A weeks-long Israeli offensive has demolished houses and torn up vital infrastructure in the heavily built up townships, Palestinian authorities said.

The Israeli military launched a wide-scale operation last month against militants in several cities in the West Bank. Now, roughly 40,000 Palestinians have fled their homes — the highest since Israel occupied the territory nearly six decades ago,

Palestinians say the fatal shooting of a pregnant 23-year-old in a refugee camp in the northern West Bank signals a worrying trend toward more lethal, warlike tactics by Israel in the occupied territory.

Israeli forces in Nur Shams shot a 23-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant and whose unborn child did not survive, the Palestinian health ministry said.