Israeli forces kill senior Palestinian fighter in West Bank city

Israeli forces kill senior Palestinian fighter in West Bank city

Islam Khamayseh was a leader of the Jenin Battalion, an affiliate of Islamic Jihad.

Israel’s troops routinely carry out incursions into areas such as Jenin. (AP pic)
RAMALLAH:
The Israeli military said today it killed a senior Palestinian fighter during an air strike on an “operations centre” in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

“A number of significant terrorists were inside the compound,” the Israeli Defense Forces said in a statement posted to Telegram.

It said the strike by a fighter jet and helicopter killed Islam Khamayseh, a “senior terrorist operative in the Jenin camp” who was responsible for a series of attacks in the area.

The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, confirmed in a statement that Khamayseh was killed and several others wounded during an Israeli raid last night.

It said Khamayseh was a leader of the Jenin Battalion, which is affiliated with Islamic Jihad.

The Palestinian ministry of health said one person was killed and eight were wounded and receiving hospital treatment as a result of Israel’s operation in Jenin last night.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and its troops routinely carry out incursions into areas such as Jenin, which are nominally under the Palestinian Authority’s security control.

The West Bank has seen a recent surge in violence, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted on Oct 7.

More than 500 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the West Bank since Oct 7, according to Palestinian officials, and at least 20 Israelis have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The Gaza Strip has been at war since Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Oct 7 resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people in Israel, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has killed at least 35,303 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.

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