IDF: Palestinian gunmen killed in West Bank shootout
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Gunmen carry weapons, which they fired into the air, during a funeral procession Friday for Palestinians killed in a gunbattle with Israeli troops in the Jenin refugee camp.
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JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Gunbattles in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Friday morning left at least four Palestinians dead as Israeli troops searched for gunmen and terror suspects, the Israeli military said. Palestinian sources said five were killed.
According to Israel Defense Forces, its troops came under fire as they entered the camp. Two Palestinian gunmen were shot at a house the Israeli forces planned to search. Their conditions were not clear.
Four other Palestinians -- armed with machine guns -- were killed inside the house following a shootout, the IDF said.
Palestinian sources said Israeli tank, infantry and helicopters entered the Jenin camp Friday morning. The forces went to a house where four Islamic Jihad activists were staying. One Palestinian from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade was killed by helicopter fire near the house and the four Islamic Jihad members who were inside the house were killed after heavy gunfire, the sources said.
Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, condemned what he called the latest Israeli aggression and challenged the international community to intervene and stop the cycle of violence.
Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is a military offshoot of Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a group dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel. Both groups have carried out attacks on Israeli civilians and military targets.
24 hours of violence in West Bank
Friday's battles marked the continuation of a bloody 24-hour period in the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers Thursday shot and killed five Palestinians armed with rifles and explosives in the West Bank town of Tamun north of Nablus, IDF and Palestinian security sources said.
"IDF forces encountered massive gunfire fired by Palestinian gunmen," an IDF statement said. "The IDF force returned fire and killed five gunmen, all Hamas operatives. On their bodies, the force found two M-16 rifles, pistols, an explosives belt, grenades and ammunition."
The Palestinian Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas has a military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, that has also carried out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
In a separate incident, 11 Palestinians were arrested early Friday in the city of Hebron by Israeli troops.
In Gaza, two armed Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces near the Kissufim crossing and another two Palestinians were arrested in southern Gaza, near Rafah.
