Israeli airstrikes in West Bank kill nine, including Hamas commander
Reuters Videos
STORY: An Israeli airstrike in the occupied West Bank killed a Hamas commander and four Islamic Jihad fighters on Saturday, the militant groups' media said. And the Israeli military said it had also killed four more gunmen in a separate strike. The Israeli military said the first airstrike hit a vehicle near the city of Tulkarm, targeting a militant cell it said was on its way to carry out an attack. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups claimed the other four men involved there as its fighters. Hours later, a second Israeli strike targeted another group of armed militants, who Israel's military says, had fired on troops. It added that forces had killed four more gunmen in that strike, during what it described as a counter-terrorism operation in Tulkarm. The Palestinian Health Ministry said five men had been killed in the first strike and news agency WAFA said four people died in the second. Violence in the West Bank was rising before the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began on October 7 - and it has continued to do so. Israel's military regularly undertake raids in the territory, claimed by Palestinians as part of a future state. Region-wide tensions soared this week, after Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran on Wednesday. Hamas and Iran both accused Israel of carrying out his assassination and pledged to retaliate. Israel neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the incident. Haniyeh's death is one in a series of recent killings of senior Hamas figures, as the war in Gaza between the Palestinian militants and Israel rolls towards its 11th month. On Thursday, Israel's military said it killed the head of Hamas' military wing, Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike on Gaza last month. Hamas has not confirmed or denied his death.
4 hours ago
