Palestinian authorities report West Bank deaths in IDF operations

Five Palestinians died when the car they were travelling in was hit by a rocket fired by an Israeli drone in Tubas in the north of the West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah reported on Thursday.Two people were injured in the attack, one of them seriously.The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said they had carried out a counterterrorism operation in the Tubas region, in which aerial drones had carried out three targeted attacks on people who were armed and were posing a threat to IDF troops.According to Palestinian sources, one of those killed was the son of former top Palestinian militant Zakaria Zubeidi, who escaped from an Israeli high security prison through a tunnel along with other prisoners three years ago. He was recaptured days later.In a separate operation, an IDF drone targeted a group that had fired on Israeli forces in the Faraa refugee camp also in the north of the West Bank, the IDF reported.The Palestinian Health Ministry reported that one person had died in the attack. P alestinian sources identified the dead person as a 16-year-old male. According to Palestinian reports, IDF forces subsequently left Faraa.Palestinian reports said that IDF forces were continuing operations in Jenin also in the north of the West Bank for the ninth successive day. IDF troops were interrogating residents in the city's refugee camp, they said.The reports said that severe damage had been caused to buildings and streets during operations in the region.Israel launched a military operation in the West Bank last week, targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad, with the IDF justifying the operation on the grounds of a significant rise in the number of attacks on Israelis.The Health Ministry in Ramallah has reported the deaths of 39 people so far.The security situation in the West Bank has deteriorated sharply since the war in the Gaza Strip began following the October 7 attacks mounted by Hamas. Acts of violence perpetrated by extremist Israeli settlers have also increased.More than 600 Palestinian s have been killed in the region, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.Source: Ghana News Agency