An Israeli airstrike killed at least five people in the occupied West Bank city of Tubas on Wednesday, Palestinian emergency services said. The strike took place at dawn near Al-Tawhid Mosque, and the bodies were recovered by the Palestinian Red Crescent and transferred to a hospital. Israel’s military confirmed the attack, saying its aircraft targeted “a cell involved in terrorism activity in the area.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from any armed groups active in the region. The Israeli military has ramped up raids in the occupied West Bank since Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7 last year, killing hundreds of Palestinians and 23 Israelis.

Palestinian security sources said Israeli forces had stormed Tubas and a nearby village, Tamoun, conducting extensive searches to arrest wanted individuals. They added that several people were injured in the operation.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its crews had retrieved the five bodies at the bombing site and were transferring them to Tubas Turkish Governmental Hospital. They also treated two wounded Palestinians. The hospital was operating normally, but a doctor warned of possible delays in providing care due to the ongoing fighting.

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One of the wounded was a woman who lost her right eye in the airstrike. She told a journalist at the scene that the explosion was loud enough to make her lose consciousness. She said her sons were sleeping upstairs and heard a loud boom followed by heavy fire. “We were terrified, and we woke up our family,” she said. “My husband and my youngest son were able to get out, but the youngest was inside the house and got hit.”

During his visit to Britain on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden called on Israel to make fundamental changes in how it operates its security forces in the occupied West Bank. He was responding to the killing of a US-Turkish activist, Aysenur Eygi, by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Monday. The family of the 29-year-old called for an independent US investigation into her death, which the Israeli military says was unintentional when she was shot in the head as she protested against an army convoy.

The US official who briefed Biden on the matter said a preliminary investigation found that she was likely shot when she was hit by a bullet that “indirectly and unintentionally” ricocheted off the ground.

The Israel Defense Forces has carried out hundreds of operations in the occupied Palestinian territory over the past nine days, targeting suspected members of Hamas and other armed factions. Palestinians say the operations are meant to stem attacks by militants on Israel. The Palestinian health ministry has reported more than 680 fatalities, including more than 200 children, since October 7. The Israeli military says it has targeted terrorist cells and has thwarted many armed attacks on Israel. Israeli security forces have also been responsible for thousands of arrests and regular gunbattle between soldiers and Palestinian fighters.