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Israel says Hamas leader killed on third day of West Bank operation
Israel says Hamas leader killed on third day of West Bank operation
The Israeli military says it has killed the head of the Palestinian armed group Hamas in Jenin and two other fighters, as a major operation continues for a third day in the north of the occupied West Bank.
Israeli security forces shot dead Wissam Khazem and then carried out air strikes on the other two as they attempted to flee, a statement said.
The Palestinian health ministry said the three men were killed overnight near the town of Zababdeh, south-east of Jenin. Hamas also confirmed their deaths.
Gunfire and explosions continued to be heard inside Jenin itself on Friday, while Israeli forces pulled out of Tulkarm and its refugee camps.
There has been no confirmation of the withdrawal from the military, which said on Thursday that it had killed five members of armed groups in Tulkarm, including their local leader.
At least 19 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the Israeli operation, which is one of the biggest in the West Bank in two decades, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Most of those killed have been identified as fighters. But the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) said children and one person with disabilities were reportedly among the dead.
There has been a spike in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on 7 October and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed as Israeli forces have intensified their raids, saying they are trying to stem deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and Israel.
On Friday morning, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Shin Bet domestic security agency and Israel Border Police put out a joint statement announcing that Wissam Khazem had been killed during an operation in the Jenin area.
It said Border Police forces had “encountered and eliminated” Khazem in a car, and accused him of carrying out and directing shooting and bombing attacks.
Shortly afterwards, it added, an IDF aircraft had “eliminated two additional terrorists while they attempted to flee from the vehicle”. It named them as Maysara Masharqa and Arafat Amer, and alleged that they had taken part in shooting attacks.
The Palestinian health ministry said the three men had been killed in Zababdeh and that their bodies had been taken away by Israeli forces.
Residents of the town found the burned-out wreck of a car riddled with bullet holes and reported that there had been two drone strikes.
Hamas’s armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, confirmed that Khazem was a leader in Jenin camp and that Masharqa and Amer were members.
Israeli forces also continued their operation in Jenin itself for a third consecutive day.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that several soldiers had raided the al-Ansar mosque in the urban Jenin refugee camp, in the west of the city.
Meanwhile, residents of Tulkarm and its refugee camps inspected the damage to homes and infrastructure following the withdrawal of Israeli forces.
“There’s no difference between us and Gaza, we’re the second Gaza,” Nayef Alajma told AFP news agency in Nur Shams camp.
The Israeli military said on Thursday that it had killed “five terrorists who were hiding in a mosque”, including Mohammed Jaber, the leader of the local Tulkarm Brigade, which is affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
Wafa said four Palestinians had been killed during the 48-hour operation.
Also on Thursday, the Israeli military announced that forces had pulled out of the al-Faraa refugee camp near Tubas after completing what it called “the objective of foiling terror, exposing terrorist infrastructure and eliminating armed terrorists”.
The head of the Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini, said tens of thousands of people in four refugee camps had been affected by the raids, and that the agency had been forced to suspend services in several camps.
With the war in Gaza still raging, the Israeli operation is causing international alarm.
The UK said on Friday that while it recognised Israel’s need to defend itself against security threats, it was “deeply worried by the methods Israel has employed and by reports of civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure”.
“The risk of instability is serious and the need for de-escalation urgent,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.
The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday that the raids were “fuelling an already explosive situation”.
