Israeli Troops Kill Hamas Man Who Army Says Attacked Post in West Bank

A protester hurls stones at members of the Israeli forces as they clash in the village of Kfar Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank, on September 29, 2023, during a demonstration against expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A protester hurls stones at members of the Israeli forces as they clash in the village of Kfar Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank, on September 29, 2023, during a demonstration against expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Israeli Troops Kill Hamas Man Who Army Says Attacked Post in West Bank

A protester hurls stones at members of the Israeli forces as they clash in the village of Kfar Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank, on September 29, 2023, during a demonstration against expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A protester hurls stones at members of the Israeli forces as they clash in the village of Kfar Qaddum, in the occupied West Bank, on September 29, 2023, during a demonstration against expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Israeli soldiers on Friday killed a member of the Hamas group who the army said was among assailants who threw fire bombs at a military post in the occupied West Bank.

The military said the attack on the post was near Psagot, an Israeli settlement.

"Soldiers conducting routine activity at the scene identified the suspects and responded with live fire. Two assailants were neutralized and transferred to receive medical treatment," Reuters quoted the army.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said one of the men later died of his wounds. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip but has strong support in the West Bank as well, claimed the man as a member.

Violence in the West Bank has raged for more than a year, amid stepped-up Israeli military raids, increased settler assaults on Palestinian villages, and a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis.



Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

 A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.