Middle East latest: Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinian militants who carried out West Bank bus attack
Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian militants who carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the West Bank earlier this month.
The Israeli military said Thursday that the two men barricaded themselves in a structure in the West Bank village of Burqin and exchanged fire with Israeli troops before they were killed overnight. The army said a soldier was moderately wounded.
The military said Mohammed Nazzal and Katiba al-Shalabi were operatives with the Islamic Jihad militant group.
The Hamas militant group released a statement claiming the two men were members of its armed wing and praising the bus attack. Hamas and the smaller and more radical Islamic Jihad are allies that sometimes carry out attacks together.
The Jan. 6 attack on the bus carrying Israelis killed three people and wounded six others.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
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24-year-old Hamas attack survivor will represent Israel at Eurovision
TEL AVIV — A survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Switzerland in May.
Yuval Raphael, 24, won first place in a singing contest on Israeli television that determines Israel’s entry to Eurovision, a pan-continental pop extravaganza. She won with a performance of the Swedish group ABBA’s pop hit “Dancing Queen,” which she dedicated to the victims of the attack.
Raphael survived the Nova music festival in southern Israel as Palestinian militants stormed the event, killing hundreds and taking many hostage during Hamas’ cross-border raid. She has testified in the Israeli parliament about her experience on Oct. 7. She described hiding from gunmen under piles of dead bodies for eight hours, and said “I’m going to deal with this thing for the rest of my life.”
Last year’s Eurovision was overshadowed by the war in Gaza, with large demonstrations protesting Israel’s participation. Israel’s representative, Eden Golan, who ended up taking fifth place in the competition, was kept under tight security.
Israel will not compromise on dismantling Hamas, foreign minister says
