Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians in West Bank: ministry

Israeli forces killed three Palestinians Tuesday in two separate incidents in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Ammar Shafiq Abu Afifa was killed by "Israeli occupation forces shooting at him near the town of Beit Fajar", the ministry said late in the afternoon.

Abu Afifa was a resident of the Al-Aroub refugee camp north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

The Israeli army said its "observation troops" had identified "two suspects" close to an Israeli settlement near Beit Fajar.

"Troops used standard operating procedures, eventually firing at the suspects when they did not stop fleeing," a statement said.

One suspect was subsequently declared dead, the army said, adding that the incident was "under investigation".

Separately, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians before dawn on Tuesday after coming under fire during an arrest raid in the northern West Bank, Israeli border police and Palestinian health authorities said.

The border police said officers and undercover police entered the Jenin refugee camp to arrest a suspect "wanted for terrorist activity."

"After the arrest of the suspect, as the forces left the house, heavy fire was opened from several directions, and undercover forces operating at the scene responded with live fire," police said.

They said as police reached their vehicles, another assailant shot at the forces, "who responded with accurate fire".

The Palestinian health ministry said two men were killed in the fighting. Wafa identified them as Abdullah al-Hosari, 22, and Shadi Khaled Najm, 18.

Troops arrested Imad Jamal Abu al-Heija, a freed prisoner, Wafa reported.

The news agency said the killing of the two Palestinians sparked a "massive and angry march" in Jenin.

The arrest raid is one of several recent high-profile Israeli incursions into West Bank cities.

Last month, Israeli troops killed three Palestinian suspects during a daylight raid in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan in the Six-Day War of 1967.

It has since built a string of settlements across the territory that are considered illegal under international law but are home to some 475,000 Israelis.