Three Palestinians killed by Israeli forces near Nablus

Palestinian health ministry said the three men were killed in the Balata refugee camp. (Photo/AFP)

Three Palestinians have been killed in an overnight Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian sources.

In a statement Monday, the Palestinian health ministry identified the three men killed in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus as Muhammad Abu Zaytoun (32), Fathi Abu Rizk (30) and Abdullah Abu Hamdan (24).

There was no immediate confirmation of the fatalities by the Israeli military.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, said in a statement that the three were among the group's "fighters".

The West Bank has been occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

Nearly three million Palestinians live there, along with about 490,000 Israelis in settlements considered to be illegal under international law.

The latest deaths come just over a week into a fragile Gaza ceasefire.

Tensions have been running high across the occupied West Bank in recent months amid repeated Israeli raids into Palestinian towns.

According to the Health Ministry, at least 154 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the start of the year. Twenty-one Israelis have also been killed in separate attacks during the same period.

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Source: TRT World