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Israel military launched an air strike on a mosque in the occupied West Bank, with Palestinian officials reporting that at least two people were killed in the attack.
Israeli’s military said the strike on the Al-Ansar Mosque early on Sunday killed several members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad who had been using the building as a command centre.
Israeli military officials said the “terror operatives” were organising an “imminent” attack and had been involved in several attacks in recent months.
Footage on social media appeared to show heavy damage to the mosque, located in Jenin refugee camp, and medics rushing to the scene.
The Palestinian health ministry said two men were killed in strike.
Mahmoud Al-Saadi, the director of the Red Crescent in Jenin, earlier said one person was killed and three others were wounded in the strike, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
Two Palestinians were also killed in separate attacks in Nablus and Tubas, the health ministry said.
Al Jazeera’s Sara Khairat Saud, who is in the occupied West Bank, said the strike in Jenin took residents by surprise as it is relatively unusual for Israel to carry out aerial attacks on the Palestinian territory.
“Eyewitness spoke to us and said they saw an F-fighter jet in the sky, they heard it and then the Israeli army came out to confirm it was an air strike,” Khairat said live from Ramallah.
Following the strike, some residents received text messages on their phone warning them against collaborating with the Jenin Brigade, one of the largest and most popular groups in the West Bank. The messages also said to keep children inside.
The strike came as Israel continued its bombardment of Gaza overnight, after military officials pledged to step up air raids on the enclave to minimise risks to Israeli troops ahead of an expected ground offensive.
At least 55 Palestinians were killed in air strikes on the enclave overnight, the Hamas government said.
Jenin refugee camp, which is populated by descendants of Palestinians dispossessed of their land during the establishment of Israel in 1948, was the focus of a major Israeli military offensive in July that killed at least 14 Palestinians.
Palestinian officials say at least 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied territory since Hamas’s October 7 attacks on Israel, which Israeli officials say killed more than 1,400 people.
Israeli air strikes have killed more than 4,400 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials.