Mourners carry body of Shamikh Abualrob, Palestinian who was killed in an Israeli raid, during his funeral in Qabatia near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday. Reuters

Israeli forces operating in the occupied West Bank killed at least eight Palestinians in a 24-hour period, Palestinian health officials said on Sunday, as a fragile pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip entered its third day.

Violence in the West Bank has surged in the weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, setting off a devastating war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians and arrested hundreds in the West Bank. Jewish West Bank settlers have also stepped up attacks.

Five of the deaths occurred in the city of Jenin, which the Israeli military said it raided to detain a Palestinian who is suspected of involvement in a lethal West Bank ambush in August.

The military did not immediately elaborate on the Jenin incident, which witnesses described as clashes between gunmen and troops.

The WAFA official Palestinian news agency said that Israeli forces stormed Jenin "from several directions, firing bullets and surrounding government hospitals and the headquarters of the Red Crescent Society".

A sixth Palestinian fatality was in Yatma, a village near Nablus city, and another was near a Jewish settlement outside the West Bank town of El Bireh, Palestinian officials said. There was no immediate comment from Israel on those incidents.

Six other Palestinians were injured during the shooting in Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry said.

A number of Palestinian factions called for a strike in Jenin on Sunday to "mourn the souls of the martyrs", the WAFA said.

Agencies