Israeli troops leave West Bank's nin with Gaza talks deadlocked

Israeli forces appeared to be winding down a deadly 10-day raid in a flashpoint city in the occupied West Bank on Sept 6, as key ally Germany warned against treating the territory like Gaza.

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• There was no official confirmation from the Israeli military that it had withdrawn from Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian armed groups, but AFP journalists reported residents returning to the city following the fighting.

The reported pullout came with Israel at loggerheads with its main ally the United States over talks aimed at forging a truce in the Gaza war, now nearly in its 12th month.

On Sept 5, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged both Israel and Hamas to finalise a truce deal, saying: "I think based on what I have seen, 90 per cent is agreed." But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied this in an interview with Fox News, saying: "It is not close." Washington, along with fellow mediators in the talks Qatar and Egypt, has been pushing a proposal to bridge gaps between both sides which trade blame for the failure to reach a deal.

Mr Netanyahu insists on an Israeli military presence on the border between Gaza and Egypt along the so-called Philadelphi Corridor.

Hamas is demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal, saying it agreed months ago to a truce agreement outlined by US President Joe Biden.

In Israel on Sept 6, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that "a purely military approach is no solution to the situation in Gaza", referring to the recovery of six more dead hostages announced on Sept 1.

She also warned against calls by hardline right-wing members of Israel's Cabinet for the military to take a similar approach to the West Bank as in Gaza.