The Israeli army claims the men were involved in a shootout that injured an Israeli civilian earlier this week.
Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the latest violence that has escalated tensions in the region.
The military said it carried out a raid on Saturday to detain people suspected of carrying out a shooting attack on Israelis earlier this week.
“Two martyrs shot by the crew [Israeli forces]arrived at the Thabet Thabet government hospital,” the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement following the raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp near the city of Tulkarem.
Both men were 22 and died from gunshot wounds to the chest, neck and abdomen, she added.
The Israeli army said the men were involved in a “shooting raid” in Avnei Heftz on Tuesday that wounded an Israeli civilian. Avnei Heftz is a settlement in the occupied West Bank that is illegal under international law.
“The two gunmen were shot dead after trying to flee the scene,” the army said in a statement, adding that two others were arrested. “Two M-16 rifles, military vests and [ammunition] Magazines” were confiscated during the raid, it said.
Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip and has a strong presence in the occupied West Bank, said the men were members of one of the group’s branches. The statement said the men engaged in an armed struggle against the Israeli military.
A boy looks at bloodstains following an Israeli raid at the Nur Shams refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem [Majdi Mohammed/AP]Videos circulating on social media allegedly showed the lifeless bodies of the two Palestinians lying on a tin roof as what appeared to be Israeli forces searched them. On one occasion, one of the soldiers attempted to turn a body over while partially removing the dead man’s jeans.
Palestinian media, citing witnesses, said the soldiers left after making sure the two were dead.
Israel has been conducting near-night raids on occupied villages, towns and cities in the West Bank for more than a year.
Saturday’s deaths brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces to 111 since early 2023. About 50 people have been killed in attacks on Israelis.
The crackdown followed an exchange of cross-border attacks between Israel and Gaza earlier in the week after escalating violence that had led to repeated Israeli incursions into the occupied West Bank and attacks by Palestinians on Israelis.
The Palestinians see the violent incursions as further solidifying Israel’s 56-year indefinite occupation of lands they aspire to become a future independent state.
Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan died Tuesday, on the 87th day of a hunger strike against his repeated arbitrary detention by Israel.
The death of Adnan, who was arrested on March 5 awaiting military trial, sparked widespread anger and protests in the occupied West Bank and led to rocket attacks by armed groups on Israel in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Palestinians carry the body of Hamza Kharyoush to the Nur Shams refugee camp near the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem [Majdi Mohammed/AP]