In a statement, the Palestinian health ministry said that two men aged 26 and 32 were killed "by Israeli shelling in Tubas", in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli military said one of its aircraft struck and killed "several armed individuals" during an operation in the city.

It said the operation aimed "to apprehend a wanted suspect and to thwart terrorist infrastructure sites", and that it had confiscated several weapons in a post-strike raid on the targeted area.

The strike came a week after the Palestinian health ministry said the Israeli army besieged the Tubas hospital, before breaking into it, shooting inside, "assaulting staff and patients and arresting a number of them".

The army said its soldiers were deployed around the hospital to collect the bodies of militants struck earlier, but that "they did not enter the hospital."

An AFP journalist on the scene saw Israeli soldiers exiting the hospital and detaining staff, some of them wearing scrubs or doctor's coats, before loading them into armoured vehicles.

Violence in the West Bank has soared since the war in Gaza erupted on October 7 last year after Hamas's attack on Israel.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 790 Palestinians in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Ramallah-based health ministry.

Palestinian attacks on Israelis have also killed at least 24 people in the West Bank in the same period, according to Israeli official figures.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.