A Palestinian was killed in the West Bank and intense Israeli raids on southern Lebanon

A Palestinian was killed and two others were injured during an attack by Israeli settlers on Sunday night, Monday, on the village of Hajjah in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

The Ministry announced “the martyrdom of the young man, Omar Muhammad Tubasi (20 years old), by settlers’ bullets in the village of Hajjah, Qalqilya district,” in the northern occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that its crews dealt with three casualties “during the settlers’ attack” on the village of Hajjah.

She explained that one of the injuries to the head, another to the chest, and an injury to the thigh were to a 17-year-old boy. They were taken to a hospital in the city of Qalqilya, describing the injuries as “very serious,” before doctors announced Tubasi’s death as a result of his injury, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.

The Hajjah Village Council announced the funeral of Tubasi’s body (Monday) after the noon prayer in the old village mosque.

Excluding East Jerusalem, about three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, in addition to more than 500,000 Israelis residing in illegal settlements under international law.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the evacuation of settlements in the occupied West Bank that Israeli law considers illegal, according to what Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced on Sunday.

Smotrich said, “As far as I know, Netanyahu issued instructions to evacuate” some settlements, indicating that he did not agree to this procedure.

Smotrich pointed out that the evacuation process concerns settlement outposts built in areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority and without an official license from the Israeli authorities.

Settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank has witnessed an escalation in recent months, after its perpetrators remained largely immune from legal prosecution for years.

The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called on Saturday for measures to be taken against acts of violence committed by settlers, adding that they were “the work of a small minority” of settlers.

Huckabee, known for his strong support for Israel and the settlers, said during his meeting with Palestinian Americans in the town of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah: “Our clear message is that crime is crime, and terrorism is terrorism.” “When people commit these acts, they should expect to face serious consequences.”

The West Bank has witnessed an escalation in violence since the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip following the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

At least 1,107 Palestinians, including a number of gunmen, were killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to an Agence France-Presse tally based on Palestinian Authority data.

On the other hand, official Israeli data show that at least 48 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, were killed in attacks carried out by Palestinians or during confrontations with Israeli forces.

Eleven people were killed, including two infants, in Israeli night raids on the town of Kafr Rumman in southern Lebanon, according to what the official National News Agency reported on Monday, the day after widespread raids that left seven dead.

Nine people were killed in a raid on a three-story residential building in Kafr Rumman, and two ambulance personnel were killed in a drone strike on a car in the town, according to what the agency reported.

Early this morning, the Israeli army ordered residents of the town of Deir Al-Zahrani in southern Lebanon to evacuate buildings adjacent to what it said was a facility belonging to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah, before launching raids on it.

He warned, in a message in Arabic, that he was targeting a “terrorist facility affiliated with Hezbollah,” holding those who do not leave the area responsible for endangering their safety.

Hezbollah media later reported Israeli air strikes on Deir Al-Zahrani.

On Sunday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the United States to take “urgent action” to stop Israeli raids on the south, denouncing a “dangerous escalation.”

The Israeli army said that its recent raids came in response to a drone attack launched by the Hezbollah group, earlier on Sunday, targeting forces in southern Lebanon. He said that Hezbollah used an empty hospital as a command center.

The war in the Middle East extended to Lebanon, starting on March 2, after Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran, launched missiles at Israel, in response to the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israeli raids on Iran on February 28.

Israel has been locked in a confrontation with Hezbollah since 2023, after the party opened a “support front” for Gaza and its ally, Hamas, shortly after the outbreak of war in the Strip. Since October 8, 2023, Israeli strikes on Lebanon have resulted in more than 8,920 deaths, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.