Ukraine launches major push against Russian forces–officials and analysts

By Hanna Arhirova

The Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine—Ukraine has launched a major push to dislodge Russian forces from the country’s southeast as part of its weekslong counteroffensive, committing thousands of troops to the battle, according to Western and Ukrainian officials and analysts.

The surge in troops and firepower has been centered on the region of Zaporizhzhia, a Western official said late Wednesday.

The official was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Fighting has intensified in recent weeks at multiple points along the

1,500-kilometer (930-mile) front line as Ukraine deploys Western-supplied advanced weapons and Westerntrained troops against the deeply entrenched Russian forces who invaded 17 months ago.

Ukrainian officials have been mostly silent about battlefield developments since they began early counteroffensive operations, though Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said troops are advancing toward the city of Melitopol in the Zaporizhizhia region.

Though that movement could be a tactical feint, and both governments have used disinformation to gain battlefield advantages, such a maneuver would be in line with what some analysts had predicted.

They envisioned a counteroffensive that would try to punch through the land corridor between Russia and the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula, moving towards Melitopol, which is close to the coast of the Azov Sea.

That could split Russian forces into two halves and cut off supply lines to the units that are located further to the west.

The intense fighting is taking place in areas in the south and east of Ukraine, far from the capital Kyiv, and it was not possible to verify either side’s claims.

The Institute of Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, reported that Ukrainian forces launched “a significant mechanized counteroffensive operation in western Zaporizhzhia region” on Wednesday, adding that they “appear to have broken through certain pre-prepared Russian defensive positions.”

It cited Russian sources, including the Russian Ministry of Defense and several prominent Russian military bloggers. US officials, who have provided Kyiv with weapons and intelligence, declined to comment on the latest developments, though they have previously urged patience as Ukraine seeks to grind down the deep Russian defenses featuring minefields, trenches and anti-tank obstacles.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said during a visit to Papua New Guinea that Kyiv’s effort to retake land seized by Russia since its February 2022 fullscale invasion would be “tough” and “long,” with successes and setbacks.

Army fire kills 14-year-old, Palestinians say, as Israeli minister visits flashpoint holy site

By Tia Goldenberg & Isaac Scharf

The Associated Press

JERUSALEM—Israeli military fire killed a 14-year-old Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said Thursday, as an extremist Israeli Cabinet minister visited a sensitive Jerusalem holy site that has been a frequent flashpoint for violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

Itamar Ben-Gvir’s visit to the disputed hilltop compound comes as Israel and the Palestinians are locked in a year-and-a-half long bout of fighting and could enflame already surging tensions. It also drew condemnation from neighboring Jordan and from Palestinians who view such visits as provocative. The site is revered by Jews and Muslims, and the competing claims lie at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Early Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said 14-year-old Fares

Sharhabil Abu Samra was killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank town of Qalqilya.

The Israeli military said Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs at troops, who responded by firing into the air. It said the incident was being reviewed.

Ben-Gvir was joining what will likely to be hundreds of Jews visiting the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to mark the Jewish holiday of Tisha B’Av, a day of mourning and repentance when Jews reflect on the destruction of the First and Second Temples, key events in Jewish history.

“This is the most important place for the people of Israel which we must return to and show our rule,” Ben-Gvir said in a video released by his office, with the golden Dome of the Rock in the background.

The Palestinian Authority’s Jerusalem Affairs Ministry warned that the government and extremists like Ben-Gvir would “push things toward religious war” by “provoking the feelings of Muslims all over the world.” The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it considered Ben-Gvir’s visit to the sacred compound as an attempt to impose Israeli sovereignty over the site.

Jordan, which acts as a custodian over the site and has a peace agreement with Israel, said such visits along with other Israeli steps in Jerusalem “threaten to trigger new cycles of violence.”

Ben-Gvir, a former West Bank settler leader and far-right activist who years ago was convicted of incitement and supporting a Jewish terror group, now serves as Israel’s national security minister, overseeing the country’s police force.

Thursday was Ben-Gvir’s third known visit to the contested site since becoming a minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government. The site, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism, where the biblical Temples once stood. Today, it is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the thirdholiest site in Islam.

Police said they had arrested or detained 16 people for violating “visitation regulations” at the site. Under longstanding arrangements, Jews are permitted to visit the site, but not to pray there. But in recent years, a growing number of Jewish visitors have begun to quietly pray, raising fears among Palestinians that Israel is plotting to divide or take over the site. Ben-Gvir has long called for increased Jewish access. His visit could enflame already surging tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, who have been engaged in months of fighting that have sparked the worst violence in nearly two decades in the West Bank.

Since early last year, Israel has been staging near-nightly raids into Palestinian areas, which it says are meant to stamp out militancy and thwart future attacks. More than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting this year, according to a tally by TheAssociatedPress.

Goldenberg reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem and Omar Akour in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said “an intense battle” is taking place but declined to provide details.

“We believe that tools, the equipment, the training, the advice that many of us have shared with Ukrainians over many months put them in good position to be successful on the ground in recovering more of the territory that Russia has taken from Ukraine,” Blinken said during a visit to New Zealand.

Aamer Madhani in Washington D.C., Rod McGuirk in Canberra, Australia and Nick Perry in Wellington, New Zealand contributed.