According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, six people have died in the West Bank

At least five people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian authorities.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the attack on the Nur Shams camp near the city of Tulkarm and said its target was the command center of a “terrorist cell.”

The Palestinian Authority also said one person was killed and three wounded in an attack by Israeli settlers near Bethlehem. The Israeli military said it was investigating the reports.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war, triggered by Hamas' deadly attack on southern Israel on October 7, there has been an escalation of violence in the West Bank.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said last Wednesday that since October 7, 128 Palestinians, including 26 children, have been killed in air strikes in the West Bank.

It further stated that by August 19, 607 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, seven of them by Israeli settlers.

In addition, ten Israelis were killed in attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank, the agency added.

The Nur Shams camp has been the target of several attacks by the Israeli army in recent months.

In April, the Palestinian Red Crescent said 14 people had died in a two-day Israeli operation.

And in July, the Israeli army bulldozed the camp's main road.

In the second reported attack on Monday near Bethlehem, Palestinian media reported that dozens of Israeli settlers entered the village of Wadi Rahhal and attacked residents.

The settlers shot dead a 40-year-old Palestinian and wounded at least three others, Palestinian officials said.

Israel has built about 160 settlements housing about 700,000 Jews since occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war – land that the Palestinians claim as part of a future state.

The vast majority of the international community considers the settlements to be illegal under international law, although Israel denies this.