Five Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli troops during clashes in the northern West Bank, medics said.
Four of the victims were killed in the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin, during an arrest operation which ended up with the Israeli soldiers bulldozing a house which was the focus of the fighting.
Security sources said that at least one of the victims was a member of Islamic Jihad. Thair Hanaisha's brother, Mejahid, was shot and killed as he tried to help his dying brother, witnesses said Sunday.
Medics also said that 21-year-old Jihad Asaf Iqmel had been shot dead by troops after he threw stones at the forces in Qabatiya.
The body of the fourth victim, whose identity was not immediately known, was found in the rubble of the building as the bulldozers began razing the structure.
Israeli military sources confirmed the clashes but were unable to comment on the level of casualties.
Meanwhile, a guard outside the Palestinian Authority's local intelligence headquarters in Jenin was shot dead by Israeli troops. .
‘Forces identified one gunman, they opened fire at him and apparently killed him,’ an Israeli military spokesman said.
The deaths bring the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian uprising to 5,052, according to an AFP count.