Category Archives: Palestinian Territories

Jordanian driver kills Israeli workers at border with West Bank

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Triple shooting on mostly quiet border with Jordan may be indicative of Gaza war spreading violence across region

Three Israeli workers have been killed at a border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan when a Jordanian truck driver opened fire on them, in a fresh sign that the nearly year-old Gaza conflict is spreading violence across the region.

On the same day, an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed a senior aid official and two women and two children from his family.

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Middle East crisis: Senior Gaza rescue service official killed in Israeli airstrike; three Israelis killed near Jordan border crossing – as it happened

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Deputy director of Gaza Civil Emergency Service and four family members killed in Jabalia, say Gaza health officials; three Israeli civilians killed in shooting near Jordan border crossing, says IDF

Here is more on the earlier incident (see 9.08am post) in which three Israelis were killed.

Reuters reports that Israeli authorities said a gunman crossing from Jordan killed the three civilians at the Allenby Bridge border in the occupied West Bank on Sunday before being shot dead by security forces.

A terrorist approached the area of the Allenby Bridge from Jordan in a truck, exited the truck, and opened fire at the Israeli security forces operating at the bridge.

The terrorist was eliminated by the security forces, three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack.

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West Bank residents tell of teargas then shots before US woman’s death

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Palestinians say they have no faith in Israel Defense Forces inquiry into killing as US officials insist Gaza ceasefire is near

US officials have insisted that a ceasefire in Gaza is close even as fighting rages unabated in the blockaded Palestinian territory and violence spirals in the occupied West Bank, where witnesses told the Observer an American-Turkish dual national was killed by Israeli forces on Friday.

William Burns, who is also the US’s chief negotiator in the indirect talks between Israel and Hamas, echoed secretary of state Antony Blinken during a speech in London on Saturday in which he said that “90% of the text had been agreed but the last 10% is always the hardest”.

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Israel-Gaza war: US and UK spy chiefs ‘working ceaselessly’ for ceasefire deal – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

CIA director William Burns, the chief US negotiator trying to help secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages by Hamas, said a more detailed proposal on the ceasefire would be made in the coming days.

“We will make this more detailed proposal, I hope in the next several days, and then we’ll see,” Burns said at an FT event in London on Saturday.

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American-Turkish woman shot dead at anti-settler protest in West Bank

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Witnesses say Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was fired at by Israel Defense Forces soldiers positioned in nearby field

An American-Turkish dual national has been shot dead – reportedly by Israeli troops – while participating in a protest against settler expansion in the occupied West Bank.

Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, a 26-year-old volunteer with the anti-occupation International Solidarity Movement, died in hospital on Friday after being shot in the head during a protest in Beita, near Nablus, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

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Aid agency insiders claim BBC ‘blocking’ Gaza humanitarian appeal

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Disasters Emergency Committee sources say BBC fears backlash from those supportive of Israel’s war with Hamas

The launch of a major humanitarian appeal for Gaza by the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is being delayed by the BBC, it has emerged.

The corporation said the appeal did not meet all the established criteria for a national appeal, but the possibility of broadcasting an appeal was “under review”. Other channels have agreed to broadcast an appeal.

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‘We are freed in Gaza by sport’: shot putter flies Palestinian flag at Paralympics

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Fadi Aldeeb, who had a month to train in his old event, was sole Gaza-born athlete at either Paris Games

Fadi Aldeeb got the call just a month before the Paralympics began asking him to return to the shot put, an event in which he hadn’t competed in years, to be the sole Palestinian representative at the Paris Games.

“When they asked me, of course I said yes because this is my country,” said the 38-year-old wheelchair basketball player from Gaza. “This experience isn’t about me, I am the voice of millions of people, to show their goals, their hopes and their successes. This is my opportunity to show the world who we are.”

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Hamas accuses Netanyahu of trying to ‘thwart’ ceasefire and hostage deal – as it happened

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This blog is now closed, you can read more of our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that three people have been killed in an apparent Israeli strike on Gaza City in the north of the territory. The attack happened in the al-Zaytoun neighbourhood.

There has been an apparent shooting attack near the Israeli consulate in Munich in Germany on the anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics attack on Israeli athletes and staff at the Games. There are no reports of casualties, but the suspected attacker has been shot and killed. My colleague Lili Bayer has the latest developments here …

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UN’s Gaza polio vaccination campaign reaches 189,000 children in first phase

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Unicef calls inoculations ‘rare bright spot’ in war, as minister appears to suggest Israel might eventually fully withdraw

The United Nations children’s agency has said that a polio vaccination campaign to inoculate more than 640,000 children in Gaza is surpassing expectations at the end of the first phase of the programme.

Describing the campaign as a “rare bright spot” in almost 11 months of war, Unicef said that 189,000 children had been reached so far as more than 500 teams were deployed across central Gaza this week.

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Australian government won’t back public views of special envoys on antisemitism and Islamophobia

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Exclusive: Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal ‘all communications’ will be solely attributed to special envoy

The Australian government is seeking to create some distance from its new special envoys on antisemitism and Islamophobia, suggesting they do not characterise their comments as official government policy.

Documents obtained by Guardian Australia reveal the instructions the government has given its new special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, including the need to highlight “diverse Jewish Australian identities”.

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US charges Hamas leaders over 7 October and pushes for ‘final’ truce – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

The main United Nations agency for Palestinians says it is making good progress in rolling out a polio vaccine to children in Gaza, but called for a permanent ceasefire in the 11-month war to ease humanitarian suffering.

UNRWA said that three days into the campaign in areas of central Gaza around 187,000 children have received the vaccine. The campaign will move to other areas of the enclave in the second stage.

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Family of British aid worker killed in Gaza call for independent inquiry

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James Kirby was among seven WCK staff killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted their marked vehicle in April

The family of James Kirby, a World Central Kitchen aid worker killed in Gaza, have called for an independent investigation into his death and said neither British nor Israeli diplomats had been in touch, even though an internal Israeli inquiry said his death had been a tragic accident.

Kirby was among seven aid workers, including Britons John Chapman and James Henderson, who were killed when an Israeli airstrike targeted their clearly marked vehicle on 1 April. The Israeli inquiry led to the dismissal of two officers.

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Hamas leaders charged by US over deadly 7 October attacks on Israel

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Yahya Sinwar and at least five others accused by US justice department of planning and orchestrating the deadly attacks in which 1,200 people were killed

The United States has announced criminal charges against Hamas’ top leaders over their roles in planning, supporting and perpetrating the 7 October attack in southern Israel.

The charges against Yahya Sinwar, the militant group’s chief, and at least five others accuse them of orchestrating the attack, which killed 1,200 people, including more than 40 Americans.

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Benjamin Netanyahu putting his own interests before Israel’s, says Gantz

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Political rival says PM ‘sees himself as the state’ after Netanyahu speech ruling out Gaza ceasefire concessions

Benjamin Netanyahu’s main political rival, Benny Gantz, has accused the Israeli prime minister of putting his personal interests before those of his country after he again insisted on the need for Israeli control of the Gaza-Egypt border on Monday, a position that has emerged as a key obstacle to a ceasefire deal.

Speaking in Tel Aviv at the Israel Bar Association’s annual conference on Tuesday, the centre-right National Unity party leader said Netanyahu had “lost his way” and “sees himself as the state … this is dangerous,” he said.

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Robert Jenrick inquired into revoking Palestinian student’s visa, emails reveal

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Court documents show then immigration minister wrote to Home Office after Dana Abu Qamar spoke at university demonstration

The former immigration minister and Conservative leadership hopeful Robert Jenrick inquired into revoking a Palestinian student’s visa, court documents have revealed.

Dana Abu Qamar, 20, a law student who led the Friends of Palestine society at the University of Manchester, was stripped of her visa in 2023 after speaking at a university demonstration on Gaza’s historical resistance to Israel’s “oppressive regime” and a subsequent interview with Sky News.

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ICC to decide whether to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant in ‘coming days’, report says – as it happened

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Israel’s justice ministry ‘cautiously optimistic’ court will decide against issuing warrants, Haaretz reports. This live blog is closed

Julian Borger is the Guardian’s world affairs editor

The mass protests in Tel Aviv over the past two nights, and the smaller ones every Saturday night for the past few months, have been almost entirely about a deal with Hamas so that Israeli hostages are freed and come home.

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Netanyahu condemns ‘shameful’ UK suspension of some Israel arms sales

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Israeli PM says move will embolden a genocidal Hamas as British government faces growing backlash

Benjamin Netanyahu has condemned the UK government’s decision to suspend some arms export licences to Israel, describing it as a shameful decision that would embolden a genocidal Hamas.

The Israeli prime minister said his country was at war to also protect British hostages and vowed the UK measures would not prevent it from winning the conflict in Gaza.

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‘We cannot protect our children’: parents in Gaza face new threat of polio

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Vaccination is likely to be an uphill struggle after re-emergence of the disease in the territory, where war has decimated healthcare

Like so many in Gaza, Eid al-Attar, a teacher from the north of the territory, now spends his days trying to find enough food and water to keep his family alive. Displaced eight times since the war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October, the 42-year-old has tried his best to shield his five children from the conflict. Now the Palestinian territory is facing a new danger: the highly infectious and potentially deadly disease, polio.

“We cannot protect our children. We are exposed to death at any moment due to the constant bombardment and insecurity. And I cannot protect them from diseases either,” he said in Deir al-Balah on Sunday as a UN-led vaccination campaign got under way.

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Israeli court orders end of nationwide strike called over handling of hostage talks

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Schools, offices and airport had closed after trade union said general strike was needed to ‘shake those who need to be shaken’ over inaction

Israel’s first nationwide general strike since the Hamas attacks of 7 October, which was convened in support of a deal to free hostages held in Gaza, has ended after eight hours with a court order for workers to go back to their jobs.

The strike was organised amid widespread public anger at the government’s handling of the war in Gaza after the discovery of the bodies of six hostages at the weekend.

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Protests in Israel and strike called amid eruption of outrage over Gaza war

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Tens of thousands take to streets as anger rises at Netanyahu government after deaths of six hostages

Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday night and a general strike was called amid an eruption of public outrage over the government’s handling of the war in Gaza after the deaths of six hostages being held deep underground by Hamas.

The discovery of the hostages’ bodies in Gaza over the weekend threatened to bring deep divisions over the war to breaking point. An estimated 100,000 protested in Tel Aviv, while others demonstrated in Jerusalem as pressure on the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to reach a ceasefire deal to bring the remaining hostages home reached a new peak.

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