Five killed in Israeli airstrike in West Bank, Palestine says

Israel said it carried out an airstrike Monday on the occupied West Bank that Palestine reported killed five people.

"A short while ago, an aircraft struck an operational centre in the area of Nur 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 news website 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 Nur Shams refugee camp.

Israeli violence in the West Bank has surged alongside the war on Gaza, with more than 640 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops and settlers since the war began on 7 October, 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 Nur Shams camp near Tulkarm has been the target of multiple Israeli army attacks.

Fourteen people were killed in one two-day Israeli raid on Nur Shams in April, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

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