Drone Strikes and Clashes in Northern West Bank Leave 6 Palestinians Dead
At least six Palestinians were reported killed early Thursday in a series of drone strikes and clashes with Israeli troops in the Tubas area of the northern West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed it carried out a drone strike in the Far’a camp shortly before 2 a.m. and three more strikes around 4 a.m. in the city of Tubas.
The IDF stated that the strikes targeted Palestinian gunmen who were firing at troops during a raid in the Tubas area. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, five men were killed in the strikes in Tubas, while local media reported that a sixth Palestinian was shot dead in the Far’a camp.
The ministry identified the five Palestinians killed in Tubas as Ahmed Abu Dawas, 24, Mohammed Abu Juma, 30, Qusay Abd al-Razeq, 26, Mohammed Abu Zagha, 23, and Mohammed Zubeidi, 21. Mohammed Zubeidi, according to Palestinian media, was the son of Zakaria Zubeidi, a high-profile figure who escaped from Gilboa Prison in 2021 and was later recaptured.
The incident is part of a larger IDF operation in the northern West Bank, which began on August 28. Dubbed “Summer Camps,” the operation aims to dismantle Iran-backed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad networks in Jenin, Tulkarem, and the Far’a camp near Tubas. To date, the IDF reports that more than 30 gunmen, including senior leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed in the operation.
Violence in the West Bank has surged over the past year following the October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel, which killed approximately 1,200 people and led to the abduction of 251 others. Since then, Israeli forces have arrested around 5,000 Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,000 linked to Hamas.
