Two children among 3 killed in West Bank drone strike IDF says targeted terror cell
Governor of Tubas says Hamza Bsharat, 10, and Reda Bsharat, 8, were killed in front of their home in a second strike on the village of Tamun in as many days
Palestinian officials said Wednesday that two children were among three people killed in an Israeli drone strike in the northern West Bank town of Tamun, which the IDF said had targeted a cell of gunmen.
Ahmad Asaad, governor of the northern West Bank city of Tubas, told AFP that the strike hit the nearby village of Tamun, killing a 23-year-old man and two children, aged eight and 10, all from the same family.
The governor identified the dead as Adam Bsharat, 23, Hamza Bsharat, 10, and Reda Bsharat, eight.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Ramallah condemned the deadly strike, accusing Israel of harming civilians “under the pretext” of fighting armed groups.
The IDF said that the Air Force had “struck a terrorist cell” in the area, without immediately providing further details. There was no comment from the military about the reported deaths of the children.
The Tubas governor said Israeli forces, which have operated in Tamun in recent days, took the bodies of the three Palestinians killed.
The Red Crescent said they later handed them back.
Reda Ali Bsharat, 8-years-old, and Hamza Ammar Bsharat, 10-years-old, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the town of Tammun, south of Tubas, in the West Bank.
By an Israeli airstrike—not in Gaza, but in the West Bank. pic.twitter.com/FTO2x4oiMQ
— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) January 8, 2025
According to the governor, the three family members were killed in front of their house, which an AFP journalist said was damaged by shrapnel.
Relative Jalal Bsharat said they had been at home when “the Israeli occupation army targeted them,” and charged that the strike showed Palestinians are not safe, even in their own homes.
By midday, hours after the strike, Israeli forces were no longer seen in Tamun, the AFP journalist said.
It was the second Israeli airstrike to hit the village in as many days after the IDF said on Tuesday that it had killed two people in a strike on an “armed terrorist cell” that opened fire on troops
Several suspects were detained and weapons were seized during the operation, and residents told AFP that Israeli forces had taken one of the bodies.
Tamun residents told AFP that Israeli forces had taken one of the bodies.
Also Wednesday, the Hamas terror group took responsibility for a shooting attack two days earlier in the West Bank village of al-Funduq in which two Israeli women and a police officer were killed.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said the operation was carried out jointly with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades terror groups.
Hamas also said that the mastermind of the attack was Jaafar Ahmed Dababseh, who was killed Tuesday by IDF troops in the West Bank village of Talluza, near Nablus.
The three terrorists who carried out the shooting are still at large.
Hamas provided no proof of its involvement in the attack.
Violence in the West Bank has mounted since October 7, 2023, when Hamas assaulted southern Israel, sparking war in Gaza and unrest across the region. Since then, 46 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank, including some carried out by Israeli citizens.
Another six members of the security forces were killed in clashes with terror operatives in the West Bank. Much of the violence has been concentrated near Nablus, Jenin and other Palestinian cities in the northern West Bank where PA control has steadily waned over the years.
According to the PA Health Ministry, more than 835 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023. 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, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas.
Additionally, settler violence against Palestinians has soared since the Hamas massacre, with security forces accused of turning a blind eye to the attacks.
