Israel kills militants in the West Bank as a nervous region watches latest on cease-fire talks
LA TimesMourners carry the body of militant Haitham Balidi, wrapped in the Qassam Brigades flag of the Hamas militant group’s military wing, in the Tulkarm refugee camp in the West Bank on Saturday. Two Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank killed nine Palestinian militants on Saturday, Israel’s army said, as violence flared again in the Israeli-occupied territory with tensions high over the war in Gaza and a potential regional escalation. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa said four bodies were “burned and charred beyond recognition.” Later Saturday, Israel’s military said it killed four other Palestinian militants in the Tulkarm area shortly after they opened fire on Israeli troops. The British government called on its citizens in Lebanon to “leave now.” President Biden on Thursday said he had urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seize the chance for a cease-fire with Hamas, adding that Haniyeh’s killing had “not helped” efforts to negotiate an end to the war.