New acts of violence in Iraq, the West Bank and Gaza leave almost fifty dead

Iraqi authorities confirmed this Saturday, April 20, that one person was killed and eight others were injured in an explosion, allegedly caused by an airstrike, at a military base of the influential pro-Iranian Shiite group Popular Multitude, with the presence of the Arab country’s Army. located north of Baghdad.

The Security Cell, spokesperson for the Iraqi Army and Police, explained in a statement that the “explosion, which caused several firesoccurred at 1:00 local time on Saturday at the Kalsu base and caused the death of a member of the Popular Crowd and injuries to 8 people, including an Army soldier“.

He pointed out that it is a joint base that houses the headquarters of the Army and Police, as well as the Popular Multitude militias, in the governorate of Babel, located about 80 kilometers southeast of the Iraqi capital.

In the last 72 hours, Israeli security forces have launched one of their largest attacks against the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of the war in Gaza on October 7, with an operation in the Palestinian town of Tulkarem that has caused at least ten deaths.

The Israeli military said it has killed “ten terrorists” during a raid that began Thursday night in the Nur Shams refugee camp.in the town of Tulkarem, just the same day that Iran attacked in response to Tehran’s launch of more than 300 drones and missiles against Israel, with no indication this Saturday that the escalation between both countries will continue.

Israeli forces arrested eight people, destroyed an explosives laboratory and confiscated numerous weapons and military equipment in the operation in the occupied West Bank, according to a military statement.

Eight soldiers and one border police agent were injured during the operation, according to the text.

The Martyrs of al Aqsa militia group confirmed on social media the death of the leader of the Tulkarem brigade, Mohamed Yaber, alias Abu Shuya, who was apparently the target of the Israeli assault on that Palestinian territory.

The occupied West Bank is experiencing its greatest spiral of violence since the Second Intifada (2000-05), and so far in 2024 at least 143 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, most of them suspected militants or attackers, but also civilians, including about one thirty minors, according to EFE’s count.

The Israeli Army intensified its already frequent incursions into the occupied West Bank after the Hamas attack on October 7 and, since then, some 473 Palestinians have died in violent incidents with Israel, mainly with troops, but also with settlers.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 37 people were killed and 68 injured in Israeli attacks in the last 24 hoursaccording to the count of the Gazan Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas.

In its daily report on data collected by hospitals in the Strip, the ministry reported “four massacres against families” in the Palestinian enclave.

At least nine people from the same family, six of them children, were killed in one of the attacks that hit a residential building in the Tel Sultan neighborhood, in the west of the southern city of Rafah.

Their bodies were taken to the morgue of the Abu Yusef al Nayar hospital, where family and friends said goodbye to them amid moments of anguish and despair, as EFE was able to confirm.

“My love, my soul, Hamza, Hamza!” shouted a woman as she rushed to caress and kiss the face of the 7-year-old boy who was lying on the floor wrapped in a plastic bag.

Thus, since the war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, 34,049 people have been killed and 76,901 have been injured in the Israeli offensive.

While the Israeli authorities continue to remain silent about Friday’s attack against Iran, coinciding with the holiday on Saturday, the one who has spoken has been the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to accuse the United States for its veto in the Security Council of the UN to prevent Palestine from entering the United Nations as a full member.

For Abás, Washington’s vote represents a “flagrant aggression” against the rights of the Palestinian people and a “challenge to the will of the international community.”

Abbas also stressed that after this blockade he will reconsider bilateral relations with the United States, to ensure the protection of the interests of the Palestinians, their rights and their cause.

“We will reconsider bilateral relations with the United States to ensure the protection of the interests of our people, our cause and our rights,” said the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), in an interview with the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

On Thursday, the US vetoed the resolution, which received the support of 12 members, the abstention of two (the United Kingdom and Switzerland) and only the opposite vote of Washington.

“The United States has violated all international laws and has broken all the promises it speaks of regarding the two-state solution and the achievement of peace in the region,” said Abbas, who called on the Administration of President Joe Biden to review its “wrong policies.”