Israeli drone strike kills 10 in West Bank in escalating violence
An Israeli soldier aims his weapon during an anti-Israel protest by Palestinians in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. [File: Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA]
A deadly Israeli drone strike in the occupied West Bank killed at least 10 people on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The attack occurred in Tamun, a town in the northern Tubas district, with Israeli forces claiming to have targeted an “armed cell.”
“There are 10 martyrs due to the occupation’s bombing of the town of Tamun in the Tubas district,” the ministry in Ramallah reported. Earlier, the Palestinian Red Crescent had confirmed seven fatalities.
The Israeli military defended the operation, telling AFP that it was a “counterterrorism operation” in the area. It added that an Israeli aircraft, directed by ISA intelligence, struck an “armed terrorist cell” in Tamun. A Palestinian official confirmed the attack was carried out by a drone.
In response, the Palestinian militant group Hamas condemned the strike, calling it part of the occupation’s “continued policy of assassinations” against resistance fighters and mujahideen.
Violence has escalated sharply across the West Bank since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks, which led to Israel’s devastating offensive on Gaza.
Since the war began, at least 873 Palestinians—including militants—have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Over the same period, at least 29 Israelis have died in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military raids in the West Bank, per official Israeli sources.
As tensions mount, fears of further violence in the region continue to grow.
