Tamun: Two Palestinian militants have been killed during an Israeli military operation in the West Bank, local media and army sources reported on Thursday. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah confirmed the deaths of the men, aged 20 and 29, during the raid in Tamun near the city of Tubas. According to Palestinian media reports, the army surrounded a house in Tamun and a shoot-out ensued.

According to Ghana News Agency, the Israeli military stated that police and intelligence forces were involved in the operation, which ‘eliminated a terrorist cell that was planning to carry out an imminent terrorist attack.’ The cell belonged to the Islamic Jihad organization, and the military added that the two men who were killed had already been involved in attacks with firearms and explosives. The Israeli forces had surrounded a barricaded building and ‘eliminated’ the two men with ‘precise fire,’ it said.

At the beginning of the year, the Israeli military launched its largest offensive against militant Palestinians in years in the northern West Bank. Many people were killed, tens of thousands of Palestinians were driven from their homes and massive destruction was caused. Before the offensive, there had been repeated attacks on Israelis in the West Bank. Since the beginning of the Gaza war almost two years ago, violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has also increased.

Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem, amongst other territories, in the Six-Day War in 1967. Today, around 700,000 Israeli settlers live there among 3 million Palestinians. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state with East Jerusalem as its capital.