UPDATE 2 – 7 Palestinians killed in Israeli military raids in West Bank

UPDATES WITH DETAILS

By Ahmad Asmar and Qais Abu Samra

ANKARA/RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – At least seven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, according to local media.

Five people, including a woman, were among the fatalities in a drone strike on Al-Hamam neighborhood in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the northern West Bank, the official news agency Wafa reported.

Two commanders from the armed wings of Hamas and Fatah groups were among those killed, Wafa said, citing local sources.

The Health Ministry said that two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in Sa'ir town in the southern occupied West Bank.

Israeli forces raided several homes in Sa'ir during which the soldiers harshly interrogated people and assaulted them, according to witnesses.

The Israeli army confirmed that two Palestinian military commanders were killed in the raid for allegedly carrying out attacks against Israeli forces in the West Bank.

Hamas, for its part, mourned the slain commanders, saying their death “will not break the resistance.”

“The killings will only increase the Palestinian people's determination to continue to confront the (Israeli) occupation,” it added in a statement.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank amid a deadly Israeli offensive that killed nearly 39,100 people in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023.

At least 585 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied West Bank, according to the Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and called for the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala