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The
Israeli military said that soldiers had operated around the city
of Jenin to arrest two Palestinian men suspected of involvement
in "terrorist activity".
During the arrest raid, it said soldiers were "targeted with
direct fire and responded with live fire, hits were identified".
The Islamic Jihad claimed one of the men killed as a member and
his body was seen wrapped in the militant group's flag at his
funeral.
Residents told Reuters two of the dead men were known in the
city as armed fighters, although they were apparently not the
suspects the military had been seeking.
The third man was a civilian who was passing by at the time of
the shooting, residents said.
Ghassan al-Saadi, who said he witnessed the incident, told
Reuters he saw Israeli snipers shoot at cars ahead of him. He
said Israeli forces also fired at ambulances when they arrived
at the scene to remove two men who lay prone on the ground.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of such reports.
Tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have deteriorated
sharply this year, with Israeli forces staging repeated raids in
the West Bank following a spate of deadly attacks against
Israelis that killed 19 people in the spring.
Israel seized the West Bank in 1967 along with Gaza and East
Jerusalem. All efforts to secure lasting peace and the creation
of a Palestinian state on occupied territory have failed, with
no prospects of negotiations resuming any time soon.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, more than 210
Palestinians have been killed this year. The tally includes
militants and civilians, as well as deaths in Gaza during a
brief conflict in August.
In the same period, Israeli authorities say 23 civilians and
eight security personnel have been killed in Palestinian attacks
in Israel and the West Bank.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Henriette Chacar;
Editing by Clarence Fernandez, James Mackenzie and Crispian
Balmer)
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