RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – An Israeli airstrike on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank killed a commander of the Palestinian armed group Hamas on Saturday, Hamas media reported. Four other men were also killed, the Palestinian news agency WAFA said.
According to the WAFA report, which cited health officials, the identities of the others are not clear.
The Israeli military said it had carried out an airstrike on a militant cell around the West Bank town of Tulkarm. Hamas media reported that a vehicle carrying fighters had been hit and that one of the commanders of the Tulkarm brigades had been killed.
Violence in the West Bank was on the rise before the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7. It has only increased since then, with frequent Israeli incursions into the area. This is one of the areas that the Palestinians are seeking for a state of their own.
Tensions in the region have increased this week following the assassination of Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyehin Tehran on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah's top military commander Fuad Shukr.
Haniyeh's death was one of a series of assassinations of senior Hamas officials as the war in Gaza between Palestinian militants and Israel rages for nearly 11 months and concerns grow that the conflict is spreading to the Middle East.
Hamas and Iran have accused Israel of the killing and have vowed to take revenge on their enemy. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the deaths.
Hezbollah, like Hamas, is supported by Iran and has also vowed revenge.
(Reporting by Alli Sawafta and Maayan Lubell; Editing by William Mallard)
