Four other people were also killed, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Saturday. The identities of these victims were not initially known.
According to reports, those killed were also militants from the Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas. The Israeli military said it had carried out an air strike on an extremist cell near the town of Tulkarem.
The city, which lies on the northern West Bank border with Israel, is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians. According to Hamas media, a vehicle carrying fighters was hit and one of the commanders of the Qassam Brigades in Tulkarem was killed.
Situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly
The situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the start of the Gaza war following the major Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Since then, 574 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or attacks in the West Bank, according to the Ministry of Health. Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians also increased during this period.
Israel conquered and occupied the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967. Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip in 2005, but controls the land, air and sea borders. In 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian Authority, led by the moderate Fatah party under President Mahmoud Abbas, is still in power in the West Bank. The Palestinians claim all three of these territories for their own state.
This article was updated at 10:50 am.
