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Two Israeli soldiers died from their injuries after a gunman opened fire at a checkpoint in the north of the occupied West Bank on Tuesday morning, as tension in the region soars amid a prolonged Israeli military assault.
The Israeli army said reservist Sgt Maj Ofer Yung, 39, from Tel Aviv, was one of the soldiers killed. Eight soldiers were also injured in the attack on the Tayasir checkpoint, it added.
The attacker, who was carrying an M-16 assault rifle according to the initial investigation, was killed in an exchange of fire lasting several minutes after reinforcements were sent, the army said.
Initial reports suggest a Palestinian gunman entered a military installation that has lookout positions next to the checkpoint, from where he fired on troops.
Israel’s ambulance service said it sent 13 emergency vehicles and a helicopter for a rescue operation. Palestinian media reported an Israeli drone attack on the nearby town of Tamun shortly after.
Militant group Hamas said the attack was carried out by a “Palestinian resistance fighter”. “We affirm that the crimes of the occupation and its aggression on the northern occupied West Bank will not go unpunished,” its statement said.
The small village of Tayasir lies east of the city of Tubas, a focus of Israeli military operations in recent months, which have intensified since Israel launched its latest assault called Iron Wall two weeks ago.
Since the operation began, the wider West Bank region has been under more restrictive movement controls and military lockdowns than usual, with many roads being closed and the few checkpoints that are open carrying out inspections that can lead to lengthy queues.
In Jenin, one of the cities worst affected by the Israeli attacks, the city's mayor has said 50 per cent of the near-abandoned refugee camp is without water.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said on Monday that the “basics of life are gone” in the camp, after two months of assaults by Palestinian Authority security forces, followed by the Israeli military. The agency stopped providing services in the camp in early December, it said, due to the security situation.
“In a split second yesterday, large swathes of Jenin camp were completely destroyed in a series of controlled detonations by the Israeli Security Forces,” the statement added, referring to the demolition of about 20 buildings by Israeli forces on Sunday.
“The operations conducted both by Israeli and Palestinian security forces have led to the forced displacement of thousands of camp residents, many of whom will now have nowhere to return to.”
The Yesha Council, an Israeli group that represents a number of settlement municipal councils in the region, has called on its government to annexe the occupied West Bank and end the ceasefire deal struck with Hamas in January, in light of the deadly checkpoint attack.
On Sunday, the Israeli army said it had killed at least 50 militants since it launched its operation on January 21, while the Health Ministry in Ramallah said Israeli forces have killed 70 people in the territory since the start of the year.
