Four Palestinian militants killed by Israeli forces in West Bank

Israeli security forces killed four Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Monday in the latest in a series of deadly incidents that have spiralled in the wake of the war in Gaza. Israel's military and police said in a joint statement the four were part of a West Bank cell that was directed by the Islamist movement Hamas and which was behind numerous shooting attacks.

Israeli security forces killed four Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Monday in the latest in a series of deadly incidents that have spiralled in the wake of the war in Gaza.

Israel's military and police said in a joint statement the four were part of a West Bank cell that was directed by the Islamist movement Hamas and which was behind numerous shooting attacks. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the four were killed in the western West Bank city of Tulkarm, close to the boundary with Israel, after Israeli forces opened fire on their car.

In a separate incident, the ministry said an 18 year old Palestinian was later killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. Prior to the latest incidents, at least 155 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank since the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.

The worsening violence comes after more than 18 months of bloodshed that has fuelled fears the West Bank could erupt into a bigger conflict and become a new front in the Israel-Hamas war. An Israeli border police officer was killed in Jerusalem earlier after she was stabbed by a 16-year-old Palestinian attacker, according to the police.