Israeli forces have killed nine Palestinians during a raid in the north of the occupied West Bank in the deadliest single day in the territory in years. A 61-year-old woman and a male civilian were among the dead, the Palestinian health ministry said, and about 20 more people were seriously injured in the violence on Thursday morning. The Israeli defence force said in a statement that it conducted the unusual daytime operation because of intelligence suggesting a cell linked to Palestinian Islamic Jihad was planning to carry out imminent attacks against Israelis. Two of the casualties were claimed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad, four by Hamas, and one by the armed wing of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas’s, Fatah faction.