Israeli attack kills five Palestinians in occupied West Bank refugee camp | News on the Israel-Palestine conflict

In an attack on the West Bank village of Wadi Rahal, Israeli settlers kill one Palestinian and injure six others.

An Israeli airstrike on the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank killed five Palestinians, including two teenagers.

Al Jazeera's Nida Ibrahim reported from Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday that the attack took place overnight and that Israeli forces reportedly targeted leaders of armed resistance groups in the camp.

Since the war against Gaza began in October, Israeli attacks on the territory have increased dramatically.

“Medical sources have informed us that they have received the bodies and body parts of five Palestinians killed in the Israeli airstrike on the Nur Shams refugee camp,” Ibrahim said.

“The Israeli forces are targeting Abu Shuja'a, one of the leaders, if not the main leader, of the Tulkarem and Nur Shams battalions in the refugee camp, who has survived several assassination attempts,” she added.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa identified the two killed teenagers as Adnan Jaber, 15, and Mohammed Ahmad Elayyan, 16.

The other people killed were Mohannad Qarawi (19), Jibril Ghassan Jibril (20) and Mohammed Ali Yusif (49), Wafa reported.

Jibril was released as part of a deal between the Palestinian Hamas and Israel in November that called for the release of Palestinians held in Israeli jails as prisoners in the Gaza Strip, Ibrahim reported.

Following the airstrike, Palestinian parties called a general strike in Tulkarem province on Tuesday to protest the killings.

Hamas condemned the attack and called on Palestinians in the West Bank to intensify their struggle against the Israeli occupation.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war, there have been about 50 Israeli air strikes in the West Bank – most of them in Tulkarem, Jenin and Nablus.

Palestinians killed by Israeli settlers

Due to attacks by Israeli settlers, there has also been an increase in violence in the West Bank.

On Tuesday, settlers shot dead one Palestinian and injured six others when they attacked Palestinian homes in the village of Wadi Rahal near Bethlehem.

Wafa identified the killed man as Khalil Salem Khalawi, citing the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The 40-year-old died of his injuries after Israeli settlers attacked houses near the village's boys' school and opened fire on Palestinians living there, the agency said.

Hamdi Ziyada, chairman of the Wadi Rahal village council, told Wafa that Israeli forces raided the village “to provide shelter to the settlers, firing sound bombs and poison gas at the residents.”

Since the beginning of the year, Israeli settlers have carried out 1,334 attacks in the West Bank and killed at least seven Palestinians, Wafa reported.

“The number of these attacks has skyrocketed since the war began, and Palestinians say the sense of impunity felt by Israeli settlers allows them to continue attacking Palestinians and their homes,” Ibrahim said.