At least 6 Palestinian gunmen killed in IDF drone strikes, clashes in West Bank
Military says it carried out several airstrikes on gunmen amid ongoing counterterrorism raid in Tubas area; one identified as son of notorious terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
At least six Palestinian gunmen were killed in drone strikes and clashes with Israeli troops in the Tubas area of the northern West Bank early Thursday, authorities said.
The Israel Defense Forces said it had carried out a drone strike in the Far’a camp just before 2 a.m., and later, at around 4 a.m., said it carried out three more strikes in the city of Tubas.
The IDF said the strikes targeted Palestinian gunmen who were shooting and hurling explosive devices at troops during a new raid in the area.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry said that five men were killed in the strikes in Tubas, and local media reported that a sixth Palestinian was shot dead in Far’a.
The ministry named the five Palestinians killed in the strike in Tubas as Ahmed Abu Dawas, 24, Mohammed Abu Juma, 30, Qusay Abd al-Razeq, 26, Mohammed Abu Zagha, 23, and Mohammed Zubeidi, 21.
Mohammed Zubeidi was the son of notorious terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, who in September 2021 escaped from Gilboa Prison along with five other high-security prisoners, leading Israeli security forces on a two-week manhunt before being caught.
The IDF said that the younger Zubeidi was a “prominent terrorist from the Jenin area” who participated in shooting attacks against Israeli towns close to the West Bank security barrier, as well as other attacks on troops.
The other four gunmen killed in Tubas were also involved in shooting attacks, the IDF added.
عائلة الزبيدي المناضلة تزف شهيد جديد بعد ارتقاء المطارد محمد زكريا الزبيدي أبن الأسير القائد زكريا الزبيدي في قصف استهدف المركبة التي تقله رفقه عدد من المقاومين في طوباس ، على درب والدك قائد المخيم و أعمامك الشهداء ، على درب جدتك الشهيدة أم العبد ، الله يتقبلك يا أبو زكريا . pic.twitter.com/mNRKunAJoN
— نجلاء فقط ! (@Gredtoo) September 5, 2024
Meanwhile, in the Far’a camp, the IDF said a drone targeted a group of armed Palestinians who were hurling explosive devices at troops, and separately, members of the Israel Prison Service’s elite Metzada Unit killed a gunman who was armed with a bomb.
The IDF has been carrying out a major operation in the northern West Bank since August 28. The operation — internally dubbed “Summer Camps” by the army — began with simultaneous raids on Jenin, Tulkarem and the Far’a camp near Tubas, with the goal of dismantling Iran-backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror networks in the three areas of the northern West Bank.
The military said Thursday that it began a new raid overnight in Tubas and the nearby Far’a camp, as well as a separate operation in Jericho.
Read more: In longest West Bank raid in 20 years, IDF aims to set stage for future, smaller ops
So far, according to the IDF, more than 36 gunmen have been killed in the operation, among them the head of Hamas in Jenin and the head of Islamic Jihad in the Tulkarem area. Another 46 wanted Palestinians have been detained.
Violence in the West Bank has surged in the past year, following the October 7 Hamas terror onslaught in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were massacred and 251 were taken hostage.
Since that date, Israeli troops have arrested some 5,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,000 affiliated with Hamas.
According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 670 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, 29 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another six members of the security forces have been killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank.
