Six killed in West Bank attacks, says Palestinian health ministry

Six killed in West Bank attacks, says Palestinian health ministry

At least five people have been killed in an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed the strike, on the Nur Shams camp near the city of Tulkarm, saying it had targeted what it called the command room of a “terror cell”.

Separately, the Palestinian Authority said one person had been killed and three injured in an attack by Israeli settlers near Bethlehem. The IDF said it was investigating the reports.

There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, triggered by Hamas’s deadly attack on southern Israel on 7 October.

The UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last Wednesday that 128 Palestinians, including 26 children, had been killed in air strikes in the West Bank since 7 October.

It added that as of 19 August, 607 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – including seven by Israeli settlers.

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Ten Israelis have also been killed in attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank, the agency adds.

The Nur Shams camp has been targeted by the IDF several times in recent months.

In April, the Palestinian Red Crescent said 14 people died in a two-day Israeli operation.

And in July the IDF bulldozed the camp’s main street.

In Monday’s second reported attack near Bethlehem, Palestinian media said dozens of Israeli settlers had entered the village of Wadi Rahhal, attacking residents.

The settlers shot dead a 40-year-old Palestinian man and wounded at least three others, Palestinian officials said.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing some 700,000 Jews since it occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem – land the Palestinians want as part of a future state – in the 1967 Middle East war.

The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

Six killed in West Bank attacks, says Palestinian health ministry

BBC