An Israeli soldier has been killed during clashes with armed Palestinians in Jenin in the West Bank and another soldier was also seriously wounded, the military said on Saturday evening.
The troops reportedly encountered two armed men during a raid, who, according to the army, belonged to the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas. During an exchange of gunfire with them, both were killed, the military said.
The Ministry of Health in Ramallah confirmed being informed by the Israeli authorities about the killing of two Palestinians following the clashes.
The bodies are in the custody of the army, the ministry said. Hamas identified one of the two as a member of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist organization.
Israel launched a military operation in the northern West Bank on Wednesday. The army justified the action by citing a significant increase in attacks on Israelis. The objective is to target both Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The large-scale military operation in Jenin was continuing, Palestinians said on Saturday.
Israeli soldiers prevented Palestinian civil defence workers from bringing water to a hospital, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The director of the Jenin Governmental Hospital told the agency that there were fears that shortages of clean water would especially impact patients with kidney disease who require dialysis treatments.
The affected hospital also said that the power line supplying the clinic had been destroyed. As a result, several departments had to be consolidated, and the use of air conditioning units was halted.
In addition, the service for patients with kidney disease has been halted. They are being transferred to medical facilities in Nablus until the situation improves, according to reports.
WAFA reported that water pipes supplying the hospital have been damaged by the Israeli military operation and that several parts of Jenin have been cut off from water.
There are also said to be power cuts in some places.
Israel launched simultaneous military operations in Jenin, Tulkarem and Tubas on Wednesday on the grounds that there had been a significant increase in the number of attacks on Israelis.
The Israeli army said 20 Palestinian militants have been killed in exchanges of fire and airstrikes since the start of the large-scale operation. Dozens of explosive devices have been destroyed and numerous weapons confiscated, it said.
Three other operations in the West Bank
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said earlier Saturday that they had “neutralized” suspects following three security incidents in the West Bank.
The first incident took place late on Friday in the Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur, north of the city of Hebron, the IDF said. “A report was received regarding a shooting attack,” the military said, adding that “the suspect was neutralized at the scene.”
In a separate incident at about 1 am on Saturday (2200 GMT on Friday), a vehicle caught fire and exploded at a gas station at Gush Etzion Junction in the southern West Bank, south-east of the Palestinian autonomous city of Bethlehem.
“IDF soldiers who were dispatched to the scene opened fire and eliminated the terrorist who existed the vehicle and attempted to attack them,” the IDF said. “Security forces are conducting scans in the area to rule out the possibility of additional terrorists.”
The third incident took place at Karmei Tzur’s entrance. According to the IDF, “terrorists attempted to ram a security guard” there in the early hours of Saturday “and infiltrated the community.”
“IDF soldiers were dispatched to the scene and a terrorists was neutralized. Security forces are conducting scans to rule out the possibility of additional terrorists in the area.”
The IDF said it wasn’t clear yet whether the three incidents were connected, adding there were reports of a “number of injuries.”
Background to West Bank violence
The situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the start of the Gaza war, which was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel’s history, with more than 1,200 dead, carried out by terrorists from Hamas and other extremist groups on October 7.
More than 640 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations, or their own attacks in the West Bank, according to the Ministry of Health.
Violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has also increased during this period.
Hamas authority says many dead in Gaza after Israeli attacks
In the Gaza Strip, 89 people have been killed in Israeli attacks over the past two days, the Hamas-controlled health authority said on Saturday.
The number of Palestinians killed in the coastal strip since the beginning of the war has thus risen to 40,691, the authority in Gaza reported.
The figures from the Hamas authority cannot currently be independently verified.
The Israeli army reported that it was continuing its operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip.
In Gaza City, the troops said they had neutralized several “terrorist cells” and destroyed “terrorist and military structures” that posed a threat to the soldiers.
According to statements from the army, they also acted against terrorists in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah and tThey also found a large quantity of weapons.
Israel strikes targets in Lebanon after Hezbollah attacks
The Israeli military said early on Saturday that it struck targets in neighbouring Lebanon which it said were the source of a barrage of projectile launches.
The IDF said that sirens sounded late on Friday in the the Western Galilee region in northern Israel following some 40 launches from Lebanon across the border.
The IDF said that some of the projectiles were intercepted while a number of others fell in the area, adding that no injuries were reported.
The military said it “struck the sources of fire” and that the Israeli Air Force “struck a number of Hezbollah launchers in southern Lebanon.”
Since the war in the Gaza Strip began in October, there have been daily military confrontations between the Israeli army and the pro-Iranian militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has been bracing itself for a larger attack following the killing of Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut on July 30.
