US President Joe Biden has cautioned Iran over a suspect attack on Israel, while Israeli settlers attacked a village in Palestine, killing one and wounding more than 20.
ADVERTISEMENTJoe Biden said the US is “devoted” to defending Israel and “Iran will not succeed.”
Israel is bracing for a possible Iranian attack after an airstrike killed two Iranian generals in Syria at the beginning of the month.
Iran has blamed Israel for the airstrike and vowed revenge, though Israel has not commented on the strike.
At a press conference on Friday, the US president gave Iran a stern warning over the potential strike: “Don’t.”
“We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel,” Biden said when asked about the possibility of deploying additional US troops to the Middle East.
“We will help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed,” he added, ignoring a question about what would trigger a direct US military response.
Asked how imminent an Iranian attack on Israel was, Biden said “but my expectation is sooner than later.”
More aid for embattled Gaza, claims Israel
Israel said it opened a new crossing for aid trucks into hard-hit northern Gaza on Friday as part of efforts to "enhance the humanitarian aid corridors," the IDF wrote on X.
But the United Nations says persistent distribution difficulties are plaguing deliveries.
Commissioner General of United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRA) Phillippe Lazzarini said the planned increased aid deliveries are not "tangible, sustained or uninterrupted."
The UN has warned that distributing aid within Gaza is perilous and plagued by lengthy delays at inspection checkpoints.
“It’s very easy for Israel to say, ‘We’ve sent you 1,000 trucks so please deliver them inside Gaza,’” said Jamie McGoldrick, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories.
McGoldrick said delivering aid to the northern part of the territory, where famine is imminent, is especially challenging, with only one or two roads to the north open at any time.
Several aid organisations have suspended their convoys north after an Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen aid mission killed seven aid workers.
Israel, facing mounting US pressure to improve the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, has pledged this week to increase aid to the strip dramatically.
Israeli settlers storm Palestinian village
Dozens of Israeli settlers stormed the village of al-Mughayyir in the occupied West Bank on Friday, shooting and setting houses and cars on fire.
The rampage killed a Palestinian man and wounded 25 others, health officials said.
An Israeli rights group said the settlers were searching for a missing 14-year-old boy from their settlement.
ADVERTISEMENTIsraeli troops said they were still searching for the teen after the disorder.
The killing came after an Israeli raid killed two Palestinians, including a Hamas militant, in a confrontation with Israeli forces.
Palestinian health officials say more than 460 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces since the war erupted in October.
The deceased man was later identified by his family as 26-year-old Jehad Abu Alia. His father, Afif Abu Alia, said he was shot and killed but was unsure whether the fatal bullet was fired by an armed settler or an Israeli soldier.
“My son went with others to defend our land and honour, and this is what happened,” Afif Abu Alia said from a hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where his son’s corpse had been transported.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Israeli army said its forces had opened fire when stones were hurled at soldiers by Palestinians.
It said “hits were identified” and that soldiers had cleared Israeli settlers from the village.
“As of this moment, the violent riots have been dispersed and there are no Israeli civilians present within the town,” the IDF said.
US President Joe Biden has raised repeated concerns about a surge in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Rights groups have long accused the military of failing to halt settler violence or punish soldiers for wrongdoing.
Israel's military assault on Gaza has killed more than 33,600 Palestinians and wounded more than 76,200, according to the enclave's Health Ministry.
ADVERTISEMENTThe ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
The war started on October 7 when Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in a surprise attack, mostly civilians. Around 250 people hostage were also taken hostage by Palestinian militants.