Israeli forces kill at least 8 Palestinians in surging West Bank violence, health officials say
Tel Aviv(AP): Israeli forces operating in the occupied West Bank killed at least eight Palestinians in a 24-hour period, Palestinian health officials said on Sunday, as a fragile pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip entered its third day.
Violence in the West Bank has surged in the weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, setting off a devastating war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians and arrested hundreds in the West Bank. Jewish West Bank settlers have also stepped up attacks.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that five Palestinians were killed in Jenin, while three others were killed in separate areas of the West Bank since Saturday morning. One of those killed, in al-Bireh in the central West Bank, was a teenager, the ministry said.
The Israeli military said forces entered the Jenin refugee camp to arrest a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli father and son at a West Bank car wash earlier in the year. In its statement on Sunday, the military made no mention of clashes, nor of the Palestinian deaths, but said forces were still operating in the area.
The intensified violence in the territory follows more than a year of escalating raids and arrests in the West Bank. Before the Hamas assault, 2023 already was the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank in over two decades.
Israel and Hamas have briefly halted fire to allow for more aid to enter Gaza and permit a hostage release in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza government. Vast swaths of the Gaza Strip have been flattened and some 1.7 million Palestinians have fled their homes.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians seek those territories as part of their hoped-for independent state.
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Adityanath meets Singapore Deputy PM; assures investors of biz-focussed policies in UP
Singapore/Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh is ready with land bank, business-focused policies and safety and security, Chief Minister Adityanath told investors in Singapore on Tuesday on a day he met the country's top leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong.
On the second day of his official visit to Singapore, Adityanath met the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, and Coordinating Minister for National Security and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, official sources said here.
Held in the presence of a high-level delegation, the discussions focused on leveraging Singapore's expertise in urban planning, internal security architecture and digital governance to help Uttar Pradesh achieve the target of becoming a one-trillion-dollar economy.
During talks with Gan Kim Yong, the chief minister emphasised on UP's pro-business environment and highlighted the state's vast land bank and improved connectivity expected from after the Noida International Airport becomes operational.
The meeting also explored the possibility of Singaporean companies establishing industrial townships in the Delhi-NCR, with particular focus on semiconductor manufacturing and green hydrogen modules.
During his interaction with K Shanmugam, Adityanath discussed modernisation of the state's law and order framework, with emphasis on Singapore's technology-integrated policing model and disaster management protocols.
Speaking to investors, Adityanath listed infrastructure, logistics, MROs among other projects in the pipeline in the state, and said he held more than 100 meetings with the business community during his visit to Singapore.
The UP CM also noted that Singapore investors were committed to a large number of projects in India and UP, including the Ganga Expressway.
Business leaders Adityanath met included CEO and chairpersons of Temasek, Government Investment Corp (GIC), Singapore Airport Terminal Services, and Blackstone.
