Israel stated that it killed two senior members of Hamas in an airstrike targeting their vehicle in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, claiming that they were involved in the killing of an Israeli. In a joint statement, the Israeli internal security service and military identified the Hamas members as Ahmad Abu Ara and Raafat Dawasi, both from northern West Bank.
In response, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announced that they mourned two of their fighters killed in the Israeli strike targeting a vehicle in Jenin. The Israeli statement claimed that the Hamas members were involved in planning a shooting attack last week in the Jordan Valley of the West Bank, where an Israeli named Yonatan Deutsch was killed.
Israeli authorities reported that Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a major road in the occupied West Bank on August 11, resulting in one death and another injury. Later on Saturday, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades stated that their fighters in the West Bank had "neutralized a soldier from point-blank range near the settlement of Mahola and returned to their bases safely."
Hamas stated that the operation was a response to an Israeli raid that targeted a school housing displaced Palestinians in Gaza City, where civil defense reported at least 90 deaths. Violence in the West Bank comes as a new round of talks aimed at ending the ongoing war in Gaza, which has lasted for 10 months, is set to resume this week.
