Sawt Falasteen - Five killed in Israeli West Bank air strike

According to Wafa, an Israeli military drone targeted a vehicle "with two missiles" which caught fire, killing five men.

The director of the Thabet Thabet Hospital in Tulkarem said in a statement that "five martyrs" had arrived at the facility after "an Israeli drone strike on a Palestinian vehicle close to the village of Zeita in Tulkarem".

Israel's military said its air force "struck five terrorists in a vehicle... who were on their way way to carry out" an attack.

"The Israeli police are currently conducting a counterterrorism activity in the area of Tulkarem", the military said in a statement.

At the scene of the strike a witness told AFP, "I live less than 50 metres (yards) from here. We came (after) the sound of an explosion and saw a vehicle on fire" on the road towards Zeita, to the north of Tulkarem.

"Next to it, we saw a body lying on the road. Inside the vehicle, there were three charred bodies, from what we were able to see, completely burnt," added Nasser, who declined to have his last name published.

The Israeli military quickly sealed off the area, Wafa reported.

Alongside the Israel-Hamas war that began last October in the Gaza Strip, violence has intensified in the West Bank.

At least 599 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank since October 7, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry figures.

At least 17 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed by Palestinian attacks in the West Bank over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.

R.Halabi--SF-PST