Israel kills at least 10 in West Bank while Gaza toll hits 24,448
A Palestinian man and children inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestine, Jan. 17, 2024. (Reuters Photo)


The Palestinian death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks jumped to 24,448 on Wednesday, according to the enclave's Health Ministry.

The ministry in a statement said 61,504 others were also injured, adding that Israeli forces committed 16 massacres across the coastal territory in the last 24 hours, leaving 163 people dead and 350 others wounded.

"Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads and rescuers can't reach them," the ministry said.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught, while all of them are food insecure, according to the U.N.

Hundreds of thousands of people are living without shelter, and ⁠less than half of aid trucks are entering the territory than before the start of the conflict.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday reiterated his call for a humanitarian cease-fire to ensure sufficient aid gets to where it is needed, and to facilitate the release of hostages.

In the occupied West Bank, Israeli strikes killed seven people near two refugee camps, emergency services and the army said, as violence in the territory sees no let-up.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said an Israeli strike killed four people inside the Tulkarem camp early in the morning.

"Palestine Red Crescent teams transport four martyrs from inside Tulkarem camp due to the occupation's bombardment," the group said in a statement.

An official at the camp confirmed the strike and the death toll.

"The camp is besieged by aircraft and heavy numbers of the Israeli army, and tanks," Faisal Salama told AFP.

The army did not immediately comment on the strike. At midday (10 a.m. GMT), loud explosions were heard in the camp as thick smoke billowed into the sky amid sporadic gunfire, an AFP correspondent reported.

In a separate strike near Balata refugee camp, east of the city of Nablus, the Palestinian official news agency WAFA reported that three men were killed.

The army said Ahmed Abdullah Abu Shalal, a Palestinian leader, had been killed.

Abu Shalal had been responsible for a number of attacks over the past year, including one in annexed East Jerusalem, the army said.

Camp resident Sajed Hazeem said he was woken at dawn by a loud explosion.

Minutes after the blast an ambulance arrived at the scene but its access to the car was blocked by Israeli troops who arrived at the same time, Hazeem said.

"The army pulled out the bodies and after about half an hour it withdrew," Hazeen told AFP.

The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said the body of an "unidentified martyr killed by the occupation (Israel) in a bombing of a vehicle" had been received by a hospital in Nablus.

An AFP correspondent saw a pile of debris and the mangled remains of a car that was hit.

Since the start of Israel's war on Gaza on Oct. 7, the West Bank has experienced a level of violence not seen since the second Palestinian uprising or intifada between 2000 and 2005.

Israeli army raids and attacks by settlers have killed at least 353 people in the territory, according to an AFP tally based on sources from both sides.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to about 3 million Palestinians, since the Six-Day War of 1967.

Excluding annexed East Jerusalem, the territory is home to around 490,000 Israelis who live in settlements considered illegal under international law.