RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, Oct 27, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Israeli forces 
killed at least four Palestinians during a dawn raid in the north of the 
occupied West Bank, health officials said Friday, with Hamas members among 
the dead.

"Four killed by occupation (Israeli) bullets in Jenin and Qalqilya at dawn 
today," the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said in a statement. 

The Palestinian news agency Wafa said at least three Palestinians were killed 
in "violent clashes" in the city of Jenin during an incursion by "a large 
contingent" of Israeli forces.
 
A dozen others were also injured during the skirmishes, the agency reported. 

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced in a separate statement 
that one of its fighters was killed during the raid in Jenin.

The group also said another member was also killed during an Israeli 
incursion into the town of Qalqilya, south of Jenin. 

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incidents.

Violence has risen sharply in the West Bank in the wake of the October 7 
attacks by Hamas on Israel.

Since then, more than 100 people have been killed and more than 1,900 injured 
in the West Bank, according to health officials there, mostly in raids by 
Israeli troops or in clashes with Israeli settlers.

On October 7, throngs of Hamas gunmen poured from Gaza into Israel, killing 
1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 224 more, according to Israeli 
officials.

In retaliatory Israeli air and artillery strikes, at least 7,028 people have 
been killed in the Gaza Strip, including 2,913 children, according to figures 
released by the health ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory.

The fatalities in Gaza are the highest there since Israel withdrew from the 
Palestinian territory in 2005.