An Israeli strike killed three cousins, including two children, in the West Bank on Wednesday, according to Palestinian officials and a family member, as escalating violence threatens to further devastate the enclave occupied by Israel.
The attack hit the courtyard of the cousins’ house in the city of Tamoun, said Ahmed Asad, the Palestinian governor of the Tubas district. He identified the dead as two young children, Rida Basharat and Hamza Basharat; and Adham Basharat, a young man.
Israeli forces captured the three shortly after the airstrike, leaving it unclear whether they were alive or dead, Mr Asad said. Israeli officials later informed their Palestinian counterparts that the three had been killed, he added.
The Palestinian Authority’s Civil Affairs branch, which handles communications with Israel, announced Wednesday evening that Israeli officials had handed over the bodies of three cousins ​​for funeral rites.
The Israeli military said it had launched a strike in Tamoun against a “terrorist cell,” but did not immediately comment on the claim that two children had been killed. It later released a statement saying “due to various reports regarding the effects of the strike, this incident is being reviewed.”
The families of their close cousins ​​could not be reached, but Mamun Abu Muhsin, a family member, confirmed their deaths in a phone interview Wednesday night after their bodies were recovered by Israeli forces.
Violence has escalated in the West Bank over the past year and a half, as Israel has fought armed groups such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Israeli military has stepped up attacks on Palestinian towns in the West Bank – operations that can last days at a time – bulldozing roads and fighting with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Wednesday’s bombing comes after a Palestinian attack two days ago killed three Israelis, including two women in their 70s. Israeli officials quickly vowed to push back against the deadly attack.
“We are seeing immediate efforts to advance Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria,” said Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, on Wednesday, using biblical terms in the West Bank, which the Israeli government sees as disputed, not territorial. He said Israel would “react accordingly” to protect its citizens, an estimated 500,000 of whom live in settlements in the West Bank.
More than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, after the Hamas-led offensive that sparked the war in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. It is unclear how many were soldiers, but the figures include some civilians, including women and children killed by Israeli security forces.
About 50 Israelis were killed by Palestinians in shelling attacks in the West Bank during the same period, according to the United Nations. The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, said it had foiled more than 1,000 attacks in 2024, including hundreds of shootings.
The Palestinian Authority, which controls parts of the territory under Israeli rule, also launched its own operation against Palestinian militants in Jenin in December. Several Palestinian police officers were killed, along with some civilians, including a young woman and a young bystander.
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