Israel's attack on the West Bank continues: Five dead in mosque

Israeli forces continued their fiercest assault on the West Bank in decades, killing five Palestinians in the town of Tulkarem on Thursday.

The Israeli army claims it is conducting an “anti-terror operation” and accuses Iran of smuggling weapons into the occupied territories. The Palestinians, on the other hand, see this as another attempt to punish the population.

On Thursday, five Palestinians were killed when an intruder entered a mosque in Tulkarem; Jenin was also the target of the Israeli attack.

Israeli forces killed at least 11 Palestinians on Wednesday in their largest attack on the northern West Bank since the Second Intifada in the early 2000s. The attacks were carried out from the air and from the ground.

The Palestinian News Agency Wafa said the death toll from the attack on the West Bank, which is expected to last several days, currently stands at 17 but is expected to rise.

The total number of Palestinian casualties in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war on October 7 is 663, with around 5,600 injured.

Meanwhile, the offensive on Gaza continues. At dawn on Thursday, nine Palestinians were killed, including eight people in an attack on a residential building near the Al-Amal Hotel west of Gaza City.

Another Palestinian was killed and others injured when Israeli forces bombed a house in Al-Shati refugee camp.