RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, Feb 2, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces killed five people in separate strikes on Saturday in the Jenin area of the occupied West Bank, where they are conducting a major offensive.

An Israeli air strike on an eastern neighbourhood of Jenin killed 16-year-old Ahmad al-Sadi and critically wounded two other people, the ministry said.

A second strike targeted a car, killing two people in the nearby town of Qabatiya, the ministry said, while a third killed two people in central Jenin.

"After the strike that killed the child (Sadi), an Israeli drone strike hit a car in Qabatiya and killed two youths," Jenin governor Kamal Abu al-Rub told AFP.

"Minutes later another drone strike in Jenin killed two more youths who were on a motorcycle."

The Israeli military confirmed it struck a car in the Qabatiya area.

"As part of the counterterrorism operation in northern Samaria (the far north of the West Bank), an Israeli Air Force aircraft... struck a vehicle with terrorists inside in the area of Qabatiya," it said.

When asked about the strike that killed Sadi, the military told AFP that the air force "struck armed terrorists in the Jenin area".

Last month, the Israeli military launched an assault dubbed "Iron Wall" aimed at rooting out Palestinian militant groups from the Jenin area of the West Bank.

Jenin and its adjacent refugee camp have long been a hotbed of Palestinian militancy and violence there and across the territory has soared since the Gaza war broke out in 2023.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 881 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 30 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.

On Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said Israeli forces had killed two Palestinians in Jenin after the military announced a soldier had also been killed.