Man, boy killed in Israeli raids in West Bank - ministry

Two Palestinians including a 12-year-old boy were killed in separate Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank on Monday, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that Ziad Abu Haleel, 66, was killed when "the (Israeli) forces attacked him during a raid on his home in Dura, south of Hebron".

Abu Haleel's son Murad told AFP his father died after being beaten by Israeli soldiers who had come to arrest his brother.

"At 3:00 am, the occupation forces stormed my father's house and wanted to arrest my brother", he said.

"My father tried to stop them, so they struck him twice on the chest, then pushed him, causing his chest to collide with the door, which led to his martyrdom."

Murad said the army did not arrest his brother afterwards.

In the second incident, the Palestinian health ministry announced the death of Hatem Ghaith, "due to critical injuries sustained from the occupation's gunfire in Qalandiya camp".

Ghaith, 12, was from the town of Kufr Aqab, north of Jerusalem and adjacent to the Qalandiya refugee camp, which the Israeli army stormed at dawn Monday in order to carry out arrests.

Residents of the camp told AFP the army stormed the camp at 5:00 am (0200 GMT) and used the its community centre to detain and interrogate dozens of young men.

Young men clashed with Israeli forces during the raid, leading to five of them being injured, including two in critical condition, the health ministry said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said in a statement Monday that its teams had handled five injured people from the raid in Qalandiya camp, some of them "very critical".

The Israeli army did not respond to AFP requests for comment on either of the incidents.

On Monday, it imposed a wide-ranging closure on various West Bank cities in anticipation of Palestinian attacks while Israel commemorated the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli towns near Gaza.

Since the Hamas attack, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 701 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Israeli officials say that at least 24 Israelis, including members of the security forces, have been killed in attacks carried out by Palestinian militants during the same period.