its refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank for the third consecutive day.
According to witnesses, the military offensive in Jenin has expanded, with Israeli forces storming the refugee camp, the eastern neighbourhood, and the town of Zababdeh. They surrounded homes, conducted searches, and interrogated a large number of residents.
The witnesses reported hearing explosions and exchanges of gunfire sporadically across several areas in Jenin.
In the town of Zababdeh near Jenin, Ahmed Turkman, a local resident, told Anadolu Agency that Israeli forces entered the town, opened fire on a group of young men and set a Palestinian vehicle on fire.
0824 GMT –– Israeli army claims it assassinated a Hamas leader in Jenin
The Israeli army claimed it assassinated a Hamas leader in the northern occupied West Bank.
In a statement, the army said that its forces targeted a vehicle killing Wassem Hazem, the “leader of Hamas network” in Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.
It added that its forces also killed two more Palestinians, Misbah al-Masharka and Arafat Amr, who were on board the vehicle.
06:20 GMT — Five Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli attacks across Gaza
Five civilians, including a child, were killed in an overnight Israeli air strike and shelling in northern and southern Gaza, according to local reports.
In Gaza's south, Israeli aircraft targeted a house belonging to the Abu Daqqa family in the town of Abasan al-Kabira in Khan Younis. The attack resulted in the killing of three people and injuries to others, who were transported to Nasser Hospital in the city.
In a separate attack, two people, including a child, were killed when Israeli forces struck a residential apartment near the al-Houja junction in the Jabalia refugee camp, located in northern Gaza.
05:40 GMT — UN Security Council condemns Israeli fire on WFP vehicle
The United Nations Security Council criticised the Israeli army for firing on a World Food Program (WFP) vehicle repeatedly at a checkpoint, resulting in the organisation temporarily halting staff movement in Gaza.
"We are alarmed by yesterday's (Wednesday) reports that the IDF fired repeatedly on a WFP vehicle," US Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Robert Wood said during a session at the Council.
Informing the Council that Israel has told the US that "it is investigating this most recent incident, which their initial review has said was a result of a communication error between IDF units," Wood said the US urged Israel "to immediately rectify the issues within their system that allowed this to happen."
04:27 GMT — Turkish deputy foreign minister calls for accountability over Gaza
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government must be held accountable for the human rights violations and massacres in Gaza and other occupied Palestinian territories.
Yilmaz, speaking at the 50th session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Yaounde, Cameroon, noted the significance of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s remarks before the Turkish parliament on Aug. 15.
"It was meaningful that President Abbas highlighted that our lives are not more valuable than the lives of children in Gaza. This should be a wakeup call for all of us," he said.
Yilmaz also addressed the OIC’s foundational purpose of protecting holy sites amid increasing Israeli provocations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
"The OIC must always remember its reason for existence," he stressed.
04:09 GMT — Hezbollah launches multiple attacks on Israeli army sites amid escalating tensions
Lebanon’s Hezbollah group said that its fighters conducted operations against 10 Israeli military sites along the Lebanese border.
In response, Israel launched air and artillery strikes on several towns in southern Lebanon.
According to Hezbollah’s statements, its fighters targeted Israeli soldiers near the Kfar Yuval settlement and the Zarit military barracks in northern Israel with rocket-propelled weapons.
03:43 GMT — Harris says 'No' to arms embargo on genocide-perpetrator Israel
United States Vice President Kamala Harris has said in a CNN interview that she would not change President Joe Biden's controversial policy on supplying Israel with weapons for its carnage in Gaza if elected in November.
"No," the Democratic nominee and vice president said when asked if she would change course and withhold weapons to Israel, while adding that it was time for a ceasefire and hostage deal and to "end this war."
Washington doles out $3.8 billion in annual military funding to its longtime ally Israel. The administration has so far resisted calls to condition any arms transfers even though senior US officials have criticised Israel over the high civilian death toll in Gaza.
03:30 GMT — UN slams Israel ultimatums to Palestinians
The UN has highlighted the "desperate" situation in Gaza as it raised concerns over the Israeli army's continued ultimatums to Palestinians to flee in the besieged enclave, which "defy the requirements of international humanitarian law."
While expressing "deep concern about the latest deterioration in the occupied West Bank," Joyce Msuya, the UN Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told the UN Security Council that "the situation in Gaza is beyond desperate."
Msuya recalled the "harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction" in Gaza that "raise very serious concerns about compliance with international humanitarian law."
03:00 GMT — Houthis vow retaliation for Israel's bombing of Hudaida port
Yemen's Houthi group said that it is continuing preparations to respond to the Israeli bombing of Hudaida Port in western Yemen in July, noting "the timing will be a surprise for Israel."
"Preparations for a response against the Israeli enemy are ongoing, and the timing will surprise the enemy," the group's leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said in a televised speech broadcast by the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV.
02:49 GMT — Israel kills at least 20 Palestinians in new Gaza strikes
Israel has killed at least 20 Palestinians, including children, and wounded several others during its air strikes in besieged Gaza.
Four bodies were brought to the Gaza European Hospital after an Israeli air strike targeted a civilian vehicle in the city of Rafah, in the southern part of Gaza, a medical source told Anadolu Agency.
Earlier, another medical source at Al-Awda Hospital reported to Anadolu that the facility received seven bodies, including four children, following an Israeli air strike that targeted a residential apartment in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.
2:30 GMT — Israeli army storms town east of Tulkarm
The Israeli army has stormed the town of Anabta, east of Tulkarm, in the northern occupied West Bank, local media and witnesses said.
The Israeli occupation army earlier withdrew from the city of Tulkarm and its camps following a 48-hour military invasion, bringing deaths and destruction in the area.
Witnesses told Anadolu Agency that the Israeli army pulled out of the city, leaving behind four people dead, several wounded and significant damage to infrastructure.
2:00 GMT — Israel abducts two Palestinians in Al Khalil raid
Israeli army has raided several areas of Al Khalil governorate in the occupied West Bank and abducted two Palestinians, WAFA news agency reported.
According to Palestinian security sources, the two were abducted after the Israeli military stopped two vehicles in the Farsh al-Hawa and Beit Einun areas in the province.
The individuals were taken to an unknown location, and their vehicles were left abandoned on the roadside.
For our live updates from Thursday, August 29, 2024, click here.
