Israeli army says airstrikes in northern West Bank kill 9 Palestinian militants
West Bank Saturday killed nine Palestinian militants, according to Israel's army, as violence flares in the Israeli-occupied territory.
The Israeli army said its forces first struck a vehicle in a rural area northwest of the city of Tulkarem in the northern West Bank early Saturday morning, killing the five occupants. The army said they were on their way to carry out an attack.
The Palestinian health ministry said the dead men's corpses were taken to a nearby hospital in Tulkarem. All five men were later identified by Hamas as militants belonging to the group, including one who was a local commander.
According to an Associated Press journalist and witnesses, the blast took place along a road connecting the Palestinian villages of Zeita and Qaffin.
«I was going to work in the morning and I heard an explosion here next to the house,» said Taiser Abdullah, a Zeita resident.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said four of the bodies were «burned and charred beyond recognition» from the blast.
Later Saturday, Israel's military said it had killed four more Palestinian militants in the Tulkarem area shortly after they opened fire on Israeli troops operating in the area. No further information about this second blast was immediately available.
Over 590 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza in October, according to the Palestinian health ministry, which tracks the deaths. Most have been killed during Israeli raids and violent protests, but the
