Israeli airstrikes kill nine in West Bank, including a Hamas commander
World
Israeli airstrikes kill nine in West Bank, including a Hamas commander
RAMALLAH/CAIRO (Reuters) - An Israeli airstrike in the occupied West Bank killed a Hamas commander and four Islamic Jihad fighters on Saturday, the militant groups' media reported, and the Israeli military said it had killed four more gunmen in a separate strike.
The Israeli military said the first airstrike hit a vehicle in a town near the city of Tulkarm, targeting a militant cell it said was on its way to carry out an attack. A Hamas media outlet said a vehicle carrying fighters had been struck and that one of those killed was a commander of its Tulkarm brigades.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups claimed the other four men as its fighters.
Hours later, a second strike targeted another group of armed militants who had fired on troops, Israel's military said, 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 WAFA said four people died in the second. It said their identities were not immediately clear.
Violence in the West Bank was on the rise before the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and has risen since, with frequent Israeli raids in the territory, which is among those that the Palestinians seek for a state.
There has also been an increase in anti-Israeli street attacks by Palestinians.
GAZA STRIKES
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli airstrikes killed six people in a house in the southern area of Rafah on Saturday and two others in Gaza City, further north, Gaza health officials said.
At least 31 Palestinians were killed across the enclave on Saturday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
