Israel’s military kills 2 Palestinians in West Bank
Israel’s military shot two Palestinians dead early Friday near the West Bank city of Tubas, Palestinian and Israeli media sources reported. Media reports said one man was killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire on his vehicle in Tubas. Another Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli gunfire during a military raid in the al-Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas. Israel’s military did not immediately comment on the reports. The latest violence followed the announcement Thursday of what the military called ‘new and improved measures’ to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including construction of a new land crossing in northern Gaza. Military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video statement that the new crossing would ‘enable more aid to flow directly to civilians in the areas that have been challenging for the trucks to access.’ International humanitarian groups have complained for months about obstacles to bringing aid by truck into Gaza, citing delays imposed by the Israeli military and a lack of safe access to areas such as northern Gaza due to the fighting. Hagari said Israel expects 50 trucks per day to pass through the new crossing, and that the total number of trucks reaching the Gaza Strip each day will gradually rise from 350 to about 500. The United Nations says about 500 trucks per day were bringing aid to Gaza before the Israel-Hamas war began in October. In a phone call Wednesday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States expects Israel to quickly act on its commitments to facilitate more humanitarian aid and to coordinate with aid groups to ensure there is no repeat of the strike on a World Central Kitchen convoy that killed seven aid workers earlier this month. As of Thursday, more than 250 humanitarian and human rights groups have called for an end to arms transfers to Israel and Palestinian armed groups. The State Department said Blinken and Gallant also discussed the ongoing talks about a cease-fire agreement that would include the release of hostages held by the Hamas terror group in Gaza. The United States said on Thursday it has restricted its employees in Israel and their family members from personal travel outside the greater areas of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Be’er Sheva due to threats from Iran to retaliate against Israel for the April 1 airstrike on its embassy compound in Damascus. Some information for this report came from Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse. The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports. Subscribe
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