Israeli forces kill 4 Palestinians in West Bank

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians on Monday in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority said, one of whom the military said had started a fire at an Israeli outpost.

Hundreds of Palestinians and more than a dozen Israelis have been killed in violence across the West Bank since the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza began on October 7.

Four Palestinians were killed on Monday by Israeli “occupation fire” in the town of Kfar Naima, north-west of Ramallah, the territory’s health ministry said.

A general strike was called in Ramallah by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in response to the killings, along with a pre-planned rally for Palestinians jailed by Israel.

The Israeli military said it shot at a group of four people who attempted to flee in a vehicle and tried to “run over forces” when Israeli police went to Kfar Naima to arrest a suspect. One Israeli officer was lightly hurt, an army statement said.

One of those killed was accused of setting fire to a caravan in a nearby settler outpost, Sde Ephraim Farm.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and hundreds of thousands of settlers have since moved to the Palestinian territory, in breach of international law.

An Israeli police statement said a gun and explosive devices were found when officers searched the vehicle in Kfar Naima.

At least 524 Palestinians have been killed across the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers, Palestinian officials say.

Over the same period at least 14 Israelis have been killed in the territory, according to an AFP toll based on Israeli figures.