Skip to main content
The Morning Star Shop
Israelis forces kill two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who carried out deadly bus attack
Heavy equipment clears rubble at the site where Israeli forces killed two Palestinian militants who carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the West Bank earlier this month, in the West Bank village of Burqin, January 23, 2025

ISRAELI forces have killed two Palestinians who allegedly carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the occupied West Bank earlier this month.

Military chiefs said today 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. 

They said that Mohammed Nazzal and Katiba al-Shalabi were operatives with the Islamic Jihad militant group.

Hamas released a statement claiming the two men were members of its armed wing and praised the bus attack. 

The January 6 attack on the bus carrying Israelis killed three people and wounded six others.

Meanwhile in Gaza, Palestinians are trekking through heavy rains and flooding to get back to their devastated homes.

Although some humanitarian aid has reached Gaza since the ceasefire began on Sunday, the two million Palestinians displaced by the fighting are experiencing miserable conditions.

The winter weather has compounded the hardships of those living in tattered tents and makeshift shelters. Heavy rains were flooding tents across the territory, leaving Palestinians shivering in the cold.

At one makeshift camp in the central city of Deir al-Balah, the downpour today quickly soaked through flimsy tents that seemed to float on pools of muck. 

Some used sandbags to keep their tents from washing away, while others tried to clear the huge puddles of mud outside their shelters. 

Barefoot children trod paths that had become filthy rivers. A cacophony of coughs emanated from every corner, raising concerns about the spread of illness.

Tareq Deifallah, a displaced resident in Deir al-Balah originally from Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, said water was seeping through his tent from all sides. He said “the truce is useless” when it came to changing his living conditions.

“Before the truce we were suffering, after the truce we are suffering from the rain and the winter,” Mr Deifallah said.

Monira Faraj, a mother of two young girls, said that rain flooded her tent and soaked through her mattress as her family was sleeping.

“We’re afraid we’re going to drown if it becomes too much,” she said.

Residents of the tent camp said they had no choice but to stay put.

Even though the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that took effect on Sunday allows Palestinians displaced by the fighting to return to their homes, those who set out to check on their houses in recent days said they found only ruins.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
Ambulance workers on the picket line outside London Ambulance Service (LAS) in Deptford, south-east London, February 10, 2023
Features / 26 June 2025
26 June 2025

I found myself alone as the sole reporter at Britain’s largest union conference, leaving stories of modern-day slavery and sexual exploitation going unreported: our socialist journalism is just as vital as the union work we cover, writes ROGER McKENZIE

School support staff members of Unison during a rally outside the Scottish parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh, September 27, 2023
Unison Conference 2025 / 19 June 2025
19 June 2025
People join civil society groups led by Stand Up To Racism during a counter-protest against a rally endorsed by Tommy Robinson in central London, October 26, 2024
Unison Conference 2025 / 17 June 2025
17 June 2025
Similar stories
Israeli policemen block a main road after gunmen opened fire
World / 6 January 2025
6 January 2025
A dead child is carried into the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in
World / 15 December 2024
15 December 2024
FORCED OUT: A camp for those displaced from their houses on
Features / 29 November 2024
29 November 2024
From the besieged ruins of Gaza, ASEM JERJAWI documents how displaced Palestinians struggle to survive cold and rain in threadbare tents — all while still facing the relentless onslaught of Israeli attacks