Israel said that two top Hamas terrorists were responsible for the death of an Israeli and that it had killed them in an airstrike on their car in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, on Saturday.
The militants were named as Ahmed Abu Ara and Rafet Dawasi, who both came from the northern West Bank region near Jenin, in a joint statement released by the Israel Security Agency and the Israel Defense Forces.
Hamas’ military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, released a statement expressing its condolences for the two fighters who lost their lives in an Israeli airstrike on their car in Jenin.
Yonatan Deutsch, an Israeli, was killed last week in the Jordan Valley in the West Bank as a result of a shooting attack that the two terrorists allegedly planned. Israeli officials then said that on August 11, militants from the Palestinian Authority opened fire on a major route in the occupied West Bank, killing one person and wounded another.
The West Bank-based gunmen of the Al-Qassam Brigades claimed later that day that they had “returned to their bases safely” after killing an Israeli soldier close to the Jordan Valley settlement of Mehola at close range.
Israel had struck a school in Gaza City where displaced Palestinians were seeking shelter; according to the civil defense service, this attack resulted in at least ninety deaths. Hamas claimed that this was the reason behind the operation.
Since Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began fighting in Gaza in October, there have been more Israeli raids, violent acts by Jewish settlers, and Palestinian street attacks in the West Bank.
Israeli settlers attacked a town close to the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Thursday, killing at least one Palestinian, an action denounced by the US, the UK, and France.
A fresh round of negotiations in Doha to end the ten months of conflict in Gaza is scheduled to begin next week, coinciding with the most recent violence in the West Bank.
Since Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began fighting in Gaza in October, there have been more Israeli raids, violent acts by Jewish settlers, and Palestinian street attacks in the West Bank.
Israeli settlers attacked a town close to the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Thursday, killing at least one Palestinian, an action denounced by the US, the UK, and France.
A fresh round of negotiations in Doha to end the ten months of conflict in Gaza is scheduled to begin next week, coinciding with the most recent violence in the West Bank.
Iran and its allies in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, could become involved in a larger regional battle as a result of the Gaza War and the rising unrest in the West Bank.
