Jerusalem: Israeli soldiers kill three Palestinians in the West Bank. A sharp spike in deaths in violence in the occupied territory was reported on Tuesday by the Palestinian Health Ministry.
According to the ministry, three people died after being shot in the head by Israeli troops in Beit Omar, close to the flashpoint town of Hebron, while two brothers were killed in Israeli firing in Kafr Ain, close to Ramallah.
In a statement regarding the fighting in Beit Omar, the Israeli army claimed that after two vehicles were trapped during "Operation Patrol" in the area, "rioters" "began throwing stones and throwing explosive devices at the soldiers."
According to the Palestinian ministry, a man who was not named died "after being shot in the head". Brothers Jawad Abdulrahman Rimawi, 22, and Dhafar Abdulrahman Rimawi, 21, were identified as the deceased in Kafr Ain.
The Israeli military did not immediately react.
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The Palestinian Authority's Minister of Civil Affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, called the killing of the two brothers an "execution in cold blood".
The Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, declared that the Palestinian "surge" would be "met with increasing resistance."
Violence has flared up this year in the West Bank, where the Israeli army has launched almost daily raids across the territory. As part of Operation Break the Wave, a campaign that the military launched following a series of deadly attacks against Israeli civilians, it was announced this week that more than 3,000 arrests had been made this year.
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According to the United Nations, more than 125 Palestinians have died in the West Bank alone this year. The territory has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Six-Day War.