Israeli forces kill three Palestinian militants in West Bank

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli security forces killed three gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a shootout in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

“This is a terrorist cell that has been involved in terrorist activity against security forces recently, and was apparently on its way to another attack,” the police said.

Four Israeli officers were wounded.

Islamic Jihad claimed the three Palestinians as members.

Tensions have risen over the past week after a string of deadly Arab attacks in Israel. Officials have warned about a potential surge in assaults in the run-up to Saturday’s start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a period during which violence has surged in the past.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian gunman shot dead five people in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak before he was killed by police. The shooting raised to 11 the number of people killed by Arab attackers in Israel within a week.

Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians in West Bank clashes on Thursday and Friday and a Palestinian stabbed a passenger on an Israeli bus near a Jewish settlement and was shot dead by another passenger.

(Reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Alison Williams)