By Abubakar Yunusa
Israeli strikes Wednesday killed eight Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and Red Crescent said separately, with the Israeli military confirming air raids in two locations.
The military said in a statement that its forces were engaged in a “counter-terrorism operation” in the northern West Bank’s Tubas area and later carried out a separate strike on Tulkarem, both targeted in major Israeli raids last month.
In Tubas, a witness told AFP that Israeli forces were “storming the city” and the nearby town of Tamun early on Wednesday.
The army reported exchanges of fire and an air strike that hit five militants who “posed a threat” to troops.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said five people were killed “as a result of Israeli air strikes” in Tubas, with spokesman Ahmed Jibril telling AFP the drone fire hit near a mosque around dawn.
The military said an Israeli aircraft “struck and eliminated a terrorist cell consisting of five terrorists armed with explosives who posed a threat to the forces”.
It added that during the raid, several suspects were apprehended and a vehicle rigged with explosives was dismantled.
At the end of August, Israel launched a large-scale “counter-terrorism” offensive that left widespread destruction across the northern West Bank, including in the Tubas area.
An Israeli air strike last week in Tubas also killed five people, Palestinian medics said at the time, with the military announcing it had targeted “armed terrorists” including a local militant leader.
Later on Wednesday, the Palestinian health ministry reported three killed near Tulkarem city “as a result of an Israeli air strike on a vehicle”, saying the bodies had been taken to a local hospital. The Red Crescent gave the same toll.
The Israeli military said its air force had “conducted an aerial strike during the counter-terrorism operation” in Tulkarem, without elaborating on its target or reporting casualties.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and has ramped up deadly raids in the territory since Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, at least 665 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by the Israeli military or settlers since October 7.
At least 24 Israelis, including security forces, have been killed in Palestinian attacks in the territory during the same period, according to Israeli officials.