Eight Palestinians including four teenagers killed in Israeli raids in West Bank

Palestinian officials say eight Palestinians were killed, including four teenagers, and another seven were wounded by Israeli fire during military raids in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Tuesday that four people, including two 19-year-olds and a 14-year-old, were killed in an overnight raid in the village of Aqaaba in the northern West Bank.

It said another four people, including an 18-year-old, were killed in an Israeli strike on a vehicle in Jenin — a frequent flashpoint — where the Islamic Jihad militant group said its fighters were battling the army.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

It comes as the only corridor for humanitarian aid to enter southern Gaza has been shut down, apparently because of fighting in the area.

The Israeli military said that the Kerem Shalom crossing was open, but the humanitarian route leading from the crossing into the city of Rafah was closed on Tuesday until further notice.

Hamas’ armed wing said it attacked an Israeli tank in the area. It is not possible to confirm battlefield reports in Gaza.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry also said an Israeli airstrike on a village in the country’s south killed four people.

The ministry said Tuesday’s airstrike targeted a home in the village of Maifadoun near the market town of Nabatiye.

It was not immediately clear if the dead were civilians or militants.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned as “abhorrent” an Iranian ambassador’s social media comment on Israel.

Mr Albanese said ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi had been called in for a meeting with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials over his recent post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

Mr Sadeghi cites Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin advocating that “wiping out the Zionist plague out of the holy lands of Palestine happens no later than 2027.”

Mr Sadeghi added: “Looking forward to such a heavenly & divine promise Inshaa-Allah.”

The Arabic expression means “if God wills”.

Mr Albanese told reporters: “I make it clear: There’s no place for the sort of comments that were made online on social media by the Iranian ambassador.”

“They’re abhorrent. And they are hateful, they are antisemitic and they have no place,” Mr Albanese added.

Asked by a reporters if the ambassador should be expelled from Australia, Mr Albanese did not directly answer.

The Iranian Embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

Israel has carried out near-daily military raids across the West Bank since Hamas’s October 7 attack out of Gaza triggered the ongoing war there.

Palestinians from the West Bank have also carried out a number of attacks on Israelis.

The Health Ministry says more than 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the war.

Most were killed during military arrest raids and violent protests.