Israel said Thursday that it killed six Palestinian militants in new fighting in the occupied West Bank, including the son of a prominent jailed militant.
The latest attacks were part of larger-scale raids in the territory over the last week that Palestinians fear could be a widening of the Israeli war against Hamas militants in Gaza.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said a strike overnight in the northern West Bank town of Tubas killed five people, including Mohammed Zubeidi, the son of Zakaria Zubeidi, a well-known militant commander during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s. The elder Zubeidi took part in a rare jailbreak in 2021 before being arrested and returned to prison days later.
The Israeli military said the younger Zubeidi had taken part in attacks against Israeli forces in the West Bank and that he was with a militant cell when he was targeted.
The military said another fighter was killed in an airstrike on the Al-Faraa refugee camp after hurling a firebomb at Israeli forces. The military released a video that it said showed the exchange. It said forces also uncovered roadside bombs in the camp, which dates to the 1948 Mideast war surrounding Israel's creation.
Meanwhile, hundreds marched silently Thursday night through Tel Aviv streets carrying 27 mock coffins representing 27 of the hostages who were captured alive last October 7 and whose bodies were recovered by the Israeli military during the past nearly 11 months of fighting in Gaza.
The protests in the Israeli streets are targeted at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his failure to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and secure the return of 100 or so remaining hostages held by Hamas, especially after the Israeli military last weekend discovered the bodies of six hostages who had been shot to death by Hamas.
"Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, sentenced Carmel, my cousin, to death, her and all the hostages," said Gil Dickmann, the cousin of Carmel Gat, one of the six hostages whose bodies were recovered. The government "could have brought her back — 327 days she was there, in Gaza, in captivity. There were 327 opportunities to bring her back and every single one was missed."
In angry public statements, hostage families have accused Netanyahu of blocking a deal and potentially sacrificing their loved ones' lives for the sake of holding the border strip between Gaza and Egypt.
During a press conference in Haiti on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said both Israel and Hamas had to reach an agreement on the remaining issues in the cease-fire deal.
"Based on what I have seen, 90% is agreed, but there are a few critical issues that remain," including the so-called Philadelphi corridor on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, Blinken said.
There were also some disagreements over how Palestinian prisoners and Israeli hostages would be exchanged.
"I expect in the coming days, we will share with Israel, and they [Qatar and Egypt] will share with Hamas our thoughts, the three of us, on exactly how to resolve remaining outstanding questions," Blinken said, referring to the U.S. and mediators Qatar and Egypt.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets in recent days, calling for a deal and saying time is running out to bring home the hostages alive. Hamas has accused Netanyahu of deliberately dragging his feet on cease-fire talks.
Hamas on Thursday accused Netanyahu of working to prevent a cease-fire deal, a day after Netanyahu said Israel would combine military pressure with a firm stance on its demands.
During a news conference Wednesday in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel agreed to earlier cease-fire proposals, while Hamas refused.
Netanyahu also stuck to his position that Israel must retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a 14-kilometer strip of land in the Egypt-Gaza border area.
“As far as Gaza is concerned, three war goals: The first war goal was to destroy Hamas' military and governing capabilities. The second was to free our hostages, and the third was to ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to Israel,” he said. “And all three of those goals, all three of them, go through Israel's control of the Philadelphi Corridor.”
In Washington, a senior Biden administration official told reporters Wednesday that cease-fire negotiations continue, and a deal is “basically done,” except for two sticking points – which Palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange for the remaining hostages, and the deployment of Israeli forces during the first phase of the deal.
Hamas militants killed about 1,200 people and captured 250 hostages during the October 7 terror attack on southern Israel. The Israeli counteroffensive has killed nearly 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials, while the Israeli military says the death toll includes several thousand Hamas combatants.
Hamas has been designated a terror group by the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western countries.
Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
