Views: 2
UN decries Thursday’s strike as ‘unlawful,’ while Germany says high number of casualties ‘shocking’; Israel says terrorists were plotting an imminent attack on Israelis.
The IDF and Shin Bet said Saturday they had identified at least 12 terror operatives among the dead in Thursday night’s fighter jet strike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, amid an international outcry over the high number of casualties in the attack.
The strike targeted a senior Hamas commander, Zahi Yaser Abd al-Razeq Oufi, who was planning a major terror attack on the anniversary of the October 7 massacres, according to the military.
The Palestinian Authority health ministry reported 18 dead in the strike, including eight and seven-year-old siblings Karam and Sham Abu Zahra.
According to the IDF, at least 12 of those killed in the strike were confirmed as members of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror groups. The two terror groups also announced the deaths of several operatives in the strike.
The military has said it is on heightened alert for other attempts by Hamas to carry out attacks ahead of and on the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, both from the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
The United Nations Human Rights Office on Friday slammed the strike, calling it “unlawful.”
“The strike is part of a highly concerning pattern of unlawful use of force by ISF (Israeli security forces) during military-like operations in the West Bank that have caused widespread harm to Palestinians,” the UN rights office said in a statement.
“The leveling of an entire building filled with people via aerial bombing shows flagrant disregard for Israel’s obligations.”
The statement argued the strike came when there were “no clashes or confrontations” at the site.
“The airstrike completely destroyed the targeted building and also damaged nearby houses,” it said.
“More fatalities may be trapped under the rubble, but recovery and identification are proving difficult in light of the massive impact of the blast.”
Germany’s Foreign Ministry said on X that “the high number of civilian casualties in an Israeli air strike in Tulkarem is shocking.”
“In the fight against terror, the Israeli army is obliged to protect civilians in the West Bank,” the post read.
Since October 7, the IDF has carried out more than 70 airstrikes in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets. Troops have arrested some 5,250 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,050 affiliated with Hamas, since the beginning of the war.
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, 40 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.
