Israeli airstrikes kill nine Palestinian militants

Two Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants on Saturday as tensions remain high in the region.

The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the attack and said its force struck a vehicle in the rural, northwest area of the city of Tulkarem early Saturday.

Five people in the car died. Israel’s military said those people were on their way to carry out an attack, The Associated Press reported.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, their bodies were taken to a hospital and identified as militants within the group.

An Associated Press reporter on the ground said the airstrike took place on the road connecting the villages of Zeita and Qaffin.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa said the bodies were “burned and charred beyond recognition.”

One of the men killed was a commander of the Tulkarm brigades, a Hamas media outlet said, according to Reuters. Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups said the other four men were fighters.

“The IDF attacked a vehicle with five terrorists on their way to carry out a terrorist attack in the area of Kafin village in the Manashe division, under the intelligence guidance of the Shin Bet and using Air Force aircraft,” Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post online.

Hours later, a second strike targeted another group, this time against fighters who fired at troops, Israel’s military said.

In another post online, the IDF announced that “another terrorist squad was eliminated.”

“Four terrorists were identified who opened fire on our forces, under the intelligence guidance on the Shin Bet, Dovdevan fighters and Unit 626 An Air Force aircraft destroyed the squad,” the IDF said.

Violence in the West Bank had been on the rise before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, but it has only risen since.

In recent days, the Israeli military has claimed responsibility for the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, one of Hamas’s top leaders. He was killed in Iran while visiting for the new president’s inauguration, and his death sparked fears of a Tehran retaliation and a greater regional war.

President Biden and Vice President Harris spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week and urged him to get to a cease-fire deal.