Israeli forces carry out deadly raids in the West Bank amid Gaza truce

Israeli forces have killed eight Palestinians, including a child, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, taking the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank to 239 since October 7.

Israeli forces shot dead five Palestinians in the city of Jenin late on Saturday and early Sunday, and killed three others elsewhere in the West Bank, the ministry said on Sunday. Six other Palestinians were injured in the Israeli raid in Jenin.

Palestinian news agency Wafa said Israeli forces stormed Jenin “from several directions, firing bullets and surrounding government hospitals and the headquarters of the Red Crescent Society”.

The Israeli military spokesperson’s office said it was looking into the reports.

The raids come despite an ongoing four-day truce between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas in the war-torn Gaza Strip, where nearly 15,000 Palestinians, including more than 6,000 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes.

Israeli officials said 1,200 people were killed in the surprise Hamas attack on October 7, when the Palestinian group took about 240 people captive.

On Saturday, Hamas released 13 Israeli and four Thai captives, while Israel released a first batch of 39 Palestinian prisoners in exchange. More Israeli captives and Palestinian prisoners are expected to be freed on Sunday.

Since October 7, Israeli forces have killed at least 237 Palestinians, including 52 children, in the occupied West Bank, while arresting more than 3,000 people, as it intensified raids in the West Bank since launching its military offensive on Gaza.

Last year was the “deadliest” for the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since 2006, according to the United Nations. Israeli forces had killed 170 Palestinians in those areas in 2022. This year, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 371 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“For every Palestinian prisoner [the Israelis] release, there seems to be a continued disregard for the freedoms of Palestinians they continue to detain, a continuous disregard for Palestinian life as they continue to kill people in very violent and endless raids in the occupied West Bank,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Zein Basravi, reporting from Ramallah in the West Bank.

Seven weeks of relentless Israeli attacks in Gaza killed at least 14,854 Palestinians, more than a third of them children, and displaced at least 1.5 million, according to Gaza officials.