Six Palestinians said killed in IDF drone strike, raid in West Bank

At least six Palestinians were killed and several more injured in raids by Israeli forces in the West Bank, authorities said Thursday, as the military sought to clamp down on rising terror activity across the territory.

At least one civilian, an 80-year-old woman, was among those killed, the Palestinian Authority said.

In Tulkarem, a drone strike killed four Palestinian gunmen, according to the Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet. Another three Palestinians were seriously injured, according to the PA health ministry.

During the Tulkarem raid, troops used bulldozers to destroy infrastructure and seal off entrances to the city, according to the Turkish Anadolu news agency.

The IDF and Shin Bet said later Thursday that the drone strike had killed a senior terror operative who was being financed by Iran, alongside three other Palestinian gunmen.

According to the Shin Bet, the target of the strike was Tariq al-Doush, who it identified as one of the commanders of a terror network in Tulkarem.

قائد الكتائب والمُطارد العنيد البطل طارق الدوش يرتقي شهيد في قصف الاحتلال مركبة في طولكرم، طليعة التحرير إن شاء الله يا شهيد. https://t.co/tQDeyJn40K pic.twitter.com/sxjtxENFyu

— فاطِمــة (@fatimamawad13) December 19, 2024

The Shin Bet said that al-Doush worked to recruit operatives in the past year to carry out attacks, who would be armed with Iranian financing via operatives in Lebanon.

The operatives in Lebanon who were in contact with al-Doush are members of the Makdah family, who the Shin Bet has accused in the past of working with the IRGC to advance terror attacks in the West Bank.

The network that al-Doush headed was involved in several shooting attacks against IDF troops, checkpoints, and Israeli towns near the West Bank security barrier, the agency said, adding that the network planned to carry out attacks in Israel as well.

Alongside al-Doush, three other gunmen were killed, including Dosem al-Awfi, who the Shin Bet said was a prominent member of the Tulkarem terror network.

Elsewhere in the West Bank on Thursday, Palestinian officials charged that Israeli forces had killed two people, one of them an 80-year-old woman, and injured several others during a raid near Nablus.

The military said that it was looking into the reported deaths, without providing additional information.

The PA health ministry in Ramallah said Halima Abu Leil, 80, was fatally shot in the chest and leg during a raid in the Balata refugee camp near Nablus. The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed her death after transporting her to the hospital.

A short while later, the ministry announced the death of a second Palestinian, a 25-year-old man.

Both the Hamas terror group and the Al-Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, the armed wing of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, claimed that the second person killed, Qusai Sarouji, was a fighter in their respective terror organizations.

An Israeli air strike bombed a vehicle in Tulkarm city. pic.twitter.com/5UFN2EJ672

— Eye on Palestine (@EyeonPalestine) December 19, 2024

At least four others were injured during the raid, it said, including two men aged 21 and 22, a 65-year-old man who suffered gunshot wounds, and another individual injured by bullet shrapnel.

The Red Crescent also accused Israeli forces of firing at its ambulances, “obstructing the delivery of humanitarian and medical services inside the camp.”

There was no immediate comment on the accusation by the IDF.

The army said Thursday it had operated in the West Bank to survey the homes of three terrorists responsible for a deadly terror attack earlier this year, ahead of their potential demolitions.

In August, 23-year-old Yonatan Deutsch was killed near the Mehola Junction on Route 90, the main north-south artery in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley. Hamas took responsibility for the attack.

“The mapping was carried out in preparation for examining the possibility of demolishing the terrorist’s house,” the army said.

Since October 7, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.

According to the PA health ministry, more than 716 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, 42 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.