DUBAI, January 2. /TASS/. Palestinian resistance fighters opened fire at Israeli forces as they stormed the West Bank town of Qalqilya, one soldier was wounded, Al Mayadeen TV channel reported.

According to the channel, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the paramilitary wing of the Palestinian Fatah movement, is taking part in clashes with the Israeli military in Qalqilya.

Israeli artillery also shelled an area north of the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, the channel noted.

The situation in the Middle East sharply escalated following an incursion of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israel on October 7. Hamas has cast the attack as a response to Israeli actions against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel has declared a complete siege of the Gaza Strip and started a military operation there. Israel also strikes parts of Lebanon and Syria in retaliation for bombardments originating from these countries. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank.