The Israeli army said on Saturday two Palestinians were killed overnight while preparing to carry out bombings in the occupied West Bank, where an Israeli operation entered a fourth day.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, whose unprecedented October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, issued a statement hailing a “heroic operation” in the south of the West Bank, saying it came at “a sensitive time” with Israeli forces pressing on with raids in the north of the territory.
Hamas ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has a strong presence in the northern West Bank, similarly said it “congratulates” the perpetrators of what it called a “coordinated attack.”
The Israeli army described a vehicle explosion at a petrol station in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc as “an attempted car bombing by a terrorist” who was later killed.
An army officer “was moderately injured, and a reservist officer responsible for the security in a nearby community sustained minor injuries,” it said in a statement.
In the second incident, the head of security in the Israeli settlement of Karmei Zur engaged in a car chase with a “terrorist” who had infiltrated the settlement compound, leading to a collision and “the terrorist being neutralized shortly after,” the statement said.
“During the confrontation, an explosive device in the terrorist’s car detonated,” it added.
Since Wednesday at least 20 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army, most of them militants, in simultaneous raids in several cities in the northern West Bank.
Since Friday, soldiers have concentrated their operations on the city of Jenin and its refugee camps, long a bastion of Palestinian armed groups fighting against Israel.
On Saturday morning, an AFP photographer in Jenin heard ongoing clashes in the city, where the streets were mostly empty save for armored vehicles, including one that blocked access to the government hospital.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since Hamas’ October 7 attack.
The United Nations said on Wednesday that at least 637 Palestinians had been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war began.
Nineteen Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during army operations over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.
Of the 20 Palestinians reported dead since Wednesday, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have said at least 13 were members of their armed wings.
