The Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry said five people were killed when Israeli forces raided the town of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Friday.
At least 12 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military operations this week in the West Bank, where tensions have been rising since the Gaza war began in October.
An Israeli army statement said the latest clashes in the Palestinian territories, which Israel has occupied since 1967, began when troops surrounded a building where “terrorists had barricaded themselves” and a gunfight broke out.
The Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported that military vehicles surrounded a house in the Jenin refugee camp and used loudspeakers to demand that residents surrender.
Shoulder-fired missiles were then used and a drone struck the house, he added.
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“During the firefight, IDF (Israeli military) aircraft struck several armed terrorists in the area,” the Israeli statement said.
Violence has intensified in the West Bank since the Gaza war began on October 7.
Prior to the latest deadly operation, seven Palestinians were killed in military operations in the occupied territories this week.
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According to the Health Ministry, an Israeli raid on a refugee camp near Tulkarem on Monday killed a woman and child, while a drone strike on the same Noor Shams refugee camp on Tuesday killed four men, and one man was killed in Jenin on Wednesday.
According to a tally by the Palestinian Red Crescent, 14 people were killed in a two-day Israeli military operation in Nur Shams in April.
At least 565 Palestinians have been killed in military raids and violence with Israeli settlers in the West Bank since Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, according to Palestinian figures.
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At least 16 Israelis, including soldiers, were killed in the region during the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
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