An Israeli colonizer identified as Tzeela Gez, was killed by unknown gunmen in a shooting near a West Bank settlement. She was nine months pregnant, and was on her way to the hospital to give birth when she was killed.
Her baby was delivered by c-section at the hospital after her death, and was determined to be in stable condition.
Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, responded to the shooting by stating that the Palestinian towns closest to the location of the shooting, Bruqin and az-Zawiya, should be ‘flattened’ like cities and towns in Gaza.
“Just as we are flattening Rafah, Khan Younis and Gaza (in the Gaza Strip), we must also flatten the terror nests in [the West Bank],” Smotrich wrote on social media..
No Palestinian groups claimed responsibility for the shooting, which occurred in the midst of the largest Israeli military operations in the West Bank in two decades (lasting over 100 days in Tulkarem and Jenin), and while the Israeli military continues bombing Gaza (for over 500 days, with 50,000 killed).
On Thursday, following the shooting of Gez, Israeli forces invaded the nearby Palestinian villages of Tamoun and Tubas, killing five Palestinians and occupying Palestinian homes.
The Israeli military claimed that soldiers had identified “terrorists” in a building in Tammun, and besieged the building, setting it on fire and shooting numerous rounds, killing four.
Local sources reported that an Israeli occupation bulldozer ( D10 ) began demolishing the house, while the Israeli occupation forces are still besieging the area. A photo also circulated on social media showing an Israeli military bulldozer carrying the body of one of the Palestinians who was killed in the besieged house.
Israel’s general chief of staff, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, visited the troops who were attacking the villages and offered his support for their ongoing attacks on the Palestinian villagers.
Local sources reported that special forces infiltrated Tammun, south of Tubas, and surrounded a house. Military reinforcements, including a bulldozer, followed, and the besieged house was targeted several times with weapons and Energa missiles, destroying the home completely.
Azmi Balawna, the director of education in Tubas, reported that an Israeli occupation patrol hit a bus carrying students to a kindergarten in Tammun, while the children were inside, causing panic.
At the same time, special forces infiltrated the city of Tubas, followed by military reinforcements, which were stationed at its southern entrance.
The Israeli occupation forces also stormed the headquarters of Al-Quds Open University in Tubas and blew up a café next to the university.
The governor of Tubas also announced a delay in official working hours due to the situation in the governorate .
Meanwhile, armed groups of illegal paramilitary Israeli colonizer, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces, closed the northern entrance to the Al-Masafer and Bedouin areas east of Yatta, which leads to a large number of villages, ruins, and population centers. They set tires on fire on the road, attacked citizens’ vehicles, and prevented them from passing and reaching their homes.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained more than 70 Palestinians on Thursday during a raid into Al-Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron. The forces also raided and searched homes and tortured a number of them.
Local sources reported that occupation forces stormed the camp, raided the homes of citizens, and detained a large number of them. They also assaulted the director of public relations at the Prisoners’ Club, Amjad al-Najjar, his wife, and children, causing his wife to suffer a fracture in her hand. They also smashed the furniture in the house.
As the Israeli genocide in Gaza intensifies, Israeli soldiers and paramilitary colonizers have escalated their military offensive across the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem, resulting in the killing of more than 978 Palestinians, injuring thousands, and abducting over 17,000 people since October 7, 2023.
281 Palestinians were killed in Jenin, 210 in Tulkarem, 116 in Nablus, 92 in Tubas, 83 in Hebron, 63 in Ramallah, 53 in Jerusalem, 36 in Qalqilia, 26 in Bethlehem, and 12 in Jericho and northern plains.
This year alone, 143 Palestinians, including 24 children and 5 women, have been killed in the West Bank, one of the slain Palestinians was killed by illegal Israeli paramilitary colonizers.
In the destroyed, starved, and besieged Gaza Strip, the ongoing Israeli genocide has resulted in the killing of more than 52,928 Palestinians, including at least 15,626 children, 9,807 women, 3,855 elderly individuals, 237 journalists, and 23 medics. At least 119,864 people—mostly children, women, and the elderly—have been wounded since October 7, 2023.
