Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinians in West Bank Raid

Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in an early morning raid near the occupied West Bank city of Tubas, the Palestinian news agency reported.

One man was killed when Israeli soldiers opened fire on his vehicle in Tubas, the report said.

Another Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli gunfire when troops raided Al-Fara refugee camp near Tubas.

The Israeli military did not have an immediate comment on the raid.

The area around Tubas in the northern West Bank is a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups and the frequent target of Israeli military incursions.

The West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has seen a surge in violence since early last year, particularly since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza on October 7.

At least 461 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the West Bank since October 7, according to official Palestinian sources.

The war in the Gaza Strip erupted after Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 33,545 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Israel was on alert after its arch foe Iran threatened reprisals over a strike in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals, and as the war against Hamas ground on in Gaza.

An Israeli siege has deprived Gaza's 2.4 million people of most food, water, fuel and medicines, the dire shortages only alleviated by sporadic aid deliveries.

Washington has ramped up pressure on Netanyahu to agree to a truce, increase aid flows and abandon plans to send troops into Gaza's far-southern city of Rafah where about 1.5 million civilians are sheltering.

Israel has faced a chorus of international criticism over its handling of the war.