Western coast:
Israeli forces killed two Palestinians, including a fighter from the Islamist Hamas group, during a raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, emergency workers and Hamas said.
Israeli forces raided the Nour Shams camp near the town of Tulkarm early Sunday morning, leading to an hours-long firefight with Palestinian fighters, witnesses said.
The Israeli military said it carried out “counter-terrorism activity” at the camp, destroying an operational command center equipped with computers and surveillance cameras, and uncovering dozens of explosive devices and bomb-making components.
“During the activity, the suspects opened fire and threw explosive devices at the forces, who returned fire. The attacks have been identified,” the army said in a statement. It said one Israeli soldier was slightly injured.
Hamas, which is expanding its reach into the West Bank away from its base in Gaza, said one of the men, Osaid Abu Ali, 21, was a member of its armed wing.
The family of the second man, 32-year-old Abdel-Rahman Abu Daghash, said he had gone to the roof of his house to see what was happening when a sniper killed him.
His brother Momen Abu Dagash said, “He went up to the rooftop to film the ambulance. He barely got a chance to see and the sniper targeted him.” “He has nothing to do with this and he has kids and his wife is about to give birth.”
Also read: Israeli army raids West Bank and arrests 32 Palestinians
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
Violence has been raging in the West Bank for more than a year, with increased Israeli military raids, attacks by settlers on Palestinian villages, and increased Palestinian attacks on Israelis.
As day broke in the Noor Shams camp, residents took stock of debris-strewn streets and buildings damaged during an operation that according to witnesses lasted about six hours.
The army said special engineering vehicles dug up roads in the camp, revealing a large number of hidden bombs and at least one bomb exploded on the roadside.
There are approximately 13,519 people registered in the Nour Shams camp with the United Nations agency for refugees, descendants of Palestinians who were driven from or fled their homes during the war that followed Israel’s creation in 1948.
In a separate incident, the Israeli military said it had detained eight students from Beer Zeit University in the West Bank, whom it described as wanted suspects linked to Hamas who planned to carry out attacks in the immediate future. Had made.
