At least 18 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the occupied West Bank city of Turkalum, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said late Thursday.
The Palestinian Authority-run Wafa news agency said the airstrike hit a cafe in the Turkalum refugee camp, where there were many civilians.
The Israeli military announced that its air force carried out an attack in Turkam in a joint operation with Shin Bet security forces, killing Hamas leaders and “other important terrorists” in Turkum.
There has been a surge in violence in the West Bank since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7 and the ensuing war in Gaza.
Since then, more than 700 Palestinians have been killed as Israeli forces step up raids in what they say is an attempt to stop deadly Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and Israel.
The Israeli military carried out dozens of airstrikes in the occupied West Bank last year, usually using drones and helicopters.
One resident of the area told AFP news agency that the Israelis “ran into the cafeteria of a three-story building.”
“There are many victims in the hospitals,” the resident added, adding that the death toll could rise further.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the airstrike killed Zahi Yasser Abd al-Razek Ufi, who it said provided the weapon in an attempted car bombing last month.
Wafa, citing local officials, said children and elderly people from several families were killed in the strike.
Tulkarm was one of the towns and Palestinian refugee camps targeted by Israel in a major military operation in August.
U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk said last month that large-scale Israeli operations in the occupied West Bank were being carried out on a “scale not seen in the last 20 years.”
More than 700 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank over the past year, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, at least 24 Israelis, including members of the security forces, were killed by Palestinian attackers during the same period, Israeli officials said.
