"Eighteen martyrs following the bombing of the Tulkarm camp by the occupation," the Palestinian health ministry said on its Telegram account.

The Israeli army confirmed the strike on the town in the northern West Bank, describing it as a joint operation carried out by the Shin Bet internal security service and the air force, according to a brief statement by the military.

Reached by telephone, camp official Faisal Salama told AFP that the attack had been carried out by an F-16 fighter jet.

Alaa Sroji -- a social activist from the area -- said the Israeli plane had "hit a cafeteria in a four-story building."

"There are many victims in the hospital," the resident added, saying the toll would likely rise.

Tulkarm was one of the towns and Palestinian refugee camps targeted during a large-scale Israeli military operation in late August against militants fighting against Israel in the northern West Bank.

Violence in the West Bank has surged alongside the war in Gaza which began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

Since the Hamas assault, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 701 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 24 Israelis, including members of the security forces, have been killed in Palestinian militant attacks during the same period, Israeli officials say.

Major Israeli operations in the West Bank are sometimes occurring "at a scale not witnessed in the last two decades," United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk said last month.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and its forces regularly make incursions into Palestinian communities, but the current raids as well as comments by Israeli officials mark an escalation, residents say.