- Blinken calls for a “immediate” cease-fire in Gaza.
- US politicians take action to block UNRWA funding
TULKAREM: Four Palestinians were killed at the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Thursday by an Israeli air strike and gunfire, as the senior US diplomat called for a “immediate ceasefire” in the war-torn Gaza.
Four individuals have already died in the raid, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, which posted on social networking site X that its “ambulance teams have just transported an 18-year-old man who was killed by the Israeli occupation forces in Nur Shams camp.” It stated that two were slain by an airstrike and two by live ammunition.
According to the Israeli army, “two terrorists who posed an immediate threat to the forces were struck by an aircraft,” and during the operation, “two militants were eliminated” by troops in a gunfight.
His family named one of the dead as Nidal Abu Abeid, a vegetable vendor at the camp in the northern West Bank, which is close to the Palestinian town of Tulkarem.
At the morgue, his uncle, 52-year-old Ziad Ali Abu Abeid, told AFP that Nidal “wanted to build a future.” “His goal was to support himself,” the uncle stated. Like for everyone else in the camp, “the (Israeli) occupation came and killed all the ambition he had.”
According to officials and medical professionals, at least eight Palestinians have died in the West Bank in less than twenty-four hours, counting the most recent deaths. An Israeli attack on a car near Jenin, a hotbed of Palestinian armed factions in the northern West Bank, on Wednesday claimed the lives of three Palestinians, among them a commander of Islamic Jihad.
Shots were fired in the Al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, killing one Palestinian.
The Palestinian Health Ministry reports that since October 7, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed at least 444 Palestinians throughout the West Bank.
“Emergency ceasefire”
As he traveled to Egypt to meet with Arab envoys, Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized the importance of a settlement to liberate prisoners in war-torn Gaza and a “immediate ceasefire.”
While on his most recent tour of the Middle East’s crises, Blinken was attempting to strengthen support for a ceasefire as the Israel-Hamas conflict continued and experts continued to warn about the possibility of famine in Gaza.
According to him, a draft resolution for the UN Security Council that calls for a “immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages” in the Gaza Strip has been distributed by the US.
Although a Hamas spokesman stated on Wednesday that Israel’s answer to the organization’s most recent proposal had been “largely negative,” Blinken stated that a deal was “very much possible.”
financing for UNRWA
On Thursday, US lawmakers took a step toward banning additional financing for the UN’s troubled Palestinian agency, which Israel has attempted to associate with Hamas.
Despite maintaining that UNRWA’s work in war-torn Gaza was important, President Joe Biden’s administration has already suspended financing for the organization after Israel claimed that several of its staffers took part in the October 7 strike.
Congress hashed out a $1.2 trillion spending bill early on Thursday, which states that US government monies, whether from the current fiscal year or the next, “may not be used for a contribution, grant or other payment” for UNRWA.
Three-quarters of the government will run out of money at midnight on Friday if an agreement is not reached, so lawmakers unveiled the plan to keep the government operating ahead of schedule.
Despite concerns expressed by some senators regarding certain elements, it is anticipated that the plan would be approved by both the Democratic-led Senate and the Republican-led House. Biden would then get to sign the legislation.
