Deployment in the West Bank
Israeli army kills four Hamas members
May 4, 2024, 11:25 p.m
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The war in Gaza is spreading to the West Bank: During a twelve-hour anti-terror operation, the Israeli army kills four Palestinians who are believed to belong to the armed wing of Hamas. Another suspected terrorist is arrested. Drones are also used.
Four Palestinians were killed and a police officer injured in an anti-terror operation by Israeli security forces in the West Bank. A terror suspect had been arrested, it was said late in the evening – after there had initially been talk of five deaths. During a 12-hour operation north of the city of Turkam, soldiers and police surrounded a house where suspected terrorist cell members were staying, a police spokesman said. After shots were fired from the building, the security forces returned fire with various weapon systems. The house was also attacked twice by an Israeli drone.
Military equipment and weapon parts were confiscated in the building, it said. According to Israeli information, the victims were members of the Al-Kassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist Hamas. They are said to have killed one soldier and injured another in an attack in April. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank said two of the five victims were members of the al-Qassam Brigades.
473 Palestinians killed since Hamas massacre
There has been an increasing number of attacks by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in recent years. Since the beginning of the Gaza war after the Hamas massacre, the situation has become even more acute. According to the Health Ministry, at least 473 Palestinians have since been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or their own attacks in the West Bank. At the same time, there was also increased violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
The war in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the attack on Israel on October 7th by Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA and the EU. At that time, the Islamist fighters attacked Israeli towns and, according to Israeli information, killed around 1,170 people. They also kidnapped around 250 people as hostages to the Gaza Strip.