UPDATES DEATH TOLL, ADDS DETAILS, CHANGES HEADLINE, DECK
By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Six Palestinians, including an elderly Palestinian woman, were killed by Israeli army fire on Thursday in the occupied West Bank, medics said.
The Health Ministry said two people, including an 80-year-old woman, lost their lives in an Israeli raid in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus city in the northern West Bank.
A ministry statement explained that the elderly woman was shot by Israeli soldiers in the chest and leg and died of her wounds.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said that four other people were also injured, including a 65-year-old man, who was shot in the back.
According to witnesses, Israeli forces raided the camp early Thursday, triggering clashes with angry residents.
Four more people were killed and three others seriously injured in a drone strike on a vehicle in the northern city of Tulkarem.
Witnesses said that the car was left in flames in the attack.
Over the past few years, the Israeli military has conducted regular raids in the West Bank, which have escalated with the beginning of the war on Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. Palestinians have also been violently attacked by illegal Israeli settlers.
At least 822 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 6,500 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.
The escalation follows a landmark opinion in July by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar