Four Palestinians were killed on Sunday in clashes with the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry and the Israeli army said.
Three Palestinians were killed in the village of Bidu, about ten kilometers northwest of Jerusalem, and another in Borquin, near Jenin, in the northern West Bank, the sources said.
The Israeli army claimed that these clashes took place during "an operation to dismantle a terrorist cell of the (Islamist movement) Hamas".
An IDF spokesman Amnon Sheffler said the Palestinians killed were members of Hamas. "An operation to arrest Hamas terrorists which began on Saturday evening is underway," Amnon Sheffler said. "A terrorist was apprehended Saturday evening near Jenin without clashes then Sunday morning, exchanges of fire broke out when the army came to arrest another terrorist in Borquin", continued the spokesperson. "In these clashes, a terrorist was killed and another armed man was arrested," added Amnon Sheffler, mentioning another arrest in Kabatia, in the same sector.
In addition this Sunday, "three terrorists were killed in exchanges of fire in Bidu", still declared the spokesman.
A photographer saw large bloodstains in the nearby village of Beit Annan, where Hamas said the clashes took place, according to Palestinian media.
Hamas confirmed the death of one of its members in the village of Bidu named Ahmad Zahran, while Islamic Jihad claimed that the Palestinian killed in Borquin, Ossama Soboh, was one of its members.
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