Sunday, October 22, 2023
Israeli sources say the targeted mosque is linked to the Jenin Brigade.
Israeli martyrs bomb over 4000 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
Palestinians in Jenin are once again being subjected to aerial terror.
Israeli forces have targeted the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank after announcing intensifying airstrikes on Gaza ahead of a planned ground invasion.
The airstrike targeted a mosque linked to the Jenin Brigade, designated an "underground terrorist group" by Israel, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.
According to Israeli sources, the Al-Ansar Mosque was linked to the Jenin Brigade, which Israel described as an "underground terrorist group" and added that it had been "neutralized", without giving details of the number of those killed in the strike or their identities.
The director of the Red Crescent in Janine, Mahmoud Al-Saadi, was quoted by the Palestinian news agency Wafa as saying that one person was martyred and three others were wounded in the attack.
Since Hamas fighters invaded Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,400 people, mostly civilians, dozens of people have been tortured in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to Israeli reports.
Meanwhile, Israel launched a heavy bombardment of the Gaza Strip in retaliation, killing more than 4,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, including more than 1,000 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
According to Al Jazeera's Sara Khairat, the airstrike "took the residents by surprise", but it appears more could be coming.
"An eyewitness spoke to us and said they saw an F fighter in the sky, heard it and then the Israeli army came out to confirm it was an airstrike," Khairat said live from Ramallah.
The mosque was the site of a two-day Israeli siege in July, when Israeli forces found a network of tunnels and seized equipment, drones and ammunition, she said.
After the attack, some residents received text messages on their phones warning them to avoid working with the Jenin Brigade, one of the largest and most popular groups in the West Bank.
Reports also said they were to keep the children inside, Al Jazeera reported.
There are also unconfirmed reports of an Israeli officer calling residents and telling them to hand over their "cubs" to the police by 7am.
Jenin, a Palestinian encampment in Israel, has faced Israeli hostility since 2002, with incidents such as last year's killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
However, with the latest Israeli incursions, Palestinians in Jenin are once again being subjected to aerial terror in densely populated areas, displacing refugees already displaced in Gaza.
This highlights the ongoing Israeli antagonism and the need for more effective strategies to address these issues.
US sends more air safeguard frameworks to Center East
The US will send a Terminal High Elevation Region Safeguard (THAAD) framework and extra Nationalist air protection rocket framework forces to the Center East, the Pentagon said on Saturday, in light of late goes after on US troops in the locale.
The US has sent a lot of maritime capacity to the Center East lately, including two plane carrying warships, their help ships and around 2,000 Marines.
.@SecDef has directed a series of additional steps to further strengthen DoD’s posture in the Middle East region, which will bolster regional deterrence efforts, increase U.S. force protection in the region, & assist in the defense of Israel. More at:https://t.co/t54PqUORoY
— Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder (@PentagonPresSec) October 22, 2023
Washington is on high alert for activity by Iran-backed groups as regional tensions rise during the war between Israel and Hamas, Reuters reported.
"Following detailed discussions with President (Joe) Biden regarding the recent escalation by Iran and its proxy forces in the Middle East region, today I directed a number of additional steps to further strengthen the Department of Defense's position in the region," said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. he said in a statement.
Austin said he was placing additional troops on the order to prepare for deployment, but did not say how many. The Pentagon has already put about 2,000 troops on high alert in case they need to deploy to the region.
"These actions will strengthen regional deterrence efforts, increase the protection of U.S. forces in the region, and help defend Israel," Austin added.
The deployment comes two years after the Biden administration withdrew air defense systems from the Middle East, citing reduced tensions with Iran.
Israel vows to step up attacks on Gaza
Israel has besieged supplies of food, water, fuel and electricity, and the UN, citing local authorities, says more than 40% of all homes have been damaged or destroyed.
To reduce the risks to its troops when it launches a ground attack, Israel will now step up its bombardment, according to military spokesman Admiral Daniel Hagari.
"From today we raise the stakes and minimize the danger," he said. "We will increase the number of attacks and that is why I have called on the people of Gaza City to continue moving south for their safety."
Israel has warned more than a million residents of northern Gaza to move south for their safety, and more than half of the enclave's residents are now internally displaced, according to the UN.
However, shelling continued in the southern parts of the Strip, with Hamas authorities reporting nine martyrs in an airstrike on Khan Younis overnight today.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians are believed to remain in and around Gaza City in the north, unwilling or unable to leave.
The conflict has raised fears of a wider regional war, and Washington has said it will deploy defensive batteries and additional Patriot battalions to protect American forces.
The Pentagon also said it was notifying additional troops to "prepare for deployment orders," without specifying how many or when they might be sent.
Qatar continues negotiations to release hostages
Israeli troops massed on the Gaza border and commanders visited frontline troops on Saturday to rally the troops.
"We will enter Gaza," Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halev told a visiting infantry brigade. "Gaza is densely populated, the enemy is preparing a lot of things there - but we are also preparing for them," Halevi said.
Israeli forces will face many obstacles during the ground invasion, including Hamas tunnels and booby traps in a crowded urban environment.
Another complicating factor is the safety of the more than 200 prisoners captured by Hamas.
Two American hostages were released Friday night after mediation from Qatar, which said others could be freed "very soon."
"We are following a path that will very soon lead to the release of the hostages, especially the civilians," Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Saturday.
"We are currently working on an agreement whereby all civilian hostages will be released initially," he added.
After negotiations and US pressure, food, water and medicine, but no fuel, reached Gaza from Egypt on Saturday. The transition then closed, with UN officials warning that much more was needed.
"Gaza was a desperate humanitarian situation before the latest hostilities," the five UN agencies said in a statement. "Now it's catastrophic. The world needs to do more."
'Something has to be done'
At a peace conference in Egypt, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a humanitarian ceasefire "to end this terrible nightmare".
Although Arab participants issued their own statements condemning international leaders, Western diplomats demanded a firm condemnation of Hamas, so the summit ended without a joint statement.
In Gaza, shocked residents said they were unsure where to go or how to protect their families.
"Not even in my worst nightmares did I ever think this could be possible," said Rami Abu Wazna, staring at the destruction in central Gaza's Al-Zahra.
The scale of the bombardment left basic systems inoperable, with the UN reporting that around 40 unidentified bodies were buried in a mass grave in Gaza City on Saturday as cold stores ran out before they could be identified.
My appeal today from the Middle East:
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) October 21, 2023
Immediate, unrestricted & sustained humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza.
Immediate & unconditional release of all hostages.
Immediate & dedicated efforts to prevent the spread of violence, which is increasing the risk of spillover.
Across the boundary in Israel's Kibbutz Beeri, where Hamas warriors killed 10% of the populace, arrangements were in progress for memorial services on Sunday.
Romy Gold, 70, said occupants were all the while attempting to understand the repulsiveness of their experience.
"Around us entire families were shot or butchered or consumed alive," he told AFP. In the same way as other, he trusts a ground attack of Gaza "will no doubt come as fast as possible. Something should be finished."
"We really want a confirmation that it won't reoccur of some sort or another," he said.
