Three Palestinians killed in West Bank after weekend of violence

Israel says its forces confiscated three assault rifles, a handgun and ammunition

The funeral of a Palestinian teenager killed on March 10 by Israeli forces. AFP

Israeli forces killed three Palestinian gunmen and arrested one on Sunday after they opened fire on troops at a military outpost near the West Bank city of Nablus.

The Israeli military said its forces confiscated three assault rifles, a handgun and ammunition that were used in the attack. No Israeli casualties were reported.

Palestinian health authorities confirmed the deaths, adding that the bodies had been taken by Israeli forces.

The killings are the latest in a series of deadly West Bank clashes, as tensions have risen in recent months. The last few weeks have been particularly deadly.

On Friday, a Palestinian was shot dead as he tried to enter a settlement farm in the north of the West Bank carrying knives and explosives.

On Friday evening, a Palestinian teenager was killed by Israeli forces after he allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at an army outpost, also in the West Bank.

The two killings came a day after a Palestinian militant shot three Israelis in Tel Aviv, one of whom remains critically injured.

Earlier on Thursday, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops after they shot at undercover forces near the West Bank village of Jaba’.

Nearly 80 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, while 14 Israelis have died in attacks.

There has also been a dramatic rise in settler violence, including a deadly rampage last month on the West Bank town of Hawara in which one Palestinian was killed and about a dozen were injured.

Last week it emerged that the Palestinian killed in the attack, Sameh Aqtash, who was shot in a small village outside Hawara, had just returned from Turkey where he was delivering humanitarian aid for earthquake victims.

The Israeli military told the Israeli outlet Haaretz that the “circumstances of the deceased’s death are being clarified”.