Israeli Raids in West Bank Kill 4, Palestinians Say

The raids suggested that the Israeli military was continuing to target armed fighters in the occupied territory, even as it conducts major operations in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Israeli military raided Palestinian villages in the northern part of the West Bank early Tuesday, setting off clashes with militants. Four Palestinians were killed, according to Palestinian health authorities.

It was not clear whether the dead included militants or civilians and Palestinian authorities do not differentiate in their death tolls. But the Israeli military said it had engaged in firefights during the raids that killed militants in the village of Tamoun and that it had carried out airstrikes there and near the city of Jenin.

The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, an Iranian-backed militant group, said fighters in villages south of Jenin were firing bullets at Israeli forces and detonating explosive devices.

Israel has been ramping up a crackdown in the West Bank that began before the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, with authorities increasingly concerned about bolder and more sophisticated attacks by Palestinian militants. The raids have left a swath of destruction in the Israeli-occupied territory, churning up roads and leaving many civilians scared to leave their homes. Israeli officials have said destroying the roads was necessary because of the threat of buried explosives.

Sadeq Nazzal, 60, an owner of a nursery in Qabatiya, not far from Jenin, said he heard a powerful explosion on Tuesday morning. He described a chaotic scene, with military vehicles moving along the main north-south highway and sounds of gunfire in the distance.

“We’ve become used to this situation,” he said. “But every time it happens, it upends our lives. Workplaces and schools shut down.”

During a funeral procession held in Tamoun, one of the Palestinians killed on Tuesday had been wrapped in an Islamic Jihad flag. Palestinian militant groups often drape their fallen members in flags bearing their emblems. They also will occasionally claim unaffiliated people as being among their ranks.

The raids in the West Bank suggested that Israel’s military was continuing to target armed fighters in the northern part of the territory even as it conducts major operations in Gaza and Lebanon and braces for the possibility of a wider conflict with Iran.

In northern Gaza, a deadly strike hit the town of Beit Lahia overnight, Zaher al-Waheidi, an official at the health ministry in Gaza, said on Tuesday. Israel launched a wide-scale operation in northern Gaza in October, targeting what it says is a resurgence of Hamas in the area.

The Israeli military said it struck a weapons storage facility where a militant was operating. It said it had sought to reduce the risk to civilians before the strike, without explaining what measures it had taken.

Video from the scene obtained by Reuters showed people digging through rubble around a half-collapsed building in Beit Lahia, indicating it was caused by a recent strike.

The New York Times independently verified that the scene in the Reuters video matched other imagery captured by professional photographers on Tuesday morning. Walls and concrete beams had collapsed, and a sofa appeared half-buried amid the debris. In a clearing surrounded by heavily damaged buildings, four white plastic shrouds could be seen being buried at a makeshift grave.

The Israeli military also continued to conduct airstrikes in Lebanon on Tuesday. One person was killed and 20 others were wounded in Jiyeh, a popular summer resort town around 10 miles south of Beirut, according to initial data from Lebanon’s health ministry.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported strike. It said in a separate statement that it was dismantling weapons infrastructure in southern Lebanon belonging to Hezbollah and targeting militants.

Here’s what else is happening in the Middle East:

• Gaza evacuations: The World Health Organization is preparing to evacuate an expected 113 critically injured and sick Palestinians from Gaza on Wednesday in what would be one of the biggest such operations in months, according to Rik Peeperkorn, the organization’s representative for the Palestinian territories. Speaking from Gaza, he told journalists that most of the evacuees, including patients suffering from war injuries and chronic illness, will be flown to the United Arab Emirates for treatment.
• Polio vaccines: The Gaza Health Ministry and U.N. aid agencies extended an emergency polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza by an additional day, aiming to increase vaccination coverage among children under 10. The start of the second phase of the campaign had been postponed because of a lack of access and assurances about pauses in the fighting, according to U.N. agencies. The campaign continued at four health facilities in northern Gaza on Tuesday with the goal of reaching over 90% of eligible children, UNICEF said in a statement on social media.

Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Nick Cumming-Bruce, Nader Ibrahim and Euan Ward contributed reporting.

Our Coverage of the Middle East Crisis

• U.S. Elections: Gazans fear neither candidate in the U.S. election will help them. In the West Bank, neither Palestinians nor Israelis have much enthusiasm for Kamala Harris. In Iran, where Donald Trump is seen by many as having been disastrous for their country, some hope he might be more open to negotiation in a second term.
• Israeli Raids in West Bank: The Israeli military raided Palestinian villages in the northern part of the West Bank, setting off clashes with militants. Four Palestinians were killed, according to Palestinian health authorities.
• Destroyed Buildings in Lebanon: Satellite imagery and videos show widespread destruction in southern Lebanon, revealing 1,085 buildings that have been leveled or badly damaged since Israel’s invasion.
• Avoiding the War: While Lebanese people are largely united against Israel’s onslaught, some in southern towns where Hezbollah does not hold sway say they feel trapped in the crossfire. One town is trying to stay out of the conflict.
• Hezbollah Operative Abducted: Israeli naval commandos captured a senior Hezbollah operative in a sea-and-land operation that marked the deepest known incursion yet by Israeli forces into Lebanese territory during the war.
• Iran-Israel Tensions: Iran’s supreme leader threatened “a crushing response” to Israeli strikes on his country, as the Pentagon said it would deploy additional resources to the region in the coming months.
• Polio Vaccines: Nearly 94,000 children in Gaza City received a second dose of polio vaccine in an effort that was delayed by Israeli bombardment and mass evacuation orders, the Gazan health ministry said.