Three Palestinians Including 2 Children Killed In Israeli Army Attack On West Bank

Israeli Army/ILLUSTRATION PHOTO via Wikimedia Commons/IDF

JAKARTA - Three Palestinians including two children died on Wednesday in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. This incident occurred as Israeli attacks continued following the killing of three Israelis in the region on Monday.

The Israeli military said its air force attacked terrorist cells in the Tamun area of the northeastern city of Nablus. Isreal said they were investigating reports of children being killed in the attack.

Palestinian news agency WAFA, reported by Reuters on Wednesday, January 8, said two boys, aged nine and ten, died in a drone strike that also killed a 23-year-old man.

There has been no direct confirmation from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Violence in the West Bank escalated in line with the 15-month war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza, with killings by Palestinian militants, increasing Israeli military attacks and increasing revenge attacks by Jewish settlers.

Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza conflict.

Meanwhile, the attack on Monday, January 6, which killed three Israelis took place near a Jewish settlement in Kedumim, home of Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Hamas praised the incident but did not claim responsibility.

The increasing bloodshed in the West Bank comes amid a push by international mediators to reach a ceasefire deal and exchange of hostages in Gaza before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

WAFA said apart from drones, the Israeli military deployed snipers in Tamun and surrounded and raided houses. They also stormed the city of Tubas and the city of Aqaba, in the northeast of the West Bank.

The West Bank has been occupied since it was captured by Israel in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Palestinians want the territory to become part of an independent country in the future, but the expansion of Jewish settlements and the ongoing Gaza war has raised concerns over the Israeli far-right government's plan to officially annex the region.