Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in West Bank raid

TULKARM, Palestinian Territories — Israeli occupation forces killed two Palestinian men during a raid in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The deaths were the latest in a surge of violence in the Palestinian territory that has prompted growing international concern since Hamas's October 7 sudden attack on southern Israel sparked the Gaza war.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell on Sunday described the situation in the West Bank as being at boiling point and warned that "we could be on the eve of a greater explosion".

The Palestinian health ministry said two men, aged 19 and 36, were pronounced dead from gunshot wounds following an army raid in the Tulkarm refugee camp, in the north of the West Bank, which the UN says houses over 27,000 Palestinian refugees.

At least five other people were wounded in the Israeli military operation, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The Israeli forces has stepped up its near daily raids across the West Bank in the aftermath of the attack on southern Israel in October.

At least 398 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since October 7, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Israel captured the West Bank, including East Jerusalem — which it later occupied — and the Gaza Strip in 1967 during the June War.

Around 3 million Palestinians live in the territory alongside roughly 490,000 Israelis in settlements deemed illegal under international law.

The Palestinians seek the territory as the heartland of a future independent state.