Four militants from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group have been killed in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank, as a knife attack by an Israeli Arab in northern Israel left two people severely injured on Wednesday.
The PIJ, which is active in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, said the four men were members of its organization. According to the Ministry of Health in Ramallah, the four men were between 20 and 24 years old.
The Israeli military confirmed that it conducted an operation on Tuesday in Tulkarm, in the north-east of the West Bank. It said an army aircraft "struck a terrorist cell in the Nur Shams area" which was allegedly planting an explosive roadside device.
Four men "who were an important part of the terrorist infrastructure in Nur Shams" were killed, the military said. Local residents reported the Israeli attack was carried out by a drone.
Israeli media said that the attack took place around 100 metres away from the site of an incident on Monday which saw an Israeli soldier killed by a roadside bomb. Armed groups in the West Bank often hide explosive devices along roads to attack Israeli forces.
The situation in the West Bank has worsened significantly since the start of the current conflict in Gaza, which emerged following the unprecedented October 7 attacks led by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The Ministry of Health in Ramallah says 538 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, clashes and Palestinian attacks, while violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the region have also increased.
The PIJ participated in the October 7 attacks and its members took some hostages. While it has repeatedly fired rockets at Israel from Gaza, it is considered much less powerful than Hamas. Both groups are classified as terrorist organizations by the European Union and the United States.
Two injured in Israel knife attack
Meanwhile, two people were seriously injured on Wednesday in a knife attack in a shopping centre in the northern Israeli city of Karmiel.
The police called the incident a "suspected terrorist attack" and said the alleged perpetrator, who according to Israeli media reports was an Israeli Arab, was shot dead by one of the injured.
Israel's national rescue service, the Magen David Adom, announced that the two victims had been taken to hospital, with one 20-year-old man in a critical condition.
Hezbollah commander killed
Also on Wednesday, a Hezbollah commander and his bodyguard were killed in an Israeli drone strike on a car near the Lebanese port city of Tyre, security and Hezbollah sources said.
The car was targeted in the area of al-Hosh, east of Tyre.
Hezbollah confirmed the deaths of the two people without providing further details.
Lebanese security sources said the commander who was killed was Mohammed Naameh Nasr, who goes by the name of Abu Nameh, and is the head of a Hezbollah brigade.
Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah have been fighting almost daily since the beginning of the Gaza war.
There are fears that the conflict could spread as Israel wants Hezbollah to withdraw behind the Litani river, 30 kilometres from the border, as stipulated in UN resolution 1701.
The Iranian-backed militia has said it will only stop its shelling once there is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
