7 Palestinians, Israeli officer killed in West Bank

Jerusalem/Ramallah, Jan 8

Seven Palestinians were killed by an Israeli drone strike in the occupied West Bank, while an Israeli police officer was killed when her vehicle hit a roadside bomb, Israeli and Palestinian sources said.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Sunday in a statement that the seven victims were civilians, including four brothers from the village of Muthalath ash-Shuhada in the Jenin area of northern West Bank, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army released footage of the drone attack, saying at least six of the casualties were militants.

The killings took place as Israeli troops raided Jenin overnight between Saturday and Sunday, sparking clashes with local youth.

Israel's paramilitary border police said in a statement that during the raid, a military vehicle hit a roadside bomb, resulting in the killing of a border police officer. Another officer sustained serious injuries and two other officers were lightly wounded from shrapnel.

On Sunday, an Israeli man in his 30s was shot and killed while driving his car north of the settlement of Ofra, Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said in a statement.

The army identified the incident as a suspected "terrorist attack" and launched a manhunt for the gunman.

Violence has spiked throughout the West Bank since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7.