Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians in West Bank: ministry

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry reported.

The ministry did not provide further details on the fatalities, but the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said they were killed in a drone strike on the Old City.

Violence has escalated in the occupied territory after war broke out between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with around 270 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and settler attacks there since October 7, Palestinian officials say.

An AFP photographer saw Israeli military vehicles entering Jenin refugee camp on Tuesday and a drone flying above.

Israeli forces "continue to storm Jenin camp and ambulance crews are prevented from entering to deal with medical cases without prior coordination", the Red Crescent said in a statement.

Asked to comment by AFP, the Israeli army said it had carried out an operation in Jenin that uncovered "explosive devices planted under roads to attack the security forces", who subsequently seized weapons, ammunition and more explosives.

"In addition, the forces identified and dismantled a ready-to-use explosives manufacturing facility and located underground tunnel shafts and an observation control room," the statement said.

"This morning, IDF (military) drones identified a terrorist cell hurling explosive devices and firing at the forces. The IAF (air force) targeted the threat and killed a number of the terrorists," it continued, adding that "dozens" of arrests were made and operations were ongoing.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Jenin city and its refugee camp have seen repeated Israeli raids, with dozens of people killed this year, including militants and children.

The death toll in the West Bank since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war now exceeds the 235 people, most of them Palestinians, killed in a brief Israeli-Palestinian conflict last year.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack in southern Israel on October 7, which killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, Israeli officials say.

Israel's military response has killed more than 18,400 Gazans, the majority civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.

At least 137 of around 240 people taken hostage in Israel on October 7 are believed to still be in Gaza.