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US\u2019 Blinken urges Israel to stop settler violence in West Bank | Israel-Palestine conflict News<\/p>\n
Top US diplomat makes plea amid surge in reports of settler violence since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has urged Israel to take \u201curgent\u201d steps to stop violence being carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n The top US diplomat made the call in a telephone call with Benny Gantz, a centrist opposition leader who joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s wartime cabinet after Hamas\u2019s October 7 attacks on Israel.<\/p>\n Blinken \u201cstressed the urgent need for affirmative steps to de-escalate tensions in the West Bank, including by confronting rising levels of settler extremist violence,\u201d the State Department said in a statement on Thursday.<\/p>\n Blinken also discussed efforts to \u201caugment and accelerate\u201d the delivery of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, secure the release of captives held by Hamas, and prevent the war from widening into a broader conflict, the State Department said.<\/p>\n Israeli settler violence has increased significantly since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, rising from an average of three incidents to seven per day, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OHCA).<\/p>\n Blinken\u2019s comments came as Israeli forces carried out fresh raids in the occupied West Bank and continued military operations in and around several of Gaza\u2019s major hospitals, which have been forced to suspend operations due to Israeli bombardment and dwindling fuel and medical supplies.<\/p>\n Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Thursday that Israeli forces stormed the northern city of Jenin, deploying snipers and more than 80 military vehicles and bulldozers in the vicinity of its refugee camp.<\/p>\n In a post on Telegram, the Qassam Brigades, Hamas\u2019s military wing, said it was fighting \u201calongside all the other resistance groups in the camp\u201d and targeting the Israeli army \u201cwith heavy fire and explosive devices\u201d.<\/p>\n Several villages surrounding Jenin, including Jalboun, Beit Qad, Faqqua, and Deir Abu Da\u2019if, were also raided, according to Wafa.<\/p>\n In Gaza, Al Jazeera\u2019s Tareq Abu Azzoum said Israel\u2019s military had resumed attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the enclave, hitting multiple residential houses.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to mention that Jabalia refugee camp has seen multiple attacks by Israeli occupation forces and hundreds of civilians have been killed in this camp, which is considered to be the most densely populated inside the Gaza Strip,\u201d Abu Azzoum said.<\/p>\n Residents in Jabalia have sought refuge at a United Nations shelter that is close to the Indonesian Hospital, where services have ground to a halt amid Israeli attacks, and staff and patients are running extremely low on food and water.<\/p>\n Israeli forces also continued to occupy the al-Shifa Hospital, the enclave\u2019s biggest medical facility, where Israeli officials have claimed to have located weapons and other evidence proving the existence of a Hamas command centre. Hamas and doctors at the hospital have denied Israeli claims that the complex has been used to stage military operations.<\/p>\n \u201cPatients are receiving medical treatment on the ground inside hospitals, and they don\u2019t have enough food and water to survive. As well as the severe wounds they have, they also face hunger,\u201d Abu Azzoum said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo humanitarian aid has been delivered to hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip, including at al-Shifa Hospital, which is occupied by Israeli soldiers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u062f\u0631<\/a>
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