RAMALLAH: A general strike was declared in the flashpoint city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Thursday in protest against the killing of three Palestinians by an Israeli drone 24 hours earlier.

The attack came amid a surge in violence over recent days.

The Israeli military said a squad of militants was identified in a vehicle after they carried out a shooting attack near the town of Jalamah.

A statement by the Islamic Jihad militant group said two of the men were its fighters, while the third was from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement.

Although the use of surveillance drones is commonplace, the strike by an Elbit Hermes drone was the first by the Israeli military in the West Bank since 2006, the IDF said.

Helicopter gunships were also used in the Jenin operation.

Israeli military expert Eyal Alima told Arab News that gunmen pose the primary threat to the Israeli army and settlers in the West Bank, so the military decided to use drones to remove the danger.

Alima added that the Israeli security services oppose any large-scale military operation in the northern West Bank as they fear that the fallout may outweigh any benefit.

However, according to Israeli political expert Yoni Ben Menachem, Israel is resorting to assassinations because the US is preventing it from carrying out a military operation in the northern West Bank.

Saudi Arabia strongly condemned on Thursday the attacks by Israeli settlers on several Palestinian villages in the West Bank.

Hundreds of Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian town on Wednesday, setting fire to dozens of cars and homes.

The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed the Kingdom’s categorical rejection of acts of intimidation of Palestinian civilians.

It renewed its unwavering support for all international efforts to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue based on international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Meanwhile, Israeli data revealed on Thursday that the far-right Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu had approved the construction of 13,000 units in the West Bank settlements during the past six months, double the number approved in 2020.

Netanyahu announced on Wednesday the expansion of the Eli settlement, north of Ramallah, with about 1,000 units.

During the final year of former US President Donald Trump’s term, work began on about 7,000 settlement units in the West Bank. It was considered a particularly successful year for settlement construction in the West Bank as the number of approved units crossed the 10,000 mark.

Despite President Joe Biden’s opposition, the current Israeli government has reached 13,000 approved units in just six months.

The government continues to implement its settlement campaigns despite international warnings, the latest of which was a statement by the UN head Antonio Guterres on Monday calling on Israel to stop its “disturbing decisions” related to settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

In a recent US-brokered agreement with the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli government agreed to avoid legalizing outposts in the West Bank for six months. 

Current Israeli ministers and former military commanders are calling on the Netanyahu government to launch a large-scale military operation in northern West Bank cities.

Avigdor Lieberman, former defense minister, said on Thursday: “Qassam (the military arm of Hamas) rockets will be launched toward settlements in the northern West Bank and Gush Dan from Jenin soon.

“Every sane person understands that the Palestinian organizations in the northern West Bank are working to obtain a missile capability, and it is only a matter of time before they will have dozens or perhaps hundreds of Qassam rockets at their disposal, as it started in the Gaza Strip.”

Lieberman demanded that the strikes be directed at the Gaza Strip, saying: “Those who want to eliminate the resistance in the West Bank should start from the Gaza Strip, and this means start targeting Hamas leaders.”

BEIRUT: France’s presidential envoy has told politicians in Lebanon that he will strive to help the country out of its presidential crisis but that solutions must “come from the Lebanese themselves.”

Jean-Yves Le Drian said during his two-day trip to Beirut that France did “not have any proposals” on how to get a president elected but that France would “always be there to support.”

His visit comes a week after parliament failed for the 12th time to elect a new head of state. It is now nearly eight months since Michel Aoun left the job with no replacement.

Hezbollah and the Amal movement support Sleiman Frangieh, while blocs representing Christians in parliament support former minister Jihad Azour. Neither side has been able to secure the majority to elect their candidate.

Le Drian’s second day in the country included meetings with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, opposition leader Samir Geagea of the Lebanese Forces, and Maronite Patriarch Beshara Boutros Al-Rahi.

Mikati’s office issued a stock statement after his meeting, stating that Lebanon’s government had completed the “required reform projects and signed a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund, and the approval of these projects in parliament gives impetus to the desired economic and social solutions.”

After meeting the Patriarch, Le Drian said: “I will communicate with all Lebanese parties to find a way out of the crisis, and I will strive to establish an agenda of reforms that provides hope for Lebanon to overcome its crisis.

“I will listen to everyone, and this visit will be followed by another to find a way out of the impasse.”

Le Drian arrived in Beirut on Wednesday to warnings by some Lebanese politicians, including Geagea, not to interfere in the country’s affairs and amid Hezbollah’s claims that France wanted its preferred candidate in the presidential palace. 

Geagea described his meeting on Thursday with the envoy as “exploratory.” 

“With all due respect for France, we do not want its intervention, nor do we want Iran’s intervention,” he said. “We want a sovereign internal decision. We only want to elect a president.”

The issue of the presidential vacuum requires 128 MPs, and not international intervention, Geagea said after the talks.

Reformist MP Melhem Khalaf  said that Lebanese officials needed to think rationally and solve the impasse before foreign parties started interfering in Lebanese affairs again.