Two Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops in Jenin province in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of deaths in the area since a major offensive began nearly a fortnight ago to 19.
Palestinians killed by Israeli troops in Jenin
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli troops late Thursday night during an Israeli army operation in Jenin refugee camp. Wafa news agency identified the two men as Yazan Hatem al-Hassan and Amir Abu Hassan.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported that three middle-aged Palestinian women were taken to Jenin after sustaining shrapnel wounds in an Israeli airstrike on a building in the refugee camp.
On Wednesday, during a visit to the refugee camp, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the aim of the attack was to destroy the “terror infrastructure,” adding that the Israeli army will remain in the camp after the operation is over.
On Thursday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa called what is happening in the occupied West Bank “a systematic effort to destroy the foundations of the Palestinian state.”
In addition to the full-scale military assault on Gaza, Israel has been conducting a parallel major military offensive throughout the occupied West Bank since October 2023. Since then, Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 880 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Israel releases 110 Palestinian prisoners
As part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Hamas resistance movement in the Gaza Strip, 3 Israelis and 5 Thai nationals were released on Thursday, while Tel Aviv freed 110 Palestinian prisoners, marking the third such exchange since the ceasefire took effect on January 19.
In the Gaza Strip, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, and the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, released three Israeli hostages, two of who are soldiers, Agam Berger, 20, Arbel Yehuda, 29, and Gadi Moses, 80, as well as five Thai nationals, with the assistance of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The Commission for Prisoners and Former Prisoners and the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported that of the 110 Palestinian prisoners released, 32 were sentenced to life imprisonment and 30 were children.
On Thursday evening, hundreds of Palestinian families gathered at a recreation complex in Ramallah to welcome the prisoners who arrived from Ofer Prison.
Among the released prisoners is Zakaria al-Zubeidi from Jenin refugee camp, who was kidnapped in 2019 and escaped from Gilboa prison with five other prisoners in 2021.
On Thursday evening, 28 Palestinian prisoners arrived in the Gaza Strip, including 19 prisoners from the West Bank, who were deported to Gaza as a condition of their release.
Hamas confirms the assassination of military commander Mohammed Deif
Mohammed Deif, head of Hamas’ military wing, was killed in an airstrike, Hamas confirmed in Gaza, months after Israel announced his death.
Last August, Israel announced the death of Deif, a longtime shadow military leader of Hamas and one of the alleged masterminds of the October 7 attack on Israel, in an airstrike.
On Thursday, Hamas released a statement on his condition and announced the deaths of four other senior members. Arab television networks included in their live coverage of the release of Palestinian prisoners a press conference by Abu Obeida, spokesman for Hamas’ armed wing, who confirmed Deif’s death.
Deif was on Israel’s most-wanted list and had survived a number of alleged Israeli assassination attempts, yet had been out of the public eye for decades. He was considered iconic among Hamas militants and was particularly difficult to replace.
Israel believes Deif and former Gaza political leader Yahya Sinwar, assassinated in October, were behind the attacks on Israel. Hamas fighters unleashed an unprecedented attack that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 others hostage in Gaza. In response, Israel launched a war in Gaza and killed more than 47,460 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run sector’s health ministry.
