The Israeli military has launched fresh raids of two cities in the occupied West Bank where it has conducted destructive and lengthy incursions, resuming operations in Tulkarm after a brief pause and carrying out an overnight strike on Tubas that the Palestinian health ministry said killed at least five people.

Israel’s military said early on Wednesday that its forces were carrying out an operation against militants in Tubas, adding that its aircraft “attacked an armed terrorist squad in the Tubas area”.

The health ministry did not elaborate on the identities of those killed. But Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s news agency, reported that the strike killed five young Palestinian men near a mosque. It said that Israeli forces had closed all entrances to Tubas and was inspecting ambulance before allowing them to enter a local hospital. The Israeli military said it could not immediately comment on the reports.

The operation came as an Israeli raid on Tulkarm entered a second day on Wednesday. At least two Palestinians, a man and a woman, were killed and several others wounded on Tuesday in Tulkarm, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

New York Times News Service