Five Palestinians were killed in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank in a raid by the Israeli army, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in its latest statement.

The death toll rose to five after the announcement early this morning of the death of two men aged 19 and 21 in hospital, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

The military operation began overnight against the town of Tulkarem and the refugee camp of Nur Shams in the northern part of the West Bank, according to reports from residents.

The Israeli military announced that it carried out airstrikes against “several armed terrorist groups, which opened fire, threw explosives and endangered soldiers”.

During the operation, “at least 4 terrorists were killed and others were wounded,” added the Israeli military, which also said it arrested four people and seized weapons.

The Director of Thambet Thambet Hospital Amin Khader he told AFP that “five people came to the hospital with injuries, including one to the head.”

Violence has intensified in the occupied West Bank since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

At least 293 people have been killed, according to Palestinian officials, by Israeli fire and settler attacks in the West Bank since Oct. 7, when gunmen from the Islamist group Hamas invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 Israelis.