Three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in West Bank raids
Three Palestinians died on Saturday from Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, bringing the number of Palestinians killed this week to eight.
Two of the men, Izz Eddin Basem Hamamreh, 24, and Amjad Adnan Khalilieh, 23, were fatally shot while in their car near the village of Jabba south of Jenin.
Israeli forces raided the village and were conducting operations near the illegal outpost of Tarsala.
The raid prompted fire exchanges between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters.
Witnesses told Reuters that two Palestinians drove away a wounded man from the scene, and after unloading him with local residents, continued in the car, pursued by the troops until they were shot.
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The Israeli army said its troops came under fire from a moving vehicle and it returned fire at it. It added that it identified several suspects being hit.
Yazan Samer al-Jaabari, 19, died in hospital hours before the Jabba raid from wounds he sustained on 2 January during Israeli home demolitions.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) mourned Hamamreh and Khalilieh and said they were members of its armed wing al-Quds Brigades.
Since the start of the year, Israeli forces have killed 12 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
At least 167 were killed last year in the occupied Palestinian territory, the highest death toll since the Second Intifada.
Israeli forces conduct near-nightly search-and-arrest operations in the West Bank, which often turn deadly.
Most of the raids have focused on Nablus and Jenin in recent months, which are home to a growing number of Palestinian fighters.
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