WEST BANK, Palestinian Territories: The Israeli military on Tuesday said it killed three Hamas members in an air strike near the occupied West Bank city of Tubas, after the Palestinian health ministry reported two dead.
“Three Hamas terrorists who planned an imminent terrorist attack were eliminated” when the Israeli air force struck vehicles in the Aqaba area near Tubas, the military said.
Following the strike, “soldiers conducted a targeted raid in the vicinity of the strike, locating four weapons,” it added.
The Palestinian health ministry had earlier said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Aqaba killed two Palestinians and wounded one.
All three Palestinians were transported to a hospital in Tubas, it added, but later said Israeli forces raided the same hospital, which the army denied in a statement to AFP.
The Israeli military had earlier told AFP that the air force, “acting on intelligence, struck a terror cell that was about to carry out an attack” in the Aqaba area.
It said an army unit “was then dispatched to collect the bodies and operated in the area of the Turkish Hospital in Tubas.”
However, it added, “they did not enter the hospital.”
Israel often seizes the bodies of Palestinians killed during operations, particularly those who belonged to militant groups, although an AFP journalist present near the hospital at the time of the operation did not see soldiers carrying bodies.
The Palestinian health ministry said the Israeli army besieged the hospital, before breaking into it, shooting inside, “assaulting staff and patients, and arresting a number of them.”
The AFP journalist in Tubas saw Israeli armored vehicles stationed outside the hospital and soldiers deployed around it.
The journalist saw Israeli soldiers exiting the hospital and detaining staff, some of them wearing scrubs or doctor’s gowns, before loading them into the armored vehicles.
Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7 last year after Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 787 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.
Palestinian attacks on Israelis have also killed at least 24 people in the West Bank in the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
Israel says killed three Hamas members in strike on West Bank
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Israel says killed three Hamas members in strike on West Bank
- Following the strike, “soldiers conducted a targeted raid in the vicinity of the strike, locating four weapons,” it added
- The Palestinian health ministry had earlier said an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Aqaba killed two Palestinians and wounded one
Syrian and Lebanese presidents discuss border security after Hezbollah strikes hit west Damascus
- Ahmad Al-Sharaa expresses Syria’s absolute support for Lebanese government’s efforts to disarm the Iran-backed militant group
LONDON: The Syrian president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, and his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun, discussed border security on Tuesday.
It came as Syria accused the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah of massing reinforcements close to the border, targeting army positions in Syria, and launching artillery shells from Lebanese territory that landed near the town of Serghaya, west of the capital Damascus.
During his conversation with Aoun, Al-Sharaa expressed his absolute support for the Lebanese government’s efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Syrian Arab News Agency reported. Depriving the group of its weapons was a crucial step in efforts to strengthen the sovereignty of Lebanon and protect the region from the consequences of ongoing armed conflicts, he added.
The two leaders also emphasized the need for joint action to ensure the safety of the Syrian people.
Thousands of Syrians who fled to Lebanon to escape the 13-year civil war in their country have returned home since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Feb. 28, and the spread of the conflict to other parts of the Middle East.
Israel has launched strikes against Israel and several Arab countries in the region, while Hezbollah, an ally of Tehran which the UK and other nations consider a terrorist organization, has also fired into Israel.
Israeli forces have hit back against Hezbollah with strikes on southern Lebanon and southern Beirut, and its forces have occupied key areas south of the Litani River.
