The Israeli military said Friday it was conducting a raid that included an airstrike in the area of the West Bank city of Jenin. Palestinian authorities said five people were killed.
The military said Israeli soldiers had “encircled a building where terrorists have barricaded themselves in” and the soldiers were exchanging fire, while an airstrike had “struck several armed terrorists” in the area.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said five people died but did not provide any information on their identities. No further details were immediately available from either side.
The clashes in Jenin came a day after an Israeli anti-settlement monitoring group said the government plans to build nearly 5,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The construction plans revealed by the Peace Now group are part of the hard-line government’s efforts to beef up settlements as part of a strategy of cementing Israel’s control over the West Bank to prevent a future Palestinian state.
Violence has spiraled in the West Bank since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza. The war has so far killed more than 38,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s Health Ministry says.
