Israel demolishes West Bank home of Palestinian accused of attack

Israeli troops on Monday blew up the home of a Palestinian accused of killing a British-Israeli woman and her two daughters in the occupied West Bank last year.

The apartment of Moaz al-Masry, who was killed by Israeli forces following the April 7 attack, was demolished in the early hours, Palestinian witnesses said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said their medics treated about 15 people after Israeli forces fired tear gas during the raid on the West Bank city of Nablus.

Masry, along with two other attackers, was accused of shooting dead Israeli settler Leah Dee and her daughters Maia and Rina as they were driving near Hamra in the Jordan Valley. Following a manhunt, the assailants were killed in a military raid on Nablus in May. Troops stormed the Al-Makhfiya neighborhood in Nablus overnight and surrounded Masry's house, a witness stated.

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Israel routinely demolishes the homes of Palestinians accused of carrying out attacks, arguing that such measures act as a deterrent, while critics say it amounts to collective punishment. The Red Crescent said they had evacuated multiple residents, including children, from the building housing Masry's apartment.

Violence in the West Bank had flared even before the conflict in the Gaza Strip between Hamas militants and Israel erupted on October 7. Since the war broke out, at least 420 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli troops and settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry based in Ramallah.

The latest fatality was 16-year-old Mustafa Abu Shalbak, who the ministry said was shot before dawn on Monday by Israeli forces near Ramallah.

Residents said Israeli forces came under fire as they raided a home in Amari refugee camp. A photographer saw troops marching two blindfolded Palestinians through a street, while multiple soldiers pointed their weapons at surrounding buildings. Israel's military did not immediately comment on the Amari raid or the Nablus demolition.

In recent months, Palestinian militants have also carried out numerous attacks against Israeli troops and civilians in Israel and the West Bank, killing at least 17 people, according to Israeli figures. Israel has occupied the West Bank - including east Jerusalem, which it later unilaterally annexed - since the Arab-Israeli war of 1967.

Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law, have ballooned over the decades and are seen as a key barrier to peace with the Palestinians.

At least 30,534 Palestinians have been killed and 71,920 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.

Erdogan 'to meet with Abbas this week'

President Tayyip Erdogan is set to discuss Türkiye's efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during talks this week in Ankara, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Monday.

Speaking at a diplomatic forum in Türkiye at the weekend, the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Abbas would pay a visit to Ankara on Tuesday and meet Erdogan.

Türkiye, which has harshly criticised Israel for its attacks on Gaza and backed measures to have it tried for genocide at the World Court, has repeatedly called for a ceasefire. But Ankara has no direct involvement in truce talks.

Unlike its Western allies and some Gulf nations, NATO member Türkiye does not view Hamas, the Palestinian militant group which runs Gaza and on October 7 carried out an attack inside Israel that prompted the Israeli campaign, as a terrorist organisation.

Erdogan and Abbas will discuss recent developments in Gaza as well as the situation in the West Bank, the diplomatic source said. "Türkiye has been delivering extensive humanitarian aid to Gaza in co-ordination with Egypt since the beginning of Israel's attacks... Within this scope, humanitarian aid operations will also be discussed during the meetings with President Abbas," the source added.

UN warns of a "powder keg"

The Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas is a "powder keg" with the potential to spark broader conflict in the Middle East, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Monday.

"The war in Gaza has already generated dangerous spillover in neighbouring countries and I am deeply concerned that in this powder keg, any spark could lead to a much broader conflagration. This would have implications for every country in the Middle-East and many beyond it," Turk said in his global update to the United Nations Human Rights Council.

'Further aid required'

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris on Sunday called on the Israeli government to do more to increase the flow of aid into Gaza, saying Gazans were suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe in which the conditions were inhumane.

Speaking in Selma, Alabama, at a commemoration of "Bloody Sunday," when U.S. state troopers beat unarmed protesters, Harris also said there must be an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that would secure the release of hostages that Hamas kidnapped while allowing more aid to get inside Gaza.

Israel request Eurovision change

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has called for "necessary adjustments" to the lyrics of its leading submission to ensure Israel can compete in the Eurovision Song Contest in May after it was barred last week for breaking rules on political neutrality.

Singer Eden Golan, 20, is due to perform the track October Rain, which contained lines such as: "They were all good children, each one of them" - an apparent reference to Hamas' October 7 attack which saw 1,200 people killed after the border with Gaza was breached.

Israeli broadcaster Kan, which chooses the country's song entry, had refused to alter the words but has now contacted the artist, as well as the lyricist of the second-place finalist, Dance Forever, to revise their lyrics while preserving their artistic freedom.

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