Palestinian Authority says 5 killed in Israeli air strike on West Bank

Israel said it carried out an air strike Monday on the occupied West Bank that the Palestinian Authority reported killed five people.

"A short while ago, an aircraft struck an operational center in the area of Nour Shams," said an Israeli military statement, without specifying who was targeted or giving a casualty figure.

"Five citizens were killed and others were injured," the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

The Times of Israel newspaper said a drone strike was carried out but the military did not say how the attack was staged.

A correspondent for Wafa reported hearing four loud explosions and said the strike targeted a house in the Nour Shams refugee camp.

Violence in the West Bank has surged alongside the war in Gaza, with more than 640 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops and settlers since Hamas's October 7 attack, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.

At least 19 Israelis have also died in Palestinian attacks during the same period, according to Israeli officials.

The Nour Shams camp near Tulkarem has been the target of multiple Israeli army operations.

Fourteen people died in one two-day Israeli operation in Nour Shams in April, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

In July Israeli forces bulldozed the main street in Nour Shams during a raid that lasted 15 hours.