Just over a day after taking six lives, Israeli troops killed three more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The Palestinian ministry announced the “martyrdom” of three men shot by Israeli forces in Jaba, near the flash point northern city of Jenin.
Israeli officials, on the other hand, claimed the Palestinians had opened fire first.
The country's Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir praised the undercover officers for “taking out” the armed Palestinians, “who opened fire at our fighters.”
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the dead men as Sufyan Fakhoury, 26, Ahmed Fashafsha, 22, and Nayef Malaysha, 25. It did not provide further details.
Israeli police said special forces accompanied by soldiers had been in Jaba to arrest suspects involved in alleged shooting attacks against soldiers in the area, including Fakhoury and Fashafsha. It accused that the pair of being armed operatives of the Islamic Jihad groups.
“During the operation, shots were fired at the border police undercover officers from the wanted men's car. Border police undercover officers responded with fire, and killed the three armed men in the car,” police said, adding that Malaysha was also a suspected armed fighter.
“A number of guns and explosive devices were found in the vehicle,” the police statement claimed
In a statement, the Islamic Jihad group condemned Israel for the “heinous assassination” in Jaba.
