RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Israel said it killed two Hamas terrorists in a plane crash on their car in Jenin in the West Bank on Saturday, saying it was involved in the killing of an Israeli man.
A joint statement by the Israel Security Agency and the Israel Defense Forces identified the militants as Ahmed Abu Ara and Rafet Dawasi, both from the northern West Bank region near Jenin.
In a statement, the military wing of Hamas' Al-Qassam Brigades said it mourned the death of two soldiers in an Israeli strike that attacked their vehicle in Jenin.
An Israeli statement said the two soldiers were involved in planning an attack last week in the West Bank in the Jordan Valley where an Israeli man, Yonatan Deutsch, was killed.
Israeli authorities said Palestinian gunmen opened fire on a main road in the West Bank on August 11, killing one and wounding another.
Later that day, the al-Qassam Brigades said its forces based in the West Bank killed an Israeli soldier at point-blank range near the Mehola settlement in the Jordan Valley and “returned to their bases safely.”
Hamas said the plan was in retaliation for an Israeli strike on a school where displaced Palestinians were taking refuge in Gaza City, which the security forces said killed at least 90 people.
Violence in the West Bank has erupted since the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in October, with more Israeli raids, violence against Jewish settlers and attacks on Palestinian streets.
In a move condemned by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, Israeli settlers killed at least one Palestinian on Thursday in an attack on a village near the West Bank city of Qalqilya.
The latest violence in the West Bank comes as a new round of talks in Doha aimed at ending the 10-month conflict in Gaza resume next week.
The war in Gaza and the escalating violence in the West Bank threaten to escalate into a wider regional conflict involving Iran and its proxies in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.
