Huckabee in Turmus Ayya, Calls Settler Attacks ‘Terrorism’

Two Israeli colonists  attacked on Saturday the town of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah.

Awad Abu Samra, a member of the Turmus Ayya municipal council, told WAFA that two colonists riding an ATV entered the eastern part of the town, about 100 meters from where U.S Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, was during his tour of the town..

Ambassador Huckabee had visited Turmus Ayya and met with municipal representatives and several residents who hold US citizenship and who had been subjected to attacks by Israeli colonists.

In remarks, Huckabee described settler violence against US citizens in Turmus’ayya in the West Bank as “a form of terrorism.”

He added that residents of Turmus’ayya have “legitimate grievances” and that he had come to listen to them, stressing that “Israel must ensure the security and safety of Palestinian citizens in the West Bank.” WAFA

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

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Israel Forcibly Displaced Three Camps – UN

Israeli security forces forcibly displaced the entire population of three Palestine refugee camps in the occupied West Bank in January and February last year – and continue to prevent their return, in violation of international law, according to a new report by the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

The report said military, police and other forces deployed during Israel’s Operation Iron Wall offensive killed civilians, destroyed hundreds of homes, damaged roads and other infrastructure, cut off water and electricity, and blocked humanitarian access to the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps. 

Israeli forces went door to door ordering residents to leave.

Some displaced Palestinians told OHCHR that Israeli officers said there would be no more refugee camps and that they should “all go to Jordan”. 

Widespread destruction

By October 2025, 52 per cent of structures in Jenin refugee camp, 48 per cent in Nur Shams and 36 per cent in Tulkarem had been destroyed or damaged.

The report said the large-scale, long-term and systematic displacement of over 33,000 Palestinians from the camps during the operation raises serious concerns of the crime against humanity of forcible transfer. 

It said Israeli forces used airstrikes, armoured bulldozers and controlled detonations to render entire camps uninhabitable in the absence of imperative military necessity – actions it said also raise concerns of collective punishment and ethnic cleansing.

Some 102 Palestinians, including 21 children, were killed during the period covered by the report – 46 per cent of all killings by Israeli forces in the West Bank over that period.

Shot on the way to pray 

Among them were Sondos Shalabi, who was eight months pregnant and was shot dead as she tried to drive away from Nur Shams camp, and ten-year-old Saddam Hussein Rajab, who was shot in the stomach in Tulkarem as he waited for his father to walk to the mosque with him.

UN human rights chief Volker Türk said the way the operation was conducted suggested its aim was to expel as many Palestinians as possible and make way for more illegal Israeli settlements. 

He called on Israel to end what he described as its 59-year occupation of Palestinian territory and to comply with the International Court of Justice’s finding, more than two years ago, that it must end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible.

On 23 February 2025, Israel’s Defence Minister ordered the military to remain in the three camps and said displaced Palestinians would not be allowed to return. 

The UN’s Palestine refugee relief agency, UNRWA, says around 33,362 people remain displaced as of July this year.

UN News

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Israeli Officials Snub Trump’s Plan For Gaza

Israeli officials, with the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are obstructing the implementation of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war on the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.

In a report headlined “The Gaza deal is stuck. For those involved, the reasons are clear: Netanyahu and the elections,” the newspaper said Friday that Israeli security officials are refusing to cooperate with Trump’s Board of Peace.

“The gap between the American vision for the Gaza Strip and the results on the ground has never been clearer than it is now, and neither has the gap between the US and Israel,” it said.

The Gaza agreement remains “stuck” nearly a year after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced, with less than two months remaining before elections in Israel and US midterm elections, the daily added.

Haaretz, citing an unnamed source familiar with the issue, said there was “mutual frustration between the Board of Peace and the Israeli establishment.”

Israeli officials, including members of the National Security Council and Defense Ministry as well as officers in the army’s Southern Command, are openly refusing to cooperate with the board, according to the source.

“They are not even trying to hide it anymore. They say: We will not cooperate with you because you threw us under the bus,” the source said.

The statement referred to a 15-point document issued by the Board of Peace on July 30, which calls for the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian factions, the transfer of Gaza’s administration to a national Palestinian committee, and a phased Israeli withdrawal.

Netanyahu rejected the roadmap on Aug. 9, insisting that the factions be fully disarmed before any Israeli withdrawal.

Israeli officials told US diplomats that Washington had taken them “for granted,” the source said. Anadolu

They also criticized the roadmap and expressed concern that its implementation would make the government appear as though it was “selling out Israel,” according to Haaretz.

Netanyahu’s support

The source described Israel’s obstruction of Trump’s plan as an established “approach,” saying the Board of Peace understands that it is linked to the approaching Israeli elections and is supported at the highest level by Netanyahu.

Israel is scheduled to hold elections for the Knesset, or parliament, on Oct. 27, amid declining poll numbers for Netanyahu and his Likud party.

Haaretz said another element of this approach was Israel’s obstruction of the departure of thousands of Gazans recruited by the technocratic committee tasked with managing Gaza to serve in a new police force in the enclave.

Israel has prevented the recruits from leaving Gaza for training in Egypt, according to the report.

The Board of Peace also fears that even if they are allowed to leave, Israel could prevent them from returning after completing their training, citing security concerns, the source said.

The technocratic body, formally known as the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, was established in January under Palestinian official Ali Shaath to oversee civilian affairs, security and essential services during the transitional period.

Trump-Netanyahu relations

A second unnamed source told Haaretz that relations between Trump and Netanyahu were “extremely poor,” adding that very little remained of their previously close relationship.

Trump announced a 20-point plan to end the Gaza war on Sept. 29, 2025. It included the release of Israeli captives, the disarmament of Hamas, a partial Israeli withdrawal, the formation of a technocratic administration and the deployment of an international stabilization force.

The first phase of the plan took effect on Oct. 10, 2025.

While Hamas fulfilled the requirements of the first phase, Israel reneged on its commitments and continued its attacks.

Despite Israel’s failure to honor the agreement, Trump announced in mid-January the start of the plan’s second phase, which is backed by UN Security Council Resolution 2803, adopted on Nov. 17, 2025.

The second phase calls for a broader Israeli military withdrawal, reconstruction and the start of the disarmament process.

Israel, however, continues to occupy about 70% of the Gaza Strip and insists that Palestinian factions must disarm before it withdraws.

The agreement followed two years of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which began on Oct. 8, 2023 and has since continued in various forms.

​​​​​​​The Israeli offensive has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, injured over 174,000 others and caused widespread destruction affecting about 90% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure.

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Huckabee in Turmus Ayya, Calls Settler Attacks ‘Terrorism’

Huckabee in Turmus Ayya, Calls Settler Attacks ‘Terrorism’

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