European countries condemn West Bank violence, urge calm
LONDON — A group of European countries expressed “grave concern” Saturday that recent violence in the West Bank could derail efforts to rekindle peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians as they called on both sides to restore calm.
The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain issued a joint statement condemning attacks against both Israelis and Palestinians following an outbreak of violence that left three people dead in the occupied West Bank town of Hawara.
“These acts can lead nowhere, except to more violence,” the European nations said. “Those responsible must face full accountability and legal prosecution. All unilateral actions that threaten peace and incitement to violence must cease.’’
Scores of Israeli settlers rampaged through Hawara on Feb. 26, setting dozens of cars and homes on fire after two settlers were killed by a Palestinian gunman. Palestinian medics said one man was killed and four others were badly wounded in one of the worst outbreaks of settler violence in decades.
The violence took place the same day that Israeli and Palestinian representatives joined U.S., Egyptian and Jordanian officials in Aqaba, Jordan, for the first highlevel talks in years aimed at defusing tensions in the region.
The attacks raised doubts about a statement released after the talks in which Israeli and Palestinian officials reaffirmed their commitment to “de-escalation on the ground” and the need to prevent further violence.
Tensions in the West Bank have soared in recent months. Near-daily Israeli arrest raids have sparked gunfights that killed more than 60 Palestinians so far this year — the highest death toll in the first two months of the year since 2000.
Turbulence fatality: A business jet was buffeted by severe turbulence over New England, causing a rare passenger death and forcing the aircraft to divert to Bradley International Airport in Connecticut, officials said Saturday.
Five people were aboard the Bombardier executive jet that was shaken by turbulence late Friday afternoon while traveling from Keene, New Hampshire, to Leesburg, Virginia, said Sarah Sulick, a spokesperson for the National Transportation Safety Board.
The extent of the damage to the aircraft was unclear, and the NTSB did not provide details including whether the victim was wearing a seatbelt. Connecticut state police confirmed one person was taken to a hospital but didn’t provide further details.
The jet is owned by Conexon, a company based in Kansas City, Missouri, according to a Federal Aviation Administration database. The company, which brings high-speed internet to rural communities, declined comment Saturday.
NTSB investigators were interviewing the two crew members and surviving passengers as part of a probe into the deadly encounter with turbulence, Sulick said. The jet’s cockpit voice and data recorders were sent to NTSB headquarters for analysis, she said.
The director of a hospital in a disputed city in the Somaliland region says at least 145 people have been killed in more than two months of
Somaliland clashes:
fighting between anti-government fighters and Somaliland security forces after local elders declared their intention to reunite with Somalia.
Abdimajid Sugulle, with the public hospital in Las-Anod, told Associated Press on Saturday that more than 1,080 other people have been wounded and more than 100,000 families have fled the city of Las-Anod since late December. Most civilians have fled, he said.
The director accused Somaliland forces of destroying the hospital’s laboratory, blood bank and patient ward in mortar attacks. “The Somaliland forces who are positioned outside the town have been shelling civilian residents and medical facilities indiscriminately, the director said. No single day passes without shelling and casualties,” he told the AP by phone.
Somaliland’s Defense Ministry has denied shelling the hospital, and the government has asserted it has a
“continuous commitment” to a cease-fire it declared Feb. 10. “Indiscriminate shelling of civilians is unacceptable and must stop,” the United Nations and international partners have warned.
Philippines governor killed:
Gunmen in military uniforms fatally shot a governor and five civilians Saturday while the provincial leader was meeting villagers at his home in the central Philippines, in the latest brazen assault on local politicians in the country, police said.
At least six men armed with assault rifles and wearing military-style camouflage and bulletproof vests emerged from three SUVs and opened fire on Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo, hitting him and at least five other people in front of his home in Pamplona town. The province has a history of violent political rivalries.
Pamplona Mayor Janice Degamo, the wife of the slain governor, said in a Facebook video that the five villagers also died. She demanded
justice and said her husband “did not deserve that kind of death.
Ten suspects were seen fleeing and later abandoned the SUVs, police said. Police launched a provincewide search for the suspects.
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned the midmorning attack, which took place as impoverished villagers gathered in front of Degamo’s house to seek medical and other aid.
Hong Kong activists: Three Hong Kong activists from a now-defunct group that organized annual vigils commemorating China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters were convicted Saturday for failing to provide authorities with information on the group in accordance with a national security law.
Chow Hang-tung, Tang Ngok-kwan and Tsui Hon-kwong were arrested in 2021 during a crackdown on the city’s pro-democracy movement following
massive protests more than three years ago. They were leaders of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China before it disbanded under the shadow of the Beijing-imposed law.
Britain has reasserted its sovereignty over the Falkland Islands after Argentina pulled out of a cooperation agreement and demanded new talks over the South Atlantic territory that sparked a 1982 war between the two countries.
The pronouncement came after Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero said on Twitter that he informed British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly about his country’s decision when the pair met on the margins of the Group of 20 summit in India recently.
“The Falkland Islands are British,” Cleverly tweeted late Friday. “Islanders have the right to decide their own future — they have chosen to remain a self-governing U.K. Overseas Territory.’’