Israel kills nine Palestinians in occupied West Bank in 24 hours: ministry

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank, increasing to nine the number of Palestinians killed in the territory over 24 hours, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

A 19-year-old Palestinian died after being shot by Israeli forces in El Bireh near Ramallah on Thursday morning, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. WAFA said he was wounded during confrontations with Israeli forces.

South of Bethlehem, Israeli forces shot dead a 63-year-old Palestinian near settlement of El'azar, WAFA reported.

The Israeli military said soldiers had fired shots towards "a Palestinian who aroused their suspicion at the El'azar Junction".

"A hit was identified and he was later pronounced dead," it said, adding that military police had opened an investigation into the incident.

Citing Hebrew-language media, the Times of Israel reported that the 63-year-old man had his hands in the air when he was shot but there was no immediate confirmation from the military.

Since the Gaza war began, Israel has stepped up military raids in the occupied West Bank, where violence had already been surging for over a year.

UN records show Israeli forces or settlers have killed hundreds of Palestinians in the West Bank since Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel that triggered Israel's war on Gaza.

Long-running tensions

Israel captured both the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war. Palestinians have long aimed to establish an independent state in the territories occupied in 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Israeli forces also killed four Palestinians in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tulkarm overnight, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, adding that two of them were shot and the other two killed in an Israeli strike.

Residents said Israeli forces bulldozed roads in the area.

Israeli forces also killed three Palestinians in the city of Jenin on Wednesday night, WAFA and the Palestine Health Ministry said.

The group Islamic Jihad said three of its fighters had been killed, calling it an assassination operation.

Tensions have long simmered in the West Bank between militants and the PA, established under interim peace agreements with Israel three decades ago.

The PA lost control of Gaza in 2007 to Hamas, the resistance group behind the October 7 attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel and resulted in another 253 being abducted, according to Israeli tallies.

Some 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israel's devastating retaliatory offensive, according to health authorities in the territory.