RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – An Israeli air strike on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank killed a commander of the Palestinian militant group Hamas on Saturday, Hamas media reported, while Palestinian news agency WAFA said four other men were also killed.
The identities of the other people were unclear, according to the WAFA report, which cited health officials.
The Israeli army announced that it had carried out an airstrike against a militant cell in the West Bank region of Tulkarm. According to Hamas media, a vehicle carrying militants was hit and one of the commanders of its Tulkarm Brigades was killed.
Violence in the West Bank was on the rise before the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7 and has intensified since then, with frequent Israeli raids on the territory, which is among those on which the Palestinians seek to establish a state.
Regional tensions escalated this week following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyehin Tehran on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah’s top military commander, Fuad Shukr.
Haniyeh’s death is part of a series of assassinations of senior Hamas officials as the war in Gaza between Palestinian militants and Israel approaches its 11th month and concerns grow that the conflict is spreading across the Middle East.
Hamas and Iran have both accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and vowed to retaliate against their enemy. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the assassination.
Hezbollah, like Hamas, is backed by Iran and has also vowed revenge.
(Reporting by Alli Sawafta and Maayan Lubell; editing by William Mallard)
