Three Palestinians shot dead, several injured by Israeli forces in Nablus

Three Palestinians have been shot dead and several wounded by Israeli forces in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.

Witnesses described hearing gunfire and explosions as Israeli troops raided several houses in the crowded Balata refugee camp, in what they said was the biggest operation there in years. The Israeli military says gunmen shot at its soldiers, who returned fire.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has been



intensifying for months with near-nightly Israeli military raids in the West Bank and rising settler violence as well as a series of deadly attacks by Palestinians on Israelis.

In a statement, the spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, called for the US administration to intervene to put a stop "to the Israeli madness that will drag the region towards an explosion".