Gun battle in West Bank as Israel launches massive military operation; several dead, dozens critical

News Network
July 3, 2023

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Jerusalem, July 3: Israeli aircraft and ground forces have conducted a nighttime raid on the city of Jenin and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, killing at least seven Palestinians and injuring dozens, many of them in critical condition.

According to Palestinian Health Ministry, one of the Palestinian youths killed in Israel's early Monday raid has been identified as 21-year-old Samih Abu al-Wafa. They were fatally shot after Israeli aircraft targeted a house in the center of the Jenin refugee camp with several missiles.

According to eyewitnesses, after Israeli aircraft launched a series of air raids on the Jenin refugee camp, dozens of the regime's military vehicles stormed the camp, following which armed clashes broke out between Palestinian resistance fighters and Israeli forces.

Palestinian media said Israeli forces stormed the camp from two directions, while resistance fighters targeted their vehicles with homemade explosive devices.

In addition to the house targeted in the center of the Jenin refugee camp, Israeli aircraft bombed several other locations across the camp, causing injuries among its residents.

As the aerial raid on the camp continued, a large number of Israeli forces, accompanied by military bulldozers and supported by Apache helicopters and reconnaissance planes, stormed the city of Jenin .

"There is bombing from the air and an invasion from the ground," Mahmoud al-Saadi, director of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Jenin, was quoted by AFP as saying, adding, "Several houses and sites have been bombed....smoke is rising from everywhere."

Israel's Kan television channel claimed the decision to launch the military operation in Jenin was taken about two weeks ago, but it was postponed until the end of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Various Palestinian resistance movements were quick to react to the occupying regime's nocturnal raid on Jenin.

The Islamic Jihad, which is headquartered in the besieged Gaza Strip, issued a statement, condemning the raid.

The Islamic Jihad said Jenin will not surrender "and our fighters are determined to confront the Zionist enemy and fight regardless of the sacrifices they may have to make."

The movement said the Zionist enemy bears full responsibility for the consequences of this aggression, adding that Israel will fail to achieve its objectives while Jenin will remain a symbol of steadfastness.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), for its part, slammed the Israeli savagery, saying, "The Zionist aggression against Jenin and the crimes of the occupation will only strengthen our people's determination and steadfastness to continue the resistance."

"We call on our people in all the neighboring villages and towns to unite with the people of Jenin to repel this terrorist aggression," it added.

Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the Gaza-based Hamas resistance movement, said the Israeli onslaught against Jenin will not achieve its goals and the Zionist enemy will fail.

He added that Israel's fascist and extremist cabinet, headed by the its criminal prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, bears all responsibility for the consequences of tonight's aggression against Jenin.

The Hamas spokesman noted that the occupying regime "will not be able to win the battle against the resistance and our people, who will continue their struggle and fight until achieving their goals of freedom and independence."

Qassem added that Jenin, along with all other Palestinian cities, will continue their uprising despite the crimes of Israel, stressing that "the will of our people to stand firm is stronger than the military machine of the occupation."

Head of the political bureau of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, also reacted to Israel's attack on Jenin, emphasizing that the blood shed in Jenin will determine the next stage of the fight against the regime.

Haniyeh said, “Our people know how to respond to this barbaric aggression in all places where they are present.”

He also called on all Palestinian people throughout the West Bank to stand by Jenin and defend its people in order to thwart the enemy's plans.

Largest in West Bank for years

This appears to be one of the most extensive Israeli military operations in the West Bank in years.

In the early hours of the morning, Israeli forces made unusual use of a drone to attack an apartment in the centre of Jenin’s large refugee camp, which it said was being used as a command centre by the Jenin Brigades.

Drones have since been used for further air strikes, and thousands of Israeli troops are now believed to be involved in state-sponsored terror operation targeting Palestinian fighters

Amid intense gun battles, the Jenin Brigades have said its fighters will fight back with their last breath and bullets.

24 deaths, including 5 children, in June

Israeli attacks left at least 24 Palestinians, including children and teenagers, dead in June, Palestinian media say.

According to a report by Palestinian Information Center on Sunday, ten people in Jenin, seven people in Nablus, three people in Ramallah and al-Bireh, one person in al-Quds, one in Tubas, one in Bethlehem and one person in the Gaza Strip were killed in that month.

The latest killings have raised the number of Palestinian martyrs to 190 since the beginning of the year.

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News Network
November 11,2024

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Mangaluru: In a deeply tragic turn of events, a 28-year-old woman named Ranjitha, who had recently given birth but tragically lost her newborn, ended her life by suicide on Monday. She reportedly leapt from the fourth-floor window of Lady Goschen Hospital’s luggage room.

Ranjitha, whose strength and resilience had carried her through a difficult pregnancy, was scheduled for discharge on Monday. Her journey to Lady Goschen Hospital began on October 24, when she was transferred from Karkala. She was a high-risk patient, battling both hypertension and diabetes. At the time of her admission, she was just 27 weeks pregnant.

Due to the complexities of her health, doctors made the difficult decision to perform an emergency C-section on October 30. She delivered a baby girl, premature and weighing only 960 grams. The newborn was immediately moved to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, where doctors did all they could. Despite these efforts, the baby passed away on November 3.

Ranjitha’s sorrow was profound. She stayed under hospital care even after her initial recovery and was preparing to go home on November 9. She had even requested a couple more days at the hospital, seeking time perhaps to cope with her unimaginable grief.

On the day of her discharge, a discharge card ready and her family eagerly waiting to take her home, Ranjitha reportedly made her way to the luggage room in the early hours. There, standing on a cot placed for patients' family members, she climbed to a window and fell from the fourth floor. Despite the attempts of another visitor to intervene, tragedy was inevitable. She was rushed to Government Wenlock Hospital, where doctors confirmed the worst—she was no more.

Dr. Durgaparasad M R, the Medical Superintendent at Lady Goschen Hospital, shared his grief and spoke of the ongoing investigation. A post-mortem is to be conducted, and the local Tahsildar will complete the necessary inquest procedures. Ranjitha’s exact reasons for taking this step are yet to be confirmed, though the weight of her recent losses paints a sorrowful picture.

If you or anyone you know is struggling emotionally, please remember that help is available. Reach out to mental health experts who can provide support and guidance. The toll-free helpline number 9152987821 is available to assist anyone in distress.

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News Network
November 22,2024

Mangaluru: A man fell victim to an online scam, losing Rs 1.7 crore after fraudsters posed as officials from TRAI. According to a complaint filed at the CEN police station, the incident began on November 11, when the complainant received a call from an unknown number at 9:49 am.

The caller, claiming to represent TRAI, alleged that another mobile number registered under the complainant's name was involved in illegal activities in Andheri (East), Mumbai. The caller further stated that an FIR was lodged against the complainant for harassment under the guise of marketing. He was instructed to contact Andheri (East) police station immediately or risk his mobile service being deactivated within two hours.

The complainant was subsequently connected to an individual named Pradeep Sawant, who claimed the complainant was implicated in a money laundering scheme linked to the Naresh Goyal fraud case. Sawant alleged that a fraudulent bank account under the complainant's name was opened at Canara Bank, Andheri, and used to purchase a SIM card for illegal activities. He warned that the complainant could face arrest.

Later, the complainant was contacted via WhatsApp video call by individuals posing as Rahul Kumar (a police officer) and Akanksha (a CBI officer). They allegedly sent fabricated CBI documents to his WhatsApp number. The fraudsters demanded money to "resolve" the case. Fearing threats, the complainant allegedly transferred Rs 1.7 crore through RTGS in batches of Rs 53 lakh, Rs 74 lakh, and Rs 44 lakh between November 13 and 19. A case has been registered at the CEN police station and an investigation is ongoing.

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News Network
November 18,2024

Advisors to US President-elect Donald Trump have instructed his allies and associates to refrain from using the inflammatory language they previously employed when discussing issues related to migrants and the deportation of asylum seekers, in a bid to avoid “looking like Nazis.”

US media reports said that Trump’s associates had been asked to stop using the word “camps” to describe potential facilities that would be used to accommodate migrants rounded up in deportation operations across the country.

The reports said the US president-elect’s allies had been ordered to stave off such charged terms as they would bring to mind “Nazis,” and be used against Trump.

“I have received some guidance to avoid terms, like ‘camps,’ that can be twisted and used against the president, yes,” one Trump ally told American monthly magazine Rolling Stone.

“Apparently, some people think it makes us look like Nazis.”

The presidential advisers also cautioned surrogates and allies to keep racist terms, which have dogged Trump’s campaign, out of their remarks.

They said with Trump’s heated rhetoric that used to compare undocumented immigrants to “animals” and his slight that they are “poisoning the blood of our country,” detractors did not need to reach too far to find parallels to Nazi Germany.

Stephen Miller, who Trump tapped to be his deputy chief of staff of policy, specifically used the word “camps” to describe holding facilities that he hoped the military could put together for immigrants.

Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and is chosen by Trump to be in charge of the US borders, was no stranger to such language.

“It’s not gonna be a mass sweep of neighborhoods,” he said in an interview earlier this week. “It’s not gonna be building concentration camps. I’ve read it all. It’s ridiculous.”

Becoming a little more forthright about the new government’s aggressive deportation plans, Homan likened the early days of the Trump administration to the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“I got three words for them – shock and awe,” he said. “You’re going to see us take this country back.”

Trump made immigration a central element of his 2024 presidential campaign but unlike his first run, which was mainly focused on building a border wall, he has shifted his attention to interior enforcement and the removal of undocumented immigrants already in the United States.

People close to the US president and his aides are laying the groundwork for expanding detention facilities to fulfill his mass deportation campaign promise.

The businessman-turned-politician deported more than 1.5 million people during his first term.

The figure do not include the millions of people turned away at the border under a Covid-era policy enacted by Trump and used during most of Biden’s term.

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