Five dead in ongoing Israeli raid in West Bank – Palestinians

Palestinian officials reported that an ongoing raid by Israeli forces at a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank has resulted in five fatalities, including two women, while the military said it had “eliminated a terrorist”.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry confirmed three deaths, including the women. The Palestinian Red Crescent said two other men were also killed in the raid.

Earlier on Tuesday the ministry said that 53-year-old Khawla Ali Abdullah Abdo was killed in an air strike at the Tulkarem camp, while 18-year-old Fathi Said Awda Ubaid was fatally shot in the chest and abdomen.

Both victims’ bodies were transferred to Thabet Thabet Hospital.

It later said another woman, Bara Khalid Hussein, 30, succumbed to injuries sustained during the raid.

The Palestinian Red Crescent later confirmed the deaths of two other men, saying its ambulances initially faced challenges accessing the scene due to the violence.

The Israeli military, which frequently conducts raids in the territory targeting individuals it identifies as wanted militants, said in a statement that it had “eliminated a terrorist” in close combat during a raid that began overnight.

It was unclear which of the killed Palestinians the Israeli statement was referring to.

Residents of the Tulkarem camp reported that the raid, which began in the early hours of Tuesday, involved bulldozers destroying roads.

Violence in the West Bank has intensified since the war in Gaza broke out on October 7 last year following Hamas’s attack on Israel.

Since then, at least 808 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

In the same period, Palestinian attacks have claimed the lives of at least 25 Israelis in the West Bank, based on Israeli official data.

Israel has maintained an occupation of the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.