Israeli soldiers kill two Palestinian gunmen in West Bank, military says

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
66
Israeli security forces secure the area where a suspected stabbing incident took place, in Ramle

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) -Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinian gunmen who opened fire at them from a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the military said on Saturday.

The military released a photo of two automatic rifles that it said were used by several gunmen to shoot at the soldiers, at an outpost near the flashpoint Palestinian city of Jenin.

The Jenin Brigade, an umbrella group that includes armed factions such as Islamic Jihad and Hamas, said the two gunmen were its members.

There was no other immediate comment from Palestinian officials in the West Bank, where violence has been on the rise as Israel presses its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas led an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which Israel said 1,200 people were killed and 253 taken hostage. More than 34,000 Palestinians have since been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry, and most of the population displaced.

Violence in the West Bank, which had already been on the rise before the war, has since flared with stepped-up Israeli raids and Palestinian street attacks.

The West Bank and Gaza, which Israel captured in a 1967 war, are among the territories which the Palestinians seek for a state. U.S.-brokered peace talks collapsed a decade ago.

(Reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Editing by Toby Chopra)