Sharjah24 - AFP: As hostilities in the area persisted on Sunday, the army reported that three Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli forces after they opened fire on troops in the occupied northern West Bank.
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".
"Three armed gunmen were neutralised 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 said.
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, with the head of the regional Samaria settler council praising the army for "taking out the murderous terrorist squad operating in the area."
"We will continue to live and build here in Samaria and the entire region, the murderous Palestinian Authority terror 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.
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