TULKAREM, Palestinian Territories, Jan 9, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Palestinian 
officials accused Israel of a "brutal crime" on Tuesday after footage shared 
on social media appeared to show a military vehicle running over a dead 
militant in the occupied West Bank.

The foreign ministry of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West 
Bank, said the footage was from a military operation in the city of Tulkarem.

Israel's military confirmed they had killed three "terrorists" on Monday 
night and engaged in gun battles around Tulkarem, but they have not yet 
responded to AFP requests for comment on the footage.

The Palestinian ministry said the incident summed up the "culture of hatred" 
fostered by Israeli forces.

"This complex and brutal crime is not the first and will not be the last in 
the series of crimes of the occupation and terrorist settler militia 
members," the ministry said in a statement.

Violence in the West Bank has surged to levels unseen in nearly two decades 
since October 7, when attacks on Israel by Palestinian armed group Hamas 
sparked all-out war, still raging in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces carry out regular raids in the West Bank, often triggering gun 
battles with Palestinian militants.

An Israeli police spokesman said their forces had carried out an operation 
with other agencies in Tulkarem on Monday to arrest a "wanted terrorist".

"Forces arrested the wanted man after he was hit by fire from our forces," 
the spokesman said, confirming three other militants were killed.

The police gave no detail of the possible charges against the suspect.

The armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, Al-Aqsa 
Martyrs' Brigades, said the three men were their fighters.

Large crowds of people marched through Tulkarem on Tuesday chanting slogans 
during the funerals of the men, an AFP correspondent reported.

The footage shared on social media appears to be taken from a security camera 
and shows an armoured vehicle slowly driving over an apparently lifeless 
body.

The vehicle then stops, restarts and drives off, crushing the body again with 
its back wheels.

Other footage, apparently taken from the same camera, shows an exchange of 
fire between Israeli forces and militants.

In a separate incident on Tuesday, Israeli forces shot and killed a 
Palestinian man near Ramallah, according to sources on both sides.

The Israeli military said the man had attempted a stabbing attack while the 
Palestinian health ministry gave his name but no detail on the reason for his 
shooting.

Israeli army raids and settler attacks in the West Bank have killed at least 
334 people since October 7, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian 
health ministry.

Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to about three million Palestinians, 
since 1967. Some 490,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements deemed 
illegal under international law.