TUBAS, Palestinian Territories, Feb 27, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Israeli troops 
killed three Palestinians in an overnight raid in a refugee camp in the 
occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said Tuesday. 

It was the latest in a surge of violence in the restive Palestinian territory 
since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip on October 7. 

The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said the three men were killed 
"by Israeli occupation bullets" during clashes in the Faraa refugee camp near 
the town of Tubas in the northern West Bank.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment 
about the raid. 

Video footage posted on social media showed Israeli military vehicles 
entering Faraa under the cover of darkness.

"Dozens of young men and armed men from the camp confronted the forces before 
they called for more reinforcements, including bulldozers that dug the camp's 
streets and struck the water and sewage networks," said Assem Mansour, head 
of the camp's popular committee.

One of the three men killed was a militant, he said, while the other two were 
civilians "in their homes and were killed by snipers deployed in the camp".

The Israeli military has conducted frequent arrest raids in the West Bank.

Since the war in Gaza began, at least 403 Palestinians have been killed by 
Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank, according to the Palestinian 
health ministry. 

Palestinian militants have also carried out numerous attacks against Israeli 
troops and civilians in Israel and the West Bank, killing at least 15 people, 
according to Israeli figures. 

Israel captured the West Bank -- including east Jerusalem, which it later 
unilaterally annexed -- in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. The Palestinians 
claim the territory along with the war-torn Gaza Strip for their future 
independent state.