Israel Nine Palestinians killed in fighting in Tulkarem
Nine Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Tulkarem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to both sides. Among the victims of the first drone attack was a local commander of the Kassam Brigades, the armed arm of the Islamist Hamas.
03.08.2024, 14:28
SDA
The other four bodies could not initially be identified. According to reports, those killed were also militants from the ranks of the Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Hamas.
The Israeli military announced that it had fired on a vehicle. The target of the attack was a "terror cell" active in the Tulkarem area. The five men were reportedly on their way to carry out a terrorist attack.
A short time later, the military reportedly returned to Tulkarem. When it came under fire, an air force attack killed four militants. The Palestinian news agency Wafa confirmed the deaths of four Palestinians in the clash.
Tulkarem is located on the northern West Bank border with Israel and is considered a stronghold of Palestinian militants, and the situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the start of the Gaza war following the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023. Since then, 578 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or their own attacks in the West Bank, according to the Ministry of Health. Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians also increased during this period.
Israel had conquered and occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. Although Israel vacated the Gaza Strip in 2005, it still controls land, air and sea borders. The Palestinians claim these territories for their own state.
