Israeli forces killed at least six Palestinians in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, as troops continued an extended operation against militant groups in the territory, according to the military.
An airstrike in the city of Tubas killed five men whom the military said were armed with explosives that posed a threat to Israeli forces. The strike also destroyed weapons production facilities, a vehicle rigged with explosives, and a remote control device. The Palestinian Red Crescent reported that rescue crews recovered five bodies from the site and transported them to a hospital.
In a separate incident in the city of Tulkarm, the military said troops, backed by police and intelligence services, killed an armed militant. No immediate confirmation was provided by any of the armed Palestinian factions that the men killed in the operation were their fighters.
Entrances and exits from Tubas were sealed off, and Israeli military vehicles, including road diggers and armored personnel carriers, were seen moving through the city, which is near the border with Jordan at the northern end of the West Bank. On Wednesday, the military reported a ramming attack east of Ramallah in the West Bank, where the driver of a fuel tanker accelerated towards Israeli soldiers before being shot. An Israeli soldier was killed in the incident, according to the military.
Israeli forces have been conducting a series of operations in the northern West Bank for the past two weeks, with extended raids in Tubas, Jenin, and Tulkarm. These cities have a heavy presence of armed factions, including Hamas, the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, and Fatah. Heavy clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters have been reported, while streets and infrastructure in all three cities have suffered extensive damage as Israeli forces have dug up roads and destroyed houses.
Qais Ambar, a resident of the refugee camp in Tulkarm, where two Palestinians were killed during a raid on Tuesday, said people had been forced to flee as their homes were destroyed, leaving many seeking shelter in city mosques. "The bulldozer swept the house, and the rubble covered my neighbour's house. They forced us to leave," he said.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, with almost daily sweeps by Israeli forces that have involved thousands of arrests and regular gunbattles between security forces and Palestinian fighters. More than 680 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7 last year, including both fighters and unarmed civilians, according to the Palestinian health authorities. In the same period, about 40 Israeli troops and civilians have been killed in attacks by Palestinians or in clashes with fighters, according to figures from Israel's domestic security agency.
