Clashes erupted Wednesday after Israeli soldiers raided a refugee camp near Ramallah and shot dead two Palestinians who allegedly sought to ram their cars into troops.
The Israeli military said three soldiers were wounded, including one seriously, but said it was investigating whether the injuries were due to stray bullets fired by other troops.
Four Palestinians were wounded in addition to the two who were killed at the Qalandiya refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, located near a checkpoint at the entrance to Jerusalem, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The ministry confirmed the deaths of Ahmad Jahajha, 21, and Hekmat Hamdan, whose age was not disclosed.
“Tonight, during an operation to make arrests of wanted Palestinians and to seize arms in Qalandiya refugee camp, two attempted car-ramming attacks were made against security forces in two different parts of the camp,” the Israeli army said in a statement.
Witnesses said clashes erupted during the raid and lasted for several hours. Two cars were later seen with a large number of bullet holes in the camp.
The raid came amid almost daily alleged knife, gun and car-ramming attacks by Palestinians and clashes with Israeli soldiers since October 1.
The violence has killed 119 on the Palestinian side, 17 Israelis, an American and an Eritrean.