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"Aside from the air strikes, we were hearing tanks in the background, there was active exchange of fire from small firearms, as well as a helicopter gunship that was going over the hospital fighting and firing in all directions. So, it was very, very scary. We thought that this was it."

Experts said that was probably the first such use of a helicopter gunship in the occupied West Bank since the second Palestinian uprising about 20 years ago.

That prompted the Israeli forces to deploy a helicopter gunship in support of ground troops battling the militants, he added.

Villagers later told the BBC that a military jet dropped a bomb where people had gathered for the meal, and then a helicopter gunship fired at the village for 20 minutes.

One villager told the BBC that a military jet had flown over at around 7:00am and dropped a bomb, followed by a helicopter gunship which strafed the village for twenty minutes.