TULKAREM, Palestinian Territories, Aug 3, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - An Israeli drone strike killed five people in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, the Palestinian press agency Wafa and Palestinian sources reported, while the Israeli military said it struck a "terrorist cell" in the Tulkarem region.

The director of the Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarem said in a statement that "five martyrs" had arrived at the facility after "an Israeli drone strike on a Palestinian vehicle close to the village of Zeita in Tulkarem".

According to Wafa, an Israeli military drone targeted a vehicle "with two missiles" which caught fire, killing five men.

At the scene of the strike a witness told AFP, "I live less than 50 metres (yards) from here. We came (after) the sound of an explosion and saw a vehicle on fire" on the road towards Zeita, to the north of Tulkarem.

"Next to it, we saw a body lying on the road. Inside the vehicle, there were three charred bodies, from what we were able to see, completely burnt," added Nasser, who declined to have his last name published.

The Israeli military quickly sealed off the area, Wafa reported.

The military said in a brief statement: "An IDF (military) aircraft struck a vehicle and terrorist cell operating within the area of Tulkarm", without providing further details for the moment.

Alongside the Israel-Hamas war that began last October in the Gaza Strip, violence has intensified in the West Bank.

At least 594 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank since October 7, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.

At least 17 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed by Palestinian attacks in the West Bank over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.