Israeli missile strike kills three people in occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials say

An Israeli missile strike on a home in the occupied West Bank has killed three people, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The strike is thought to have been carried out overnight in a refugee camp, built in a residential area. It has not been specified if those killed were fighters or civilians.

The West Bank has seen a spike in violence since Hamas' October 7 attack that ignited the war in Gaza.

Israeli forces carry out regular raids in the West Bank, often clashing with Palestinian militants.

The Palestinian Health Ministry believe at least 637 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war began.

Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with mediators from Egypt and Qatar with hopes of securing a ceasefire. However, both Hamas and Israel signalled that challenges remain.

Blinken told Jordan's deputy prime minister Ayman Safadi that there is an "urgent need to finalise the cease-fire deal" between Israel and Hamas.

Fears have grown over a larger regional war after recent targeted killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders, both blamed on Israel, and followed with retaliation threats.

Hamas is still thought to be holding around 110 hostages captured during the October 7 attack. Israel believe around a third of those being held are dead.

During the October 7 attack, Hamas militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

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Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

The war has caused widespread destruction and forced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, often multiple times.

The UN has warned that mass evacuation orders by the Israeli military are pushing Palestinians into overcrowded and unsafe areas along the Gaza coast.

A UN spokesman said Israel has issued 11 evacuation orders so far in August affecting about 250,000 people.

Before August, he said, the UN estimated that some 90% of Gaza’s 2.1 million people had been displaced at least once since the current war began.

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