https://arab.news/pcafz
- "After the strike that killed the child (Sadi), an Israeli drone strike hit a car in Qabatiya and killed two youths," Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP
RAMALLAH: The Israeli army said Sunday that it had killed several Palestinians in three air strikes the previous day in the occupied West Bank, where a new operation was underway around the village of Tamun.
Eyewitnesses reported a “large” deployment of Israeli forces around Tubas and Tamun, the scene of recent violence.
An AFP journalist said the army was blocking the exits of the nearby Faraa refugee camp and entering homes. Drones were also visible in the sky.
The army said early on Sunday that a “tactical group” had begun operations around Tamun and uncovered weapons.
It added it was “extending the counterterrorism operation... to five villages.”
The day before, the air force “struck and eliminated a terrorist cell on its way to carry out an imminent terrorist attack” in Qabatiya the day before, the military said.
“After the strike, secondary explosions due to explosives that were inside the vehicle were identified,” it added.
The military said one of those killed had been released from Israeli detention in 2023 as part of the first truce in the Gaza war.
It also reported conducting two strikes in Jenin on Saturday.
The Palestinian health ministry said five people were killed by the army in separate strikes in Jenin.
16-year-old Ahmad al-Sadi was killed and two other people were critically wounded, the ministry said.
A second strike targeted a car, killing two people in the nearby town of Qabatiya, the ministry said, while a third killed two people in central Jenin.
“After the strike that killed the child (Sadi), an Israeli drone strike hit a car in Qabatiya and killed two youths,” Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP.
“Minutes later another drone strike in Jenin killed two more youths who were on a motorcycle.”
The Israeli military confirmed it struck a car in the Qabatiya area.
“As part of the counterterrorism operation in northern Samaria (the far north of the West Bank), an Israeli Air Force aircraft... struck a vehicle with terrorists inside in the area of Qabatiya," it said.
When asked about the strike that killed Sadi, the military told AFP that the air force "struck armed terrorists in the Jenin area".
Last month, the Israeli military launched an assault dubbed “Iron Wall” aimed at rooting out Palestinian militant groups from the Jenin area of the West Bank.
Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp have long been a hotbed of Palestinian militancy and violence there and across the territory has soared since the Gaza war broke out in 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 881 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 30 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
On Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces had killed two Palestinians in Jenin after the military announced a soldier had also been killed.