RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) denounced on Monday the “extremely precarious” situation of Palestinians displaced by the ongoing Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank.
According to the United Nations, some 40,000 residents have been displaced since January 21, when the Israeli army launched an operation targeting Palestinian armed groups in the north of the territory.
The West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967, is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in settlements that are illegal under international law.
The Israeli operation started two days after a truce agreement came into effect in the Gaza Strip between the Israeli military and the Palestinian territory’s Hamas rulers.
The situation of the displaced Palestinians is “extremely precarious,” said MSF, which is operating in the area.
Palestinians “are without proper shelter, essential services, and access to health care,” the NGO said.
“The mental health situation is alarming.”
In a statement, the Israeli military (IDF) said it had been operating “against all terrorist organizations, including Hamas, in a complex security reality.”
“The IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals,” the statement said.
MSF said the scale of forced displacement and destruction of camps “has not been seen in decades” in the West Bank.
“People are unable to return to their homes as Israeli forces have blocked access to the camps, destroying homes and infrastructure,” said MSF Director of Operations Brice de la Vingne.
“Israel must stop this, and the humanitarian response needs to be scaled up.”
Dubbed “Iron Wall,” the Israeli operation is primarily targeting three refugee camps – Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams — and defense minister Israel Katz said in February it would last several months.
“I have instructed (the soldiers) to prepare for a prolonged stay in the evacuated camps for the coming year, and not to allow the return of their residents or the resurgence of terrorism,” he said in a statement.
West Bank Palestinians in ‘extremely precarious’ situation: MSF
https://arab.news/9g8ht
West Bank Palestinians in ‘extremely precarious’ situation: MSF
- According to the United Nations, some 40,000 residents have been displaced since January 21
- The West Bank is home to about three million Palestinians as well as nearly 500,000 Israelis living in illegal settlements
Syria gunman who killed Americans was to be fired from security forces for ‘extremism’: ministry
DAMASCUS: Syria’s interior ministry said on Sunday that the gunman who killed three Americans in the central Palmyra region the previous day was a member of the security forces who was to have been fired for extremism.
Two US troops and a civilian interpreter died in the attack on Saturday, which the US Central Command said had been carried out by an alleged Daesh group (IS) militant who was then killed.
The Syrian authorities “had decided to fire him” from the security forces before the attack for holding “extremist Islamist ideas” and had planned to do so on Sunday, interior ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba told state television.
A Syrian security official told AFP on Sunday that “11 members of the general security forces were arrested and brought in for questioning after the attack.”
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the gunman had belonged to the security forces “for more than 10 months and was posted to several cities before being transferred to Palmyra.”
Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, was once controlled by IS during the height of its territorial expansion in Syria.
The incident is the first of its kind reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and rekindled the country’s ties with the United States.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the soldiers “were conducting a key leader engagement” in support of counter-terrorism operations when the attack occurred, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the ambush targeted “a joint US-Syrian government patrol.”
US President Donald Trump called the incident “an Daesh attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” using another term for the group.
He said the three other US troops injured in the attack were “doing well.”
