An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza on Thursday killed two Palestinians, Palestinian medics reported, while authorities said three Palestinians were fatally shot in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli military stated its Gaza strike was aimed at militants.
In separate accounts from the West Bank, an Israeli military official described a confrontation that began when two Palestinians stabbed and wounded an Israeli during a dispute. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said an Israeli civilian - an apparent reference to a settler - then killed the two Palestinians. The military also said its forces shot a third Palestinian after a separate stabbing attack that wounded an Israeli soldier.
The incidents add to a pattern of near-daily Israeli strikes on Gaza that Israeli authorities say are directed at Hamas militants. These operations take place more than nine months after a U.S.-backed ceasefire came into effect in the enclave. Since that fragile truce began in October, more than 1,160 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been reported killed, according to Palestinian and Israeli tallies respectively. Palestinian medics say most of the Palestinian dead have been civilians.
Local reporting in the West Bank highlighted an episode in which the Palestinian Authority's official news agency, WAFA, said the Israeli military and settlers attacked a group of Palestinians from the village of Beit Furik while they were attempting to extinguish a nearby fire. An Israeli military official said "friction" broke out between Israeli settlers and Palestinians during those firefighting efforts, and that two Palestinians stabbed an Israeli. The official added that an Israeli "civilian" then killed the two Palestinians.
Tensions in the West Bank have been elevated amid what the article describes as escalating settler violence and Israeli plans to construct additional settlements on territory that Palestinians regard as central to a future state. Approximately 700,000 Israeli settlers live among about 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the report says.
Most foreign governments regard Israel's settlement activity in the West Bank - where the Palestinian Authority holds limited self-rule - as illegal under international law, a position Israel contests. The current incidents underline the continuing volatility of the situation on the ground.
Note: The account reflects statements from Palestinian medics, the Palestinian Authority's WAFA news agency, and unnamed Israeli military officials as described above.