Israeli troops kill four in West Bank - health ministry

The Palestinian health ministry has said Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian husband and wife and their two young children in the north of the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Red Crescent also said its teams had recovered the bodies of two adults and two children from a vehicle that had been fired on by Israeli forces in the town of Tammun.

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports of the incident in response to AFP's request for comment.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said in a statement that "four martyrs from one family arrived at the Turkish Public Hospital in Tubas after the occupation army shot at them in Tammun".

It said the hospital had received the bodies of the man, aged 37, the woman, 35, and two boys aged five and seven, adding that all had gunshot wounds.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA reported the couple's two other children, aged eight and 11, were wounded by shrapnel after Israeli forces opened fire on their vehicle early this morning.

Palestinian authorities and the United Nations say there has been a spike in deadly attacks, mostly by Israeli settlers, in the West Bank in recent days, with at least five Palestinians killed since the start of March.

Israel's military launched an operation in November against Palestinian armed groups in the north of the West Bank, including areas around Tubas.

More broadly, violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has risen sharply since the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the Gaza war.

It has continued despite a ceasefire since 10 October.

According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 1,045 Palestinians - many of them militants, but also scores of civilians - in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war.

Official Israeli figures say that 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations.

In addition to roughly three million Palestinians, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements and outposts in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law.