NABLUS: Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians in a pre-dawn firefight in the occupied West Bank, Israeli and Palestinian sources said on Sunday, amid a surge in violence in the region.
A Nablus-based group said the Israeli troops had laid an ambush for them.
The Palestinian health ministry identified three men killed by Israeli gunfire near Nablus as Jihad al Shami, 24, Uday al Shami, 22, and Mohammed Dabeek, 18.
The Lions’ Den, an emerging Palestinian group that claims to rise above traditional factional loyalties.
A statement from the group said they had engaged in combat after identifying the Israeli ambush, vowing to revenge the “martyrs”.
Violence intensified last year, but has worsened in the West Bank — which Israel has occupied since the Six-Day War of 1967 — after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to office in December at the head of a hard-right coalition.
Hamas said the deaths would “fuel the great West Bank intifada,” or uprising.
Islamic Jihad, another Gaza-based group, said the deaths were part of the “all-out war” it argued Israel had launched against the Palestinian people.
Several Palestinian groups had called for revenge since an Israeli army raid on Tuesday, also in the northern West Bank, killed six Palestinians.
On Wednesday, UN Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland urged Israel and the Palestinians to end violence without delay.
“We are in the midst of a cycle of violence that must be stopped immediately,” he said in a statement.
The Sunday shoot-out took place a short distance from an Israeli settlement, with the head of the regional Samaria settler council praising the army.
“We will continue to live and build here in Samaria and the entire region,” Yossi Dagan said in a statement.
Last Thursday, a member of Hamas opened fire outside a Tel Aviv cafe, wounding three men in their 30s before being shot dead.
Hours before, three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military operation 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, including militants and civilians.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated across the country on Saturday in the 10th consecutive week of protests against government judicial reform plans that critics view as a threat to democracy.
The demonstrations come as Netanyahu’s government prepares to press on with its legislative agenda next week. — AFP
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
