UPDATE 4 - Israeli forces kill another 18 Palestinians in West Bank, death toll rises to 181

UPDATES WITH CASUALTIES

By Awad al-Rajoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) — Another 18 Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank on Thursday, taking the death toll in the occupied territory since the recent conflict flared up to 181, the Health Ministry said.

A ministry statement said a 51-year-old man was shot dead in the town of Beit Fajjar south of Bethlehem and a 30-year-old was killed in the town of Dura south of Hebron.

Separately, the ministry said 16 Palestinians were killed and at least 14 others injured by Israeli forces in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

Eyewitnesses had said Israeli forces staged military raids into the Jenin and al-Amari refugee camps.

Hours after Israeli forces killed eight people in an attack on Jenin, eyewitnesses told Anadolu that another large army force had launched a raid, bulldozing some of the refugee camp's streets and damaging its infrastructure in what led to armed clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters.

Having entered Jenin's central square, the Israeli army also targeted a site within the camp using a drone, the eyewitnesses reported.

Also, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said a medic was "shot in the back by live ammunition."

In the city of Nablus, the Red Crescent said that its teams had "hospitalized a Palestinian injured in the thigh during clashes that took place in Balata camp."

Tensions have been high across the West Bank since the fighting broke out on Oct. 7 between Palestinian groups and Israel in Gaza.

At least 181 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,300 others have been arrested by the Israeli army in the occupied territory since then, according to Palestinian figures.

*Writing by Ziad Aslan in Ankara