The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) dealt a big blow to Palestinian terrorists on Tuesday when it eliminated Hamas and Fatah terrorist commanders in a drone strike near the West Bank town of Tulkarm.
“The IDF killed Ashraf Nafah and Mohammed Abu Abdu, commanders of the Hamas and Fatah military wings in Tulkarm, respectively, in a targeted strike in the West Bank refugee camp on Tuesday,” the Israeli news website YNET reported.
A counter-terrorism raid in the area accompanied the drone strike, news reports suggest.
Among the terrorists killed in the operation was a woman jihadist dressed as a medic. The hijab-wearing female terrorist, armed with an assault rifle, is seen walking in a formation of jihadists chanting “Allahu akbar.”
“At least five others were killed in the operation, including a woman disguised as a paramedic who was armed with an M16 rifle,” the news outlet added.
Israeli “soldiers struck a number of armed terrorists in exchanges of fire and dismantled numerous explosives that had been planted underneath the roads,” the military announced in a press statement Tuesday.
“During the operation, an IAF [Israeli Air Force] drone struck several terrorists from various terror organizations in the Tulkarm area. Among those struck were terrorists who were involved in the planning and carrying out of attacks against IDF soldiers and the State of Israel from the Tulkarm area,” the IDF statement said.
The IDF revealed the details of the terror operatives eliminated in the operation:
Among those eliminated was Ashraf Nafa, the Head of the Hamas branch in the Tulkarm area. Ashraf was responsible for manufacturing and embedding explosives intended to attack IDF soldiers, as well as recruiting new operatives into the Hamas organization.Additionally, he was involved in numerous attacks against IDF soldiers in Judea and Samaria, and was in contact with external Hamas terrorists who advanced terror attacks in Judea and Samaria.Furthermore, the terrorist Muhammad Awad was eliminated during the operation. Muhammad was a terrorist in the area of Tulkarm, where he was actively involved in shooting attacks against IDF soldiers. In addition, he raised terror funds to support the battalion’s activity in the area, and procured weaponry for the battalion.
The anti-terror raid was jointly conducted by the IDF, Shin Bet security agency and the Israeli Border Police.
Tuesday’s raid exposes deep terrorist ties between Hamas and Palestinian Authority’s ruling PLO-Fatah party. Fatah terrorists participated in the Hamas-led October 7 massacre.
Amid this emerging terrorist axis, Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian groups on Tuesday signed a unity pact in China. The terrorist-ridden Palestinian groups vowed to create a unified ‘government’ as part of the newly-signed Beijing Declaration. Several such declarations have failed to bring together squabbling Palestinian outfits in the past.
The Associated Press reports:
Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah signed a declaration in Beijing vowing to form a government together, the groups said Tuesday, in the latest attempt at resolving their long rivalry.Both sides said the accord, which provided no guarantees or timeline, was only an initial step. Previous such declarations have failed, raising doubt over whether the China-sponsored negotiations might lead to a resolution between Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for the past 17 years, and Fatah, the main force in the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority that administers parts of the occupied West Bank. (…)Chinese state broadcaster CCTV announced that the two sides and other, smaller Palestinian factions signed the Beijing Declaration on “ending division and strengthening Palestinian unity,” pledging to form a unity government for the Palestinian territories. The agreement offered only broad outlines on how they would work together.
Hamas continues to endanger Gazan lives in its bid to hurt Israelis. On Monday, another Hamas rocket aimed towards Israel landed inside Gaza — this time on a school in central Gaza.
On Monday, “several projectiles were launched by the Hamas terrorist organization from the area of Maghazi in the central Gaza Strip toward Israel,” the IDF said Tuesday. “The projectiles did not cross into Israeli territory and fell inside the Gaza Strip. One of the projectiles fell and hit a school in the area of Nuseirat.”
After evacuating a part of the designated safe zone in the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis, the Israeli military on Monday launched an operation against Hamas terrorists who had regrouped in the area. Khan Yunis is just a few miles away from the Rafah terrorist stronghold.
“Over the past day, IDF troops began operational activity in the area of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza, eliminating terrorists in tank and aerial strikes,” the Israel military disclosed Tuesday. “As part of the activity, IDF aircraft struck over 50 terror infrastructure sites, including weapons storage facilities, observation posts, and structures used by Hamas terrorists, as well as underground tunnel routes in the area.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli armed forces continued operations against the Hamas terror stronghold of Rafah. The troops were “carrying out “precise, intelligence-based operational activity in the Rafah area,” the IDF informed Tuesday. “During the activity, the troops eliminated dozens of terrorists in targeted aerial strikes and close-quarters combat.”
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