TULKAREM: Israeli forces l The army also said five Israeli police officers were wounded by an explosive device in a separate clash, which was confirmed by Hamas, in the same region of the northern West Bank.
The Palestinian health ministry named two of the men killed as Abdul Rahman Atta, 23, and Huthaifa Faris, 27, saying they had died as a result of `occupation (Israeli) bullets` near Tulkarem.
A third Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli soldiers later on Thursday after opening fire at a car further south in the West Bank, the army said. ThePalestinian ministry confirmed a death without identifying the slain man.
Israel`s military said a gunfight had erupted after soldiers identified a `suspicious vehicle` near the area`s Shufa village.
`Soldiers engaged and, after exchanges of fire, the two terrorists were neutralised,` the military said.
Hamas said two of the Palestinians killed were members of its armed wing. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said Israeli forces `prevented our crews from treating them and took them away` from the scene at a Shufa checkpoint.
Following the shootings, Palestinians gathered on a road around bloodstains which had been marked out by leaves arranged in a heart shape.-AFP
