The recent wave of Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank shows no signs of receding after three more Palestinians were shot dead Sunday.
The Israeli military claimed the three Palestinian were armed and "opened fire" at an army position near the Jit junction west of Nablus, with the soldiers responding with "live fire."
"Three armed gunmen were neutralized during the exchange of fire and an additional armed gunman surrendered himself to the forces," the army said in a statement, noting none of the Israeli forces were wounded in the clash.
The soldiers, members of the elite infantry Golani reconnaissance unit, grabbed three M-16 rifles and a pistol used by the Palestinians, the army claimed.
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 occurred a short distance from an Israeli settlement, with the head of the regional Samaria settler council praising the army on the killing.
"We will continue to live and build here in Samaria and the entire region, the murderous Palestinian Authority ... won't deter us," 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.
Calls for revenge
Earlier Thursday, an armed member of the Palestinian Hamas group opened fire outside a Tel Aviv cafe, wounding three men in their 30s before being shot dead.
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.
The Tel Aviv attack came just hours after Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin had called for de-escalation ahead of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan that starts in March and the Jewish holiday of Passover in April.
Following talks with Netanyahu and his counterpart Yoav Gallant during a brief visit to Israel, Austin also called on the Palestinian leadership to combat violence, resume security cooperation and condemn incitement.
In Beitar Illit, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank southwest of Jerusalem, the army said bomb disposal experts had detonated a suspicious package found on a bus Thursday evening.
A Palestinian from a nearby village was arrested on Saturday for placing an explosive device on the bus, along with four others suspected of aiding him, the army said.
Since the start of the year, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 81 Palestinian adults and children, including militants and civilians.
Twelve Israeli civilians, including three children, one policeman, and one Ukrainian civilian have been killed over the same period, according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.