By Ali Sawafta
NUR SHAMS, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli forces exchanged fire with Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank on Saturday in the second day of a raid that has so far left at least two people dead, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Israeli forces launched the raid on the Nur Shams area, near the Palestinian city of Tulkarm, on Friday. A number of militants were killed and more arrested, the Israeli military said, and at least four soldiers were wounded in fire exchanges.
Tulkarm Brigades group, which includes militants from numerous Palestinian factions, said its fighters were still exchanging fire with Israeli forces on Saturday. At least three drones were seen hovering above Nur Shams, where Israeli military vehicles were massed and bursts of gunfire were heard.
The Palestinian Health Ministry has confirmed the deaths of two people since Friday in Nur Shams, an area that houses 1948 war refugees and their descendants. One fatality was identified by Palestinian sources as a gunman. The second was a 16-year-old schoolboy, according to Palestinian officials.
Violence in the West Bank had already been on the rise before the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in October. It has risen further with frequent Israeli raids, Palestinian street attacks and rampages by Jewish settlers in Palestinian villages.
The West Bank and Gaza are among the territories which the Palestinians seek for an independent state. U.S.-brokered peace talks broke down a decade ago.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta in Nur Shams and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; editing by Mark Heinrich)
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