RAMALLAH (AFP) – An early morning strike by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank killed six Palestinians, while an Israeli police officer died when a roadside bomb hit her vehicle yesterday, sources on both sides said.
Violence in the West Bank since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas has surged to levels unseen in nearly two decades. Israeli forces carry out regular raids in the occupied territory, especially in the militant stronghold of Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp.
“An Israeli occupation bombardment on a group of citizens killed six people in Jenin,” said the Palestinian Authority-run Ministry of Health, which is based in Ramallah.
An Israeli police officer was killed in an operation in Jenin refugee camp, the force said in a statement. It added that three other officers had been wounded.
“She (officer) was in an operational vehicle that was hit by an explosive device,” the force said.
It was not immediately clear whether the six Palestinians and the Israeli officer were killed during the same operation.
The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported early yesterday that a major deployment of Israeli forces was under way in Jenin.
It said the six Palestinians, including four brothers, were killed in an “Israeli drone strike” in Jenin.
