Israel has broadened the war against Palestinians by attacking refugee camps in the West Bank territories for the second day, as the corporate media headlines continue to focus on politics, while many in the alternative media continue to publish bizarre interpretations on “free speech” as they protect their Big Tech Billionaire idols.
The West Bank is, of course, where the city of Jerusalem lies, and Muslim nations were outraged today when Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir stated that he wanted to put an Israeli flag and build a synagogue at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam’s third most holy site.
To put up a synagogue, or rebuild the temple, would of course be impossible without first destroying the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Leaders from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Jordan, and Iran were quick to respond and condemn these threats today, as the outbreak of a full blown World War III now draws closer.
Here are some headline news articles regarding this new military offensive by Israel from non-American media sources today.
West Bank: Communications cut in Jenin as Israeli assault enters second day
Witnesses say snipers are stationed across Jenin as homes are raided across besieged Tulkarm camps
Internet and landline services were cut in Jenin on Thursday as Israel’s largest operation in the occupied West Bank in more than two decades entered a second day.
Israeli bulldozers ploughed into critical infrastructure, cutting off communications in the city, the Palestinian Telecommunications Network said. Electricity and water lines have also been damaged.
Paramedics report that they are repeatedly losing contact as a result of interference on their channels, with Israeli military vehicles delaying medical teams from reaching hospitals.
The offensive began early on Wednesday morning with attacks from land and air on Jenin and two other cities in the north of the occupied West Bank – Tulkarm and Tubas.
The Israeli military on Thursday said it had assassinated and taken the bodies of five Palestinians, including top Islamic Jihad commander Muhammad Jaber in Tulkarm, bringing the death toll from the assault to 18.
Among those killed was Muhammad al-Orabi, a young man from Jenin whose two brothers were killed in previous raids.
Israeli soldiers shot Orabi near his home in the Old City, Palestinian medical sources said on Thursday.
Journalist Ali Samoudi, who lives in Jenin, said Orabi did not pose a threat to soldiers when he was shot, adding that Israeli snipers stationed across the city “shoot at any moving object”.
“My house is in the eastern neighbourhood and there is a sniper stationed opposite it, which prevented me from leaving the house for several hours because orders are given to them to shoot at anyone,” he told Middle East Eye.
According to Samoudi, Israeli military vehicles continue to besiege Jenin Governmental Hospital, obstructing medical teams from reaching the facility while they conduct inspections.
Residents in Jenin could hear armed clashes and the detonation of explosive devices targeting Israeli military vehicles intermittenly on Thursday.
“From the first moments of the Israeli invasion, the electricity was cut off. We have been without electricity and water for 48 hours,” a Jenin resident, who did not want to give their name, told MEE.
“The situation is really, really bad. Food in our refrigerators has gone bad so we are forced to leave Jenin and take shelter with relatives outside the city.”
The resident said there was no internet or even the ability to charge phones. “It feels like Gaza’s conditions,” the resident said. (Full article.)
What is Israel doing to Palestinians in Tulkarem?
Experts say Israel is conducting near-daily raids on the coastal city in the occupied West Bank to uproot and scare its population.
Israel killed three Palestinians in a drone strike on Thursday in Tulkarem, a city and refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
That was during an Israeli raid – a near-daily occurrence in the West Bank – on the Tulkarem refugee camp, during which Israeli troops clashed with fighters from the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, according to fighters in the city.
What happened during the raid?
News reports say Israeli soldiers were deployed on rooftops and sent bulldozers into the camp to destroy large residential areas.
Israel also reportedly set fire to people’s homes and prevented local relief workers from putting the fires out.
Experts say Israel’s tactics during its raids appear to be part of a broader doctrine to collectively punish the population, ostensibly because pockets of armed resistance are fighting back against Israel’s ever-entrenching occupation.
Why is Israel attacking people in a refugee camp?
Israel claims that it is conducting “counter-terrorism” operations.
Are there ‘terrorists’ in the camps?
Activists and experts have previously told Al Jazeera that Israel is playing up the threat of “terrorism” to justify the mass displacement of Palestinians and the expansion of illegal settlements.
Refugee camps across the West Bank tend to harbour Palestinian fighters loosely affiliated with Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) or Fatah.
The fighters say they are protecting their camps and cities from Israeli raids that aim to uproot civilians from their homes and lands.
Why Tulkarem?
Tulkarem has fertile agricultural land thanks to its abundance of natural water, activists and rights groups say.
Abdullah said the population density in Tulkarem city and the refugee camp is quite high due to the forced displacement of Palestinians from surrounding areas.
The destruction of residential areas in raids makes the population density even higher as people move from devastated areas into ones they hope will be safe. (Read the full article.)
A boy surveys demolished infrastructure in Tulkarem [Al Jazeera]
Mideast Powers Warn Israel Not to Touch Al-Aqsa as Palestinians Warn of ‘Full-Scale Religious War’
Netanyahu coalition member and Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir succeeded in whipping up regional tensions on Monday by saying that he would “put an Israeli flag” at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – Islam’s third most holy site, and build a synagogue there if he had the authority.
Muslim countries across the Middle East, including its top three economic, political powers Iran, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia have lashed out Itamar Ben-Gvir over his inflammatory comments on building a synagogue at Al-Aqsa.
“The cabinet of the criminal Zionist regime is seeking to implement its sinister plans regarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to the extent that it shamelessly declares its evil intention to build a synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani wrote in an X post late Tuesday.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Ben-Gvir’s comments as a threat to regional and global stability, dubbing them a “new and extremely dangerous example of Israel’s efforts to change the status and identity of Jerusalem and the holy sites in Jerusalem.”
Saudi Arabia also blasted Tel Aviv over Ben-Gvir’s remarks, with the Gulf nation’s Foreign Ministry condemining “the statement made by a minister in the Israeli occupation government,” and categorically rejecting such “extremist and provocative” sentiments. Riyadh called on the world to push for an end to the “humanitarian catastrophe” in the Palestinian territories.
Even Israel and US ally Jordan condemned Ben-Gvir’s remarks, with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi calling on the UN Security Council to take urgent action to rein in Israel.
“We urge the Security Council and all members of the international community to take immediate effective action to stop the illegal Israeli measures that violate the historical and legal status quo at occupied Jerusalem’s holy sites. As the occupying power, Israel is legally responsible for protecting the historical and legal status quo,” Safadi wrote in an X post Tuesday.
Jordan’s king is formally responsible for custodianship over Al-Aqsa and other holy sites in East Jerusalem, with regular clashes between the Israeli military and local Palestinians sparking diplomatic spats between Tel Aviv and Amman. (Full article.)
When the western media, heavily influenced by Zionism, refers to “Palestinians”, they often portray the Palestinian people as equivalent to “Muslim Terrorists”.
However, as I have frequently reported, there are many Palestinian Christians, especially in Jerusalem and in the West Bank, who have lived there for thousands of years. See some of our previous coverage:
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