By Staff, Agencies The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that the number of Palestinians martyred by “Israeli” military forces or illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank has reached 702 since October of last year. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry added that over 5,700 Palestinians have also been wounded in a series of attacks and operations carried out by the occupation forces during this period.

The casualties include at least eight Palestinians who were martyred earlier in the day during airstrikes targeting the city of Tubas, the nearby town of Tamun, and areas surrounding Tulkarem in the northern West Bank.

Additionally, nearly 10,500 Palestinians have been detained by the occupation forces in the occupied West Bank over the past 11 months, according to the ministry's report.

The escalation in violence followed the events of October 7, when the “Israeli” occupation ramped up its aggressive campaign of bloodshed and destruction across the West Bank, intensifying the violence in late August.

On the same day, Tel Aviv launched a genocidal war against the Gaza Strip in response to a retaliatory operation by Palestinian resistance movements.

Since the onset of the brutal onslaught, at least 41,084 Palestinians – mostly women, children and adolescents – have been martyred, with more than 95,000 others wounded.

In a separate incident on Wednesday, the “Israeli” military struck a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, causing the martyrdom of at least 18 people.

The victims included two staff members from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees [UNRWA], with many others still trapped beneath the rubble