GAZA CITY, , Palestinian Territories: A Gazan died on Saturday after being wounded by Israeli fire during a protest on the border over US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a Palestinian health official said.
Jamal Muslih, 20, of Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, had been seriously wounded by live fire on Friday, health ministry spokesman Ashraf Al-Qudra said.
His death brings to 13 the number of Palestinians killed since US President Donald Trump announced on December 6 that he would recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.
Eleven protesters died after clashes with Israeli troops, and two others were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza earlier in the month.
More than 50 Palestinians were wounded in the Friday clashes on the Gaza-Israel border as part of a “day of rage” over the US declaration, called for by both Gaza rulers Hamas and fellow militant group Islamic Jihad.
In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said at least 16 people were wounded when Israeli troops fired live rounds during demonstrations, while others were hit with rubber-coated bullets.
Earlier on Friday, militants in Gaza fired three rockets at southern Israel, two of which were intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial defense system, with the third hitting a village near the border, causing damage but no casualties.
Israeli aircraft and tanks targeted two Hamas positions near the border in response, again causing damage but no casualties.
Rockets from Gaza are often fired by fringe Islamist groups but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks from the territory.
Gazan dies after border clash with Israel forces
Gazan dies after border clash with Israel forces
Rubio plans to update Netanyahu on US-Iran talks in Israel next week, officials say
- Trump is weighing whether to take military action against Tehran as the administration surges military resources to the region
- Dozens of US fighter jets, including F-35s, F-22s and F-16s, have left bases in the US and Europe in recent days to head to the Middle East
WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to Israel next week to update Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the US-Iran nuclear talks, two Trump administration officials said.
Rubio is expected to meet with Netanyahu on Feb. 28, according to the officials, who spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity to detail travel plans that have not yet been announced.
The US and Iran recently have held two rounds of indirect talks over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Iran has agreed to draw up a written proposal to address US concerns that were raised during this week’s Geneva talks, according to another senior US official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
That official said top national security officials gathered Wednesday in the White House Situation Room to discuss Iran, and were briefed that the “full forces” needed to carry out potential military action are expected to be in place by mid-March. The official did not provide a timeline for when Iran is expected to deliver its written response.
Officials from both the US and Iran had publicly offered some muted optimism about progress this week, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi even saying that “a new window has opened” for reaching an agreement.
“In some ways, it went well,” US Vice President JD Vance said about the talks in an interview Tuesday with Fox News Channel. “But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”
Netanyahu visited the White House last week to urge President Donald Trump to ensure that any deal about Iran’s nuclear program also include steps to neutralize Iran’s ballistic missile program and end its funding for proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Trump is weighing whether to take military action against Tehran as the administration surges military resources to the region, raising concerns that any attack could spiral into a larger conflict in the Middle East.
On Friday, Trump told reporters that a change in power in Iran “seems like that would be the best thing that could happen.” He added, “For 47 years, they’ve been talking and talking and talking.”
The Trump administration has dispatched the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, from the Caribbean Sea to the Mideast to join a second carrier as well as other warships and military assets that the US has built up in the region.
Dozens of US fighter jets, including F-35s, F-22s and F-16s, have left bases in the US and Europe in recent days to head to the Middle East, according to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a team of about 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyzes military and government flight activity.
The team says it’s also tracked more than 85 fuel tankers and over 170 cargo planes heading into the region.
Steffan Watkins, a researcher based in Canada and a member of the MATA, said he also has spotted support aircraft like six of the military’s early-warning E-3 aircraft head to a base in Saudi Arabia.
Those aircraft are key for coordinating operations with a large number of aircraft. He says they were pulled from bases in Japan, Germany and Hawaii.
