Jewish settlers shot a Palestinian man in the West Bank. Five of his compatriots were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the occupied Palestinian territory, Reuters reported, citing BTA, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Jewish settlers killed one and wounded three Palestinians in Bethlehem, in the southern part of the West Bank. Five of their compatriots died in an Israeli airstrike north of the Noor Shams refugee camp, near the city of Tulkarem, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced.
The Israeli army said it struck a militant operations center in the camp, as well as blocking roads and conducting searches following a report of a kidnapped man. She added that she was checking reports of the killing of a Palestinian in Bethlehem.
Palestinians regularly accuse Israeli security forces of "providing an umbrella" of Jewish settlers attacking their villages and homes in the West Bank - attacks that are causing increasing concern among the international community, Reuters notes. The US and a number of European countries have imposed sanctions on violent settlers and repeatedly called on Israel to do more to stop these attacks.
The risk of a larger war in the Middle East has diminished somewhat after Israel and "Hezbollah" exchanged massive blows, without this leading to further escalation, said the top US military official, quoted by Reuters and BTA.
At the same time, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces General Charles Brown warned that Iran, which is considering how to respond to Israel after the assassination late last month in Tehran of the leader of "Hamas" Ismail Hania, still poses a serious threat.
Brown gave an exclusive interview to Reuters yesterday after his three-day tour of the Middle East.
He arrived in Israel on Sunday evening - just hours after the exchange of blows. Before that, Brown was in Egypt and Jordan.
"There are two things we know will happen. One has already happened ("Hezbollah's" shelling of Israel - note ed.). Now it depends on exactly how the second card is played (Iran's expected response - ed.)," the top US military official said in an interview published early this morning, which he gave on a plane en route to the United States.
"How Iran responds will determine the Israeli response, which in turn will determine whether or not there will be a wider conflict," he concluded.
At the same time, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff warned of the risks of Iran-linked groups in countries such as Iraq, Syria and Jordan. He mentioned the Houthis specifically, calling them "unpredictable" the Yemeni rebels who attack ships in the Red Sea and even launch drones against Israel.