Israel forces shoot dead three Palestinians, wound eight in Jenin

Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians and wounded eight others early on Friday during a military operation in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The ministry did not say how the casualties occurred. 

Palestinian media quoted witnesses as saying Israeli troops opened fire at a car in the northern West Bank city of Jenin and killed three passengers.

The Israeli army claimed that soldiers operating in the Jenin area came under fire from suspects in a vehicle on the side of a road.

"Armed assailants inside the vehicle began shooting at the soldiers, who responded with live fire to neutralize the assailants," the military alleged.

Heavy exchanges of gunfire were heard in videos circulated on social media before the incident involving the car.

Afterward, footage on social media showed a bullet-riddled vehicle with bloodstains and residents inspecting it.

Hundreds of angry residents gathered outside a Jenin hospital, chanting slogans of "God is great" and calling for revenge, before carrying the three bodies on stretchers and walking through the town in a spontaneous protest.

The Israeli military carries out frequent overnight attacks in the West Bank to detain suspected Palestinian militants.

The killings in Jenin on Friday come after Israeli forces shot dead Palestinian Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh last month while covering a security raid on the city's refugee camp.

Israel killed 355 Palestinians last year, including 87 children, and wounded over 16,500, the Palestinian health ministry said in April.

(AP, Reuters, The New Arab)