An Israeli border police officer was killed in the occupied West Bank during a raid described as a counter-terrorism operation that left six Palestinians dead.
Sergeant Shay Germay, 19, died and three other officers were injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb during the attack in the city of Jenin.
A helicopter helped rescue them with covering fire, the army said, adding that a plane fired on a “terrorist squad hurling explosives and endangering our armed forces, and a number of terrorists were killed.”
The Palestinian ministry said the attack targeted people gathered at the site, and eyewitnesses said the attack occurred as Israeli forces were withdrawing.
“One of the martyrs was beheaded,” said Mujahid Nazzal, a Palestinian doctor and first responder at the scene. 'It looked like the missile hit him directly. Others had their limbs cut off. A seventh person was seriously injured and was taken away by ambulance.'
Sergeant Shay Germay, 19, was killed and three other officers were injured when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb during the attack in the city of Jenin
People look at a bloodstain near the site where an explosive device killed an Israeli officer during an Israeli raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank
People walk past a crater left by an explosive device that killed an Israeli officer during an Israeli raid on Jenin in the occupied West Bank
Another witness, Ahmed Suleiman, said: “The airstrike took place at the entrance to Jenin in an area called the Martyr's Triangle. You can see the effects of the rocket. Blood and body parts are scattered everywhere.”
Four of the dead were brothers, according to relatives.
Also in the West Bank, an Israeli man was shot dead in his car by suspected Palestinian gunmen, with the Israeli military labeling the incident as a terror attack.
The murder occurred Sunday morning on Route 465 near the settlement of Ofra.
The victim was named by Israeli media as 33-year-old Ammar Mansour from Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem.
The IDF said it has launched a manhunt to find those responsible after armed men fled the scene.
It comes as Anthony Blinken on Saturday began his weeklong trip aimed at calming tensions that have grown during Israel's war with the militant Hamas group that controls the narrow Gaza Strip.
Blinken's tour, which began with meetings with the leaders of Turkey and Greece, will take him to Israel and the occupied West Bank.
The area had already experienced the highest levels of unrest in decades in the 18 months leading up to the October 7 attack on Israel, but clashes increased sharply as Israeli forces launched an invasion of Gaza.
At least 327 Palestinians have been killed in the area since the start of Israel's war against Hamas, according to a tally by the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry.
Many of them were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers, while security forces have made thousands of arrests.
In recent weeks, the city of Jenin and the refugee camp have been the target of repeated Israeli raids. Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.
People investigate the site where six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack
Palestinians in a car check the site where six men were killed in an Israeli airstrike
Palestinian gunmen attend the funeral of six Palestinians in the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday
In Gaza, Israel has stepped up its attack on the southern Gaza Strip after announcing on Saturday evening that it has completed its mission to eradicate Hamas in the north.
In a speech marking three months since the outbreak of war, Admiral Daniel Hagari said: “We have completed the dismantling of Hamas's military framework in the northern Gaza Strip and will continue to deepen this achievement, strengthening the barrier and defenses . components along the safety fence.
“Now we are focusing on dismantling Hamas in the central and southern Gaza Strip. We will do this differently and more thoroughly, based on the lessons we have learned from the fighting so far.”
While there may be some respite in the north, much of which has been leveled by brutal airstrikes, Israel will continue its bombings and ground invasions until its military objectives are seen through.
At least 22,722 people have been killed so far, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza.