At least 4 killed in West Bank, Palestinians call general strike

RAMALLAH, Occupied Palestine — At least four Palestinians were killed during Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said on Wednesday, as violence there continued in tandem with the Israeli war against Gaza.

Three people were killed during a raid in the northern city of Jenin, while another was shot dead in Tulkarem, also in the north, the Ramallah-based health ministry said.

The latest incident came as Palestinians declared a general strike across the territory, with shops shuttered in Ramallah.

“The most important thing we demand is to stop injustice and tyranny, to stop killing innocent people, and refrain from arbitrary revenge,” 26-year-old Ramallah resident Fakhri Muhammad Shreiteh told AFP.

Violence in the West Bank has been on the rise since early last year, marked by frequent army raids, attacks by Israeli settlers and Palestinian attacks on Israeli forces and settlers.

More than 120 West Bank Palestinians have been killed since the Gaza war began on October 7 after Hamas fighters stormed over the border.

Since then, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says more than 8,500 people have been killed in Israel’s bombardment, two-thirds of them women and children.