Israel kills three Palestinians in West Bank

Nablus, Palestinian Territories (AFP):

Israel killed three Palestinians in the occupied northern West Bank, the army said on Sunday, as violence in the region continued.

The military said that “gunmen opened fire” at an army position near the Jit junction west of Nablus, with the soldiers responding with “live fire”.

The Palestinian health ministry said it was informed about the deaths of three men killed by Israeli gunfire near Nablus, without providing further details.

The incident took place a short distance from an Israeli settlement.

“We will continue to live and build here in Samaria and the entire region,” The head of the regional Samaria settler council Yossi Dagan said in a statement, using the name Israel uses for the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

Violence intensified last year, but has worsened in the West Bank since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to office in December in a governing coalition with ultra-Orthodox Jewish and extreme-right allies.

The government of Netanyahu, who is on trial for corruption on charges he denies, has vowed to continue the expansion of West Bank settlements.

On Thursday, a member of Hamas was killed in Tel Aviv. Hours before, three armed Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank.

Several Palestinian armed groups had called on Tuesday for revenge for the recent deaths of six Palestinians in an Israeli army raid in the northern West Bank.

Since the start of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 81 Palestinian adults and children.

Twelve Israelis as well as one Ukrainian civilian have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.