Israeli strike on West Bank refugee camp, eight dead

Israeli forces have killed at least eight Palestinians in raids on a refugee camp near the city of Tulkarm in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian and Israeli officials said.

A 53-year-old woman, was killed as a result of shelling by Israeli forces at dawn, while an 18-year-old man, died after being shot in the abdomen and chest, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Another woman died in the afternoon due to sustained injuries from the attack.

Later on Tuesday, the health ministry updated its death toll to eight after a new round of shelling in Tulkarm by Israeli forces.

Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades said two of its members were killed.

The Israeli military said earlier it killed one Palestinian in a "counter-terrorism" operation in Tulkarm, while its forces arrested 18 other wanted individuals and confiscated dozens of weapons.

Late on Tuesday, the military also said aircraft had struck armed militants in the Nur Shams refugee camp.

Bulldozers also demolished infrastructure in Tulkarm camp, including homes, shops, part of the walls of Al-Salam mosque, which they barricaded off, and part of the camp's water network, it said.

Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza and a wider conflict.

Meanwhile Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and patients, some of them on foot, had to get to another hospital miles away in Gaza City, the territory's health ministry said.

The Indonesian Hospital is one of the Gaza Strip's few still partially functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.

Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital - Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia - is targeting Hamas militants.

Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.

Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it on Monday, before storming it in the early hours of Tuesday and forcing those inside to leave.

He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops.

An Israeli security official said the area was a Hamas stronghold.

Officials at the three hospitals have refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on October 5.

Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies, fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals in the enclave during that period in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organisation.

Israeli bombardment continued elsewhere in the enclave and medics said at least nine Palestinians, including a member of the civil emergency service, were killed in four separate military strikes on Tuesday.

A new bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has been reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas but that he did not know how much longer it would take to see the results.

Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials' remarks on Monday, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's campaign against Hamas has since killed more than 45,200 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.