Israeli airstrike kills Palestinian militant, wounds eight people in West Bank

A Palestinian militant was killed and eight other people wounded on Friday in an Israeli air strike on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and Israeli military said.

The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group named the killed man as member Islam Khamayseh.

The Palestinian health ministry said the eight wounded people were in stable condition and receiving treatment at hospitals. Reuters could not immediately confirm their identities.

The Israeli military said a fighter jet and helicopter conducted the strike, a rarity in the West Bank, where violence had been surging long before the Gaza war.

Israel said it struck a compound used as an operations center by militants and confirmed the killing of Khamayseh, who it said was responsible for several attacks against Israelis.

The strike "was carried out to remove an imminent threat," it added, without disclosing details on the threat.

Images circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed a cloud of smoke over the refugee camp, which has over the years become a densely populated urban area. Residents of the camp said a house was targeted.

Reuters