By Awad Rajoub
RAMALLAH (AA) - At least seven Palestinians were killed in large-scale Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank early Wednesday.
The Israeli army launched wide-scale operations as well as a siege against hospitals in the city of Tulkarem, according to local media.
The Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that the army had initiated a wide-scale operation in the northern part of the West Bank.
The report highlighted that Israeli security forces conducted simultaneous operations in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem with support from combat helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that two people were killed and three others were injured during a raid by Israeli soldiers in Jenin.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the Israeli army entered Jenin with numerous armored vehicles and positioned themselves near Ibn Sina Hospital.
The army also targeted a vehicle with a missile launched from a drone in the southern part of Jenin. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said they found the bodies of three people in the targeted vehicle.
In Tulkarem, located in the northern West Bank, Israeli forces entered from the west, raided hospitals and placed them under siege. The soldiers blocked ambulances from operating and conducted searches in some of them.
An attack was also carried out with a drone on the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem, causing injuries. However, ambulances were unable to access the area due to the Israeli siege.
The Israeli army also raided the al-Faria refugee camp Refugee Camp in the northern West Bank city of Tubas, continuing intensive drone flights in the area.
During the drone attack on the camp, two young men were killed and others were injured, while Palestine Red Crescent teams faced difficulties reaching the wounded due to Israeli obstacles.
Israeli soldiers also raided Palestinian homes in the city of Qalqilya in the West Bank.
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas reported that they engaged in clashes with Israeli soldiers.
The number of Palestinians killed in attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since Oct. 7 last year has risen to 659.
Since the Israeli army launched its assault on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, there has been an increase in arrests, raids and attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul