A Palestinian protester died in hospital after being wounded in clashes with the Israeli army near al-Bireh, not far from Ramallah, in the West Bank. This was reported by the Palestinian media who also speak of at least 40 wounded hit by bullets. The Israeli military spokesman said that in the clashes “he was fired intensively at the soldiers and also at the commander of the Judea and Samaria Division”. Two soldiers, he added, were wounded in the legs. Fatah and Hamas had announced a “day of anger” in the West Bank for today 18 May, while the back and forth between Israeli air raids and rockets fired by Hamas continues. The UN Security Council meets today to try to reach agreement on a declaration, followed on May 20 by the United Nations General Assembly. The EU, at the end of the videoconference of the 27 foreign ministers that took place today, remains aligned “for the ceasefire”, declared the High Representative of Foreign Policy Josep Borrell.
Israeli forces: attempted attack on the West Bank, Palestinian neutralized
Israeli forces (IDF) confirm that they have “neutralized” a Palestinian suspect accused of attempting to attack the Israeli military in Hebron, in the West Bank, with an improvised device (IED), a knife and a weapon. “The IDF soldiers identified the terrorist who approached and tried to shoot and throw an explosive at them – reads a tweet from the IDF themselves – The soldiers returned fire and neutralized the terrorist”. No injuries in the Israeli forces.
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120 targets hit in Gaza in 24 hours
The IDF reported having hit 120 targets in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, including ten rocket launchers. The spokesman for the Israeli defense forces Hidai Zilberman said this, explaining that many air strikes were conducted in the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, where several Hamas leaders live. Zilberman also said the Israeli military has “a busy night ahead of us” as it prepares to strike “new places” and to continue attacking the underground tunnel network that Israel calls “the subway”.
Netanyahu, Hamas capabilities carried back years
Hamas has suffered “a blow it did not expect” “from the Israeli army, which has managed to” turn back years “of the group’s military capabilities. This was stated by the first Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to the Hatzerim air base near Beersheba. “Our enemies have seen what price we want them to pay for the aggression against us, I’m sure they will be able to draw conclusions,” added Netanyahu, stating that the operation will go on “for as long as necessary to restore calm for the citizens of Israel ”.
Hamas writes to Khamenei, immediate mobilization
The head of the Hamas political office, Ismail Haniyeh, sent a letter to the Iranian Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in the past few hours, asking for further support in the conflict against Israel. “Today, the criminal enemy, with the deadliest international weapons banned, commits the most barbaric crimes against the people of Gaza, and the vilest crimes against protesters in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the occupied territories of 1948. Faced with these crimes relentlessly – writes Haniyeh in the message, quoted by the Mehr agency – we call for the immediate mobilization of the Muslim, Arab and international communities to take determined positions and force the Zionist enemy to put an end to its crimes ”. Other letters were sent to Ayatollah Khamenei by five Palestinian fighting organizations, which according to the office of the highest authority in Tehran expressed their thanks for the renewed support against Israel expressed on the Day dedicated to Jerusalem, last 7 May.