The Israeli military said the first air strike hit a vehicle in a town near the city of Tulkarm on Saturday, targeting a militant cell it said was on its way to carry out an attack.
A Hamas media outlet said a vehicle carrying fighters had been struck and that one of those killed was a commander of its Tulkarm brigades.
The situation in the — UNRWA (@UNRWA) #WestBank is worsening daily. Nur Shams and Tulkarm camps are suffering from water shortages & electricity outages.Israeli Security Forces' operations continue causing destruction & threatening the lives of people in the area. This "silent war" has to end. pic.twitter.com/UFOUkTLOVPAugust 2, 2024
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups claimed the other four men as its fighters.
Hours later, a second strike targeted another group of armed militants who had fired on troops, Israel's military said, during what it described as a counter-terrorism operation in Tulkarm.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said five men had been killed in the first strike and WAFA said four people died in the second.
It said their identities were not immediately clear.
Violence in the West Bank was on the rise before the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and has risen since, with frequent Israeli raids in the territory, which is among those that the Palestinians seek for a state.
There has also been an increase in anti-Israeli street attacks by Palestinians.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, sparking vows of retaliation from the group. (AP PHOTO)
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli air strikes killed six people in a house in the southern area of Rafah on Saturday and two others in Gaza City, further north, Gaza health officials said.
At least 31 Palestinians were killed across the enclave on Saturday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians.
The Israeli military said its forces had struck militants and destroyed Hamas infrastructure in Rafah and elsewhere in the enclave.
At least 39,550 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign in Gaza.
The offensive was triggered by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7 in which 1200 people were killed and 250 abducted, according to Israeli tallies.
An Israeli delegation was due in Cairo at the weekend to discuss a possible hostage release and Gaza ceasefire deal.
Chances of a breakthrough appear low as regional tension has soared following the assassination of Hamas' leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on Wednesday, a day after an Israeli strike in Beirut killed Fuad Shukr, a top military commander from Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
The Israeli military says it struck five suspected terrorists on their way to carry out an attack. (AP PHOTO)
Haniyeh's death was one in a series of killings of senior Hamas figures as the Gaza war nears its 11th month and concern grows that the conflict is spreading across the Middle East.
Hamas and Iran have both accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and have pledged to retaliate.
Israel has neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the death.
Hezbollah, like Hamas, is backed by Iran and has also vowed revenge.
US President Joe Biden, in a phone call on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, discussed new US defensive military deployments to support Israel against threats such as missiles and drones, the White House said.
Earlier, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the US did not believe escalation was inevitable.
"I think we are being very direct in our messaging that certainly we don't want to see heightened tensions and we do believe there is an off-ramp here and that is that ceasefire deal," Singh said.
