Palestinian officials say 12 dead in Israel West Bank raids

Palestinian officials said Israeli forces killed 12 people in three separate raids in the northern West Bank on Tuesday, as violence in the occupied territory showed no sign of abating.

Five people were killed in the Jenin area and four in Aqaba town in Tubas district when Israeli forces carried out early-morning raids, the health ministry in Ramallah said.

The Israeli army said three people were killed and two arrested in another raid in the village of Kafr Qud, west of Jenin.

The army added that its aircraft struck "armed terrorist cells" in the Jenin area, but did not give details on casualties.

The Palestinian Red Crescent had earlier reported deaths and injuries "due to the occupation's shelling of two vehicles in the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin".

Aqaba residents said Israeli troops arrived at dawn and surrounded the house of Amid Ghanam, leading to clashes between troops and young Palestinians.

Ghanam and two others were killed in the clashes, while another teenager was killed near a hospital, Tubas governor Ahmed Assad told AFP.

"The army entered and surrounded the house as snipers took positions on nearby rooftops and shot anyone who moved," he said.

The teenager was shot when the troops "entered the area of the hospital", Assad said.

Aqaba mayor Abdel Razzaq Abu Arra said the teenager "was killed in cold blood".

"This Zionist crime is a systematic crime that the Israelis carry out on a daily basis," he added.

Since war broke out in October between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, tensions have soared in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.

At least 617 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank since October 7, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian official figures.

At least 17 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed by Palestinian attacks in the West Bank over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, police said they killed a Palestinian after he attacked a border police officer with a screwdriver at a checkpoint between Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Police officers immediately "neutralised the terrorist with gunfire, and he was subsequently pronounced dead", the force said in statement.