TULKAREM, West Bank (AP) — The Israeli military said it killed five more militants, including a local commander, early Thursday in the West Bank as it pressed ahead with what appeared to be the deadliest military operation in the occupied territory since the start of the war in Gaza.
Israel says the simultaneous raids across the northern West Bank — which have killed a total of 16 people, nearly all militants, since late Tuesday — are aimed at preventing attacks.
The Palestinians see them as a widening of the Israel-Hamas war aimed at perpetuating Israel’s decades-long military rule over the territory.
Israel launched a large-scale operation in the West Bank overnight into Wednesday.
The overall toll of 16 killed in less than two days would make it the deadliest Israeli operation in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there.
The Palestinian Health Ministry says over 650 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the war.
Israel says the operations are required to prevent attacks on its citizens, which have also risen since the start of the war.
Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state.
The 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering towns and cities.
Hamas repeated its calls for Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up, calling the raids part of a larger plan to expand the war in Gaza.
TULKAREM, West Bank (AP) — As it advanced on what looked to be the bloodiest military operation in the occupied territory since the commencement of the war in Gaza, the Israeli military said it had killed five more militants early on Thursday in the West Bank, among them a local commander.
Since late Tuesday, 16 people, almost all of them militants, have died as a result of simultaneous raids across the northern West Bank, which Israel claims are intended to avert further attacks. Seeking to maintain Israel’s military rule over the territory for decades, the Palestinians view them as an extension of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Abu Shujaa, also known as Mohammed Jaber, was slain during a raid in the city of Tulkarem, according to the militant Islamic Jihad group. Earlier in the year, after he was reportedly killed in an Israeli operation, he emerged as a hero to many Palestinians when he unexpectedly showed up at the funeral of fellow militants and was lifted up onto the shoulders of a jubilant crowd.
The military said that he was shot and killed early on Thursday morning along with four other militants who had hidden inside a mosque and engaged Israeli forces in gunfire. There was a deadly shooting incident in June, among other attacks on Israelis, that were allegedly planned by Abu Shujaa.
The Israeli military reported that a paramilitary Border Police member had suffered minor injuries and that another militant had been apprehended during the Tulkarem operation.
Overnight into Wednesday, Israel began a massive operation in the West Bank. Hamas claimed that ten of its fighters had died in various places, and the Palestinian Health Ministry announced the death of an 11th person without specifying if the person was a combatant or a civilian.
With 16 deaths in less than two days, the Israeli operation in the West Bank would have been the deadliest since Hamas’ October. The conflict in Gaza was started by an attack on July 7.
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, since the conflict began, more than 650 Palestinians have lost their lives in the West Bank. While civilian bystanders and rock-throwing protesters have also died, and settler violence in the area has increased, the majority of the deaths appear to have been militants slain in gunbattles during Israeli operations like the one this week. According to Israel, the operations are necessary to stop the increasing number of attacks on its citizens that have occurred since the war began.
During the 1967 Mideast War, Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem; the Palestinians want all three of these areas for their future state.
The Palestinian Authority, which receives support from the West, rules towns and cities for the 3 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank under what appears to be unrestricted Israeli military rule. Many hundred settlements across the territory, which are deemed illegal by the majority of the international community, are home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers who hold Israeli citizenship.
The raids have primarily targeted camps housing refugees from the 1948 war that preceded Israel’s establishment, during which approximately 700,000 Palestinians were forced to flee or were driven from what is now Israel. Strongholds for militants, many of the camps are.
Calling the raids a component of a larger scheme to prolong the conflict in Gaza, Hamas reiterated its appeal for Palestinians living in the West Bank to rebel. The militant organization has urged security personnel who support the Palestinian Authority, which receives support from the West and works with Israel, to “join the sacred battle of our people.”. “.
The Israeli raids have also been denounced by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, though his forces were not anticipated to intervene.
When militants led by Hamas swept through army bases and farming communities in southern Israel, they killed about 1,200 people—mostly civilians—and kidnapped about 250 more, sparking the start of the Gaza War. A third of the 108 hostages that the militants still hold are thought to be dead. The majority of the other hostages were freed during a cease-fire that was in place in November.
Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that over 40,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s offensive, though it is unclear how many of those deaths were from militant attacks. Many times over, Israeli bombardment and ground operations have caused enormous destruction, and about 90% of Gaza’s population has been forced to flee their homes.
A cease-fire that would result in the release of the remaining hostages has been mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt for several months. But despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration of “total victory” over Hamas and the militant group’s demands for an ongoing cease-fire and a complete evacuation of the region, the negotiations have repeatedly broken down.
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