On Friday, the Israeli army announced that it had ended its ground operations in the regions of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, claiming to have killed “more than 250 terrorists” there.
Published
Updated
Reading time: 3 min
![A devastated neighborhood in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, August 30, 2024. (ABED RAHIM KHATIB / ANADOLU / AFP)](https://www.francetvinfo.fr/pictures/gleNxf6pjRVrghOuMOlOMFNezUs/0x61:1024x637/432x243/2024/08/30/068-aa-30082024-1839501-66d23db6b4ba0679482115.jpg)
Twenty Palestinians, mostly fighters, have been killed in three days of a large Israeli military operation in the northern occupied West Bank, which continued Friday evening, August 30. The UN has called for an end “immediate” of the operation, and judged that the suffering of the people of the Gaza Strip was “beyond what any human being should endure”. Here’s what you should remember from the day.
Israeli operations continue in occupied West Bank
In the occupied West Bank on Friday, Israeli soldiers killed three Hamas fighters in Jenin, including the commander of the Palestinian Islamist movement in the city, Wissam Khazem, and a fourth man aged 82, according to the Palestinian agency Wafa.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 20 people have been killed in three days of Israeli raids in the northern West Bank, including two teenagers aged 13 and 17, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Israeli army claims to have killed “20 terrorists”Hamas and Islamic Jihad said at least 13 of those killed were fighters from their armed wings.
Paris says it is “deeply concerned” by the situation
Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank in recent days, “worsen a climate of unprecedented instability and violence”, France expressed its concern on Friday, “deeply concerned” by the deterioration of the situation in general in the Palestinian Territories.
In a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris reiterates its opposition to colonization in the occupied West Bank, “which must stop immediately”. In Gaza, “the intensity of Israeli attacks targeting schools and shelters for displaced persons in particular leads to an unacceptable number of civilian casualties”writes the Quai d’Orsay. “The imperative of respecting international humanitarian law applies to everyone, including Israel”insists French diplomacy, judging “unacceptable” attacks targeting humanitarian workers.
Four Gazans killed in strike on NGO convoy
The American NGO Anera announced on Friday that four Gazans accompanying one of its convoys in the Gaza Strip had been killed the day before in an Israeli airstrike. This convoy was transporting food and fuel to the south of the Palestinian enclave, the NGO specified.
According to Anera, shortly after the convoy entered Palestinian territory, “four locals with experience of previous missions and involved in local security (…) came forward and asked to take control of the lead vehicle, citing an unsafe road and the risk of looting”. The four men “had not been approved and (their presence) had not been coordinated in advance”specifies the NGO, which adds that “Israeli authorities argue that there were several weapons in the lead vehicle”. “The Israeli airstrike was carried out without prior warning or communication”she insists.
The Israeli army, for its part, assures that it has carried out a “precise strike” after “Armed attackers took control of the lead vehicle of the convoy”. After the strike, she assures that she has “spoke to Anera representatives who verified that all members of the convoy organization were safe and had arrived at the intended destination”.
IDF Announces End of Several Ground Operations
On Friday, the Israeli army announced that it had ended its ground operations in the regions of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, claiming to have killed “more than 250 terrorists” And “destroyed dozens of terrorist infrastructures” in one month. The IDF announced that its “98th Division had completed its operation in the Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah regions, after about a month of simultaneous activities on the ground and underground”.
The military released a new map of evacuation orders Friday morning, with some neighborhoods once again accessible to residents.