Three Palestinians killed in Israeli raid on West Bank town

At least three Palestinians were killed and nine others wounded during an Israeli military raid on Wednesday in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Israeli military said troops arrived at the Jenin refugee camp to arrest two Palestinians suspected of involvement in recent shooting attacks.

When soldiers surrounded a house in the camp, an explosive device detonated and a gunfight ensued.

Israeli security forces said they fatally shot the two Palestinian suspects.

Wednesday's incursion into the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank marked the latest in a series of deadly Israeli raids following a surge in Palestinian attacks inside Israel last spring.

The Israeli military identified one of the suspected militants killed as Rahman Hazam, the brother of a Palestinian gunman who attacked a bar in central Tel Aviv last April and was killed by police.

Another Palestinian man was killed as Israeli troops arriving to make arrests were met by violent protesters, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Ahmed Alawneh died after being shot in the head and nine others were wounded by gunfire during the clashes, two critically with bullets to the chest, according to the ministry.

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the escalated crackdown on the West Bank, making this year the deadliest in the occupied territory since 2015.

The city of Jenin, long considered a bastion of Palestinian militancy, has regularly seen Israeli arrest raids that lead to gun battles with camp residents.

Footage obtained by The Associated Press showed giant plumes of smoke billowing from a house in the crowded camp and young men ducking behind cars as heavy gunfire rang out on the city streets.

Most of the Palestinians killed in the recent wave of Israeli raids have been wanted militants or young men who throw stones or fire bombs at soldiers invading their towns.

But some civilians, including an Al Jazeera journalist and a lawyer who inadvertently drove into a battle zone, have also been killed in the violence.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and has built more than 130 settlements across the territory that are home to nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers.

The Palestinians want the West Bank, home to some 3 million Palestinians, to form the main part of their future state.

The last serious peace talks broke down more than a decade ago.

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