Enlarge image
Relatives of the Palestinian victims mourn in Jenin
Photo: MOHAMAD TOROKMAN / REUTERS
Soldiers from an Israeli special forces unit shot three Palestinians in the West Bank.
This is confirmed by official sources on the Palestinian and Israeli sides.
One of the killed Palestinians was suspected of having carried out a shooting attack on Israeli soldiers, according to Israeli security circles.
The other two are said to be employees of the Palestinian
Act military intelligence.
The Israeli special forces went to Jenin to arrest "two terrorists".
According to an Israeli security agent, a Palestinian opened fire on the Israeli forces and was then shot.
Two other Palestinians were killed in a subsequent exchange of fire.
According to Palestinian information, the Israeli special forces fired first because they suspected members of the militant Palestinian organization Islamic Jihad in a vehicle.
The Palestinian security forces reacted to this.
Funeral on Thursday
The funeral for the three men is due to take place on Thursday. The Palestinian authorities called for a strike and a rally in the face of the incident. The spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned of an escalation of the situation and blamed the Israeli government for any repercussions. There was initially no official response from the Israeli side.
Only a few weeks ago, Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, fought heavy fighting.
In the meantime, however, there is a ceasefire.
The outbreak of violence was the worst escalation in the ongoing conflict in several years.
Since the start of the new fighting, Palestinian militants had fired around 4,000 rockets at Israeli towns, according to the army.
Israel's air force then shot at more than 1,000 targets in the Gaza Strip, according to military sources.
lau / dpa / AFP