Israel widens West Bank separation, strikes Gaza

Shafaq News – Gaza/ West Bank

Israel intensified efforts to fragment the West Bank into isolated enclaves by expanding a separation system that limits movement and reshapes local population centers, Palestinian media reported on Friday.

The escalation coincided with a surge in settler attacks across several areas of the West Bank. Local outlets said homes were set on fire, residents in rural communities were assaulted, and agricultural facilities were vandalized or burned, including nurseries, shelters, and farmland. A large vehicle scrapyard was also torched, alongside damage to additional agricultural property.

In Gaza, powerful explosions reported in eastern neighborhoods. Israeli airstrikes hit parts of the city, with heavy gunfire heard from Israeli military vehicles positioned east of the city. In the southern Gaza Strip, a displaced man was killed in Khan Younis after being shot by Israeli forces, as raids and artillery fire targeted several locations, including areas near Rafah and central Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 312 fatalities, 760 injuries, and 572 recovered bodies have been recorded since the current pause in fighting began. It added that the overall toll since the start of Israel’s war has risen to 69,546 people killed and 170,833 wounded, most of them women and children.               

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his rejection of any future Palestinian state, saying he would not agree to such an arrangement even in exchange for normalization with Saudi Arabia. He described the establishment of a Palestinian state as an “existential threat” to Israel and said recent United Nations decisions did not alter Israel’s stance.