The U.N. human rights office called on Israeli security forces to immediately end their active participation in and support for attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
The statement Tuesday follows a wave of settler attacks on Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank triggered by the killing of a 14-year-old Israeli boy in what authorities say was a militant attack.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says seven Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since the attacks began Friday, and another 75 have been wounded. Israeli authorities have urged people not to resort to vigilante attacks as tensions soar. But rights groups have long accused Israeli forces of routinely ignoring settler attacks or even taking part in them.
Tensions in the region have increased since the start of the latest Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, when Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two militant groups backed by Iran, carried out a cross-border attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others. Israel responded with an offensive in Gaza that has caused widespread devastation and killed over 33,800 people, according to local health officials.
World leaders have urged Israel not to retaliate after Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles over the weekend in an unprecedented mission that pushed the Middle East closer to a regionwide war. The attack happened less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria killed two Iranian generals in an Iranian consular building.
Currently:
— Iran’s direct attack on Israel upended decades of shadow warfare.
— Pro-Palestinian demonstrators shut down airport highways and key bridges in major U.S. cities.
— Israel’s military chief says that Israel will respond to Iran’s weekend missile attack.
— Artist refuses to open Israeli pavilion at Venice Biennale until cease-fire, hostage release.
— US House speaker pushes toward a vote on aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan
Here is the latest:
PAKISTAN AND SAUDI ARABIA CALL FOR CEASE-FIRE IN GAZA
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have called for an immediate cease-fire and uninterrupted delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, on a visit to Islamabad, said Tuesday that international efforts toward a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas have been “wholly insufficient.”
Without mentioning an Iranian attack on Israel over the weekend, he said: “We are already in an unstable region, and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is already inflaming the region.”
Pakistan’s foreign minister described the killings in Gaza as “genocide” and said that the “world’s conscience must wake up.” Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for closer cooperation with Saudi Arabia to help his cash-strapped nation.
A DRONE STRIKE KILLS 1 IN SOUTHERN LEBANON
BEIRUT — An Israeli drone strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed one person and wounded two others on Tuesday, state-run National News Agency reported.
It was not immediately clear if those in the car near the coastal city of Tyre were members of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.
Shortly before the strike, Hezbollah said it attacked Israel’s Iron Dome air defense units in the area of Beit Hillel and inflicted casualties.
The Israeli military said two armed UAVs crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory and exploded in Beit Hillel. The incident is under review, it said.
Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces have been exchanging fire since a day after the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. Nearly 260 Hezbollah members and about 50 civilians have been killed on the Lebanese side of the border since then. The fighting has killed nine civilians and 11 soldiers in Israel.
EASYJET SUSPENDS ISRAEL FLIGHTS UNTIL OCTOBER
LONDON — The U.K.-based budget airline EasyJet said it won’t fly to Israel for the rest of the spring and summer season, after Iran attacked the country with a barrage of drones and missiles last weekend.
The carrier said it wouldn’t resume flights to Tel Aviv before late October.
“As a result of the continued evolving situation in Israel, EasyJet has now taken the decision to suspend its flights to Tel Aviv for the remainder of the summer season until 27 October,’’ the company said. “Customers booked to fly on this route up this date are being offered options including a full refund.”
German airline Lufthansa on Tuesday resumed flights to and from Tel Aviv, Amman and Erbil. Flights to Beirut and Tehran remain suspended until at least Thursday.
AN OFFICIAL SAYS IRAN WILL RESPOND WITHIN SECONDS OF AN ISRAELI COUNTER-STRIKE
TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian official says his country will respond within “seconds” if Israel seeks to retaliate for its attack over the weekend.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said late Monday that Israel will face a “resolute and hard response” if it takes further action against Iran.
Iran launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel over the weekend in response to an apparent Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Syria on April 1 that killed two Iranian generals.
With help from the United States, the United Kingdom, Jordan and other countries, Israel managed to intercept nearly all the projectiles and prevent major casualties or damage. It was the first time Iran has launched a direct military strike on Israel after decades of enmity going back to Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.
But Bagheri Kani said “there will not be a 12 or 13-day gap between a Zionist regime move and Iran’s powerful response anymore. The Zionists must now reckon in seconds, not hours.”
Israel’s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, said Monday that his country will respond to the Iranian attack without saying when or how. The U.S. and other allies of Israel have urged against any further escalation.
GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER HEADS TO ISRAEL
BERLIN — German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she will fly to Israel on Tuesday to help de-escalate the tense situation after Iran’s weekend attack and express Germany’s support for Israel.
She called on all sides to prevent the conflict from spreading to other countries in the region and for new sanctions against Iran.
“I will assure our Israeli partners of Germany’s full solidarity,” she said. “And we will discuss how a further escalation with more and more violence can be prevented. Because what matters now is to put a stop to Iran without encouraging further escalation.”
Referring to Iran’s attack, the German minister said that “of course, this further military escalation now also has further consequences.”
Speaking to reporters in Berlin after a meeting with her Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, she said she would push for further European Union sanctions against Iran, specifically pointing out the country’s drone program.
Baerbock also said she would use her Tel Aviv visit to again demand that more humanitarian aid be let into Gaza. She also condemned the latest violence in the West Bank, where a 14-year-old Israeli boy was killed in what authorities say was a militant attack, followed by the deaths of seven Palestinians who were killed Israeli forces or settlers since Friday.
“I condemn the violent death of an Israeli boy in the strongest possible terms. At the same time, this must not be misused as a pretext for further violence. I also strongly condemn the attacks by extremist settlers in the West Bank, in which four or more Palestinians were killed,” she said.
UN HUMAN RIGHTS OFFICE CALLS ON ISRAELI FORCES TO STOP SETTLER ATTACKS ON PALESTINIANS
GENEVA — Israeli security forces “must immediately end their active participation in and support for settler attacks on Palestinians,” according to a Tuesday statement from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights after a wave of settler attacks on Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank triggered by the killing of a 14-year-old Israeli boy in what authorities say was a militant attack.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says seven Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers since the attacks began Friday, and another 75 have been wounded.
Israeli authorities have urged people not to resort to vigilante attacks as tensions soar. But rights groups have long accused Israeli forces of routinely ignoring settler attacks or even taking part in them.
The U.N. statement said “Palestinians have been subjected to waves of attacks by hundreds of Israeli settlers, often accompanied or supported by Israeli Security Forces.” It said that in addition to deaths and injuries, the attacks have also included the torching of hundreds of homes and other buildings, as well as cars.
“Israel, as the occupying power, must take all measures in its power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety in the occupied West Bank,” it said.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built scores of settlements there that are now home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers. The Palestinians want the West Bank, which is home to some 3 million Palestinians, to form the main part of their future state.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack out of Gaza that triggered the war. The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 468 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza. Most were shot dead by Israeli security forces during arrest raids or violent protests.
DEATH TOLL IN GAZA SURPASSES 33,800, HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — The Gaza Health Ministry says the bodies of 46 people killed by Israeli strikes have been brought to local hospitals over the Past 24 hours. That brings the overall Palestinian death toll from the Israel-Hamas war to at least 33,843, the ministry said Tuesday.
The Health Ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its tallies but has said that women and children make up most of those killed.
Israel blames civilian casualties on Hamas because the militants fight in dense, urban neighborhoods. The military says it has killed over 13,000 militants, without providing evidence.
Israel withdrew more forces from Gaza earlier this month after wrapping up its offensive in the southern city of Khan Younis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to invade the southernmost city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza’s population has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
The war erupted when Hamas launched a wide-ranging attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7. Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people that day and took around 250 hostage. Israel’s offensive has driven some 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes and pushed the besieged territory to the brink of famine.
