The UN Palestine Fund experiences a personnel loss during a military operation in the West Bank.
In a recent military operation in the Israeli-controlled West Bank, an employee of UNRWA met their demise. As per UNRWA's declaration on Friday, the individual was fatally shot by a sniper situated on the rooftop of their residence. This marks the first such incident in more than a decade.
Concurrently, funerals were held for five Palestinians who perished in an Israeli airstrike. Four deceased males were laid to rest in Tubas, while another was buried in Tamun, both cities in the northern West Bank. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported the airstrike took place on Wednesday night.
Israeli military officials announced on Friday that their troops had engaged in a "forty-eight-hour counter-terrorism operation" in the regions of Tubas, Tamun, and Faraa. They claimed to have eliminated "five armed terrorists" through an airstrike and gunned down a sixth following an "altercation with a terrorist who hurled explosives."
Following Israel's withdrawal from Tubas on Thursday evening, official Palestinian funerals could proceed. On Friday morning, crowds filled the streets of Tubas, consisting of mourners and armed Palestinian militants. Some showcased Hamas' green flag, the emblem of the radical Islamic Palestinian organization, while gunfire disrupted the mournful chants.
Tensions in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory have escalated since the initiation of hostilities between Israel and the radical Islamic group Hamas in Gaza. According to Palestinian sources, over 679 Palestinians in the West Bank have been slain by Israeli soldiers or settlers since the conflict's inception. As per Israeli figures, at least 24 Israelis, including security personnel, have been killed in Palestinian assaults during the same period.
The incident where an UNRWA employee was fatally shot is the first of its kind in more than years. After the Israeli military's withdrawal from Tubas, funerals for the five Palestinians killed in the airstrike took place, which had been delayed due to the military operation that had been ongoing for years.
