Israel-Hamas war: Israel targets mosque in West Bank – as more than 50 Palestinians reported killed in overnight airstrikes on Gaza

Five people have been killed in the West Bank as Israel carried out a strike on a mosque it says was used to organise attacks – as more than 50 Palestinians are reported to have died in strikes on Gaza overnight.

Two people were also killed after Israel struck Damascus International Airport in Syria.

The Israeli Military also carried out a strike on Aleppo International Airport in the country as fears grow the two-week old conflict with Hamas could spiral into a wider conflict in the region.

Israel is widely expected to carry out a ground invasion of Gaza in response to a surprise attack by Hamas militants on 7 October.

The Israeli military has said there are 212 people being held hostage in Gaza ahead of the expected offensive – this is higher than it was previously thought when 199 and later 203 were given as figures for the number of captives.

Two dead in mosque strike

Meanwhile, Israel has said it carried out its airstrike on the Al-Ansar Mosque in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank overnight because it was used as a “command centre to plan and execute terrorist attacks against civilians”.

The Palestinian health ministry said two people who are yet to be identified were killed in the strike on the mosque.

Follow live: Israel vows to intensify attacks as West Bank and Gaza hit

The ministry added that Israeli forces also shot and killed two men in northern cities in the West Bank – a 19-year-old in Tubas and a 26-year-old in Nablus.

The health ministry later said Israeli forces killed a fifth person in the territory overnight.

The West Bank fatalities mean 90 Palestinians have died there since the conflict began two weeks ago, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

It come as more than 50 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza overnight, medical sources in the territory said.

The Palestinian health ministry says 4,385 people been killed in strikes on Gaza since the conflict began.

Official Israeli sources say 1,400 people have died in Israel since the Hamas incursion.

Israel has been conducting airstrikes on Gaza saying it is trying to destroy the militant group.

Many of those killed in the West Bank die in clashes with Israeli forces rather than airstrikes.

However, the latest strike on the West Bank was the second in recent days – with five children among 13 people who were killed after Israeli forces raided and carried out an airstrike on a Palestinian refugee camp on Thursday.

The raid was conducted on the Nur Shams camp, adjacent to the city of Tulkarm near the territory’s border with Israel.

Ground invasion expected

Tanks and tens of thousands of Israeli troops have massed at the border with Gaza as a ground invasion is expected.

However, the military acknowledges there are still hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza despite a sweeping evacuation order, which would complicate any ground attack.

And the risk of triggering a broader war with Hamas’s allies in Lebanon and Syria might also give them pause.

On Saturday, 20 trucks of aid were allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah crossing, the first time anything has gone into the territory since Israel imposed a complete siege two weeks ago.

Aid workers said it is far too little to address the spiralling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where half the territory’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes.

Increase in illnesses due to lack of clean water

Hospitals packed with patients and displaced people are running low on medical supplies and fuel for generators due to the siege, forcing doctors to perform surgeries with sewing needles, using kitchen vinegar as disinfectant, and without anaesthesia.

Palestinians sheltering in UN-run schools and tent camps are running low on food and drinking dirty water.

The territory’s sole power plant shut down more than a week ago, causing a territory-wide blackout and crippling water and sanitation systems.

The UN humanitarian agency said cases of chicken pox, scabies and diarrhoea are increasing because of the lack of clean water.

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