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Palestinian Death Toll In West Bank Surges As Israel Pursues Militants Following Hamas Rampage

JERUSALEM — Deadly violence has been surging in the West Bank as the Israeli military pursues Palestinian militants in the aftermath of the Hamas attack from Gaza, with at least 90 Palestinians killed in the Israeli-occupied territory in the past two weeks, mainly in clashes with Israeli troops.

The violence threatens to open another front in the 2-week-old war, and puts pressure on the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank and is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in large part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters.

Palestinian mourners carry the body of Oday Mansour, 17, during his funeral in the West Bank village of Kafr Qallil, Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023. Mansour was killed in clashes with Israeli forces Friday during a protest in support of the Gaza Strip, at a military checkpoint in the flash point town of Hawara, West Bank. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

The tally includes five Palestinians killed in separate incidents on Sunday, including two who died in an airstrike on a mosque in the volatile Jenin refugee camp that Israel said was being used by militants. Israel carried out an airstrike during a battle in another West Bank refugee camp last week, in which 13 Palestinians, including five minors, and a member of Israel’s paramilitary Border Police were killed.

Israel rarely uses air power in the occupied West Bank, even as it has bombarded Hamas-ruled Gaza since the militant group stormed across the border on Oct. 7.

AP