Israeli forces carried out raids and airstrikes Wednesday in the occupied West Bank that killed at least seven people.
Israel’s military reported conducting counterterrorism operations in Jenin and Tulkarm, and said it killed five militants.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X Wednesday that Israel must deal with the terrorism threat in the West Bank just as in the Gaza Strip, and accused Iran of financing and arming militants in the West Bank.
Throughout Israel’s war against Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza, Israeli forces have conducted repeated raids in the West Bank.
Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 640 Palestinians since the Gaza war began in October 2023, while Palestinian attacks have killed at least 19 Israelis.
Lebanon front
The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday on a resolution to extend the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon and demand a halt in hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants.
Clashes along the Israel-Lebanon border have been frequent throughout the Gaza war, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.
The French-drafted resolution calls for “immediate measures towards de-escalation, including with a view to restoring calm, restraint and stability across the Blue Line.”
Gaza peace talks
Top White House Middle East adviser Brett McGurk met with senior Qatari leaders Tuesday in Doha as part of the ongoing push to achieve a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, which U.S. officials have said is key to quieting overall tensions in the region.
McGurk met with Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who held his own talks Monday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Officials from the United States, Qatar and Egypt have led efforts to broker a cease-fire that would include a halt in fighting, the release of hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza, the return of Palestinian prisoners from Israel and surge of humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.
After officials ended a round of talks Sunday in Cairo, lower-level working teams have continued efforts this week to figure out how to resolve outstanding differences.
Hamas militants took about 250 people hostage amid the October 2023 attack on southern Israel during which they also killed 1,200 people.
Israel said Tuesday it rescued another of the hostages, 52-year-old Qaid Farhan Alkadi, from a tunnel during “a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip.
Alkadi was identified as part of Israel’s Arab Bedouin minority who was working as a guard at a packing factory in Kibbutz Magen, one of several farming communities that were attacked. He has two wives and is the father of 11 children.
Israel’s Channel 12 showed Alkadi’s family members sprinting through the hospital where he was brought after they received the news that he had been rescued.
A White House National Security Council spokesman said it welcomed Alkadi’s release and “remains determined to see all hostages held by Hamas, including American citizens, freed and reunited with their families.”
“We will continue to work tirelessly to finalize the cease-fire and hostage release deal through ongoing talks in Cairo and Doha,” the spokesman said in a statement sent to VOA.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local health officials. Israel’s military says the death toll includes several thousand Hamas fighters.
Israel says Hamas is still holding about 110 hostages, about a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel during a week-long cease-fire last November.
Israel has rescued eight hostages, including in two operations that killed scores of Palestinians. Hamas says several hostages have been killed in Israeli airstrikes and failed rescue attempts.
VOA’s Patsy Widakuswsara contributed to this report. Some information was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
