By Ali Sawafta
JENIN, West Bank (Reuters) -Israeli forces killed three Palestinians on Thursday during a pre-dawn raid in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, in a wave of intensifying violence.
The Israeli military said that security forces had conducted counterterrorism activity near the city of Jenin.
In one arrest raid, it said, soldiers were “targeted with direct fire and responded with live fire, hits were identified.”
Jenin and the neighbouring city of Nablus, both home to sprawling refugee camps, have been at the centre of increasing violence in recent months.
According to the Palestinian health ministry, more than 210 Palestinians have been killed this year.
The tally includes deaths during a brief conflict in Gaza in August, most after the military launched a crackdown in the West Bank following a spate of attacks in Israel. They include militants and civilians.
In the same period, Israeli authorities say 23 civilians and eight security personnel have been killed in Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank.
(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
