The Israeli military said its forces killed three Palestinian militants in a raid in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, while Palestinian sources reported a woman was also killed.
During the operation in Qabatiya and Jenin, Israeli forces “encountered several armed terrorists who had barricaded themselves inside a structure in Jenin,” the military said.
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“During the exchange of fire, they (soldiers) eliminated two of the terrorists and struck an additional operative,” it said.
A third militant was killed after he opened fire at soldiers operating in Jenin, the military said, adding that 10 other militants were arrested.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said it had been informed by Israeli authorities “about the martyrdom of two citizens” who were shot dead on Tuesday morning.
The ministry said that a Palestinian woman Fayza Ibrahim Abu Ghali, 58, was also “martyred due to occupation’s aggression on Jenin”. It did not offer further details on how she was killed.
When AFP contacted the military about her death, it did not offer an immediate response.
The health ministry said 32-year-old Ahmad Fathi Ahmad Salah was killed on Monday after being “run over by an occupation vehicle in Jenin.”
Separately, a Palestinian was killed by Palestinian Authority security forces in Jenin overnight between Monday and Tuesday, PA forces spokesman Major General Anwar Rajab said. He described the individual as “wanted for repeatedly firing at security forces.”
In December, PA forces launched a major crackdown on Palestinian militants in Jenin following clashes triggered by the arrests of several militants.
Armed factions in Jenin and elsewhere in the West Bank see themselves as more effective resistance to Israeli occupation than the PA, which has limited control over the territory and coordinates security matters with Israel.
Israeli forces have also been waging a weeks-long offensive in the northern West Bank that began around refugee camps regarded as bastions of Palestinian militancy.
It has since expanded to more areas, displaced tens of thousands of people and saw the first deployment of Israeli tanks in the territory in 20 years.
Violence across the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has surged since the war in Gaza broke out after Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
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Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 910 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 32 Israelis, including soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.