Jerusalem, April 20 (IANS): The Israeli army and border police have reportedly killed at least 10 gunmen in a major military operation in the West Bank.
Eight Israeli soldiers and a member of the undercover Yamas special unit of the Magav border police were also injured in fighting in the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, an army spokesman said on Saturday.
The Israeli forces were shot at and attacked with explosive devices, he said.
Palestinian media and the Palestinian Ministry of Health had previously reported two dead and seven injured in the military operation that began the previous day.
However, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Saturday that there was hardly any information from the sealed-off city, where the internet had also been switched off.
The information from both sides could not initially be independently verified.
According to the army, a total of eight wanted suspects were detained, explosive devices were defused and numerous buildings were searched. In addition, an explosives workshop was destroyed and numerous weapons were confiscated, including pistols and M16 assault rifles, it said.
The local commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, Mohammed Jaber, was among those killed, according to Palestinian media reports, which were not officially confirmed at first.
Palestinian media also reported that the Israeli army had caused severe damage to roads, water and power lines and destroyed numerous homes during its operation.
Almost 450 Palestinians have died in the West Bank since the October 7 attacks mounted by the Palestinian militant organization Hamas from the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, most of them dying in IDF operations and others in attacks mounted on Israelis.
Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.
In the Gaza Strip, the IDF bombed rocket launch ramps in Beit Hanoun in the north following a rocket attack directed towards Sderot across the border in Israel on Friday.
Dozens of airstrikes were aimed at targets in the Gaza Strip, the IDF reported.
And in the north of Israel along the border with Lebanon, air-raid sirens sounded, indicating a possible attack by the Iranian-backed Shiite Hezbollah militia.