Two Palestinians were killed and another was injured by Israeli fire during a raid in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, according to official sources. The operation followed a day of heavy bombardment in the Gaza Strip that left 15 people dead. The Palestinian Ministry of Health reported the fatalities in Qabatiya, noting that Ahmed Jamal Tawfiq Asaf, aged 19, and Rani Walid Ahmed Qatanat, aged 24, died after shots were fired by Israeli forces in the town.
The Palestinian official news agency Wafa added that another Palestinian was wounded in the raid, which unfolded in the Jenin region. Jenin has been a focal point of recent large scale military activity and is seen as a stronghold for Palestinian militias coordinating from the area.
An Israeli Army spokesperson described the early morning raid as involving individuals armed with weapons. He stated that soldiers came under fire from a vehicle and responded, resulting in two fatalities among those who fired. He claimed that an M-16 rifle and a pistol were recovered and that many houses were raided while a vehicle was attacked with gunfire.
These incidents occurred a day after Israel’s operation named Shield and Arrow began, which involved multiple strikes in the Gaza Strip that killed the majority of the previously mentioned 15 people. Among the dead were prominent leaders associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group designated as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union. The group has been described as pursuing targeted killings.
The Joint Military Operations Room, an alliance of Palestinian armed groups in Gaza that includes factions such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, warned that Israel would face consequences for its actions. The prospect of further armed escalation across multiple fronts has been raised by officials, who indicate that the Israeli defense establishment is preparing for such a scenario. The defense minister of Israel has authorized the mobilization of reservists and arranged the evacuation of hundreds of Israeli families living near Gaza, signaling heightened readiness for potential wider conflict.
Security officials stated that Tariq Az Aldin, a leader linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad who died in the Gaza bombings, had pursued the expansion of terrorist capabilities in the West Bank through a network described as several cells. Reports also described militants believed to be present in Ramallah and noted the liquidation of another unit in Jenin that had begun producing rocket launchers. Observers warned this could set a dangerous precedent while highlighting the operational capacity to acquire weapons, including drones, for attacks against Israeli targets. Officials asserted that Palestinian Islamic Jihad receives funding from Iran and pledged to act to prevent threats before they materialize.
The Gaza bombardments followed a period during which more than a hundred rockets were fired from the enclave toward Israel, an escalation that Israeli authorities attributed to actions organized by Palestinian groups rooted in recent tensions.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains deeply unsettled, with casualties mounting in 2023 across the West Bank, Gaza, and Israeli areas. The toll includes both militants and civilians on both sides. In Gaza, the latest bombardments contributed to a larger count of fatalities in the region, while Israeli casualties also occurred amid the ongoing violence. Observers emphasize the strain on civilian life and the region’s fragile security situation as the cycle of retaliation continues to unfold.