Palestinian ministry says Israeli strike kills 10 in West Bank
The Israeli military told AFP its forces were involved in a ‘counterterrorism operation’ in the area of Tamun.
This picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing over Khan Yunis in the distance following Israeli bombardment on the southern Gaza Strip on 14 February 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. Picture: AFP
RAMALLAH - The Palestinian health ministry said an Israeli drone strike in a village in the occupied West Bank killed at least 10 people on Wednesday, while the military said it had struck an "armed cell".
"There are 10 martyrs due to the occupation's bombing of the town of Tamun in the Tubas district" of the northern West Bank, the Ramallah-based ministry said.
The Palestinian Red Crescent had earlier said that seven people had been killed in the strike.
The Israeli military told AFP its forces were involved in a "counterterrorism operation" in the area of Tamun.
As part of the operation, an Israeli "aircraft, with the direction of ISA (security agency) intelligence, struck an armed terrorist cell in the area of Tamun", the military said in a statement.
A Palestinian official confirmed to AFP the attack had been carried out by a drone.
Palestinian militant group Hamas issued a statement condemning the strike.
"The escalating crimes of the fascist occupation in the West Bank and its continued policy of assassinations against our heroic resistance fighters and mujahideen... are a reaffirmation of the occupation's criminal approach against our people and a failed attempt to break our valiant resistance," it said.
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since Hamas's attacks on 7 October 2023, which sparked a devastating Israeli offensive on Gaza.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 873 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.