Another Hamas commander killed in Israeli strike; raid targets West Bank

GAZA STRIP, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s government press office says the commander of the Hamas-led National Security Forces, Maj. Gen. Jihad Muheisen, was killed in an Israeli strike on his home in Gaza City along with some of his relatives.

It wasn’t immediately clear how many of his relatives were killed in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood in northern Gaza City. The National Security Forces is a paramilitary organization in Gaza taken over by Hamas after its 2007 seizure of the strip.

Separately, Hamas officials told The Associated Press that Hamas legislative council member Jamila al-Shanti was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday. She was known as the first woman to be elected to political office within the Hamas group and the widow of one of the founders of the Islamist movement.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday night, the Israeli military conducted an extensive raid in the West Bank, arresting more than 80 Palestinians.

The latest in a series of stepped-up Israeli operations in the territory since the outbreak of war, the raid on Wednesday night provoked violent clashes and left three Palestinians dead, including two children.

The military said that 63 of the 80 suspects arrested overnight were linked to Hamas. Of the 524 Palestinians arrested since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 330 are Hamas affiliates.

Forces also demolished the home of a terrorist who killed an Israeli soldier, Staff Sgt. Shilo Yosef Amir, earlier this year. The terrorist, who the military identified as Ahmed Yasin Jidan, was shot shortly after killing Amir.

Clashes ensued across the territory in response to the raid, with Israeli forces firing on Palestinians who threw rocks and Molotov cocktails.

Since the latest war began, 72 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank. U.N. monitors are describing the period as the deadliest phase since they started recording data.

Sunak says U.K. standing by Israel

JERUSALEM — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says Britain is standing by Israel in its “darkest hour” as it wages war on Hamas following the Palestinian terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack.

Sunak spoke alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Joe Biden made a similar trip to Israel to express solidarity.

“I am proud to stand here with you in Israel’s darkest hour as your friend,” Sunak said.

The U.K. prime minister acknowledged the “shocking scenes” over the past day, including the aftermath of an explosion at a Gaza hospital, saying “we mourn the loss of every innocent life.”

Sunak plans to travel to Saudi Arabia later Thursday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, as Britain tries to dampen down regional tensions, get aid into Gaza and secure the release of U.K. hostages held by Hamas.

Germany’s Scholz demands release of hostages

BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has demanded in a speech watched by relatives of some of the hostages held by Hamas for the militant group to free the captives.

In a speech to the German parliament, Scholz underlined Germany’s staunch support for Israel and renewed a warning that it “would be a serious mistake” for Hezbollah, Iran or their proxies to enter the war.

Scholz traveled to Israel and Egypt this week. He said Thursday: “One important task we all have is to free the hostages, the kidnapped. They most be released without preconditions.”

German officials say a “low two-digit number” of German-Israeli dual citizens are believed to be held in Gaza.

Drone strikes in Syria

BEIRUT — Syrian opposition activists say a drone attack has been conducted on an oil facility in eastern Syria housing American troops and a U.S. base in a nearby area.

There was no immediate word on casualties and the U.S. military didn’t immediately respond to requests for confirmation.

Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet, said that three drones with explosives struck the Conoco gas field in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq on Thursday.

Rami Abdurrahman of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, confirmed that five explosions were heard at the Conoco gas field.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that three drones also attacked the U.S. base of Tanf in eastern Syria near where the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq meet. It said two drones were shot down before reaching their targets while the third hit the base, causing some material damage.

The Observatory, an opposition war monitor, and Omar Abu Layla, a Europe-based activist who heads the Deir Ezzor 24 media outlet, said the attack appears to be the work of Iran-based fighters who are deployed in eastern Syria and western Iraq.

Since the fighting in Gaza began on Oct. 7, Iran-backed fighters have been on alert in the region as the U.S. sends aircraft carriers and warships to the region.

Coalition forces were slightly wounded in Iraq in a spate of drone attacks since Tuesday at U.S. bases in Iraq.

Gaza hospital gets fuel

At Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest, director Mohammed Abu Selmia gave the AP an update on fuel stocks.

He said some fuel had been obtained “through UNRWA (U.N. Relief and Works Agency) with assistance from the World Health Organization, he added, saying it was pumped into generators.

“Enough to keep us going for another few hours.”

Ghassan Abu Sitta, a surgeon working at Shifa Hospital, tweeted a photo of a bottle of vinegar.

“Vinegar from the corner shop to treat pseudodomonas bacterial wound infections,” he said. “It’s come to that.”

Egypt president meets with US general

CAIRO — Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi met with Gen. Michael Kurilla, head of the U.S. Central Command, in Cairo to discuss efforts to “intensify cooperation” between the two countries and to “restore stability” in the region, the president’s office said.

Within hours of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the U.S. began moving warships and aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean to provide Israel with support. Israel has conducted unrelenting airstrikes on Gaza.

Egypt has long acted as a key broker between Israel and Hamas. On Wednesday, Egypt and Israel reached a deal that would allow aid to enter the Palestinian territory.

Also Thursday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with U.K. counterpart James Cleverly in Cairo, where they talked about ways to de-escalate the conflict and address the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza.

Xi backs Palestinian state

BEIJING — At a meeting in China’s capital Beijing on Thursday, President Xi Jinping urged visiting Egyptian Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly to open a humanitarian corridor for civilians fleeing the fighting in Gaza.

Xi also reiterated China’s backing of the formation of a Palestinian state as solution to the ongoing violence.