Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in West Bank raid: Ministry

Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinians in a pre-dawn raid Sunday in the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, as the army confirmed "counter-terrorism" activity in the occupied territory.

Violence has surged in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since early last year, particularly in the West Bank, where eight Palestinians have now been killed in Israeli incursions since Tuesday.

"Two Palestinians were killed by live Israeli bullets to the head" in the town of Tulkarem, the ministry said.

The army said one of its soldiers was "moderately injured by gunshot fragments" during clashes in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the town.

The Palestinian health ministry identified the two killed as Osaid Abu Ali, 22, and Abd al-Rahman Abu Daghash, 32.

Ibrahim al-Nimer, a representative of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group in the camp, said the "two were civilians".

"The army entered the camp after 2:00 am... and demolished streets and some houses in the camp," Nimer told AFP.

The army said it had dismantled an "operational command centre" inside a building and uncovered a large number of explosive devices.

"During the activity, suspects opened fire and hurled explosive devices at the forces, who responded with live fire," the army said in a statement.

Recent months have seen a surge in such military raids and a rise in Palestinian attacks on Israelis, as well as an increase in West Bank settler attacks against Palestinians.

In early July, the Israeli army carried out its biggest raid in years on the Jenin refugee camp in which at least 13 Palestinians were killed, including militants and children.

One Israeli soldier was also killed in that raid, but by Israeli fire "following an incident of mistaken identification," the army said days later.

The Jenin raid had also targeted several explosives-manufacturing facilities, the army said of the July operation that left much of the camp charred and in rubble.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967.

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

The Palestinians, who seek their own independent state, want Israel to withdraw from all land it occupied in the Six-Day War and to dismantle all Jewish settlements.

However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government has pushed forward settlement expansion. The coalition includes settlers such as the extreme-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.