Israel kills Palestinian militants in West Bank raid
Israeli authorities killed three Palestinian militants in an operation in the northern part of the occupied West Bank.
Police said the three men were shot as they emerged from a cave near the northern West Bank town of Jenin, a known militant stronghold.
The Israeli military said the militants were “participating in terrorist activities in Jenin” but did not provide further details.
In the first shot, two militants were shot dead.
The third injured person was killed a short time later, according to the Israeli army.
In a previous statement, it was stated that the Israeli army launched an air strike to destroy the cave shortly afterwards.
The military confirmed an air strike on the area but did not provide further details.
Israel has increased its military activities in the occupied West Bank since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, which triggered the war in Gaza.
Israel says the operations target militants in the West Bank.
However, Palestinians and human rights groups say that many civilians unrelated to the incident were among the dead, and tens of thousands of people had to leave their homes.
The US-brokered ceasefire in Gaza has been ongoing since October 10.
Late Monday, the Israeli military said the remains of another hostage had been returned to Israel under the agreement.
Since the ceasefire began, Hamas has handed over the remains of 16 hostages to Israel.
12 more bodies need to be recovered and handed over in Gaza.
In exchange for the returned dead hostages, Israel handed over to Gaza the bodies of 195 Palestinians, less than half of whom were identified.
On Monday, 41 unidentified bodies were buried in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, and a funeral was held in Israel for the murdered hostage Yossi Sharabi, whose body was returned in early October.
Over the weekend, Egypt deployed a team of experts and heavy equipment to search for the bodies of hostages still in Gaza.
When the ceasefire began, the last 20 surviving hostages were returned to Israel, and in return Israel released approximately 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
Most of those released were captured by Israeli soldiers in Gaza during the two-year war and held without charge.
Among those released were 250 Palestinians sentenced to prison; He was convicted of deadly attacks on Israelis, many of which date back decades, according to Israel’s justice ministry.
