2 Palestinian gunmen killed in IDF drone strike near Nablus
One had been released from Israeli jail in November hostage deal with Hamas; military escorts worshippers to Joseph’s Tomb in West Bank city
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
Two Palestinian gunmen were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the West Bank’s Balata refugee camp near Nablus early Thursday morning.
The Israel Defense Forces said troops had been carrying out a counterterrorism operation in the area, returning fire and hitting gunmen who threw explosives at them.
Amid the operation, it said a drone strike was carried out against two armed Palestinians.
The slain men were named by Palestinian health officials as Ahmad Sheikh Khalil, 20, and Wael Mashah, 18.
Mashah had been jailed by Israel previously, being freed in November amid a hostage deal with Hamas, in which Israel released Palestinian terror convicts and detainees, mostly from the West Bank, in exchange for Israeli civilians abducted by the terror group on October 7.
It was the second time this week that a Palestinian terrorist freed in the November deal was killed by Israel.
فَـ الوَعدُ فِردَوسٌ يَطيبُ فِيهَا التَلاقِي بِالحِسَان فِيهَا نُلاقيْ مِن ثُلَّةٍ كسبوا الرَّهَان
المجاهد الشهـ،ـيد احمد فراس الشيخ خليل
والأسير المحرر الشهـ،ـيد البطل وائل مشةابناء مخيم بلاطةالصمود ، الذين ارتقوا في قصف مسيرة على المخيم شرق نابلس .. pic.twitter.com/zjVNy22vr9
— Malak ???? (@malakash0ur) August 15, 2024
On Monday, Hamas commander Tariq Daoud, who had been released in the hostage deal, opened fire at an Israeli man and two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Qalqilya, before being killed by an IDF brigade commander.
Also overnight, the IDF said troops and Border Police officers secured the entry of Jewish worshipers to Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus.
Before the war, busloads of Orthodox Jews visited Joseph’s Tomb under IDF protection on a near-monthly basis. The IDF has recently returned to carrying out the coordinated visits, although less frequently.
The IDF bars Israeli citizens from entering Palestinian cities without authorization and protection, and some criticize the monthly incursions as an unnecessary provocation that places Israeli soldiers at risk.
The shrine, regarded by some as the final resting place of the biblical patriarch Joseph, is located inside Area A of the West Bank, which is officially under complete Palestinian Authority control, though the Israeli military regularly enters despite Palestinian opposition.
The drone strike near Nablus came hours after another five Palestinian gunmen were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank.
According to the IDF, troops on Wednesday entered the West Bank city of Tubas, the nearby town of Tamun and the Far’a refugee camp to detain wanted Palestinians and dismantle local terror groups in the area.
The towns are located on the edge of the northern Jordan Valley, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Nablus.
In Tubas, an explosive device planted on a road exploded by a light armored vehicle, wounding four troops. Two were listed in moderate condition and the other two were lightly hurt, the IDF said.
Also in Tubas, the army said a senior wanted member of a terror group in the area was killed in an exchange of fire with troops. Other armed Palestinians were wounded by Israeli forces in the clashes.
Meanwhile, in Tamun, a drone strike was carried out against a group of Palestinian gunmen, killing four of them, according to the IDF.
In the past 10 months, the IDF has carried out more than 60 airstrikes in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
Tensions in Israel and the West Bank have soared since October 7, when terrorists burst through the Gaza border into Israel in a Hamas-led attack, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 251 hostages.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 4,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,960 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 630 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were gunmen killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or terrorists carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 26 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another five members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
