Israeli airstrike kills two Palestinians in Balata camp, near Nablus

An Israeli air strike on the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus killed two Palestinians on Thursday and injured others during a raid, Palestinian media reported.

"Two men, aged 18 and 20, were killed and seven people were wounded, one of them seriously, in Balata refugee camp in Nablus", the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement.

The two men were identified as Ahmad Sheikh Khalil and Wael Masheh, the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, said.

A woman and a child were among the wounded, describing the incident as a drone strike.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) also confirmed that its crews dealt with an injury resulting from an Israeli military jeep running over a 22-year-old young man, leaving him with a broken hand amid the raid on the refugee camp. 

At least four of those injured were wounded by live bullets, the PRCS said.

The Palestinian group Hamas released an official statement which read: "The criminal bombing carried out by a Zionist march at dawn today on a group of citizens in the Balata camp, east of Nablus, which resulted in the death of two young men and the injury of a number of citizens, including a girl and a woman, is a continuation of the brutal aggression launched by the Zionist occupation army against our people in the occupied West Bank."

The Israeli military claimed the two Palestinian men were militants in an official statement, accusing them of "posing a threat to the forces operating in the area of Nablus".

It said the strike came as the army and police were securing access for settlers to Joseph's Tomb in Nablus during the night.

Over the years, both the Israeli army and settlers have carried out several acts of violence at Joseph’s Tomb, a religious site revered by Samaritans, Jews, Christians and Muslims - located in a densely-populated area in the eastern part of Nablus.

Violent incidents usually occur as Jewish settlers attempt to storm the site under the protection of Israeli police.

Thursday's casualties bring the death toll in the West Bank since October 7 to 632. 

Israel has intensified its crackdown and violent acts in the West Bank on Palestinians since it began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip over 10 months ago.

More than 10,000 Palestinians have also been detained since October 7 by Israeli police.