Live blog: Israel kills Palestinian teen, injures two in occupied West Bank

Saturday, June 15, 2024

1730 GMT — The Israeli army has killed a Palestinian teenager and injured two others during its incursion into the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated in a brief statement that its ambulance crew transferred a 15-year-old boy with a live bullet wound to the chest during clashes in Beit Furik to the hospital.

The society noted its crews initially performed cardiac and pulmonary resuscitation on the injured but later announced his death at Rafidia Hospital.

In a separate statement, the society reported that its teams also transferred to the hospital a 16-year-old youth with a live bullet wound in the leg and a 45-year-old man with a live bullet wound in the thigh.

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1851 GMT — 'Miscalculation' could lead to wider Hezbollah-Israel conflict, say UN officials

There is a "very real" risk that a miscalculation along Lebanon's southern border could trigger a wider conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, two UN officials in Lebanon have warned.

The United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the head of UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon, Aroldo Lazaro, said they were "deeply concerned" about the recent escalation along Lebanon's border.

"The danger of miscalculation leading to a sudden and wider conflict is very real," the two officials said in a written statement.

1831 GMT — White House: Qatar and Egypt plan talks with Hamas on Gaza ceasefire

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has said that mediators for Qatar and Egypt plan to engage Hamas soon to see if there is a way to push ahead with a Gaza ceasefire proposal offered by US President Joe Biden.

Sullivan spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a Ukraine peace summit and was asked about diplomatic efforts to get an agreement for Hamas to release some hostages held since Oct. 7 in exchange for a ceasefire lasting at least six weeks.

Sullivan said he had spoken briefly to one of the main interlocutors, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, and that they would speak again about Gaza on Sunday while both are in Switzerland for the Ukraine conference.

1526 GMT — Israel reports deadly explosion killing eight soldiers in Gaza

The Israeli military has said eight soldiers were killed in Gaza when the armoured vehicle they were in exploded, in one of the deadliest blows for the army since the war began in October.

Captain Wassem Mahmud, 23, and seven other soldiers "fell during operational activity in southern Gaza," the military said in a statement.

"Their families have been notified."

When asked if the soldiers died when the Namer armoured vehicle they were travelling in exploded, a military press desk officer told AFP: "Yes".

The officer said the explosion struck near Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah, where troops are engaged in fierce street battles with Palestinian fighters.

According to Israeli army data, the number of soldiers killed since Oct. 7 has risen to 658, including 306 since the ground invasion began.

1500 GMT — Israeli defence minister to travel to US ‘soon’: Pentagon

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will travel to the US "soon" to meet Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, the Pentagon has said, adding a date has not been set yet.

"During his call on June 11 with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant invited him to visit the Pentagon to further discuss ongoing security developments in the Middle East.

"Minister Gallant has accepted the invitation and will travel to the US soon (date/time TBD)," spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said on X

1338 GMT — UKMTO says ship on fire evacuated after attack by Yemen's Houthis

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has said that the crew of a merchant vessel had been evacuated and the ship was on fire and sinking, referring to an incident that took place 98 nautical miles southwest of Yemen's Aden on June 13.

1314 GMT –– Hamas' military force announces killing Israeli soldiers in ‘ambush’

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas’s armed wing, the al Qassam Brigades, has announced that they killed and wounded Israeli soldiers in a “complex ambush” in southern Gaza.

The brigades said in a statement that its forces “carried out a complex ambush against enemy vehicles penetrating the area of ​​the Saudi neighbourhood in Tal al Sultan, west of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip.”

“Al Qassam Brigades targeted a Zionist D9 bulldozer with an Al Yassin 105 shell in Tal Al Sultan, leading to the killing and injury of soldiers,” it added.

1236 GMT –– Hamas ally calls for Israel's Gaza pullout in swap for hostages

Palestinian resistance group and Hamas' ally Islamic Jihad has said the only way to return Israeli hostages is through Israel's withdrawal from Gaza, ending its offensive and reaching a deal for exchanging prisoners.

The spokesman of al Quds Brigades made the remarks in a video posted on Telegram.

Islamic Jihad, on Thursday, said that it launched rockets against cities and settlements adjacent to Gaza for “crimes committed by the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people.”

1140 GMT –– Bodies of nine Palestinians retrieved from Gaza rubble

Bodies of at least nine Palestinians were retrieved from the rubble in Rafah, southern Gaza, according to Anadolu news agency.

“We received nine bodies of Palestinians from different areas in the city of Rafah,” a medical source at the European Hospital in the city of Khan Younis told Anadolu. “The bodies were recovered from homes bombed by the Israeli army earlier."

Witnesses said dozens of bodies remain buried under structures bombed by Israeli forces, adding that in recent days many decomposed bodies have been found in the streets of the southern city invaded by Israel on May 6.

1138 GMT –– Biden faces test of sincerity in handling Israel's war on Gaza: Erdogan

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said that US President Joe Biden is undergoing "a test of sincerity" in his handling of the war on Gaza.

In an interview with reporters on his way back from the G7 Summit in Italy, Erdogan said Biden is expected to demonstrate that the Gaza ceasefire plan is not a calculated electoral tactic but a sincere effort to end the war.

1053 GMT –– Palestinian death toll in Israel's war on Gaza surges to 37,296

The health ministry in Gaza said that at least 37,296 people have been killed in the territory during more than eight months of Israel's war on the besieged enclave.

The toll includes at least 30 deaths in the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding a total of 85,197 people had been wounded since the war began on October 7 last year.

1030 GMT –– Israel continues to bomb, shell Gaza: first responders

Israel has bombed and shelled Gaza, witnesses and first responders said, with fallout from its war bringing a resurgence of tensions to the Lebanon border and Yemen.

In the ninth month of Israel's war, the Civil Defence agency in Gaza City in the territory's north reported 10 bodies recovered from Israeli strikes on three separate homes.

In Rafah, in Gaza's far south near Egypt, witnesses reported clashes in the city's west, and artillery fire towards a refugee camp in the city centre.

AFPTV images showed streets largely deserted.

0752 GMT –– Israel says it targeted Hezbollah military structure in southern Lebanon

Israel claimed targeting a Hezbollah military structure in southern Lebanon Friday night.

In a statement on Saturday, the army said fighter jets struck the building in the area of ​​Kfar Kila. It added that two missiles were also launched from Lebanon towards the area of Miron, Upper Galilee region, but no casualties were reported.

Cross-border tensions have continued between Israel and Hezbollah since October last year.

0441 GMT –– US targets Houthi radar sites after merchant sailor goes missing

The United States military unleashed a wave of attacks targeting radar sites operated by Yemen's Houthis over their assaults on shipping in the crucial Red Sea corridor, authorities said, after one merchant sailor went missing following an earlier Houthi strike on a ship.

The attacks come as the US Navy faces the most intense combat its seen since World War II in trying to counter the Houthi campaign — attacks the group says are meant to halt the Israel's war on Gaza.

US strikes destroyed seven radars within Houthi-controlled territory, the military's Central Command said.

"These radars allow the Houthis to target maritime vessels and endanger commercial shipping," Central Command said in a statement.

The US separately destroyed two bomb-laden drone boats in the Red Sea, as well as a drone launched by the Houthis over the waterway, it said.

0038 GMT –– Police detain 30 students during pro-Palestine protest at Stockholm's KTH University

Police in Stockholm, detained 30 students Friday who were participating in a peaceful pro-Palestine demonstration at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH).

The demonstration, which saw students setting up tents on the KTH campus, was disrupted by police early in the day.

Despite warnings to vacate the area, the students, insisting on their right to peaceful assembly, were met with forceful police action.

The 30 students, who resisted by locking arms and hugging each other, were detained and taken to a police station.

The police's response has sparked further protests. A group of students, condemning the intervention, set up tents in front of parliament in a show of defiance and solidarity with their detained peers.

2344 GMT — WHO voices alarm at swelling occupied West Bank health crisis

The World Health Organization has decried an escalating health crisis in the occupied West Bank, where growing restrictions, violence and attacks on health infrastructure are increasingly obstructing access to care.

In a statement, the UN health agency said it was calling "for the immediate and active protection of civilians and health care in the West Bank."

It noted that a spike in violence in the occupied West Bank, including in occupied East Jerusalem, since October 7 had by June 10 left 521 Palestinians dead, including 126 children.

Palestinian officials have put the occupied West Bank death toll even higher, saying at least 545 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or illegal settlers since the Gaza war broke out.

2303 GMT — 'We should not lose sight of West Bank': Bernie Sanders

US Senator Bernie Sanders has voiced concern about recent developments in the occupied West Bank, saying the Israeli premier is breaking international law in besieged Gaza.

"While the world is understandably focused on the destruction unfolding in Gaza, we should not lose sight of what is happening in the West Bank — actions which are in violation of both American and international law," Sanders said in a statement.

Sanders added that more than 500 Palestinians, including 100 children, have been killed by Israeli security forces and illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank.

2209 GMT — Casualties as Israel bombs Gaza homes

The Israeli military has killed an infant and wounded dozens after striking a home in eastern Gaza City.

Witnesses told Anadolu Agency that an Israeli warplane struck the home in the Tuffah neighbourhood, while dozens of people were inside.

The Civil Defense rescue teams removed the body of the baby and transferred dozens of wounded victims to a hospital, said witnesses.

They added that rescue teams continue to look for the wounded under the rubble.

The Israeli army has also killed five people, including two children and two women, in the east of Gaza City, according to reports.

2107 GMT — US removing pier off Gaza as Israel's killing spree continues

The US military is preparing to "temporarily" remove its pier off the coast of besieged Gaza because of anticipated sea conditions, a US official claimed, the latest challenge to the effort that has been hampered by bad weather since it was put into place in May.

The floating pier on which US spent $230 million had just resumed bringing aid into the enclave after being suspended over the weekend.

The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the pier would likely be moved to the Israeli port of Ashdod until sea conditions improve.

2101 GMT — Two-thirds of all roads in Gaza damaged or destroyed

Around two-thirds of all roads in besieged Gaza have been damaged or destroyed by Israel's war, the UN satellite centre has said in its latest analysis.

The United Nations Satellite Center said its assessment was based on high-resolution satellite imagery collected on May 29.

UNOSAT released a satellite photo of the tiny Palestinian territory overlaid with a colour-coded map of the dense road network. It appears to show nearly all of the roads in Gaza City and areas north of Wadi Gaza have been affected by the war, as well as most of the roads in the southern city of Khan Younis.

2052 GMT — Rallies in 48 Moroccan cities for Palestinians

Solidarity rallies have taken place in different cities across Morocco in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza, who have been experiencing a devastating Israeli onslaught for over 250 days.

In a statement, a Moroccan pro-Palestine group — known as the Moroccan Organization for Advocating the Ummah Causes — said 116 rallies were organised in 48 cities across the Kingdom.

The group said the rallies are organised to affirm the Moroccan people's solidarity with the Palestinian people and cause.

2038 GMT — Israeli army strikes southern Lebanon

The Israeli army said its jets struck targets of the Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon shortly after what it said was a Hezbollah rocket attack on northern Israel.

In a statement, the army said its warplanes hit a Hezbollah rocket launcher in the Lebanese Yaroun town, following a Hezbollah rocket attack at the Avivim settlement area.

It also said the fighter jets targeted Hezbollah weapons depot in the Houla village, and hit another military infrastructure in the town of Aitaroun.

For our live updates from Friday, June 14, 2024, click here.