Israel carries out massive air strikes across occupied West Bank killing civilians

Trichy: A teenage girl died of complications after consuming an excessive amount of medication to alleviate her menstrual cramps in Pulivalam area of Tamil Nadu’s Trichy.

Police said the 18-year-old girl used to experience frequent menstrual cramps. On Aug 21, she endured severe abdominal pain. In an attempt to alleviate the pain, she ingested a significant quantity of pills.

However, she began to vomit shortly after. Her parents rushed her to the primary health centre (PHC) in Omandhur, where she received treatment and was subsequently discharged. Upon returning home, she lost consciousness. 

She was admitted to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Govt Hospital (MGMGH), where she underwent further treatment but ultimately died on Monday. A postmortem examination was performed.

Police said that the consumption of an excessive dose of medication to manage menstrual cramps resulted in fatal health complications. Based on a complaint by her father, a case of unnatural death has been registered. 

The girl had recently cleared her higher secondary education, and was awaiting the counselling process to secure admission to an engineering programme.

Israel's foreign minister says Palestinians will be ordered to evacuate parts of the northern occupied West Bank, amid unprecedented bloody raids in the area as similar measures have been taken by the regime’s military in the Gaza Strip, which is subjected to a genocidal war since October.

In a post on social media platform X on Wednesday, Israel Katz said the Israeli military is working “intensively” to thwart what he alleged to be “terrorist infrastructures” in the Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps, claiming that “an eastern terrorist front” is being established against Israel in the West Bank.

Katz noted that the raids see "temporary evacuation of Palestinian residents" in areas in the northern West Bank in measures akin to those imposed in Gaza.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army launched raids in the cities of Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas in the northern West Bank, killing at least 11 Palestinians.

Since the start of Israel’s aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip in October, the West Bank has also seen a rise in violence from Israeli forces and settlers that has claimed the lives of hundreds of Palestinians.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 662 Palestinians were killed and about 5,400 others injured by Israeli fire since October 7, considering the new deaths.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed at least  40,534 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 93,778 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

In a landmark ruling, the United Nations’ top court said last month Israel’s presence in the 1967- occupied Palestinian territories is “unlawful” and must end.

In a 1967 war, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East al-Quds, which it subsequently annexed.

The 83-page advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice also outlined a wide list of policies that it said violated international law, including the building and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east al-Quds. 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says he is “deeply concerned” over Israel’s all-out military assault on the occupied West Bank, calling for a swift end to the aggression in the Palestinian territory.

In a statement on Wednesday, Guterres called for “an immediate cessation” of Israel’s aggression in the occupied West Bank, including its assault on Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas governorates.

In the early hours of Wednesday, the Israeli army conducted its biggest operation – dubbed “Camps of Summer” – in the West Bank in over 20 years, deploying hundreds of troops and airstrikes on Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, which are major centers of Palestinian resistance against the occupying entity.

At least 17 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids and strikes in several towns, with many more sustained injuries. Eight of them were killed in Jenin, five in Tulkarm and four in Tubas, the Wafa news agency reported, citing medical sources.

Guterres strongly condemned the loss of lives, including of children, and urged Tel Aviv to protect civilians and ensure their safety.

“All those injured must have access to medical care, and humanitarian workers must be able to reach everyone in need,” the UN chief said. “These dangerous developments are fueling an already explosive situation in the occupied West Bank and further undermining the Palestinian Authority,” he added.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), shortened his trip to Saudi Arabia and returned to the West Bank on Wednesday over Israel’s relentless aggression in northern parts of the territory.

In an interview with Israel’s Army Radio on Monday, Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also proactively confirmed that he plans to construct a synagogue inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied East al-Quds, drawing condemnation from various countries and international organizations.

Elsewhere in his remarks on Wednesday, Guterres also expressed concern over “dangerous and provocative acts and statements” by Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, despite a longstanding ban on Jews praying at the site.

It was the first time for the Israeli minister to openly speak about building a synagogue inside the complex, strengthening the narrative that the Muslim holy site and Palestinian national symbol is under threat from the occupying regime.