Situation at a glance: Conflict in the West Bank intensified after attack

After an attack that left three Israelis dead in the northern West Bank, the Israeli Air Force attacked a group of gunmen overnight. The army announced on Platform X that night that a fighter plane had attacked the “terrorists” in the Tamun area in the Jordan Valley. Details were not initially given. Tamun is around 13 kilometers from Nablus. West of Nablus, suspected Palestinian attackers had previously carried out an attack on a bus in which two women and a man were killed and eight other people were injured. It was initially unclear whether the air raid was related to the attack.

According to unconfirmed Israeli media reports, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian residents after the attack. They are said to have set a car on fire in a village north of the crime scene. Footage showed residents trying to put out the fire, the Times of Israel reported. Accordingly, there were no reports of arrests of the violent settlers by Israeli security forces.

Israel’s army announces intensified fight against terror

The already tense situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas in Israel with 1,200 deaths on October 7, 2023 and the Gaza war that it triggered. Since then, according to the Ministry of Health, around 800 Palestinians have been killed there in Israeli military operations, armed clashes and attacks by extremists. “We are waging an intensive and far-reaching fight against terrorism in Judea and Samaria (Hebrew for West Bank),” Israel’s Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said at the scene of the latest attack.

“We will intensify and continue this fight,” Halevi said, according to a statement from the army on its Telegram channel. “The clock is ticking for the terrorists who carried out this attack,” the Chief of General Staff added. According to media reports, a suspected Palestinian attacker shot at the bus from a vehicle. Two suspects are on the run. “We will find the heinous murderers and settle the score with them and all those who helped them. No one will escape,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

World Food Program complains about shelling of vehicles in Gaza

According to the World Food Program (WFP), an aid convoy was hit by Israeli gunfire at a checkpoint in the embattled Gaza Strip. The organization “strongly condemned the terrible incident of January 5th.” The WFP convoy was clearly marked, it said. At least 16 bullets hit the three vehicles. When asked, the Israeli army said it would investigate the report. She told the Times of Israel that lessons would be learned from the investigation into the case.

“Security conditions in Gaza must urgently be improved so that life-saving humanitarian assistance can continue,” the UN organization said. In the course of the Gaza war, aid workers have died several times in Israeli attacks. A new round of negotiations is currently underway in Qatar for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

But for now the fighting continues in the sealed-off coastal strip. According to information from the Arabic television channel Al-Jazeera, six people, including a child, were killed in renewed attacks by the Israeli army on residential buildings in Gaza. In total, at least 28 people were killed by Israel’s army over the course of Monday, it said. The broadcaster’s information could not be independently verified.

USA relaxes sanctions conditions for Syria

Meanwhile, the USA is temporarily easing the sanctions conditions to facilitate humanitarian aid in Syria. However, the far-reaching sanctions against the country themselves remain in place. The measure will apply for six months, the US Treasury Department said. Aid organizations and companies that supply essential goods are granted an exemption.

As long as it is unclear in which direction the new leadership in the battered country is moving, Washington will stick to the sanctions for the time being. Syria’s new government emerges from the Islamist rebel group HTS, which the United States classifies as a terrorist organization.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated US support for a peaceful political transition in Syria in a conversation with his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, a US State Department spokesman said. The rights and fundamental freedoms of all Syrians, including members of minorities, must be respected. At the same time, Blinken emphasized the need for the international community to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid in Syria.

Erdogan threatens to use military force against Kurdish militias in Syria

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indirectly threatened a new military operation against the Kurdish militia YPG in Syria. Terrorism will not be allowed in the region, said Erdogan, referring to the YPG. Since the overthrow of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad at the beginning of December, pro-Turkish fighters have continued to advance into areas in northern Syria controlled by Kurdish militias. Turkey has already carried out several military operations against the YPG there and is occupying border regions with the support of rebels. Ankara sees the Kurdish militia as an offshoot of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) – and therefore a terrorist organization.