JERUSALEM: Israeli troops on Monday shot and killed a Palestinian man who allegedly tried to stab a soldier in the northern West Bank, the military said.
The military said the alleged attacker did not wound any soldiers before he was spotted and shot.
The incident came as security forces continued to search for a Palestinian who shot and killed two Israelis in a West Bank industrial park last week. The military notified the man’s family on Monday that it intends to demolish his home in response to the attack.
The area has experienced an uptick in violence since last week’s shooting.
Also Monday, the Israeli army ordered a nearby Palestinian school closed following alleged stone-throwing protests, firing tear gas and stun grenades to clear out the building.
The military said Monday it declared the 500-student school in Sawyeh a closed military zone in response to a “large number of popular terror acts.” But students defied the order and came to classes with their families, backed by the Palestinian education minister.
Troops fired tear gas and stun grenades into the school early Monday, sending students and their families scrambling out of the building.
The army did not say when the school would reopen.
Over the weekend, a Palestinian woman was killed after being hit in the face with a stone thrown at her car — an attack the Palestinians have blamed on Israeli settlers.
Last week, a Palestinian assailant stabbed an Israeli soldier in the same area.
Israel says troops kill Palestinian after attempted stabbing
Israel says troops kill Palestinian after attempted stabbing
- Also Monday, the Israeli army ordered a nearby Palestinian school closed following alleged stone-throwing protests, firing tear gas and stun grenades to clear out the building.
- Over the weekend, a Palestinian woman was killed after being hit in the face with a stone thrown at her car.
Iraq announces complete withdrawal of US-led coalition from federal territory
- The vast majority of coalition forces had withdrawn from Iraqi bases under a 2024 deal between Baghdad and Washington
- US and allied troops had been deployed to Iraq and Syria since 2014 to fight the Daesh group
BAGHDAD: Iraq said on Sunday US-led coalition forces had finished withdrawing from bases within the country’s federal territory, which excludes the autonomous northern Kurdistan region.
“We announce today... the completion of the evacuation of all military bases and leadership headquarters in the official federal areas of Iraq of advisers” of the US-led coalition, the military committee tasked with overseeing the end of the coalition’s mission said.
With the withdrawal, “these sites come under the full control of Iraqi security forces,” it said in the statement, adding that they would transition to “the stage of bilateral security relations with the United States.”
The vast majority of coalition forces had withdrawn from Iraqi bases under a 2024 deal between Baghdad and Washington outlining the end of the mission in Iraq by the end of 2025 and by September 2026 in the Kurdistan region.
US and allied troops had been deployed to Iraq and Syria since 2014 to fight the Daesh group, which had seized large swathes of both countries to declare their so-called “caliphate.”
The militant group, also known as “Islamic State,” was territorially defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria in 2019, but continues to operate sleeper cells.
The vast majority of coalition troops withdrew from Iraq over previous stages, with only advisers remaining in the country.
The military committee on Sunday said Iraqi forces were now “fully capable of preventing the reappearance of IS in Iraq and its infiltration across borders.”
“Coordination with the international coalition will continue with regards to completely eliminating IS’s presence in Syria,” it added.
It pointed to “the coalition’s role in Iraq offering cross-border logistical support for operations in Syria, through their presence at an air base in Irbil,” the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
In December, two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in Syria in an attack blamed on IS, sparking fears of a resurgence in the country.
The statement added that anti-IS operations would be coordinated with the coalition through the Ain Assad base in Anbar province in western Iraq.
IS attacks in Iraq have massively declined in recent years, but the group maintains a presence in the country’s mountainous areas.
A UN Security Council report in August said: “In Iraq, the group has focused on rebuilding networks along the Syrian border and restoring capacity in the Badia region.”
