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Tag: West Bank

  • Family of U.S. citizen killed in the West Bank demands independent investigation into her death

    Family of U.S. citizen killed in the West Bank demands independent investigation into her death

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    The family of Aysenur Eygi, an American woman who was shot and killed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, is demanding an independent investigation into her death.

    Witnesses, activists and Palestinian media said the dual U.S.-Turkish national was shot by Israeli troops while attending a pro-Palestinian demonstration against settlement expansion in the Nablus area of the northern West Bank, near the town of Beita. 

    Palestinian medics rushed Eygi to an ambulance, but by the time she got to the hospital, it was too late.

    “They killed her. They shot her in the head,” a woman told CBS News.

    Jonathan Pollak, with the Defend Palestine activist group who was participating in the protest, told CBS News that IDF forces fired two shots from a distance of 150 or 200 yards during the protest attended by the American woman. He said the first bullet hit a local boy in the thigh and the second hit the U.S. demonstrator, who was standing under an olive tree.

    “I saw her lying on the ground under an olive tree. Bleeding to death. I looked up and I saw a clear line of sight to the soldiers,” he said. 

    Eygi, who was raised in Seattle, arrived in the West Bank days before her death to volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement, which helps young foreigners support Palestinians. Pollack helps train them.

    She was attending a weekly demonstration against settlement expansion that has been held for years and has often brought Israeli crackdowns and protester stone-throwing.

    According to a statement from the BBC released by her family on social media, Eygi had just turned 26 and graduated three months ago from the University of Washington, where she studied psychology and Middle Eastern languages and cultures. Her family said she was “compelled to travel to the West Bank to stand in solidarity with Palestinian civilians who continue to endure ongoing repression and violence.”

    “A U.S. citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter,” the statement says. “We call on President Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties.”

    “We deplore this tragic loss,” Blinken said during a Friday visit to the Dominican Republic, adding that when the U.S. government had more information, “we will share it, make it available and, as necessary, we’ll act on it.”

    Asked about the incident, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that troops operating near Beita had “responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them.” 

    The IDF said it was “looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area” and that the “details of the incident and the circumstances in which she was hit are under review.”

    At least three activists from the International Solidarity Movement have been killed since 2000.

    Elizabeth Palmer

    contributed to this report.

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  • Israeli strikes in Gaza kill more than a dozen; Health workers press on with polio vaccines

    Israeli strikes in Gaza kill more than a dozen; Health workers press on with polio vaccines

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    Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip killed more than a dozen people overnight into Saturday morning, hospital and local authorities said, as health workers were wrapping up the second phase of an urgent polio vaccination campaign designed to prevent a large-scale outbreak in the territory.Related video above: US and negotiation partners propose ‘final’ ceasefire offer to end Israel-Hamas warThe vaccination drive was launched after health officials confirmed the first polio case in the Palestinian enclave in 25 years, in a 10-month-old boy whose leg is now paralyzed. The nine-day campaign run by the U.N. health agency and its partners began last Sunday in central Gaza and aims to vaccinate 640,000 children under the age of 10, an ambitious effort during a devastating war that has destroyed Gaza’s health care system and much of its infrastructure.The second phase of vaccinations in the southern part of the strip was in its final day Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry said, before moving to the north and concluding on Monday. The ministry designated dozens of points across the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah for people to visit with their children to receive the vaccines.Israel, meanwhile, kept up its military offensive. In central Gaza’s urban refugee camp of Nuseirat, Al-Awda Hospital said it had received the bodies of nine people killed in two separate air raids. One had hit a residential building in the early hours of Saturday, killing four people and wounding at least 10, the hospital said, while another five people were killed in a strike on a house in the western part of Nuseirat.Separately, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, central Gaza’s main hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah, said a woman and her two children were killed in another strike on a house in the nearby urban refugee camp of Bureij early Saturday. In the northern part of the Gaza Strip, an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in the town of Jabaliya killed at least four people and wounded about two dozen others, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense authority, which operates under the territory’s Hamas-run government.The war began when Hamas and other militants staged a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people, primarily civilians. Hamas is believed to still be holding more than 100 hostages. Israeli authorities estimate about a third are dead.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry reports more than 94,000 people have been wounded since the start of the war.Violence has also spiked in the occupied West Bank, with a more than weeklong military operation in the town of Jenin leaving dozens of dead and a trail of destruction.On Friday, a 13-year-old girl and an American protester were reported shot and killed in separate incidents in the West Bank.Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26. of Seattle, who also holds Turkish nationality, died after being shot in the head on Friday, two Palestinian doctors said. Witnesses to the shooting said she had posed no threat to Israeli forces and was shot during a moment of calm following clashes earlier in the afternoon.The White House has said it was “deeply disturbed” by the killing and has called on Israel to investigate. The Israeli military said it was looking into reports that troops had killed a foreign national while firing at an “instigator of violent activity” in the area of the protest.Separately, Palestinian health officials said Israeli fire had killed a 13-year-old girl, Bana Laboom, in the West Bank village of Qaryout, south of Nablus, on Friday.The Israeli military said on Saturday that an “initial inquiry indicates” security forces had been deployed to disperse a riot involving Palestinian and Israeli civilians that “included mutual rock hurling.” The security forces had fired shots in the air, the military said.”A report was received regarding a Palestinian girl who was killed by shots in the area. The incident is under review,” the military added.There are more than 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, a territory captured by Israel in 1967. Increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis and attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have left more than 690 Palestinians dead since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, according to Palestinian health officials.Israel has been under increasing pressure from the United States and other allies to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on a demand that has emerged as a major sticking point in talks — continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow band along Gaza’s border with Egypt where Israel contends Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza. Egypt and Hamas deny it.Hamas has accused Israel of dragging out months of negotiations by issuing new demands, including for lasting Israeli control over both the Philadelphi corridor and a second corridor running across Gaza.Hamas has offered to release all hostages in return for an end to the war, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants — broadly the terms called for under an outline for a deal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden in July.___Magdy reported from Cairo and Jeffery from Ramallah, West Bank.

    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) —

    Israeli air raids in the Gaza Strip killed more than a dozen people overnight into Saturday morning, hospital and local authorities said, as health workers were wrapping up the second phase of an urgent polio vaccination campaign designed to prevent a large-scale outbreak in the territory.

    Related video above: US and negotiation partners propose ‘final’ ceasefire offer to end Israel-Hamas war

    The vaccination drive was launched after health officials confirmed the first polio case in the Palestinian enclave in 25 years, in a 10-month-old boy whose leg is now paralyzed. The nine-day campaign run by the U.N. health agency and its partners began last Sunday in central Gaza and aims to vaccinate 640,000 children under the age of 10, an ambitious effort during a devastating war that has destroyed Gaza’s health care system and much of its infrastructure.

    The second phase of vaccinations in the southern part of the strip was in its final day Saturday, the Gaza Health Ministry said, before moving to the north and concluding on Monday. The ministry designated dozens of points across the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah for people to visit with their children to receive the vaccines.

    Israel, meanwhile, kept up its military offensive. In central Gaza’s urban refugee camp of Nuseirat, Al-Awda Hospital said it had received the bodies of nine people killed in two separate air raids. One had hit a residential building in the early hours of Saturday, killing four people and wounding at least 10, the hospital said, while another five people were killed in a strike on a house in the western part of Nuseirat.

    Separately, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, central Gaza’s main hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah, said a woman and her two children were killed in another strike on a house in the nearby urban refugee camp of Bureij early Saturday. In the northern part of the Gaza Strip, an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in the town of Jabaliya killed at least four people and wounded about two dozen others, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense authority, which operates under the territory’s Hamas-run government.

    The war began when Hamas and other militants staged a surprise attack on Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people, primarily civilians. Hamas is believed to still be holding more than 100 hostages. Israeli authorities estimate about a third are dead.

    Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The ministry reports more than 94,000 people have been wounded since the start of the war.

    Violence has also spiked in the occupied West Bank, with a more than weeklong military operation in the town of Jenin leaving dozens of dead and a trail of destruction.

    On Friday, a 13-year-old girl and an American protester were reported shot and killed in separate incidents in the West Bank.

    Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26. of Seattle, who also holds Turkish nationality, died after being shot in the head on Friday, two Palestinian doctors said. Witnesses to the shooting said she had posed no threat to Israeli forces and was shot during a moment of calm following clashes earlier in the afternoon.

    The White House has said it was “deeply disturbed” by the killing and has called on Israel to investigate. The Israeli military said it was looking into reports that troops had killed a foreign national while firing at an “instigator of violent activity” in the area of the protest.

    Separately, Palestinian health officials said Israeli fire had killed a 13-year-old girl, Bana Laboom, in the West Bank village of Qaryout, south of Nablus, on Friday.

    The Israeli military said on Saturday that an “initial inquiry indicates” security forces had been deployed to disperse a riot involving Palestinian and Israeli civilians that “included mutual rock hurling.” The security forces had fired shots in the air, the military said.

    “A report was received regarding a Palestinian girl who was killed by shots in the area. The incident is under review,” the military added.

    There are more than 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank, a territory captured by Israel in 1967. Increasing Israeli raids, attacks by Palestinian militants on Israelis and attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have left more than 690 Palestinians dead since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, according to Palestinian health officials.

    Israel has been under increasing pressure from the United States and other allies to reach a cease-fire deal in Gaza, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists on a demand that has emerged as a major sticking point in talks — continued Israeli control of the Philadelphi corridor, a narrow band along Gaza’s border with Egypt where Israel contends Hamas smuggles weapons into Gaza. Egypt and Hamas deny it.

    Hamas has accused Israel of dragging out months of negotiations by issuing new demands, including for lasting Israeli control over both the Philadelphi corridor and a second corridor running across Gaza.

    Hamas has offered to release all hostages in return for an end to the war, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces and the release of a large number of Palestinian prisoners, including high-profile militants — broadly the terms called for under an outline for a deal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden in July.

    ___

    Magdy reported from Cairo and Jeffery from Ramallah, West Bank.

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  • Israel sparks international condemnation over plans to legalize five West Bank settlements

    Israel sparks international condemnation over plans to legalize five West Bank settlements

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    Israel has sparked condemnation after the finance minister announced plans to legally recognize five unauthorized settlements in the occupied West Bank.As CNN has reported, the Israeli government has been looking to “strengthen” Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after several countries unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state.Related video above: Netanyahu says Israel will not end war until all hostages returnThe spokesperson for Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, told CNN that the Israeli government had agreed in a late-night cabinet to recognize five Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that were built illegally and that Smotrich will release tax funds to the Palestinian Authority that Israel collects on its behalf.In a statement to CNN on Sunday, Smotrich’s office said the decision to release funds to the Palestinian Authority was “immediate” and would cover the past three months. Funds have been frozen following the October 7 attacks.CNN reached out to the Prime Minister’s office, which has not yet publicly commented on the reports. Once authorized, settlements become more like parts of Israel, with access to water, electricity and medical care.The Palestinian Authority, which administers some areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, told CNN on Sunday that it has not yet received the funds from Israel.”So far, no money or official messages from the Israeli side have been received,” an official source in the Palestinian Authority said.Smotrich is a leading far-right member of the Israeli cabinet and opposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state.He has long advocated for the building of settlements, pointing to them as a means of preventing the West Bank from becoming part of such an independent state. “The goal is to change the DNA of the system for many, many years,” he said, according to leaked audio from a speech he made earlier this month.The European Union as well as several Middle Eastern countries have denounced the plans. In a statement posted on X on Saturday, EU spokesperson Peter Stano said the organization “condemns in the strongest terms” the announcement by Smotrich.”This is another deliberate attempt at undermining peace efforts,” he added.Qatar called the decision “a new chapter in the ongoing violations of international legitimacy resolutions,” according to Qatar’s official news agency.In separate statements, Egypt and Saudi Arabia also called it a violation of international law and Security Council resolutions.”Egypt strongly denounced Israel’s exploitation of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip to push more illegal settlement expansion and attempts to change the legal situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem,” the Egyptian government said.Saudi Arabia said the moves “undermine the chances for peace, fuel conflicts, and impair regional and international security and stability,” according to a foreign ministry statement.Israel has expanded settlements in the occupied West Bank over decades despite signing a series of peace agreements with the Palestinians in the 1990s, called the Oslo Accords, that envisaged the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza as part of a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.Such settlements are considered illegal under international law and by much of the international community.

    Israel has sparked condemnation after the finance minister announced plans to legally recognize five unauthorized settlements in the occupied West Bank.

    As CNN has reported, the Israeli government has been looking to “strengthen” Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank after several countries unilaterally recognized a Palestinian state.

    Related video above: Netanyahu says Israel will not end war until all hostages return

    The spokesperson for Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, told CNN that the Israeli government had agreed in a late-night cabinet to recognize five Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that were built illegally and that Smotrich will release tax funds to the Palestinian Authority that Israel collects on its behalf.

    In a statement to CNN on Sunday, Smotrich’s office said the decision to release funds to the Palestinian Authority was “immediate” and would cover the past three months. Funds have been frozen following the October 7 attacks.

    CNN reached out to the Prime Minister’s office, which has not yet publicly commented on the reports. Once authorized, settlements become more like parts of Israel, with access to water, electricity and medical care.

    The Palestinian Authority, which administers some areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, told CNN on Sunday that it has not yet received the funds from Israel.

    “So far, no money or official messages from the Israeli side have been received,” an official source in the Palestinian Authority said.

    Smotrich is a leading far-right member of the Israeli cabinet and opposes the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

    He has long advocated for the building of settlements, pointing to them as a means of preventing the West Bank from becoming part of such an independent state. “The goal is to change the DNA of the system for many, many years,” he said, according to leaked audio from a speech he made earlier this month.

    The European Union as well as several Middle Eastern countries have denounced the plans. In a statement posted on X on Saturday, EU spokesperson Peter Stano said the organization “condemns in the strongest terms” the announcement by Smotrich.

    “This is another deliberate attempt at undermining peace efforts,” he added.

    Qatar called the decision “a new chapter in the ongoing violations of international legitimacy resolutions,” according to Qatar’s official news agency.

    In separate statements, Egypt and Saudi Arabia also called it a violation of international law and Security Council resolutions.

    “Egypt strongly denounced Israel’s exploitation of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip to push more illegal settlement expansion and attempts to change the legal situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem,” the Egyptian government said.

    Saudi Arabia said the moves “undermine the chances for peace, fuel conflicts, and impair regional and international security and stability,” according to a foreign ministry statement.

    Israel has expanded settlements in the occupied West Bank over decades despite signing a series of peace agreements with the Palestinians in the 1990s, called the Oslo Accords, that envisaged the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza as part of a negotiated resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

    Such settlements are considered illegal under international law and by much of the international community.

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  • Former IDF soldier criticizes Israel’s actions in Gaza

    Former IDF soldier criticizes Israel’s actions in Gaza

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    Former IDF soldier criticizes Israel’s actions in Gaza – CBS News


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    A former IDF soldier is breaking his silence. In an interview with CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta, he describes the culture within the Israeli military, and why he believes the bombardment of Gaza has often been indiscriminate.

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  • U.S. considers sanctioning some members of the IDF

    U.S. considers sanctioning some members of the IDF

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    U.S. considers sanctioning some members of the IDF – CBS News


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    The United States is considering the unprecedented step of sanctioning members of the Israel Defense Forces in the West Bank for alleged human rights violations.

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  • Over 200 bodies found in Gaza mass graves at hospital sites, Palestinian officials say

    Over 200 bodies found in Gaza mass graves at hospital sites, Palestinian officials say

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    Over 200 bodies found in Gaza mass graves at hospital sites, Palestinian officials say – CBS News


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    Palestinian officials claim to have found mass graves with more than 200 bodies in them at the sites of the Al-Shifa and Nasser medical facilities in Gaza following Israeli military operations. The U.N. human rights office said it’s working to corroborate the reports. CBS News foreign correspondent Debora Patta has the latest on the war, including ongoing strikes in Rafah and the possible blacklisting of an IDF unit.

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  • Iranian drones launched, could take hours to get to Israel

    Iranian drones launched, could take hours to get to Israel

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    Iranian drones launched, could take hours to get to Israel – CBS News


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    The Israel Defense Forces and U.S. officials say a drone attack launched from Iranian territory is on its way to Israel, but it may take hours for the drones to reach their targets if they’re not shot down first. CBS News’ Imtiaz Tyab, Olivia Gazis and national security contributor Sam Vinograd have more.

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  • Biden calls Netanyahu’s handling of war in Gaza a mistake

    Biden calls Netanyahu’s handling of war in Gaza a mistake

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    Biden calls Netanyahu’s handling of war in Gaza a mistake – CBS News


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    Speaking on Univision Tuesday night, President Biden stepped up his public criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his handling of Israel’s war against Hamas, saying, “I think what he’s doing is a mistake.” CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe has more.

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  • Chef José Andrés accuses Israel of targeting World Central Kitchen aid workers

    Chef José Andrés accuses Israel of targeting World Central Kitchen aid workers

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    Chef José Andrés accuses Israel of targeting World Central Kitchen aid workers – CBS News


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    Chef José Andrés says his World Central Kitchen charity’s team in the Gaza Strip appears to have been deliberately targeted by the Israeli military with deadly airstrikes earlier this week. The IDF and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have called the airstrikes the kind of mistake that happens in war, but that explanation has been increasingly dismissed as insufficient. CBS News senior foreign correspondent Holly Williams has more on what we’ve learned about the strike. And CBS News senior White House correspondent Weijia Jiang reports on how the White House is responding.

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  • Latest on Israel-Hamas war | March 21, 2024

    Latest on Israel-Hamas war | March 21, 2024

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    Latest on Israel-Hamas war | March 21, 2024 – CBS News


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    Secretary of State Antony Blinken is participating in Israel-Hamas cease-fire talks in Egypt Thursday, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Senate Republicans virtually. CBS News foreign correspondent Chris Livesay has more on that and a possible U.S. ban on funding for the U.N.’s main aid agency in Gaza.

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  • White House says it won’t pull funding from Israel despite aid blockade to Gaza

    White House says it won’t pull funding from Israel despite aid blockade to Gaza

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    White House says it won’t pull funding from Israel despite aid blockade to Gaza – CBS News


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    National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby bristled at the idea the White House would pull funding from Israel over the blockage of humanitarian aid getting into Gaza during Tuesday’s White House briefing. “‘Well if [Israel’s] not doing what you want then cut off the aid, so they can’t defend themselves.’ That’s not the way we’re gonna do this,” Kirby said. “They have a right to defend themselves… They need the capabilities to do that. There’s aid that’s desperately in need, and you know what? We can do that too. We can do both.” Kirby was referring to the U.S. military airdropping humanitarian aid into northern Gaza.

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  • Israel says Palestinian gunmen killed after West Bank attack lauded by Hamas, as Gaza deaths near 30,000

    Israel says Palestinian gunmen killed after West Bank attack lauded by Hamas, as Gaza deaths near 30,000

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    Jerusalem — Three Palestinian gunmen opened fire early Thursday morning near a busy checkpoint in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killing one Israeli and wounding at least eight others, according to Israeli police. The police said two attackers were killed at the scene and the third was later found and arrested.

    Tension between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank has soared since Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 terror attack on Israel sparked the ongoing war in the other Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by Hamas for almost two decades.

    Israel’s National Security Minister, ultranationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir, visiting the scene declared that Israelis’ “right to our lives prevails on their [Palestinians] freedom of movement.”

    Shooting Near West Bank Settlement Of Ma'aleh Adumim
    Members of the Zaka Search and Rescue team clean blood stains off a car after a shooting attack in Ma’aleh Adumim, West Bank, Feb. 22, 2024.

    Amir Levy/Getty


    He suggested that officials “need to distribute more weapons” to Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank – whose very presence is illegal under international law but strongly supported by Ben-Gvir and other members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government.

    Hamas issued a statement lauding “the heroic operation south of occupied Jerusalem,” calling the attack near the West Bank checkpoint “a natural response to the occupation’s massacres and crimes in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.”

    Support for Hamas in the West Bank has increased significantly since the war in Gaza began, and that devastating war appeared nowhere near easing on Thursday.

    Reports from the Gaza Strip suggest Israel has intensified its bombardment of the southern part of the decimated enclave in recent days. The Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health says almost 30,000 people have been killed in the territory since the war began. It does not distinguish between combatant and civilian casualties, but according to United Nations agencies, a majority of the dead have been women and children.


    Israel gives Hamas deadline to return hostages

    02:18

    The health ministry said Thursday that Israeli strikes over the last 24 hours alone had killed 97 people from nine families and left 132 others wounded.

    Netanyahu has ordered the Israel Defense Forces to prepare for a ground incursion into the large southern Gaza city of Rafah, right on the territory’s southern border with Egypt. Around 1.5 million Palestinians have crammed into the city and its immediate surroundings seeking sheltering from the war raging all around.

    Israeli attacks on Gaza continue
    A view of devastation after Israeli attacks destroyed the Al-Farooq Mosque completely and heavily damaged nearby buildings in Rafah, Gaza, Feb. 22, 2024.

    Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu/Getty


    The town of Khan Younis, only about five miles north of Rafah, has been the scene of intense fighting for weeks, pushing more civilians to flee south toward the Egyptian border, where living conditions are dire and getting worse by the day.

    The IDF said Thursday that it was continuing to “engage and kill terrorists and destroy terrorist infrastructure in the area of Khan Younis.” 

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  • Family, U.S. seek information from Israel on detained Palestinian-American Samaher Esmail for alleged incitement

    Family, U.S. seek information from Israel on detained Palestinian-American Samaher Esmail for alleged incitement

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    A Palestinian-American woman was pulled out of bed in her family’s home in the West Bank and arrested earlier this week. Now her family in the U.S. and the Biden administration are seeking information about her case. 

    Israel’s military says Samaher Esmail, 46, of Gretna, Louisiana, was arrested for “incitement on social media.”

    Her son, who is in Louisiana, told CBS News on Wednesday that IDF soldiers forced their way into the family home in the town of Silwad, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, late Monday and took her. The son said he has not heard from her since.

    whatsapp-image-2024-02-07-at-11-56-59.jpg
    Samaher Esmail in a photo shared by her family. Esmail was arrested late Monday in the West Bank and has been accused by Israel of “incitement on social media.”

    Photo provided by Samaher Esmail’s family


    A video posted to social media by her son shows what the family said were armored IDF vehicles outside their home in the West Bank. Pictures and videos shared with CBS News show the aftermath of Esmail’s arrest, which left windows broken and belongings strewn across a bedroom. 

    “They took her out without her hijab, her headscarf,” Samaher’s son Ibrahim Hamed told CBS News. “It’s like they didn’t even respect her.”

    The IDF told CBS News in a statement on Wednesday that Esmail was arrested for “incitement on social media” and that she had been “transferred to the security forces for further questioning.” They said she was being held by Israeli police, not the military.

    A video posted to social media by Samaher Esmail’s son shows what the family said were armored IDF vehicles outside their home in the West Bank. 

    Image provided by Samaher Esmail’s family


    Some of Esmail’s posts on social media reference Hamas. Her son Hamed said his mother’s social media posts simply call for “an end to the occupation” and do not support Hamas specifically.

    “A lot of Palestinians don’t support Hamas, they want to end the occupation. It’s not promoting violence to say, ‘We are strong, we’re going to go past this occupation,’” Hamed added.

    The IDF said it could not provide any further information on the social media activity that led to her arrest.

    Esmail’s sister, Sana Esmail, told CBS News in the West Bank that she was deeply concerned because Esmail has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and needs medication.

    The U.S. State Department said Wednesday that it was aware of reports of an American national being arrested in the West Bank and that it was seeking additional information and stood ready “to provide all appropriate consular assistance.”

    nap003-cbs-sana-esmail-a-cam-for-dias-bars-removed-mxf-01-01-16-02-still001-1.jpg
    Esmail’s sister, Sana Esmail, told CBS News in an interview in the West Bank she was deeply concerned because Esmail has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and needs medication.

    CBS News


    As they seek further information about her whereabouts, Esmail’s family has called on the U.S. government to do whatever it can to guarantee her safety.

    “We don’t know what prison she’s in,” Hamed told CBS News. “We don’t know that much. A lot of [the information] is hearsay.” 

    Lawyers and human rights organizations in Israel have been sounding alarm bells since shortly after the start of Israel’s operations against Hamas in Gaza over what they describe as an erosion of free speech in the country and in the occupied West Bank.

    whatsapp-image-2024-02-07-at-12-00-39-1.jpg
    Pictures and videos shared with CBS News show the aftermath of Samaher Esmail’s arrest in the family home in the town of Silwad, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which left windows broken and belongings strewn across a bedroom. 

    Photo provided by Samaher Esmail’s family


    Esmail is from the same town in Louisiana as a Palestinian-American teenager, Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, who was recently killed by Israeli fire in a village near Silwad. The State Department has said it was “devastated” by the killing of 17-year-old Jabbar in the West Bank on Jan. 19.

    “We continue to engage urgently with the Government of Israel surrounding the nature of Mr. Jabbar’s death, which was alarming,” a State Department spokesperson told CBS News. “We understand the Israeli government is currently investigating the incident. We urge that it be conducted expeditiously and are eager to see the findings as soon as possible, including any appropriate accountability measures that will be taken.”


    Father of Palestinian-American teen killed by Israeli forces speaks out

    07:17

    Israeli police confirmed to CBS News that it was investigating the killing,  which it said involved a report of a “concerning firearm discharge, ostensibly involving an off-duty law enforcement officer, a soldier, and a civilian. This discharge was directed towards a perceived threat, individuals purportedly engaged in rock-throwing activities along Highway 60.” 

    The police said “additional information indicated the potential fatality of a 17-year-old Palestinian due to gunfire.”

    No findings from the police investigation had been released as of Wednesday evening in Israel.

    Meanwhile, Esmail’s family also remains desperate for more information. “We’ve been fighting our whole lives,” Hamed said. “Where is the humanity?”

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  • U.S. teen fatally shot in West Bank by Israeli forces, Palestinian officials say

    U.S. teen fatally shot in West Bank by Israeli forces, Palestinian officials say

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    Netanyahu rejects calls for drawdown in Gaza


    Netanyahu rejects calls for drawdown in Gaza; Biden admits strikes on Houthis aren’t working

    03:56

    A Palestinian-American teenager was shot and killed Friday by Israeli troops in the West Bank, Palestinian officials told Reuters.

    The 17-year-old boy was shot during clashes with Israeli forces, the victim’s uncle told Reuters.

    A State Department spokesperson would only confirm to CBS News that a U.S. citizen had died in the West Bank, adding that “we are working to understand the circumstances of the incident and have asked the government of Israel for further information.”

    According to Wafa, the Palestinian National Authority’s official news agency, the boy was shot in the head.

    Wafa reported that the shooting occurred in a small Palestinian town east of Ramallah. Israeli Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on the incident.

    Tensions in the West Bank have surged since Hamas launched its bloody Oct. 7 terrorist attack on southern Israel, sparking the Israel-Hamas war. 

    Faris Tanyos

    Faris Tanyos is a news editor for CBSNews.com, where he writes and edits stories and tracks breaking news. He previously worked as a digital news producer at several local news stations up and down the West Coast.

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  • Ben & Jerry’s board chair calls for “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza

    Ben & Jerry’s board chair calls for “immediate” ceasefire in Gaza

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    Israel-Hamas war surpasses 100 days


    Israel-Hamas war surpasses 100 days

    01:48

    Ben & Jerry’s leadership is calling for a “permanent and immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, with its board of directors chair decrying that the “corporate world has been silent” about the conflict.

    Ben & Jerry’s board chair Anuradha Mittal on Tuesday told the Financial Times that the ice cream maker’s call for peace in Gaza is “consistent with the company’s history and values.” The interview marks one of the few instances when a U.S. company has publicly supported an end to the Israel-Hamas war, the FT noted.

    “From Iraq to Ukraine [the company] has consistently stood up for these principles,” Mittal told the publication. “Today is no different as we call for peace and a permanent and immediate ceasefire.”

    Mittal is also the founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute, an advocacy group focused on human rights, environmental conservation policies and other issues.

    Ben & Jerry’s has a long history of openly taking progressive stances on social and political issues, a habit that helped define the Vermont-based brand in its early years. But that activism has also occasionally cause conflict with corporate parent Unilever, which bought Ben & Jerry’s in 2000.

    In 2022, Ben & Jerry’s sued Unilever for selling its business in Israel and the country’s contest West Bank region to a local licensee, arguing that the sale was at odds to Unilever’s promise to end sales of its products in the region in 2021 as a show of support for the Palestinian cause. 

    The disagreement culminated in Unilever freezing the salaries of Ben & Jerry’s boardmembers as a “pressure tactic” to force the company to acquiesce to the Israeli ice cream deal, Reuters reported. 

    Unilever did not immediately reply to CBS MoneyWatch’s request for comment. 

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  • Israel’s Siege On Gaza Reaches 100 Days

    Israel’s Siege On Gaza Reaches 100 Days

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    JERUSALEM (AP) — Now 100 days old, the latest Israel-Hamas war is by far the longest, bloodiest, and most destructive conflict between the bitter enemies.

    The fighting erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas carried out a deadly attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and a ground offensive that have wrought unprecedented destruction, flattening entire neighborhoods. The offensive has displaced the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza, shuttered operations in more than half of Gaza’s hospitals and caused widespread hunger, U.N. monitors say.

    The Israeli military says it has now scaled back operations in the hard-hit north. But in the south, where it says Hamas’ leaders are hiding, it presses forward at full strength. Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Israel have engaged in cross-border skirmishes nearly every day since the war began.

    Here’s a look in numbers at the toll of the Israel-Hamas war, sourced from Palestinian Health Ministry and Israeli officials as well as international observers and aid groups.

    TOTAL DEATHS

    Number of Palestinians killed in Gaza: 23,843

    Number of people killed in Israel: more than 1,200

    Number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank: 347

    CIVILIANS

    Civilians killed in Gaza: The civilian toll of the war is unknown, with women and minors making up an estimated two-thirds of those killed

    Number of civilians killed in Israel on Oct. 7: 790

    U.N. staff killed in Gaza: 148

    Health workers killed in Gaza: at least 337

    Journalists killed in Gaza: 82

    SOLDIERS/MILITANTS

    Number of Israeli soldiers killed on Oct. 7: 314

    Number of militants killed by Israel: Over 8,000

    Number of Israeli soldiers killed in the Gaza ground offensive: 188

    Number of Israeli soldiers killed on the northern front: 9

    Number of Israeli soldiers killed by friendly fire or “accidents” in Gaza and the north: 29

    DESTRUCTION/HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN GAZA

    Percentage of Gaza’s buildings likely damaged/destroyed: 45-56%

    Hospitals in Gaza partially functioning: 15/36

    Palestinian civilians facing “catastrophic hunger and starvation”: 576,600 (26% of the population)

    Percentage of school buildings in Gaza damaged: over 69%

    Students out of school: 625,000 (100% of students)

    Palestinians injured in Gaza: 60,005

    Palestinians injured in West Bank: more than 4,000

    Total Israeli injuries: 12,536

    Israeli soldiers injured in ground offensive: 1,085

    Israeli soldiers injured since Oct. 7: 2,496

    DISPLACEMENT

    Number of Palestinians displaced in Gaza: 1.9 million (85% of Gaza’s population)

    Number of Israelis displaced from northern and southern border communities: 249,263 (2.6% of the population)

    HOSTAGES/PRISONERS

    Hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7: 253

    Hostages taken Oct. 7 who remain in the strip: 132

    1. 111 men, 19 women, 2 children

    2. 121 Israelis, 11 foreign nationals

    Hostages who were killed or died in Hamas captivity: 33

    Palestinian prisoners released during weeklong pause in fighting: 240

    MUNITIONS

    Number of rockets launched toward Israel: 14,000

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  • Israel stages deadly raid on West Bank refugee camp, Palestinians say, and expands ground war to central Gaza

    Israel stages deadly raid on West Bank refugee camp, Palestinians say, and expands ground war to central Gaza

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    Israel’s forces raided a refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank, killing at least six Palestinians, Palestinian health authorities said early Wednesday.

    According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, an Israeli drone strike hit a group of Palestinians in the Nur Shams refugee camp next to the town of Tulkarem.

    Israel Palestinians
    Palestinians walk through the aftermath of the Israeli military raid on Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank on Dec. 27, 2023. 

    Majdi Mohammed / AP


    The Palestinian Health Ministry said six bodies have been brought to the Thabet Thabet hospital. The Palestinian Red Crescent accused Israeli forces of disrupting ambulances transporting the dead and wounded.

    Israeli drone strike during a raid in Nour Shams camp, in Tulkarm
    Mourners carry the body of a man killed in an Israeli raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Dec. 27, 2023.

    ALI SAWAFTA / REUTERS


    There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. 

    Agence France-Presse reported that, in a television interview, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said the war was “beyond a catastrophe” and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of planning “to get rid of the Palestinians.”

    Violence has surged in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war started Oct. 7. At least 310 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Oct. 7, according to the health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths.

    Elsewhere, Israeli forces on Tuesday expanded their ground offensive into urban refugee camps in central Gaza after bombarding the crowded Palestinian communities and ordering residents to evacuate. Gaza’s main telecom provider announced another “complete interruption” of services in the besieged territory.

    The military’s announcement of the new battle zone threatens further destruction in a war that Israel says will last for “many months” as it vows to crush the ruling Hamas militant group after its Oct. 7 attack. Israeli forces have been engaged in heavy urban fighting in northern Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis, driving Palestinians into ever-smaller areas in search of refuge.

    Qatar’s state news agency QNA reported that Qatari  Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani spoke by phone with President Biden about the latest developments and joint mediation efforts for calming the situation in Gaza and reaching a permanent ceasefire.

    And the U.S. said Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan to discuss topics including transitioning to a different phase of the war to maximize focus on high-value Hamas targets, improving the humanitarian situation, and planning for governance and security in Gaza after the war.

    Despite U.S. calls for Israel to curb civilian casualties and international pressure for a cease-fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was deepening the fighting.

    “We say to the Hamas terrorists: We see you and we will get to you,” Netanyahu said.

    Israel’s offensive is one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. More than 20,900 Palestinians, two-thirds women and children, have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, whose count doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

    The U.N. human rights office said the continued bombardment of middle Gaza had claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives since Christmas Eve. The office noted that Israel had ordered some residents to move there.

    The Israeli military announced the deaths of two more soldiers Monday, bringing the total killed since the ground offensive began to 161.

    The United Nations named an outgoing Dutch finance minister as its humanitarian coordinator for Gaza, AFP reports, in the wake of last week’s watered-down Security Council resolution calling for aid to be delivered to the territory.

    Sigrid Kaag’s appointment comes with Gaza facing a dire humanitarian emergency and aid severely slowed by Israel’s relentless bombing of the densely populated strip.

    Earlier, Israel said it would no longer grant automatic visas to U.N. employees and accused the world body of being “complicit partners” in Hamas’ tactics. Government spokesman Eylon Levy said Israel would consider visa requests case by case. That could further limit aid efforts in Gaza.

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  • Mahmoud Abbas Fast Facts | CNN

    Mahmoud Abbas Fast Facts | CNN

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    CNN
     — 

    Here’s a look at the life of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

    Birth date: 1935

    Birth place: Safed, Palestine

    Marriage: Amina Abbas

    Children: Three sons Mazen (died in 2002), Yasser and Tareq

    Education: Damascus University, B.A.; Oriental College (in Moscow), Ph.D.

    His family left the British Mandate area Safed, Palestine, to live in Syria as refugees in 1948.

    Abbas laid floor tiles and taught elementary school before earning a law degree.

    Played an integral role in the forging of the Declaration of Principles, the historic Oslo Accords signed in 1993 by PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel.

    Was the primary force behind the Palestine National Council’s decision to work with Israeli peace groups.

    He is also known as Abu Mazen. (Abu is a slang term to describe the head of a family or father of children.)

    1959 – Founding member of the Palestinian National Liberation Movement (Fatah), which became the largest political group of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO).

    1964 – Fatah joins the PLO.

    1967 – Is appointed to Fatah’s Central Committee.

    1968 – Joins the Palestinian National Council (PNC).

    1980 – Is elected to the PLO’s Executive Committee.

    September 1993 – Accompanies Arafat to the White House to sign the Oslo Accords, or the Declaration of Principles.

    1995 – Signs the Interim Peace Agreement with Israel.

    March 19, 2003 – Accepts the position of prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

    June 3, 2003 – Meets with US President George W. Bush and the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain, in Egypt, regarding peace efforts.

    September 6, 2003 – Resigns as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority.

    November 11, 2004 – Becomes the chairman of the PLO after Arafat’s death.

    January 9, 2005 – Declares victory in Palestinian presidential elections.

    May 26, 2005 – Meets with Bush; the first meeting with the Palestinian Authority in the White House since peace talks broke down in 2000. Bush pledges to give the Palestinian Authority $50 million in aid.

    May 31, 2005 – Undergoes a successful, minor heart procedure in a hospital in Amman, Jordan.

    February 21, 2006 – Asks Hamas leader Ismail Haniya to assemble a government. Haniya is sworn in in March.

    June 14, 2007 – Dissolves the government and dismisses Haniya as prime minister. Haniya rejects this and remains the de facto leader in the Gaza Strip.

    June 15, 2007 – Appoints economist Salam Fayyad as the new prime minister of an emergency Palestinian Cabinet.

    November 27, 2007 – Attends the Annapolis Middle East Peace Conference, the first formal peace conference sponsored by the US since 2000. Top diplomats and representatives from dozens of countries and organizations also attend, hoping to restart stalled Middle East peace negotiations.

    April 24, 2008 – Meets with Bush at the White House.

    January 2009 – Extends his term in office until 2010, citing a clause in the constitution.

    December 16, 2009 – The PLO’s Central Council votes to extend Abbas’s term as president indefinitely.

    May 4, 2011 – Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal formally adopt a reconciliation agreement during a ceremony in Egypt.

    September 16, 2011 – Abbas announces during a speech in Ramallah that he will pursue a full United Nations membership bid for Palestine.

    September 23, 2011 – Abbas submits a statehood application letter to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

    January 3, 2013 – Abbas issues a decree renaming the organization the “State of Palestine.”

    December 31, 2014 – One day after the UN Security Council rejects a resolution calling for Palestinian statehood by 2017, and for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Abbas applies to join the International Criminal Court. This sets the stage for the Palestinian Authority to possibly pursue war crime complaints against Israel.

    September 30, 2015 – Addresses the UN General Assembly before the historic raising of the Palestinian flag at the United Nations, saying the Palestinian Authority is no longer bound by the Oslo Accords.

    September 8, 2016 – Once-secret Soviet documents, obtained by CNN from the Mitrokhin Archive at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge, claim that Abbas, who completed graduate work in Moscow in 1982, was a KGB agent while he was a member of the PLO in Damascus. Palestinian leaders decry the report as a “smear campaign.”

    September 30, 2016 – Attends the funeral of Israeli statesman Shimon Peres and shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    October 6, 2016 – Is hospitalized to have his heart tested.

    May 3, 2017 – Meets with US President Donald Trump at the White House.

    December 10, 2017 – Abbas cancels a meeting with US Vice President Mike Pence following Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    January 14, 2018 – Abbas calls on the PLO to “revise all the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel because Israel has brought these agreements to a dead end,” and accuses Israel of ending the Oslo agreement. This criticism comes six weeks after Trump announces recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

    April 30, 2018 – Abbas speaks at the opening of the Palestinian National Council remarking that the Holocaust was driven not by antisemitism, but by the financial activities of European Jews. He apologizes a few days later.

    May 28, 2018 – Is released from the hospital after being treated for pneumonia.

    January 28, 2020 – Abbas rejects Trump’s Middle East “Peace to Prosperity” plan, unveiled alongside Netanyahu at the White House, saying at a news conference from Ramallah in the West Bank that “Jerusalem is not for sale. All our rights are not for sale or for compromise. Your deal is a conspiracy and it will not work.” Abbas, having cut diplomatic contact with the US in December 2017, did not attend the unveiling and had not been briefed in the plan.

    April 29, 2021 – Abbas announces the postponement of planned parliamentary elections, saying Israel has failed to confirm it will allow voting in East Jerusalem.

    August 16, 2022 – At a news conference in Berlin, Abbas says Israel has caused “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians, triggering outrage from world leaders and a social media storm.

    November 5, 2023 – Abbas meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Ramallah amid escalating settler violence in the West Bank following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

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  • Israel facing pressure domestically and from allies to change tactics after hostage deaths

    Israel facing pressure domestically and from allies to change tactics after hostage deaths

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    Israel facing pressure domestically and from allies to change tactics after hostage deaths – CBS News


    Watch CBS News



    Pressure is growing on Israel to scale back its military campaign after the IDF confirmed they mistakenly killed three hostages who they say were waving a white flag. At a rally in Tel Aviv over the weekend, Israelis demanded a deal to bring the remaining hostages home. CBS News’ Ramy Inocencio has the latest from Tel Aviv and Charlie D’Agata has a report on Hamas’ tunnel network.

    Be the first to know

    Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.


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  • In rare action against Israel, U.S. will deny visas to extremist West Bank settlers

    In rare action against Israel, U.S. will deny visas to extremist West Bank settlers

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    In a rare punitive move against Israel, the State Department said Tuesday it will impose travel bans on extremist Jewish settlers implicated in a rash of recent attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the step after warning Israel last week that President Biden’s administration would be taking action over the attacks. 

    Blinken said the new visa restriction policy “will target individuals believed to have been involved in undermining peace, security, or stability in the West Bank, including through committing acts of violence or taking other actions that unduly restrict civilians’ access to essential services and basic necessities.”

    “The United States has consistently opposed actions that undermine stability in the West Bank, including attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, and Palestinian attacks against Israelis,” Blinken said on Tuesday. “As President Biden has repeatedly said, those attacks are unacceptable. Last week in Israel, I made clear that the United States is ready to take action using our own authorities.”

    PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-CONFLICT-WEST BANK
    A relative of Palestinian Bilal Saleh points at an Israeli settlement near the village of As-Sawiyah in the occupied West Bank, on Nov. 29. Saleh was killed on Oct. 28.

    KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images


    The decision comes at a sensitive moment in U.S.-Israeli relations. The Biden administration has firmly backed Israel since it was attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, even as international criticism of Israel has mounted.

    The new policy falls under the Immigration and Nationality Act and is expected to affect “dozens of individuals and potentially their family members,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a briefing Tuesday, adding that the policy will apply to Israelis and Palestinians. 

    Since Palestinians are not included in the U.S.’s Visa Waiver Program, their eligibility for applying for visas would be affected if found guilty of violence, Miller said. Israelis who have committed violence will either have their visa revoked or be blocked from applying for a visa. 

    When asked why the U.S. was taking action now, given the significant uptick in violence in the months leading up to the war, Miller said the U.S. has repeatedly raised the issue with the Israeli government and emphasized the need to curb settler violence. Miller said the U.S. has not seen significant action taken by the Israeli government.

    Israel Palestinians West Bank's War
    Abdelazim Wadi, 50, holds up a poster commemorating his brother, Ibrahim Wadi, and his nephew, Ahmed Wadi, who were killed by Israeli settlers during a funeral procession on Oct. 12 in the village of Qusra, West Bank.

    Mahmoud Illean / AP


    Miller declined to comment on the U.S.’s plan to hold American settlers to account for violence, saying the Israeli government is primarily responsible for them; he deferred further questions to the Department of Justice.

    The Israeli Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the development.

    Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday condemned violence against Palestinians by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, Reuters reported, saying only the police and the military had the right to use force.

    In recent weeks, the Biden administration has stepped up calls on Israel to do more to limit civilian casualties as the Israelis expand their offensive and target densely populated southern Gaza. The U.S. has refrained from outright criticism of that offensive. It has been increasingly outspoken, however, about settler violence in the West Bank and Israel’s failure to respond to U.S. calls to stop it.

    The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Monday that since Oct. 7 at least eight Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed by settlers. The U.N. agency said it has recorded 314 attacks by settlers that have resulted in Palestinian casualties, damage to Palestinian-owned property or both. One-third of the attacks included threats with firearms, including shootings, and in nearly half of the attacks the settlers were accompanied or actively supported by Israeli forces.

    ISRAEL GAZA WAR
    Neighbors of Mohammad Abed inspect Abed’s home and farmland allegedly damaged by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 15.

    Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times


    “Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have the responsibility to uphold stability in the West Bank,” Blinken said earlier. “Instability in the West Bank both harms the Israeli and Palestinian people and threatens Israel’s national security interests.”

    Tuesday’s move comes shortly after Israel was granted entry into the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, which allows its citizens visa-free entry into the U.S. Those targeted by the action will not be eligible for the program, and those who hold current U.S. visas will have them revoked.

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