Israel's army says airstrikes in the northern West Bank kill 9 Palestinian militants

ZEITA, West Bank -- Two Israeli airstrikes in the northern West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants on Saturday, Israel's army said, as violence flared again in the Israeli-occupied territory with tensions high over the war in Gaza.

The Israeli army said its forces first struck a vehicle in a rural area northwest of the city of Tulkarem in early morning, killing the five occupants. The army said they were on their way to carry out an attack.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the men's bodies were taken to a nearby hospital. Hamas later identified all five as militants with the group, including a local commander.

According to an Associated Press journalist and witnesses, the blast took place along a road connecting the Palestinian villages of Zeita and Qaffin.

“We came to the site and found a young man martyred here on the street and half of his face was missing.,” said Taiser Abdullah, a Zeita resident who said he had been going to work when he heard the strike nearby.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said four of the bodies were “burned and charred beyond recognition."

Later Saturday, Israel's military said it killed four other Palestinian militants in the Tulkarem area shortly after they opened fire on Israeli troops operating in the area. No further information was immediately available.

Over 590 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war began in Gaza in October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Most have been killed during Israeli raids and violent protests, but the dead also include bystanders and Palestinians killed in attacks by Jewish settlers.

The northern West Bank has seen some of the territory's worst violence over the past 10 months. Tulkarem, with its two refugee camps, has become one of the main flashpoints and is regularly raided by Israeli forces. Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, are active in the city.

The strike came days after the assassinations of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran early Wednesday and top Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukr in Beirut the evening before. The escalation threatens to plunge the region into a full-fledged regional war.

Iran and its proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, vowed to retaliate against Israel, which said it killed Shukur but has not confirmed or denied its role in the killing of Haniyeh. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said a short-range projectile was behind Haniyeh's death and accused the United States of supporting the attack.

The Pentagon said late Friday the U.S. military will move a fighter jet squadron to the Middle East and maintain an aircraft carrier in the region.

The previous day, President Joe Biden said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize the chance for a cease-fire with Hamas, adding that Haniyeh’s killing had “not helped” efforts to negotiate an end to the war. Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas' military and governing capabilities.

At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the nearly 10 months since Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel triggered their latest war. That's according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. Israel has accused Hamas of embedding in the civilian population and putting it at risk.

Most of Gaza's population of about 2.3 million is displaced, many people multiple times, as Israel's military returns to areas where it says Hamas militants have regrouped. Health services and sanitation have largely collapsed across the territory as hunger grows.

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Jeffery reported from Ramallah, West Bank.

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