Israel kills 21 Palestinians in Gaza in 24 hours
- At least 21 Palestinians have been killed and 61 others injured in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.
- Israel’s military says a missile launched from Yemen has hit the Tel Aviv area after air defence systems were unable to intercept the incoming projectile. Yemen’s Houthi rebels later claimed the attack.
Two Palestinians forced to demolish homes south of Jerusalem
The Israeli army has forced two Palestinians to demolish their homes south of Jerusalem.
The Wafa news agency reported that the all-Israeli Municipality pressured Hani Shkeirat to demolish part of his home in the Jabal al-Mukaber neighbourhood after saying it was built without a permit.
Sources quoted in the report added that the municipality forced Mahmoud Aqil to demolish his home in the Silwan neighbourhood, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, under the pretext that it was built without a licence.
Israeli authorities routinely force Palestinian residents in Jerusalem to demolish their own homes, claiming the lack of building permits while at the same time consistently denying Palestinians permits to build houses.
Those who resist demolishing their homes could face the destruction of their houses by Israeli bulldozers in addition to fines imposed on the owners.
Five people killed in Israeli air strike on house in Nuseirat
At least five people, including two children, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, medics tell Reuters.
Qassam Brigades announces operation in Jabalia
Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it stabbed to death three Israeli soldiers as it began a new operation in the middle of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
It added that the same fighters stormed a house in the area where an Israeli infantry force was holed up and killed two more soldiers.
Hamas, Popular Front, Islamic Jihad call for an end to fighting in Jenin
Palestinian factions – including Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Islamic Jihad – have released a joint statement on the situation in Jenin, where Palestinian armed groups and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are fighting.
The groups said: “Preserving the unity of the Palestinian ranks and not being drawn into internal strife is a national duty and falls on everyone.”
Jenin has been witnessing a crackdown on armed groups by Palestinian Authority forces for nearly two weeks. Several commanders of the Jenin Brigades have been killed during this time.
“The weapon of resistance is to confront the war of extermination in the Gaza Strip and to confront the incursions and attacks in the occupied West Bank. The resistance weapon is legitimate and pure, and it is not permissible to touch it or target its bearers, the heroes and resistance fighters,” the statement said.
The statement added that the PA “must distance themselves from any measures that may threaten the unity of the Palestinian position or harm civil peace”.
The groups also called for the formation of a national committee that encompasses all facets of Palestinian society to “put an end to this attack in Jenin and its camp”.
