Middle East conflict
Israel: Ten dead in fighting in the West Bank
Smoke rises over the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank after an explosion following an Israeli attack. photo
© Majdi Mohammed/AP/dpa
The situation is escalating in the West Bank. At least ten Palestinians die in clashes between Israeli security forces and gunmen. Israeli soldiers are also injured.
The Israeli army and border police have taken part in a major military operation The West Bank says at least ten gunmen were killed. An army spokesman said eight Israeli soldiers and a member of the covert Jamas special unit of the Magaw border police were also injured in fighting in the Nur Schams refugee camp in Tulkarem. The emergency services were shot at and attacked with explosive devices.
Palestinian media and the Palestinian Ministry of Health had previously reported two deaths and seven injuries in the military operation that began the day before. However, there is hardly any information from the sealed-off city, where the internet is also switched off, reported the Palestinian news agency Wafa. The information provided by both sides could not initially be independently verified.
According to the army, a total of eight wanted suspects were arrested, explosive devices were defused and numerous buildings were searched. In addition, an explosives workshop was destroyed and numerous weapons were confiscated, including pistols and M16 assault rifles.
According to reports from Palestinian media that were initially not officially confirmed, the local commander of the Palestinian terrorist organization Islamic Jihad, Mohammed Jaber, was among those killed. Palestinian media reported that the army caused severe damage to roads, water and power lines and destroyed numerous residential buildings during its operation.
Situation in the West Bank worsened
The situation in the West Bank has deteriorated significantly since the start of the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip on October 7th. According to the Ministry of Health, almost 450 Palestinians have since been killed in the West Bank alone. Most of them died in Israeli military operations. Some were also killed in their own attacks on Israelis.
Israel conquered, among other things, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967. The Palestinians claim the areas for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Israeli army also continued its fight against the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. After a rocket attack on the Israeli town of Sderot on Friday, the launch pad in the town of Beit Hanun in the Gaza Strip was bombed, the army said. Dozens of air strikes were also carried out on terrorist targets in other parts of the Gaza Strip. There were several air alarms in northern Israel on the border with Lebanon, indicating a possible attack by the Shiite militia Hezbollah, which is allied with Iran.