Israeli Forces Kill Two Palestinians in West Bank Raid

Israeli forces on Monday killed two Palestinians and wounded more than two dozen others during a raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.

"Two martyrs and 28 injured as a result of the ongoing (Israeli) aggression on Jenin," a statement from the Palestinian health ministry said, without elaborating on the identity of those killed.

Jenin's deputy governor, Kamal Abu al-Rub, told AFP the Israeli forces had launched the raid at around 04:00 am (0100 GMT), reports AFP.

"The army stormed the (Jenin refugee) camp and the city after the dawn prayer in large numbers, and there was intense gunfire," he said.

The Israeli army did not immediately provide any information on the raid in the northern West Bank city when contacted by AFP.

An AFP photographer in Jenin confirmed that fighting was ongoing as of 08:40 am (0540 GMT).

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War and its forces regularly launch incursions into Palestinian cities, which are nominally under the control of President Mahmud Abbas's Palestinian Authority.

Since the start of the year, at least 161 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian have been killed in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an AFP tally compiled from official sources.

The figures include combatants as well as civilians and, on the Israeli side, three members of the Arab minority.