RAMALLAH: Three Palestinians were killed on Thursday by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, and an Israeli was killed in a Palestinian shooting attack, according to first responders.

Violence has surged across the West Bank for months and intensified further since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian group’s unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on Oct. 7.

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday warned Sudan’s paramilitary force against what Washington called an “imminent large-scale attack” in North Darfur’s capital, where thousands were seeking refuge from fighting.

GAZA STRIP: Hamas said on Wednesday that seven hostages from its Oct. 7 attacks, including three foreign passport holders, were killed in Israel’s bombing of Gaza’s largest refugee camp.

Dozens of bodies were seen on Tuesday at the Jabalia camp where Israel said it killed a Hamas military commander in a strike on a tunnel complex.

“Seven detainees were killed in the Jabalia massacre yesterday, including three holders of foreign passports,” said a Hamas military wing statement.

LONDON: One of the defining images that emerged in the aftermath of the attack on Israel on Oct. 7 was a frame taken from a video, widely disseminated on social media, showing an elderly Israeli woman being driven away into captivity on a golf cart.

It was no coincidence that this image was released, nor that it was so widely used by media organizations around the world. Kidnapping is a visceral act, designed precisely to generate emotional responses that can only benefit the agenda of the hostage-takers.

LONDON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Jordan, whose relations with Israel have sharply deteriorated over the Gaza war, on a new crisis trip, the State Department said Wednesday.
The top US diplomat will visit Jordan after previously announced talks on Friday in Israel, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, where he is expected to meet with leaders of the Israeli government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for an update on their military objectives.