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Hurricane Fausto strengthens into Category 2 storm, expected to approach Hawaiian Islands next week

News

Hurricane Fausto strengthens into Category 2 storm, expected to approach Hawaiian Islands next week
News

News

Hurricane Fausto strengthens into Category 2 storm, expected to approach Hawaiian Islands next week

2026-07-24 19:25 Last Updated At:19:40

MIAMI (AP) — Hurricane Fausto has strengthened into a Category 2 storm in the Pacific Ocean and is expected to approach the Hawaiian Islands next week, forecasters said.

The risk of some impacts from wind and rainfall in the area is increasing, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said Friday, but it's too soon to determine the exact location or potential magnitude.

Fausto was far from land, about 1,300 miles (2,090 kilometers) west of the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula of Mexico and about 1,600 miles (2,575 kilometers) east of Hilo, Hawaii. Maximum sustained winds were around 100 mph (161 kph).

The hurricane center said swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tides in parts of southern California.

Fausto has been churning in the Pacific while Tropical Storm Bertha moved along the Gulf Coast. Bertha brought heavy surf and some flooding to southern Louisiana and Texas as it came ashore for a second time Thursday. By late that evening, the hurricane center declared Bertha had dissipated.

This NOAA satellite image taken Friday, July 24, 2026, shows Hurricane Fausto moving in the Pacific Ocean. (NOAA via AP)

This NOAA satellite image taken Friday, July 24, 2026, shows Hurricane Fausto moving in the Pacific Ocean. (NOAA via AP)

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military shot and killed four Palestinians in the village of Tell in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said Friday, raising tensions in the occupied territory after an Israeli settler was killed in a confrontation with local residents.

Two other Israelis and four more Palestinians were wounded, health officials said, and the Israeli military announced it was preparing for an “extensive” counterterror operation in the West Bank.

The exact circumstances of the incident remained unclear. But Israeli media reports and interviews with local Palestinian officials suggested a group of settlers entered Tell on Friday morning and were confronted by residents who were fearful of an attack.

According to the Israeli military, one of the residents took one of the settlers' weapons and fired on the group, killing Benayahu Mellet, 32, a security guard in a settlement nearby.

In a video of the incident, confirmed by the Israeli military and circulated online by the military correspondent for Israel's Army Radio, two armed men in civilian clothing, as well as at least one Israeli soldier, are shown pointing their weapons at a group of Palestinians who had gathered in a field.

At one point, the two armed men rush toward several Palestinian residents with their guns drawn. In the footage, the residents try to push them back and appear to disarm one of the men before opening fire.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it killed the man who took the settler's weapon and that he was armed when soldiers shot him. But a separate video, published by Israeli media outlets and confirmed by the military, showed Israeli forces firing on a group of Palestinians in the same field who were already on the ground.

More than a dozen gunshots can be heard in the footage, which is less than a minute long. The military said the suspect was one of the people killed in the field. It did not respond to questions about why soldiers killed the other men — all of whom were related — or how long after the original altercation the killings took place.

Later, army chief Eyal Zamir said he was sending more troops to the occupied West Bank, where soldiers have encircled Tell and the nearby city of Nablus.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said Israel would “act forcefully” following the incident.

People mourn as the bodies of four Palestinians who, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, were killed by Israeli forces near the village of Tell, arrive at Nablus Speciality Hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

People mourn as the bodies of four Palestinians who, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, were killed by Israeli forces near the village of Tell, arrive at Nablus Speciality Hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

People mourn over the body of Jawad Ramadan, who, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, was killed by Israeli forces near the village of Tell, after his body was brought to Nablus Speciality Hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

People mourn over the body of Jawad Ramadan, who, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, was killed by Israeli forces near the village of Tell, after his body was brought to Nablus Speciality Hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus, Friday, July 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

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