Israeli forces kill 10 in West Bank raids amid Gaza war

Israeli forces launched a series of deadly raids across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, killing at least 10 Palestinians and wounding several others, as the war on Gaza raged on.

The raids targeted refugee camps and cities in the north and south of the West Bank, sparking clashes with armed militants and civilians.

The Israeli army said it was responding to “imminent terrorist threats” and confirmed it carried out airstrikes during the operations.

The Palestinian health ministry said five people were killed in the Tulkarem refugee camp, where Israeli forces faced resistance from fighters of the Palestine Islamic Jihad group and other factions.

The camp was besieged by aircraft, tanks and heavy numbers of soldiers, according to a local official.

Another five people were killed near the Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, where Israeli forces also conducted a raid and clashed with militants.

Among the dead was Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal, a leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party.

The Israeli army accused him of being behind several attacks, including one in East Jerusalem.

The raids were the deadliest single operation in the West Bank in two decades and prompted Palestinian leaders to cut security ties with Israel, a move that could lead to more violence. 

The Palestinian Authority condemned the raids as a “massacre” and a “war crime” and called for international intervention to stop Israel’s aggression.

The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 24,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly 85 percent of the population.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested, injured or killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank in protests and clashes in solidarity with Gaza.

The war on Gaza, now in its sixth week, shows no sign of abating, despite diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire.

Qatar and France announced a deal on Tuesday to allow medicines to reach Israeli hostages and aid to enter Gaza, but Hamas set new conditions for the agreement on Wednesday.

The Zionist entity has rejected any truce that does not include the release of its captives and the disarmament of Hamas.