Palestine's death toll rises as Israeli troops kill in 'cold blood'

Israeli troops have killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, Israeli and Palestinian officials said, the latest casualties in violence that has spiralled for months.

Four people, including two brothers, were shot and killed by Israeli forces near Ramallah and Hebron, Palestine's Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The Israeli military said a female soldier was wounded in a ramming attack around Kochav Yaakov settlement near Ramallah. The suspected Palestinian attacker was shot by police and later confirmed dead by a Jerusalem hospital.

In Ramallah, hundreds gathered outside a hospital to pay their respects to the family of the two brothers, both in their early twenties.

"They are my children," the father was heard saying through tears as he embraced his dead sons in a video on social media.

Senior Palestinian official Hussein al Sheikh, in a tweet, called their killing an "execution in cold blood".

The Palestinian Health Ministry said 205 Palestinians have been killed this year, including those who died during a brief conflict in besieged Gaza in August. They include assailants and civilians.

At the same time, 23 civilians and eight Israeli armed personnel have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

On Friday, incoming Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu named far-rightist Itamar Ben-Gvir as national security minister with powers over occupied West Bank policing under a coalition deal being worked out to form a new government.

READ MORE: Israeli troops blamed for killing Palestinian teen in West Bank

Türkiye says supports Palestine's 'just cause'

Meanwhile, Türkiye said it stands with Palestine's "just cause" and expressed solidarity with the people of Palestine. 

"Palestine has always had a special place in the hearts of the Turkish people," Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said at a reception to mark the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People.

"Türkiye has always stood by it in the just cause of the Palestinian people and sincerely displayed its solidarity on every platform and on every occasion. Our support will continue," he added.

Donmez said Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital is a necessity for the security, peace and stability of the region.

"It is our most sincere desire for Palestine to take its rightful place as a sovereign and equal member in the international community. We will continue to support efforts in this direction," he added.

Türkiye supports a negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of the UN Security Council resolutions that would ensure two states living side by side within secure and recognised borders.

READ MORE: Thousands of Palestinian children held by Israel since 2015: NGO

Guterres 'saddened' by deaths

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres sent a message to commemorate the day, saying, “I am deeply saddened by the growing number of Palestinian civilians who have lost their lives in the spiral of violence engulfing the occupied West Bank."

Guterres urged all parties to take immediate steps to reduce tensions and break this deadly cycle and called for ending the closures of Gaza.

"The long-standing drivers of conflict — including the ongoing occupation, settlement expansion, home demolitions and evictions — heighten anger, despair and hopelessness," he said.

In a new report, the Israeli army described a fragile situation in the occupied West Bank, saying it has mobilised thousands of troops and arrested some 2,500 Palestinians and allegedly confiscated around 250 weapons since March.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with East Jerusalem and Gaza. It pulled back from Gaza in 2005 and since then has maintained a harsh blockade from land, sea and air on the besieged Palestinian enclave. 

Palestine sees those territories as part of its country, with East Jerusalem as its capital. 

READ MORE: Israel demolishes Palestinian school in occupied West Bank