By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel said Tuesday it killed an important commander of Hamas as part of a broader operation targeting fighters of the group that it designated as a terrorist organization.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that Ashraf Nafa, who led the Hamas branch in
the Tulkarm area of the Biblical Judea and Samaria region, also known as the West Bank, was killed in a drone strike.
Tuesday’s attack was carried out after the IDF learned he “manufactured weapons, hid explosives intended to attack IDF soldiers, and recruited new terrorists into Hamas,” Israeli officials said.
The airstrike was part of a greater operation with Israel’s Border Police and Shin Bet security agency in the area. Security services reportedly conducted a “series of more than 50 counterterrorism operations” in the Tulkarm region.
Gunfights resulted in “several armed terrorists killed,” with numerous roadside bombs dismantled during the operation, according to the Israeli military.
Another “major terrorist” killed during the operation was Muhammed Awad, a local operative involved in shooting attacks against Israeli troops, fundraising for Hamas in the area, and procuring weapons, sources said.
While much of the attention is on the Gaza Strip in Israel’s war against Hamas, Israeli security forces say they were operating extensively in the West Bank “to prevent terrorists from gaining a foothold there.”
SEPARATE CLASH
However, Palestinian authorities complained that in “a separate clash, two young Palestinians were killed by Israeli army gunfire in the southern West Bank town of Sa’ir.”
Palestinians say that they have also been “violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers” in the area.
Local authorities claim that around 700,000 Israeli settlers live in roughly 300 “illegal settlements” in the “occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.”
Israel’s government and several Christian groups say the Jewish settlers live in the historic, Biblical lands of Israel.
The latest reported skirmishes came after Israeli sources said a Hamas sniper who murdered an Israeli soldier in Gaza this month was among some 20 Hamas operatives killed by Israeli forces.
The drone strike targeted “members of Hamas’s Shati Battalion, including members of the elite Nukhba force, snipers, and operatives who observed Israeli forces,” the IDF announced.
Muhammad Abu Hatab, a sniper and a platoon commander in the Shati Battalion, was also among those killed.
SNIPER ATTACKS
Hatab allegedly carried out several sniper attacks against Israeli troops in Gaza, including near the United Nations relief group UNRWA headquarters in Gaza City. The July 9 attack killed Israeli soldier Sergeant First Class Tal Lahat, 21, of the Maglan commando unit, Israel’s military said.
Another “terrorist killed” in the strike was Ismail Shakshak, who was a member of Hamas’s Nukhba force participating in the October 7 killings of some 1,200 people in Israel, the IDF said
The military added that the strike was based on “precise intelligence” and resulted in the deaths of seven to nine Palestinians.
Israeli media said the Israeli army targeted a group of armed men by drone.
However, the Palestinian Red Crescent claimed that a Palestinian woman was among the casualties, and at least three other Palestinians were wounded.
Residents told local media that the Israeli military was holding the bodies of three of the deceased. Palestinian media outlets released a video showing an IDF armored bulldozer allegedly transporting bodies.
Israel says it seeks to destroy Hamas but has denied deliberately targeting civilians. However, Israel said Hamas intentionally uses civilians as human shields.
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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