Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed three Palestinian cousins, including two children, in a drone strike that targeted a residential area in the town of Tammun, south of Tubas city in the northern occupied West Bank on Wednesday, January 8.
The three cousins were identified as Reda Basharat (9), Hamza Basharat (10), and Adam Basharat (23). The bodies of the three slain Palestinians were initially confiscated by the IOF, who prevented ambulances from reaching the site. Hours later, they were returned to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
The drone strike is the second to be carried out by the IOF in Tammun during the past 48 hours. On Tuesday, January 7, another Israeli drone strike targeted a group of young Palestinian men, killing two of them. The two young men were identified as Suleiman Mustafa Qteishat (18), and Abdul Rahman Bani Odeh (24). The body of Odeh has been abducted by the IOF, according to Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA).
The situation in the West Bank has escalated during the last couple of years, but it has gravely deteriorated in the last several months, after the IOF intensified the use of drones and in some cases fighter jets, to strike Palestinians.
At least 847 Palestinians have been killed and over 6,700 others wounded in the occupied West Bank, since October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. During the same period, the IOF also intensified its arrest campaigns. Over 10,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned in Israeli jails.
Israel committed six massacres across Gaza in one day
While Israel intensifies its deadly attacks in the West Bank, Israeli warplanes continue to massacre Palestinians across the Gaza Strip. At least 51 Palestinians were killed and around 80 others wounded in a series of airstrikes that hit different parts of the besieged enclave. Many hospitals in Gaza have been put out of service, either by direct shelling from Israeli war planes or the lack of fuel.
Massacring Palestinians to achieve the “Greater Israel” project
Israel has been killing Palestinians in the West Bank in a wholesale manner, while massacring tens of thousands in the Gaza strip on the pretext of cracking down on armed resistance.
However, the statements by Israeli officials and posts on Israeli media outlets make it clear that these crimes against Palestinians have been systematically committed to displace the Palestinians out of their homeland in order to achieve the “Greater Israel” Project. Israel’s recent expansion into the Syrian Golan Heights, and reports about its intention to remain in parts of southern Lebanon, reinforce the concerns that Israel has already begun to implement its intended project.
On Tuesday, Jordanian and Palestinian officials, alongside the Arab League, condemned Israel’s publication of what it called the map of “the biblical kingdoms of Israel and Judea” on social media pages run by its government. The publication of the map sparked the rage of Arab countries as it included territories within Jordan, Syria and the occupied West Bank claiming that they were part of the alleged “Kingdom”.
The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that the shared map aligns with the “inflammatory remarks” of Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, calling for the annexation of the West Bank and the establishment of settlements in Gaza. The ministry reiterated Jordan’s “unequivocal rejection of such actions”, considering them a “blatant attempt” to undermine the right of Palestinian people “to establish their independent and sovereign state on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
The ministry also said that such “inflammatory actions and baseless claims, promoted by extremists within the Israeli government, perpetuate violence and instability”, and constitute a “flagrant violation of international law and norms”. Moreover, Jordan urged for a “strong international response to condemn and counter” the repercussions of these actions and claims for regional security and stability”. Jordan further warned that such provocative actions “exacerbate tensions and threaten international peace”.
The Palestinian presidency’s official spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, condemned these actions, stating that they “constitute a blatant violation of all international legitimacy resolutions and international law”, and that they reflect “extremist Israeli policies”, which have “ignited the region and led to ongoing wars”.
Abu Rudeineh pointed out that these provocations, perpetrated by the Israeli authorities, have been accompanied by violent settler attacks in the West Bank, ongoing incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, and continued incitement against the Palestinian people and their leadership. The Palestinian official called for an international response to stop the war, destruction, and killing of the Palestinian people. He also urged the next US administration “to work to stop all Israeli policies, actions and procedures that do not serve security and peace in the region”
Meanwhile, the Secretary General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, released a statement on Wednesday, warning that “the international community’s failure to address such provocative actions and irresponsible rhetoric risks exacerbating extremism and counter-extremism on all sides.”
