At Least 5 Killed In Israeli Operation In West Bank, Palestinian Authority Says

Five Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces in Jenin, West Bank over the past 24 hours, Reuters reported quoting the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday.

In January, the Israeli forces launched an operation involving thousands of troops in cities and refugee camps in the north of the West Bank, during which over 30 people are believed to have been killed so far, the report said.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Energy Minister Eli Cohen has directed the Israel Electric Corporation to immediately cut off the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip, in an apparent attempt to put pressure on the enclave, where around 24 hostages are still presumed to be alive, while the bodies of 35 more, are still being held, The Times of Israel reported.

In a short video statement, Cohen reportedly said, “We will employ all the tools available to us so that all the hostages will return, and we will ensure that Hamas won’t be in Gaza on the ‘day after’.”

The decision came after Israel said on March 2 that it was halting the entry of goods into Gaza over Hamas’s decision not to accept a proposal to extend the initial stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, and threatened “additional consequences” and a return to war.

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