GUSH ETZION JUNCTION, Palestinian Territories: One person was killed and three were wounded in a stabbing attack in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli emergency services said.
Paramedics and an army medical force “established the death of a man aged 30 with a stab wound and referred three injured people” to two Jerusalem hospitals, Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross, said in a statement.
The three injured people are a woman in her 40s in a serious condition, a man in his 30s and a boy of about 15, both in moderate condition, MDA added.
In a separate statement the army reported a “ramming and stabbing attack in the area of Gush Etzion Junction” in the southern West Bank, which has seen repeated attacks against Israelis in recent years.
The army statement did not specify the number of casualties, but said that soldiers “eliminated two terrorists at the scene” and that “explosive materials were found in (their) vehicle.”
It also said that “soldiers are conducting searches and roadblocks, and encircling the area.”
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement hailed the attackers, saying in a statement: “These heroic operations come in response to the relentless crimes of the settler gangs and the occupation army against our people.”
The Yesha Council, a body representing Israeli settlements in the West Bank, blamed the attack on the Israeli government’s refusal to annex the Palestinian territory.
“When the State of Israel silently allows a ‘pathway to a Palestinian state’, terrorism raises its head again,” the council said in a statement.
Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war in October 2023.
At least 1,006 Palestinians, including militants, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers since the war started, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
During the same period, 43 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the West Bank, according to official Israeli figures.
One killed, three wounded in West Bank attack: Israel emergency service
https://arab.news/yc3wk
One killed, three wounded in West Bank attack: Israel emergency service
- Paramedics and an army medical force “established the death of a man aged 30 with a stab wound”
- The Yesha Council blamed the attack on the Israeli government’s refusal to annex the Palestinian territory
Syria’s growth accelerates as sanctions ease, refugees return
- Economy grows much faster than World Bank’s 1% estimate, fueling plans for currency’s relaunch
NEW YORK: Syria’s economy is growing much faster than the World Bank’s 1 percent estimate for 2025 as refugees flow back after the end of a 14-year civil war, fueling plans for the relaunch of the country’s currency and efforts to build a new Middle East financial hub, central bank Governor AbdulKader Husrieh has said.
Speaking via video link at a conference in New York, Husrieh also said he welcomed a deal with Visa to establish digital payment systems and added that the country is working with the International Monetary Fund to develop methods to accurately measure economic data to reflect the resurgence.
The Syrian central bank chief, who is helping guide the war-torn country’s reintegration into the global economy after the fall of Bashar Assad’s regime about a year ago, described the repeal of many US sanctions against Syria as “a miracle.”
The US Treasury on Nov. 10 announced a 180-day extension of the suspension of the so-called Caesar sanctions against Syria; lifting them entirely requires approval by the US Congress.
Husrieh said that based on discussions with US lawmakers, he expects the sanctions to be repealed by the end of 2025, ending “the last episode of the sanctions.”
“Once this happens, this will give comfort to our potential correspondent banks about dealing with Syria,” he said.
Husrieh also said that Syria was working to revamp regulations aimed at combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, which he said would provide further assurances to international lenders.
Syria’s central bank has recently organized workshops with banks from the US, Turkiye, Jordan and Australia to discuss due diligence in reviewing transactions, he added.
Husrieh said that Syria is preparing to launch a new currency in eight note denominations and confirmed plans to remove two zeroes from them in a bid to restore confidence in the battered pound.
“The new currency will be a signal and symbol for this financial liberation,” Husrieh said. “We are glad that we are working with Visa and Mastercard,” Husrieh said.
