An Israeli air strike in the occupied West Bank killed
a Hamas commander and four Islamic jihad fighters on Saturday
. The militant group's media said and the Israeli military
said it had also killed four more gunmen in a
separate strike. The Israeli military said the first airstrike
hit a vehicle near the city of Tul Kam targeting
a militant cell. It says was on its way
to carry out an attack. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad
groups came to the other four men involved there as
its fighters. Hours later, a second Israeli strike
targeted another group of armed militants who Israel's military says
had fired on troops. It added that forces had
killed four more gunmen in that strike during what it
described as a counter terrorism operation in Tul. The
Palestinian Health Ministry says five men had been killed in
the first strike. And news agency WAFA said four
people died in the second in the West Bank was
rising before the Israel Hamas war in Gaza began on
October 7 and it has continued to do so.
Israel's military regularly undertake raids in the territory claimed by
Palestinians as part of a future state region wide tensions
soared this week after Hamas leader Ismail Haniya was killed
in Tehran on Wednesday. Hamas and Iran both accused
Israel of carrying out his assassination and pledged to retaliate
Israel neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the incident.
Haniya's death is one in a series of recent killings
of senior Hamas figures as the war in Gaza between
the Palestinian militants in Israel rolled towards its 11th month
on Thursday. Israel's military said it killed the head
of Hamas's military wing, Mohammed Daif in an air
strike on Gaza last month. Hamas has not confirmed
or denied his death.