Israeli raids in the West Bank killed at least four Palestinians in Jenin [Getty/file photo]
The Palestinian health ministry said the Israeli army killed four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, as Israel’s violence in the Palestinian territories intensifies.
The ministry updated the death toll from two earlier on Sunday, saying four people were killed “due to the occupation’s aggression on the village of Siir, Jenin district”, referring to Israel.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said earlier on Sunday that Israeli forces had been “preventing our teams from reaching the bombing site” near Siir.
“In the morning, the planes came and started bombing this area,” said Fares Irshaid, a resident of the village. “Shortly after that, the army stormed the entire area. They declared it a closed military zone.”
“There was a group of young men, including my nephew and the son of our neighbours, and we do not know their fate,” he told AFP.
Last month, the Israeli army launched several raids in Jenin, killing nine people. The Palestinian city has often been subject to Israeli raids over the years, intensifying amid Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, which has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians.
Two Palestinians, including a teenage boy, were also killed during an Israeli raid in the West Bank village of Yabad on November 24, the Palestinian Authority said.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 780 Palestinians in the West Bank during the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.
Israel has illegally occupied the West Bank since 1967, following the Arab-Israeli war.