An Israeli soldier shot a Palestinian, wounding him in the leg, during a confrontation that broke out between residents of the town of Faqoua in the northern West Bank and Israeli settlers who entered the area with their livestock to graze on lands owned by Palestinians.
Eyewitnesses reported to the British newspaper The Guardian that a group of settlers entered the area with their livestock, prompting residents to try to prevent them.
Israeli forces intervened, and one of the soldiers shot Qasim Hussam, a Palestinian in his mid-thirties, wounding him in the leg.
Video footage showed a group of Israeli soldiers and settlers confronting unarmed Palestinians, before gunfire was heard.
In response to an inquiry from The Guardian newspaper, the Israeli army confirmed that it had received a report about the incident.
The Israeli army said: “Earlier on Saturday, a report was received regarding contact between Israeli civilians and Palestinians near the Faqoua area. An army force at the site fired into the air and towards a Palestinian.”
Muhammad Al-Sheikh (34 years old), who was standing next to Hossam, told the Guardian newspaper: “One of the soldiers shot Hossam and he fell to the ground. We immediately rushed to help him and move him from the place. We could not get an ambulance to the area, so we took him to the hospital in a private car.”
According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, Hossam was taken to the hospital and his injuries ranged from minor to moderate.
The Israeli army stated that the incident is subject to review by commanders, and that the results will be referred to the relevant authorities for scrutiny.
The incident comes in light of the escalation of attacks carried out by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, amid increasing criticism of the Israeli government regarding the extent of its ability or desire to limit these attacks.
On Saturday, various areas of the West Bank witnessed raids and arrests carried out by Israeli forces, which resulted in the arrest of 6 Palestinians and the injury of a 14-year-old boy with a fracture in his hand, according to the Palestinian News Agency. Israeli forces also set up checkpoints and stormed a number of towns and villages in the Jenin and Bethlehem governorates.
In a separate incident in early September, two Palestinian boys, one 16 years old and the other 19 years old, were killed after settlers entered the village of Al-Mughayir, in an incident that local sources and Israeli activists said took place under the protection of the Israeli police and army.
Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicate that more than 1,111 Palestinians, including at least 243 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 7, 2023, in light of continuing tension and violence and escalating settler attacks.
The Djibouti authorities announced that about 1,400 people fled from Yemen to Djibouti, in light of the ongoing battles since September between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthi militia.
Since 2014, Yemen has witnessed a war between government forces and the Houthis, who have controlled vast areas of the country, including the capital, Sanaa.
After a surprise attack that lasted a week, the Houthis on Friday extended their control over the western coast of Yemen on the Red Sea.
They also took control of the four islands in the Bab al-Mandab region, which is a vital maritime navigation corridor whose importance increased after Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz after the outbreak of war.
The Houthis took control of Mokha on Thursday, allowing them to advance towards additional coastal areas located to its south.
A post by Djibouti’s Minister of Economy, Elias Moussa Doualeh, on the “X” platform said: “1,400 refugees from Yemen arrived in Djibouti during the past twenty-four hours.”
Djibouti is a small country located in the Horn of Africa region opposite Yemen. It overlooks the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea and through which a large portion of trade between Asia and Europe passes.
Safia Ibrahim, the humanitarian response coordinator at the International Organization for Migration, said, according to Agence France-Presse, that among the arrivals were “women and children.”
She explained that the displaced people arrived in Obock in northern Djibouti, expecting “more people to arrive in the coming days.”
The United Nations International Organization for Migration reported that at least 76,000 people have been displaced in Yemen since July.
She explained that a quarter of these people were displaced during the past week.
Iraq moved quickly, yesterday, Saturday, to pursue the perpetrators of attacks using drones that launched from the south of the country on the “East-West” oil pipeline in Saudi Arabia.
The Iraqi Prime Minister, Ali Al-Zaidi, relieved the operations commander of Maysan Governorate (south), and dismissed the police chief there, along with other security officials, after it was proven that the attacks targeting Saudi Arabia were launched from a location within the governorate.
Al-Zaidi summoned a team of senior security officials to the governorate after directing the opening of an investigation into the attack, while the authorities decided to close 3 border crossings with Iran, the most important of which is the “Al-Shayb Crossing,” which security sources told Asharq Al-Awsat was near the area that the perpetrators used as a launching pad.
A senior security official explained to Asharq Al-Awsat that the authorities suspect that those involved may leak through the border crossings, or be used to transport drones, adding that “the Iraqi security effort also focuses on preventing any party that helps the perpetrators escape.”
Iran entered the line after it officially asked Iraq to participate in the investigation, which Al-Zaidi agreed to, according to the government’s military spokesman.
For its part, Riyadh stopped the oil pipeline in the “Riyadh and Medina” regions as a precaution after the attacks, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Saudi Arabia “chose not to respond at this stage, and to support the efforts of the government of Iraq, based on the request of Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi to provide the opportunity for his government to take measures to prevent attacks emanating from Iraqi territory.”
Several countries and organizations condemned, in the strongest terms, the targeting of the East-West pipeline, affirming their solidarity with the Kingdom and its support for all measures it takes to protect its sovereignty, security, and facilities.
