27 Palestinians die in W Bank raids

Israeli PM unbowed by pressure

FE Team | Published: September 03, 2024 21:00:05

JENIN, Sept 03 (AFP): Israeli forces were operating Tuesday in the northern West Bank, nearly a week into military raids in the occupied territory that the Palestinian health ministry said killed at least 27.
An Israeli air strike overnight that the military said targeted militants in Tulkarem killed a 15-year-old Palestinian, said a hospital source in the city.
In total, "there are 30 martyrs and about 130 wounded in the West Bank since Wednesday," when the Israeli military launched a series of coordinated raids, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.
The toll includes three deaths in the Hebron area in the southern West Bank, in incidents unrelated to the raids in the north.
On the seventh day of Israel's major "counter-terrorism" operation in the northern West Bank, the focus remained in the Jenin area, where according to the Palestinian health ministry at least 18 have been killed since Wednesday.
The military on Monday said its forces had killed 14 militants in Jenin and apprehended "25 terrorists".
An AFP correspondent said the streets were empty and shops were closed in Jenin on Tuesday, with Israeli armoured vehicles and army bulldozers as well as ambulances among the few vehicles on the roads.
One man, holding a Palestinian flag, was standing defiantly in front of the bulldozers. Concerns grew Tuesday over the chances of securing a Gaza truce, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected making any "concessions" in stalled talks towards a hostage release deal.
Netanyahu told a televised press conference at the end of a day of nationwide protests that he would "not give in to pressure" to renege on demands in indirect negotiations with Hamas to end the war, now nearing its 12th month.
Analyst Mairav Zonszein of the International Crisis Group said Netanyahu's remarks showed "he won't stop the war... until Hamas surrenders, and he basically announced there won't be a hostage deal".
Gripped by grief and fury after six dead hostages were recovered from Gaza, Israelis took to the streets on Sunday and Monday to ramp up pressure on their government to secure the release of the remaining captives.
The military said the six were all captured alive during Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel that triggered the war, and shot dead by the captors shortly before troops had found them.
"These murderers executed six of our hostage," said Netanyahu, who has increasingly faced accusations from critics in Israel as well as Hamas officials and analysts of prolonging the war for political gain.