At least 4 killed in West Bank, Palestinians call general strike

At least four Palestinians were killed during Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said Wednesday, as violence there continued in tandem with the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Three people were killed during a raid in the northern city of Jenin, while another was shot dead in Tulkarem, also in the north, the Ramallah-based health ministry said.

The Israeli military said the incident took place in Jenin refugee camp during a raid targeting an "operative" and militant "infrastructure" in the area.

The latest incident came as Palestinians declared a general strike across the territory, with shops shuttered in Ramallah.

"The most important thing we demand is to stop injustice and tyranny, to stop killing innocent people, and refrain from arbitrary revenge," 26-year-old Ramallah resident Fakhri Muhammad Shreiteh told AFP.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and its forces regularly carry out incursions into Palestinian communities there.

Violence in the West Bank has been on the rise since early last year, marked by frequent army raids, attacks by Israeli settlers and Palestinian attacks on Israeli forces and settlers.

More than 120 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza war began on October 7 after Hamas militants stormed over the border killing more than 1,400 people, according to Israeli authorities.

Since then, the health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,500 people have been killed in Israel's bombardment, two-thirds of them women and children.