Israeli Soldiers Kill Five Palestinians in West Bank

An Israeli soldier loads a guided mortar munition system at an area near the border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, 01 January 2024. EPA/ABIR SULTAN

Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinians in exchanges of fire in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, Israeli military said.
There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials, Reuters reported.
A statement from the military said that soldiers on a “counter-terrorism” operation killed four armed militants who had fired at them from within a house in the Palestinian village Azzun and one Israeli soldier was wounded in the fire exchange.
In Qalqilya, soldiers shot and killed a gunman who opened fire at them while they were on a raid to seize weapons, the military said.
Israeli security forces have stepped up raids across the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas in southern Israel and the subsequent Israeli offensive now raging in the Gaza Strip.