Israeli strikes kill 3 in West Bank, at least 17 in Gaza

The Palestinian Health Ministry says three people have been killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the occupied West Bank.

It said the apparent strike was carried out overnight into Thursday in the Tulkarem refugee camp, a built-up residential area dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. It did not say whether those killed were fighters or civilians.

The Israeli military said aircraft struck “several” militants in Tulkarem as ground forces searched for buried explosives in an operation that was still ongoing.

The West Bank has seen a surge of violence since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. Israeli forces carry out near-daily raids in the West Bank that often ignite gunbattles with Palestinians. Palestinian militants have carried out a series of attacks against Israelis.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 637 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for a future state. Israel has built scores of settlements across the West Bank that are home to over 500,000 Jewish settlers. They have Israeli citizenship, while the 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, with the Palestinian Authority administering population centers.

Israeli tank and drone strikes in Gaza on Wednesday killed at least 17 people, according to hospital staff and Associated Press journalists who counted the bodies.

In Khan Younis in the south, nine bodies, among them a woman and child, were rushed to Nasser Hospital. Meanwhile, the Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah received eight bodies.

The strikes in Deir al-Balah come as the Israeli military called for Palestinians in some parts of the central city to evacuate.

Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with fellow mediators Egypt and Qatar seeking to secure a cease-fire in the war in Gaza, even as Hamas and Israel signaled that challenges remain. Diplomatic efforts have redoubled as fears grow of a wider regional war after the recent targeted killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, both blamed on Israel, and threats of retaliation.

Meanwhile, key mediator Egypt expressed skepticism Wednesday as more details emerged of the proposal meant to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas is believed to still be holding around 110 hostages captured during the Oct. 7 attacks that started the war. Israeli authorities estimate around a third are dead. During the Oct. 7 attack, militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count. The war has caused widespread destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, often multiple times.