The Palestinian health ministry has reported a raid conducted by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank has resulted in eight fatalities, including two women.
The Ramallah-based ministry said seven were killed in the Tulkarem refugee camp and one in the nearby Nur Shams camp after the military launched a sweeping raid early this morning.
Two women - Khawla Ali Abdullah Abdo, 53, and Bara Khalid Hussein, 30 - were among those killed in Tulkarem, the ministry said.
Eighteen-year-old Fathi Said Awda Ubaid was also among those killed there, it said, adding he was fatally shot in the chest and abdomen.
The ministry said that among the eight killed, one was killed in Nur Shams refugee camp which was also targeted by the Israeli military during its raid.
The Israeli military, which frequently conducts raids in the territory targeting individuals it identifies as wanted militants, said in a statement that it had "eliminated a terrorist" in close combat during a raid that began overnight in Tulkarem.
It was unclear which of the killed Palestinians the Israeli statement was referring to.
Residents of the Tulkarem camp reported that the raid involved bulldozers destroying roads.
Hundreds of Palestinians and dozens of Israelis have been killed in the West Bank since the 7 October 2023 attack by Hamas militants on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza and a wider conflict on several fronts.
Patients forced out of north Gaza hospital, says medics
The raids in the West Bank come as Israeli troops forced the evacuation of the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza and many patients, some of them on foot, arrived at another hospital miles away in Gaza city, the territory's health ministry has said.
The Indonesian Hospital is one of Gaza's few still partially-functioning hospitals, on its northern edge, an area that has been under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.
Israel says its operation around the three northern Gaza communities surrounding the hospital - Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia - is targeting Hamas militants.
Palestinians accuse Israel of seeking to permanently depopulate northern Gaza to create a buffer zone, which Israel denies.
Munir Al-Bursh, director of the health ministry in Gaza, said the Israeli army had ordered hospital officials to evacuate it yesterday, before storming it in the early hours of this morning and forcing those inside to leave.
He said two other medical facilities in northern Gaza, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, were also subject to frequent assaults by Israeli troops operating in the area.
"Occupation forces have taken the three hospitals out of medical service because of the repeated attacks that undermined them and destroyed parts of them," Mr Bursh said in a statement.
Officials at the three hospitals have so far refused orders by Israel to evacuate their facilities or leave patients unattended since the new military offensive began on 5 October.
Israel says it has been facilitating the delivery of medical supplies, fuel and the transfer of patients to other hospitals in the enclave during that period in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.
Hussam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, said they resisted a new order by the army to evacuate hundreds of patients, their companions and staff, adding that the hospital has been under constant Israeli fire that damaged generators, oxygen pumps and parts of the building.
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Israeli forces have operated in the vicinity of the hospital since yesterday, medics said.
An Israeli security official said the area was a Hamas stronghold.
"Kamal Adwan is at the heart of the most complex fighting in Jabaliya," he said.
"We are being very careful."
Read more: Wartime Bethlehem prepares for sombre Christmas
Famine 'imminent' in northern Gaza - Tánaiste
A food insecurity monitor has said that a famine scenario is continuing to unfold in areas of north Gaza.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) determined that IPC 5 level of food insecurity has been reached in the area constituting famine conditions.
Commenting on hunger, famine and conflict in both Gaza and Sudan, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said both catastrophes are man-made, "caused by conflict, forced displacement, destruction of civilian infrastructure, and deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid".
Mr Martin said there is a strong possibility that famine is "imminent" in northern Gaza.
"The ongoing siege in northern Gaza is unconscionable where there is a strong likelihood that famine is imminent and humanitarian access continues to be severely curtailed by the Israeli authorities.
"We call for an end to the ongoing military operation in Gaza," Mr Martin said.
Meanwhile, a new bid by mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States to end the fighting and release Israeli and foreign hostages has gained momentum this month, though no breakthrough has been reported.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that progress had been made in hostage negotiations with Hamas but that he did not know how much longer it would take to see the results.
Gaps between Israel and Hamas over a possible Gaza ceasefire have narrowed, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials' remarks, though crucial differences have yet to be resolved.
