TULKARM: Israeli forces killed two Palestinian men during a raid in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The deaths were the latest in a surge of violence in the Palestinian territory that has prompted growing international concern since Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel sparked the Gaza war. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday described the situation in the West Bank as being at boiling point and warned that “we could be on the eve of a greater explosion.” The Palestinian Health Ministry said two men, aged 19 and 36, were pronounced dead from gunshot wounds following an army raid in the Tulkarm refugee camp, in the north of the West Bank, which the UN says houses over 27,000 Palestinian refugees. At least five other people were wounded in the Israeli military operation, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Israeli military said its forces were there to apprehend “a senior wanted suspect” believed to have been involved in attacks on its forces and the “killing of individuals in Tulkarm suspected of cooperating with Israeli security forces.” The suspect was killed by Israeli troops in an exchange of fire, then “armed terrorists opened fire and hurled explosive devices at Israeli security forces, who responded with live fire,” the army said in a statement. “During the exchange of fire, an Israel Border Police officer was severely injured” and hospitalized, it added. The Israeli military has stepped up its near daily raids across the West Bank in the aftermath of the deadly attack on southern Israel in October, which it says are aimed at dismantling Palestinian militant groups such as Hamas. At least 398 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank since October 7, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
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