Live updates: Follow the latest news on Israel-Gaza
Israel continued its deadly raid on the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday morning, after a bloody day in which seven Palestinians were killed and up to 100 arrested.
The Israeli attack was launched early on Tuesday and involved a drone strike that killed five people, a tactic that Israel rarely uses in the West Bank although it has become more common.
Seven people have been killed in Jenin since this latest operation began on Tuesday morning including a 13-year-old boy whose ambulance was blocked by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
The prolonged raid adds to mounting fears that the war in Gaza since Hamas’s deadly assault on southern Israel on October 7 could spill over into the West Bank, where tensions have spiralled over the past two months.
A huge increase in Israeli settler violence against Palestinians, a ban on West Bank workers crossing into Israel to earn money, and a crippling economic lockdown in which Israeli checkpoints and curfews have forced businesses to shut are major reasons behind the region's instability.
The director of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Jenin, Mahmoud Al Saadi, said on Wednesday that the city is surrounded by Israeli forces on all sides.
The movement of ambulances is dependent on prior co-ordination with the Israeli military.
“Entry to the Jenin camp is very difficult, because there is a large number of Israeli troops and the roads and infrastructure have been severely damaged, made even worse with the rain today,” Mr Al Saadi added.
Israel’s military said in a statement that it was operating "to expose explosive devices planted under roads to attack the security forces”.
The operation has raised concerns among Palestinians because it is taking place throughout the city of Jenin.
Israeli operations normally focus only on the city's refugee camp, which is a long-standing centre of Palestinian militancy in the West Bank.
Jenin’s densely populated refugee camp, where about 14,000 people live, has been raided countless times this year. Armed groups are present alongside the residents.
The rest of the city is a large commercial centre that attracts shoppers from throughout the West Bank and Israel. commerce has been hit hard by the Gaza war and the accompanying checkpoint closures and safety concerns.
Ipaf in numbers
Established: 2008
Prize money: $50,000 (Dh183,650) for winners and $10,000 for those on the shortlist.
Winning novels: 13
Shortlisted novels: 66
Longlisted novels: 111
Total number of novels submitted: 1,780
Novels translated internationally: 66
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MATCH INFO
CAF Champions League semi-finals first-leg fixtures
Tuesday:
Primeiro Agosto (ANG) v Esperance (TUN) (8pm UAE)
Al Ahly (EGY) v Entente Setif (ALG) (11PM)
Second legs:
October 23
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm)
Burnley v Huddersfield Town (7pm)
Everton v Bournemouth (7pm)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace (7pm)
Southampton v Manchester United (7pm)
Stoke City v Chelsea (7pm)
Swansea City v Watford (7pm)
Leicester City v Liverpool (8.30pm)
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Newcastle United (7pm)
Monday
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion (11pm)
The specs
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Saturday
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur (3.30pm)
Burnley v Huddersfield Town (7pm)
Everton v Bournemouth (7pm)
Manchester City v Crystal Palace (7pm)
Southampton v Manchester United (7pm)
Stoke City v Chelsea (7pm)
Swansea City v Watford (7pm)
Leicester City v Liverpool (8.30pm)
Sunday
Brighton and Hove Albion v Newcastle United (7pm)
Monday
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion (11pm)
