2 Palestinians killed in Israeli drone attack in West Bank

Two Palestinians were killed and another injured on Tuesday in an Israeli drone attack on a vehicle north of the West Bank city of Tubas, reported Xinhua, quoting Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

"Two were killed and one was moderately injured in the lower limbs when the Israeli army bombed a vehicle near the town of Aqaba," the Ramallah-based Palestinian Health Ministry said in a brief statement, without providing further details.

Local sources and eyewitnesses told Xinhua that an Israeli drone bombed a vehicle at the entrance to Aqaba, killing two and wounding another.

The sources and witnesses said the Israeli army later stormed the emergency department of Tubas Governmental Hospital, detained some of the medical staff, and arrested a number of people from inside the hospital.

The Israeli army confirmed in a press statement that an air force plane attacked a "terrorist" cell, without publishing further details about the incident.

The identity of the targeted people inside the vehicle or the Palestinian factions to which they belong was not known.

The incident came as cities, camps, and villages in the West Bank have witnessed an escalation of tensions since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023.

More than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli gunfire and shelling across the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.