Israeli forces kill suspects behind West Bank shooting

Israeli troops killed three Palestinian men accused of executing a deadly attack last month that resulted in the death of a British-Israeli woman and her two daughters, the Israeli military said on Thursday.

In a joint operation of the army, police and Shin Bet security service, Israeli security forces entered the West Bank city of Nablus early Thursday and killed the three suspects. They alleged two of those killed were militants affiliated with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and the third supported the other two suspects.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that three people were killed in the fighting.

In a statement, the Israeli military said troops recovered two M-16 rifles and an AK-47 from the apartment where the men were located.

Gunbattle amid already high tension

The gunbattle in Nablus comes at a particularly sensitive time in the region, days after a prominent Palestinian prisoner, who had been on a hunger strike in an Israeli prison, died earlier this week.

Khader Adnan, a senior member of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, died after 87 days of starving himself to protest his detention in an Israeli jail. Hamas and Islamic Jihad are classified as terrorist organizations by the European Union, the United States and other countries.

Adnan's death was followed by exchanges of fire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups during a period of already high tension.

rm/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters, DPA)