Israel deadliest West Bank strike in decades

• The Israeli military said its strike in the northern West Bank killed Hamas leader Zahi Yaser Abd Al-Razeq Oufi

BEIRUT: A source within the Palestinian security services told AFP that an air raid on the refugee camp of Tulkarm, killing 18 people, was the deadliest in the occupied West Bank since 2000.
The Israeli military said its strike in the northern West Bank killed Hamas leader Zahi Yaser Abd Al-Razeq Oufi, who it accused of participating in numerous attacks.
Alaa Sroji, a social activist from the area, said an Israeli warplane had “hit a cafeteria in a four-story building.”

Israel, at war in Gaza since Hamas’s October 7 attack, has expanded its military campaign to secure its northern border and ensure the safe return of more than 60,000 people displaced by Hezbollah attacks over the past year.

On the Gaza front, the military said a strike three months ago killed three senior Hamas leaders, including Rawhi Mushtaha, the head of the militant movement’s government in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Hezbollah began strikes on Israeli troops a day after Hamas staged its October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures that include hostages killed in captivity.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive in Gaza has killed at least 41,788 people, the majority of them civilians, according to figures provided by the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. The United Nations has described the figures as reliable.
The ministry toll Thursday included 99 fatalities over the past 24 hours.