The attack in Tulkarm has taken place at a time when the Israeli attacks on Jenin, a nearby area of the occupied West Bank, have entered the seventh day.
The Palestinian group said an Israeli airstrike killed two Hamas fighters in the city of Tulkarm, urging Israel to refocus on the occupied West Bank since the start of a cease-fire agreement in Gaza.
Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said the two people killed on Monday were members of its armed wing.
The Israeli military said it targeted a man who served as a Hamas leader in Tulkarm, who was said to have been involved in several attacks on Israelis in addition to another Hamas member.
Meanwhile, witnesses in Tulkarm told Reuters news agency that Israeli raids were continuing in the city.
This action has come at a time when the Israeli attacks on the nearby Jenin area continued for the seventh day.
With the help of armored vehicles and drones, Israeli forces launched a series of attacks on Jan. 21 as part of Israel’s “Iron Wall” campaign on Jenin – a populated settlement north of Tulkarm.
According to Palestinian health officials, at least 16 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin and its surrounding areas since the start of the operation.
About 15,000 people have been forced to flee the camp due to Israeli attacks, Jenin Mayor Mohamed Jarrar said on Sunday.
He added that according to initial estimates, the Israeli army has completely demolished 30 to 40 houses in Jenin and partially damaged hundreds of others.
“The Israeli army is bulldozing and destroying roads and infrastructure, making paths for its vehicles from the rubble of demolished Palestinian homes,” Jarrar said.
Last week, the Israeli military said in a statement that it had carried out airstrikes on “terrorist infrastructure sites” in Jenin, adding that “a number of roadside explosive devices” had been “defused”. .
Late on Saturday, Israeli forces shot and killed a two-year-old girl during a raid on the village of Ashish Shahada, south of Jenin, Palestinian officials said.
“They started shooting at us from the windows without any warning,” Ghada Asos, the grandmother of the infant Laila Mohammad al-Khatib, was quoted by Reuters as saying.
“Suddenly, special forces raided us and were shooting through the windows.”
The Israeli military said troops opened fire on a structure where suspected militants were holed up in an “anti-terrorist” operation. It said in a statement that it was investigating reports that uninvolved civilians had been injured.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health says that at least 838 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.
