At least six Palestinians were killed in a battle with the Israeli military, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest phase in a rapidly escalating crisis in the West Bank.
The Israeli army reported Tuesday it killed a man affiliated with the Islamic Hamas group in Jenin who was suspected of shooting and killing two Israelis, and arrested two of his sons in the West Bank city of Nablus.
The forces used shoulder-fired missiles and armed Palestinians responded with heavy fire, the Israeli army said in a statement, adding that its soldiers hit two additional militants.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, described the incident as part of “an all-out war” and urged the U.S. to step in.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has been escalating since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power as head of a far-right coalition late last year. The U.S. has been striving to mediate a calm ahead of the Muslim holiday of Ramadan, which starts later in March.
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, said in a statement that “assassinations and arrests will increase resistance.”
