Israel kills a top militant in its deadliest West Bank raids since the Gaza war began

TULKAREM, West Bank (AP) — The Israeli military said it killed five more West Bank militants, including a local commander, as it pressed ahead Thursday with its deadliest operation in the occupied territory since the start of the war in Gaza. Israel says the raids across the northern West Bank — which have killed a total of 16 people, nearly all militants, since late Tuesday — are aimed at preventing attacks. Mourners take part in a funeral of four Palestinians who died during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Faraa, near Tubas, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) The raids drew alarm from the United Nations and neighboring Jordan, as well as from British and French leaders, who stressed the urgency of cease-fire in Gaza after nearly 11 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Medics at al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza said Thursday nine Palestinians from the same family — including two women and five young children — were killed in an Israeli strike on an apartment building in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Beginning Sunday, Israel will pause some military operations in Gaza to allow health workers to begin administering polio vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children, the U.N. World Health Organization said Thursday. In the West Bank, the Islamic Jihad militant group confirmed that Mohammed Jaber, known as Abu Shujaa, was killed during a raid in the city of Tulkarem. He became a hero for many Palestinians earlier in the year when he was reported killed in an Israeli operation, only to make a surprise appearance at the funeral of other militants, where he was hoisted onto the shoulders of a cheering crowd. Members of Israeli forces patrol a street during a military operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Nur Shams, Tulkarem, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) Palestinians municipality workers check a damaged house following an Israeli military operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Faraa, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. Firefights also erupted in Fara’a, a Palestinian urban refugee camp in the foothills of the Jordan Valley, where the Israeli army said it struck and killed a group of militants traveling in a car. The army also said it uncovered caches of weapons, explosive devices and other military equipment inside a mosque in Fara’a and arrested another militant in Tulkarem, where a member of Israel’s paramilitary Border Police was lightly wounded. Israel’s latest operation in the West Bank began late Tuesday in several locations, and Hamas confirmed 10 of its fighters were killed. A man takes a picture of a wall displaying photos of Palestinians, who died during previous clashes, following an Israeli military operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Faraa, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) Relatives and friends of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group take part in a protest calling for their release as they walk on an area outside the kibbutz Nirim, southern Israel, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) Rachel Goldberg, left, and Jon Polin center, parents of Israeli-American hostage Hersh Polin-Goldberg, along with other relatives of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group take part in a protest calling for their release in the Kibbutz Nirim, southern Israel, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov) Mourners pray as they attend the funeral of four Palestinians, wrapped in Palestinian flags, who died during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank refugee camp of Al-Faraa, near Tubas, Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) The overall toll of 16 killed in less than two days makes it the deadliest Israeli operation in the West Bank since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack into Israel that ignited the war. Most appear to have been militants killed in gunbattles during Israeli operations like the one this week, but civilian bystanders and rock-throwing protesters have also been killed, and the territory saw a surge of Jewish settler violence. Israel captured the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war, and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. The 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under seemingly open-ended Israeli military rule, with the Western-backed Palestinian Authority administering towns and cities. The raids have focused on refugee camps that date back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation, in which around 700,000 Palestinians fled or were driven out of what is now Israel. Hamas repeated its calls for Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up, calling the raids part of a larger plan to expand the war in Gaza. The militant group has urged security forces loyal to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, which cooperate with Israel, to “join the sacred battle of our people.” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has also condemned the Israeli raids, but his forces were not expected to get involved. The war in Gaza erupted when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel and rampaged through army bases and farming communities, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Israel responded with an offensive that has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants. Around 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced, often multiple times, and Israeli bombardment and ground operations have caused vast destruction. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://apnews.com/ee53e1dbf7ece94151088308510e8679