Israeli forces kill two Palestinians in West Bank incursion

Israeli forces killed two Palestinians early on Sunday near the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, Palestinian health officials said. 

Israeli forces launched a large-scale overnight incursion into Tulkarm that was met by local resistance, according to the Palestinian news agency (Wafa). 

Abdurrahman Suleiman Abu Daghash, 32, and Asaad Jab'awi, 21, were shot by Israeli forces and were pronounced dead at the Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm. This brings the death toll in Israeli incursions since Tuesday to eight Palestinians. 

The Israeli raid also resulted in significant damage to the city's infrastructure, with the main road torn up and water pipes severed. 

Dozens of Israeli vehicles, supported by a large military bulldozer, stormed the city from several directions, reaching the Nour Shams refugee camp and besieging it for several hours. 

Palestinians fighters responded with explosive devices and gunfire.

The Israeli army said in a statement that it had dismantled an "operational command centre" in a building, which allegedly included a large number of explosive devices. 

"During the activity, suspects opened fire and hurled explosive devices at the forces, who responded with live fire," the army said.

Palestinian Authority presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the "dangerous" Israeli escalation against Palestinians, including Sunday's raid. 

Rudeina said the Israeli occupation is "waging a continuous war against Palestinians which threatened to ignite the region into conflict", according to statements published by Wafa news agency.

Israeli forces killed three Palestinians on 19 September in a drone-assisted assault on the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, while another died of his wounds on 20 September.

This year is shaping up to be one of the bloodiest in the occupied West Bank.

At least 224 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces this year, including 38 children, according to a tally by Middle East Eye.

A total of 187 people have died in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Another 37  have been killed in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinians have killed at least 30 Israelis in the same period, including six children.

A 2023 report commissioned by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People has called for Israel's "immediate and unconditional" withdrawal from the West Bank, describing the occupation of the Palestinian territory as illegal under international law.

The annual report, released last month, found that Israel had violated several norms of international law to meet the conditions for the occupation to be deemed illegal, including moving to annex parts of the occupied territory, breaching rights of the occupied people, and instituting practices of apartheid.

Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since seizing the land from Jordan in the 1967 war.

In 1980, Israel unilaterally annexed East Jerusalem and has since consolidated its control of the West Bank. In 2023, under the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has approved the highest number on record of settlements in the territory, considered illegal under international law.