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At least four Palestinians killed in Israeli drone strike in West Bank

An Israeli drone strike killed four Palestinians in the Noor Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. “Israel Defense Forces aircraft struck a terrorist cell in the Noor Shams area while they were placing an explosive device,” the Israeli military said in a statement.

The Palestinian Health Ministry elaborated that the victims were aged between 20 and 25; and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad assured that they were four of its fighters, whom it described as “heroic fighters”.

The Israeli operation in Noor Shams began on Sunday, when an Israeli drone strike killed Sayed Ezzat Jaber, a well-known Islamic Jihad leader in Tulkarem, while on Monday a 15-year-old teenager and a 47-year-old woman died of bullet wounds during fighting between soldiers and militiamen.

Israeli attacks are not frequent, but have become commonplace in the occupied West Bank over the past year, especially since Israel has stepped up its raids in parallel with the war in Gaza. Jenin is the main center of violence, but in recent months Tulkarem has become another scene of Israeli raids against local militias.

The occupied West Bank is experiencing its worst wave of violence since the second intifada between 2000 and 2005, and so far this year at least 226 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire, most of them alleged militants or attackers but also civilians, including about 45 minors, according to an EFE count.

On the Israeli side, 16 Israelis have been killed this year, ten uniformed and six civilians, five of them settlers. The Israeli army has stepped up its already frequent incursions into the occupied West Bank since and after a Hamas attack on October 7. (Efe)