Latest news with #Israelioccupation
Al Mayadeen
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Mayadeen
Al-Quds Brigades targets dozens of IOF soldiers, casualties reported
An al-Quds Brigades field commander announced on Wednesday a military operation carried out against dozens of Israeli occupation soldiers and a convoy of armed vehicles east of the al-Shujaiya neighborhood in Gaza. The operation began with the detonation of a field of landmines targeting infiltrating Israeli vehicles, forcing soldiers and officers to retreat in panic into nearby residential homes. The commander reported that Resistance fighters targeted the occupation forces inside the houses with a guided missile, followed by a TBG anti-fortification projectile. 'We ambushed the targeted forces and engaged in very close combat using light and medium weapons,' the commander said, confirming that the crew of the armored units, officers, and soldiers were either eliminated or wounded during the operation. Israeli media acknowledged the killing of a soldier from the Egoz unit in Gaza, while four other soldiers were critically injured. According to the latest official figures released by the Israeli military, the number of officers and soldiers killed since the resumption of the war on Gaza in March has risen to 30, bringing the total confirmed military death toll since the start of the ground invasion in Gaza to 438. However, Palestinian sources and independent observers consistently stress that the real number is significantly higher, citing "Israel's" policy of censorship and information blackout aimed at maintaining the morale of its troops and settlers. Yesterday, the Al-Quds Brigades announced that its fighters successfully ambushed an Israeli infantry unit in eastern Khan Younis, southern Gaza, killing and injuring several Israeli troops. According to a statement, Resistance fighters had booby-trapped a house where Israeli occupation forces had taken shelter. The house was rigged with anti-personnel and anti-fortification explosives, which were detonated once the troops were inside. When Israeli reinforcements arrived, Palestinian fighters opened fire with machine guns and RPGs, prompting the Israeli military to call in helicopters under heavy cover of fire and smoke to evacuate the remaining soldiers. In a separate operation, al-Quds Brigades confirmed the destruction of an Israeli D9 military-grade bulldozer using a high-powered barrel-shaped explosive device in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis. Additionally, in a joint operation with Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades, Resistance fighters destroyed an Israeli Merkava tank by detonating a powerful side charge known as a "Thaqeb" device in the same area. Read more: Al-Qassam, al-Quds Brigades launch joint ops on Israeli forces in Gaza
Al Jazeera
24-06-2025
- General
- Al Jazeera
‘I lost both legs': Palestinians scale separation wall for chance to work
Ramallah, occupied West Bank – Early on a recent Sunday morning, Saher figured he had a rare opportunity. Expecting Israeli forces to be distracted by the fallout from Iranian rocket attacks, he started to climb Israel's separation wall. He needed about 15 minutes to get to the other side. But as he climbed, an Israeli patrol suddenly appeared. 'I panicked, let go of the rope, and fell.' He dropped from the top of the wall – a concrete barrier, in some places 8 metres (26 feet) high, which cuts through the occupied West Bank. Saher fell 4 metres (13 ft). 'For a moment, I thought I had died,' the 26-year-old recalled. 'I heard voices in Hebrew. Then pain started creeping through my body.' A Palestinian ambulance crew eventually transported Saber to Ramallah Hospital, where he was diagnosed with multiple rib fractures and fitted with a brace. The Palestinian construction worker was trying to cross into Israel to reach his job in the city of Rishon LeZion. He spoke to Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal for trying to enter Israel without permission. Before Israel's war on Gaza began following the October 7 attack on Israel, about 390,000 Palestinian workers relied on jobs in Israeli territory. But after the war started, Israeli authorities revoked their work permits and forced them to leave. As the war drags on, and amid Israeli military actions in the occupied West Bank, some Palestinians – mostly in the construction and hospitality sectors – have been risking their lives to get back to Israel for temporary work. With crossing points closed and fewer smugglers willing to take people by car since October 2023, many have had only one perilous option left: to scale the wall. That option has now become deadlier, as Israel employed tighter security amid its conflict with Iran and the escalating regional tensions. The wall is now heavily monitored by drones, sensors and military patrols. 'Two fires' With unemployment in the occupied West Bank at critical levels, desperation is pushing people to climb the wall. 'Oh God, let me die and relieve me of this torment,' said Ahed Rizk, 29, as he lay on a bed in Ramallah Hospital. The recently married construction worker was in anguish, and not only physically: He is now unable to provide for his family. Rizk, who is from a village near Ramallah, lost the use of both legs after falling from the separation wall during an attempt to enter Israel in mid-June. One of his legs is now paralysed; the other was shattered by the fall. He underwent a six-hour surgery after falling from a height of about 5 metres (16 ft). The rope he had been climbing snapped under his 140kg (309-pound) weight. 'This wasn't my first time entering for work,' he said. 'But it was the most dangerous. I used to go with smugglers and pay a fee, but when the war started, chaos spread. There were no vehicles and soldiers were everywhere. 'I knew I was caught between two fires,' he added, referring to the risk of being killed while trying to enter Israel and the hardship of not being able to work to support his family. Rizk said dozens of workers had been gathered near the wall between the town of ar-Ram and occupied East Jerusalem. Without a ladder tall enough to reach the top of the wall, they used a shorter ladder and a rope tied to the other side. But as Rizk climbed, the rope broke. 'I landed on another young man who was climbing. He had bruises. I lost both legs. The others went to work. My cousin ran when the [Israeli] army approached. I was left alone.' 'No choice' Shaher Saad, the secretary-general of the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU), says Palestinians have been forced to attempt dangerous crossings for years. 'Decades of high unemployment have left thousands with no choice,' he told Al Jazeera. But since the war in Gaza began, crossings have grown deadlier, Saad said. Palestinians have been shot by Israeli forces or fallen to their deaths. At least 35 Palestinian workers have died attempting to cross into Israel for work in 2025, Saad said. It is unclear how many of those were shot and how many died as a result of falling. Saad attributes the deaths to Israel's tightened restrictions, which prevent workers from accessing authorised avenues to employment. Conditions in Israeli work sites are often poor, he added. 'Most sites lack basic safety standards. Workers aren't given protective gear. Some injuries are also due to the lack of awareness about safety procedures.' Deepening social marginalisation Israel's strategy through restrictions on movement and military actions is to exacerbate inequality between Israelis and Palestinians, said Sari Orabi, a Ramallah-based independent political analyst and researcher. 'It imposes restrictions on movement and access to resources, forcing civilians to choose between hunger and physical danger,' Orabi told Al Jazeera. 'This policy of geographic division and military control deepens social marginalisation and increases dependence on aid. It fosters a state of helplessness and poverty.' In the village of Ni'lin, west of Ramallah, Otham al-Khawaja, a 37-year-old father of three, described how, as he tried to climb the wall in March, Israeli forces opened fire. The tiler by trade fell, breaking both of his legs, but believes he would have been shot had he not fallen. He had scaled the wall several times before that because he feared not being able to provide for his family. 'Fear sometimes clouds judgement,' he reflected. Al-Khawaja underwent surgery to insert metal rods into his legs. After three months of treatment, he was able to walk again, though not like before. 'God wrote me a new life,' he said, grateful to have survived. 'You will never appreciate life until you face death. Then you learn to accept whatever comes your way.' This piece was published in collaboration with Egab.
Express Tribune
22-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Israel threatens to annex parts of Gaza
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened Friday to annex parts of the Gaza Strip unless Hamas releases the remaining Israeli hostages held in the war-battered Palestinian territory. The warning came as Israel stepped up the renewed assault it launched on Tuesday, shattering the relative calm that had reigned in the war-battered territory since a January 19 ceasefire. Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes killed 11 people on Friday -- three in pre-dawn strikes and eight more during the daytime. On Thursday, it had reported a death toll of 504 since the bombardment resumed, one of the highest since the war began more than 17 months ago with Hamas's attack on Israel. "I ordered (the army) to seize more territory in Gaza... The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel," Katz said in a statement. Should Hamas not comply, Katz also threatened "to expand buffer zones around Gaza to protect Israeli civilian population areas and soldiers by implementing a permanent Israeli occupation of the area". French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said his country was "opposed to any form of annexation whether it concerns the West Bank or the Gaza Strip". The military urged residents of the Al-Salatin, Al-Karama and Al-Awda areas of southern Gaza to evacuate their homes on Friday ahead of a threatened strike.
