dpa
Tel Aviv/Ramallah
At least 12 Palestinians were killed during Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
Four people, including a 14-year-old and two 19-year-olds, were killed in Aqaba, the Health Ministry in Ramallah said, with seven other people injured. The Israeli army has not commented on this incident.
But the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced that two separate airstrikes had been conducted in the area of Jenin. It said that "armed terrorist cells” were hit.
At least five people were killed in the Jenin air attacks, according to the Health Ministry in Ramallah.
According to the ministry, two Palestinians were also killed and three seriously injured in a further incident near Jenin. Jenin is considered a stronghold of militant Palestinians.
The situation in the West Bank has significantly deteriorated since the onset of the Gaza conflict following the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7 of last year.
Since then, over 580 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations, or their own attacks, according to the Health Ministry in the West Bank. Additionally, violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has escalated during this period.
Meanwhile, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that at least 40 people were killed and 71 injured in Israeli attacks over the past 24 hours.
At least 39,653 people were killed and 91,535 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.
Israel captured and occupied the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967.
Although Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005, it continues to control the land, air, and maritime borders.
Palestinians claim these areas for the establishment of their own state.