Three Palestinians were killed and ten others were wounded this morning during an Israeli army raid in Jenin, a stronghold of armed Palestinian factions in the occupied West Bank.
The three men were killed when the Israeli forces opened fire on a vehicle in which they were travelling, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
"Fierce clashes" then ensued in the area, with Israeli troops firing at Palestinians, wounding ten, Wafa reported.
The victims were identified as Yusef Salah, 23, Baraa Lahluh, 24, and Laith Abu Srur, 24, all from Jenin.
Israeli forces have stepped up operations in the area in recent months.
The Israeli army said in a statement that its troops had been conducting an operation in Jenin to search for weapons at two different locations.
The soldiers had come under fire as they arrived at the first location and they retaliated before identifying a suspicious vehicle on the side of the road on their way to the second location, it said.
"Shots were fired from the vehicle at the soldiers, who neutralised the terrorists who fired at them," the army said.
It said troops found weapons, including two M-16 assault rifles and cartridges at the scene.
The Israeli army has stepped up raids in and around the occupied West Bank's Jenin camp.
Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a prominent TV reporter with Al Jazeera, was shot dead last month in Jenin while she was covering an Israeli army operation.
The Palestinian Authority, Al Jazeera and Qatar, where the channel is based, accused the Israeli army of killing the journalist. Several journalistic inquiries have also pointed in the same direction.
A Palestinian investigation said the reporter - who was wearing a bullet-proof vest with "press" written on it and a helmet when she was shot - was killed in what it described as a war crime.
Israel has denied the allegations, arguing that she could have been killed by a Palestinian gunman, but later said it could not rule out the possibility that it was Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli army has not yet released its conclusion following an internal investigation.
