Israel-Hamas war: ‘I stopped counting after the ninth person was shot in front of us’
I stopped counting after the ninth person was shot in front of us on another day of protests in the West Bank.
It was clearly a tactic by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) to send a message – to the usual suspects who regularly hurl rocks at their vehicles and security posts – that today they weren’t going to mess around.
Even as we pulled up and put our protective equipment on, I could hear the first rounds being fired.
At that stage the road was pretty empty, there were just a few youngsters getting ready for the almost daily theatre of rock throwing followed by live fire shooting.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Israeli snipers in West Bank
The most remarkable thing to me – and I’ve reported on riots and violent protests all over the world for decades – is that everyone getting ready for this exchange of rocks and bullets knows exactly what is going to happen.
Israel-Gaza latest: Mother and daughter released by Hamas
The teenagers will set tyres on fire and use slings to throw stones, and the IDF will shoot them.
Today it was mainly in the legs – on other days it’s been in the head and the chest.
I just cannot understand why anyone thinks risking one’s life to throw a stone that mainly can’t, and certainly won’t reach the target, is a good idea.
But they do, I’ve watched them, and they have done this for generations.
I very much doubt there is a better example of the cycle of violence that has overwhelmed the Middle East for decades.
And how so often it is utterly futile, and unproductive.
My cameraman Toby Nash filmed as three youths used the burnt-out hulk of a truck for cover – and to get a better angle to hurl stones.
They go forward, a sniper shoots. The injured man is helped away from the firing line, and an ambulance screeches in to pick him up.
We then watch on as another teenager at the front takes another tyre to make more smoke to cover their movements.
A man takes cover
He skips as he crosses back, trying to outwit the snipers.
What he doesn’t know is they have another target, who had come forward from another angle.
But he didn’t get very far, he too was shot.
The ambulance crews move in.
Across the road people take cover at a petrol station, it’s where dozens come to watch all this, often with their children.
Suddenly another round is fired – this time two or three people are hit by the sniper, with the same bullet.
They weren’t even throwing stones; they were just standing watching.
Away from the violence at the check point, the streets of Ramallah echoed with echo the chants of people protesting against the actions of Israel here and in Gaza.
Two boys protesting attacks on civilians
Read more:
Instagram apologises for inserting ‘terrorist’ into Palestinian profiles
US warship shoots down missiles ‘potentially’ heading for Israel
Biden says Putin and Hamas want to ‘annihilate’ neighbouring democracies
They’re also protesting against the countries who have given their support to Israel.
The United States and Britain are at the top of the list.
I met Palestinian activist Jamal Jomaa in the crowd. He told me this has been going on too long.
“Since 75 years we are fighting for our simple rights, like any other people in the world to have, to live in peace in our state and we didn’t find this.
“Now it’s ended up like this and it’s supported by Americans, Europeans, this is unacceptable for Palestinians,” he said.
Palestinian activist Jamal Jomaa
He continued: “You hear the people here – it’s become more clear our enemy is not just Israel, our enemy is the United States government, not people, we are appreciating every single voice that came out, especially Jewish voice for peace and all these Jewish voices standing up and saying don’t do this massacre in our names.
“These are our allies, these are the people we are allies with, not with Biden and his racist government, not with Sunak. All of them came to support genocide in Gaza. This is a shame, they should feel ashamed of themselves.”
The city centre came to a standstill. Men, women and children joined the procession as it made its way through the streets.
Many here believe Israeli soldiers will move into Gaza; all acknowledge it will lead to more violence both here in the West Bank and further afield.
A man and young boy wear matching patriotic T-shirts in the West Bank
A solution is desperately needed.
Also in the crowd is Bassam Al-Salhi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
He told me he has concerns that Israel is committing war crimes with the full support of the US, UK, France, and “all countries who came to support Israel in their war against Palestinians”.
“What we need from all of the people now is to stop this aggression against Palestinians and go through a serious process to end the occupation and implement United Nations resolutions,” he said.
The cycle of protest and violence continues. The flaming anger of Palestinians in the Arab world is burning brighter by the day.
The make-up of the crowd is always interesting – at the front there are men, in the middle there are families, and then, having decided to walk together, are groups of women.
A female protester speaks to Sky’s Stuart Ramsay
Among them was a woman who didn’t want to be named, but she agreed to speak to me about her fears.
Her anger was so passionate – and to me represented the ordinary Palestinians who aren’t involved in politics or armed resistance.
“I’ve lived all my life under occupation, now I am fearful for my children, for my co-workers,” she told me.
“I mean, this government has all the Palestinians, five million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, under its complete control. We are civilians, and they have the best weapons in the world to do whatever they want.”
World
Trump criticises Putin after potentially ‘historic’ meeting with Zelenskyy before Pope’s funeral
Donald Trump has criticised Vladimir Putin and suggested a shift in his stance towards the Russian president after a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy before the Pope’s funeral.
The Ukrainian president said the one-on-one talks could prove to be “historic” after pictures showed him sitting opposite Mr Trump, around two feet apart, in the large marble hall inside St Peter’s Basilica.
The US president said he doubted his Russian counterpart’s willingness to end the war after leaving Rome after the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican.
Follow live updates: 200,000 mourn at Vatican
In a post on his Truth Social platform, he said “there was no reason” for the Russian president “to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days”.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
He added: “It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along, and has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’ Too many people are dying!!!”
The meeting between the US and Ukrainian leaders was their first face-to-face encounter since a very public row in the Oval Office in February.
Mr Zelenskyy said he had a good meeting with Mr Trump in which they talked about the defence of the Ukrainian people, a full and unconditional ceasefire, and a durable and lasting peace that would prevent the war restarting.
Other images released by the Ukrainian president’s office show Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were present for part of the talks, which were described as “positive” by the French presidency.
Mr Zelenskyy‘s spokesman said the meeting lasted for around 15 minutes and he and Mr Trump had agreed to hold further discussions later on Saturday.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Basilica
But the US president left Rome for Washington on Air Force One soon after the funeral without any other talks having taken place.
The Ukrainian president’s office said there was no second meeting in Rome because of the tight schedule of both leaders, although he had separate discussions with Mr Starmer and Mr Macron.
The French president said in a post on X “Ukraine is ready for an unconditional ceasefire” and that a so-called coalition of the willing, led by the UK and France, would continue working to achieve a lasting peace.
There was applause from some of the other world leaders in attendance at the Vatican when Mr Zelenskyy walked out of St Peter’s Basilica after stopping in front of the pontiff’s coffin to pay his respects.
Donald Trump and the Ukrainian president met for the first time since their Oval Office row. Pic: Reuters
Sir Tony Brenton, the former British ambassador to Russia, said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and the Ukrainian leader.
He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine.
Professor Father Francesco Giordano told Sky News the meeting is being called “Pope Francis’s miracle” by members of the clergy, adding: “There’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”
The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Mr Putin at the Kremlin.
They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.
Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.
He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.
Meanwhile, the Polish armed forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening.
“The nature of the incident indicates that Russia is testing the readiness of our air defence systems,” they said in a post on X.
On an extraordinary day, remarkable pictures on the margins that capture what may be a turning point for the world.
In a corner of St Peter’s Basilica before the funeral of Pope Francis, the leaders of America and Ukraine sit facing each other in two solitary chairs.
They look like confessor and sinner except we cannot tell which one is which.
Leaning forward hands together in their laps, Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy stare at each other in one photo.
In another, the Ukrainian president seems to be remonstrating with the US president. This is their first encounter since their infamous bust-up in the Oval Office.
The two leaders held talks before attending the Pope’s funeral
Other pictures show the moment their French and British counterparts introduced the two men. There is a palpable sense of nervousness in the way the leaders engage.
We do not know what the two presidents said in their brief meeting.
But in the mind of the Ukrainian leader will be the knowledge President Trump has this week said America will reward Russia for its unprovoked brutal invasion of his country, under any peace deal.
Mr Trump has presented Ukraine and Russia with a proposal and ultimatum so one-sided it could have been written in the Kremlin.
Kyiv must surrender the land Russia has taken by force, Crimea forever, the rest at least for now. And it must submit to an act of extortion, a proposed deal that would hand over half its mineral wealth effectively to America.
The world leaders shared a moment before the service
Afterwards, Zelenskyy said it had been a good meeting that could turn out to be historic “if we reach results together”.
They had talked, he said, about the defence of Ukraine, a full and unconditional ceasefire and a durable and lasting peace that will prevent a war restarting.
The Trump peace proposal includes only unspecified security guarantees for Ukraine from countries that do not include the US. It rules out any membership of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s allies are watching closely to see if Mr Trump will apply any pressure on Vladimir Putin, let alone punish him for recent bloody attacks on Ukraine.
Or will he simply walk away if the proposal fails, blaming Ukrainian intransigence, however outrageously, before moving onto a rapprochement with Moscow.
If he does, America’s role as guarantor of international security will be seen effectively as over.
This could be the week we see the world order as we have known it since the end of the Second World War buried, as well as a pope.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway