Israel rebuffs US call for West Bank tactics review

Israel signalled opposition on Wednesday to US calls to review rules of engagement in the occupied West Bank as it pressed on with a near-daily series of operations in the area in which dozens of Palestinians have been killed.

"No one will dictate our rules of engagement to us, when we are the ones fighting for our lives," Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said at a military ceremony in Haifa, echoing earlier remarks by Defence Minister Benny Gantz.

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The State Department said on Tuesday that Washington will urge Israel to review rules of engagement practices after its military concluded that Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was likely shot unintentionally by an Israeli soldier.

The Palestinians have accused Israel of deliberately targeting Abu Akleh, who was killed on May 11 while covering an Israeli raid in the Palestinian militant stronghold city Jenin. Israel denies this.

Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh

"Israel has expressed sorrow over the journalist's death. It was a tragedy that transpired in an incident in which there was heavy enemy fire ... The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) never intentionally shoots at innocent people," Lapid said.

Israel has stepped up its incursions into the West Bank since a wave of deadly Palestinian street attacks in Israeli cities. In the latest such raid, on Wednesday, Israeli troops killed a member of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

As part of near-nightly security sweeps, the army carried out arrests and searches in several locations, including the village of Tubas, where it said an improvised explosive device was thrown and shots were fired at soldiers, who returned fire.

Reuters