An Israeli air strike on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank killed a commander in the Palestinian armed group Hamas on Saturday, Hamas media reported, while Palestinian news agency WAFA said four other men were also killed.
The identities of the others were not clear, according to the WAFA report, which cited health officials.
The Israeli military said it had carried out an air strike against a militant cell around the West Bank city of Tulkarem. Hamas media said a vehicle carrying fighters had been struck and that one of the commanders of its Tulkarem brigades was killed.
According to journalists 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.
WAFA said the five slain Palestinians were taken to a nearby hospital, and that four of the bodies were “burned and charred beyond recognition.” The Palestinian health ministry has not commented on the deaths.
Over 590 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the Israel-Gaza war erupted in Gaza last October according to the Palestinian health ministry, which tracks the deaths. Most have been killed during Israeli raids and violent protests, but the dead also include bystanders and Palestinians killed in attacks by Jewish settlers.
Violence in the West Bank was on the rise before the Israel-Gaza war began on October 7 and has risen since, with frequent Israeli raids in the territory, which is among those that the Palestinians seek for a state.
Region-wide tensions have soared this week after the assassination of Hamas’ leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Hezbollah senior military commander Fuad Shukr.
Haniyeh’s death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as the war in Gaza between the Palestinian militants and Israel nears its 11th month. Concerns have grown that the conflict is spreading across the Middle East.
Hamas and Iran have both accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and have pledged to retaliate against their foe. Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the death.
Hezbollah, like Hamas, is backed by Iran and has also vowed revenge.
