Three Palestinians killed amid West Bank clashes with Israeli troops

Three Palestinians have been shot dead, Palestinian officials say, after armed clashes broke out during an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military said its forces returned fire "to neutralise" people in a car who had shot at them.

The incident in Jenin is the most serious of its kind for weeks, as Israel carries out near daily raids following a wave of deadly attacks.

Two Palestinians who carried out recent killings came from the Jenin area.

Seventeen Israelis and two Ukrainians have been killed in shootings, stabbings, car-rammings and an axe attack in Israel and the West Bank since late March.

Dozens of Palestinians, including the attackers, have been killed in confrontations with Israeli forces since then.

Witnesses have told the BBC the Israeli army was carrying out a search raid in Jenin's old town on Friday morning and that there were massive exchanges of gunfire between them and Palestinian militants.

The Israeli military said that as troops moved on from one location the occupants of a car on the side of the road opened fire.

All those in the car were killed. The military said soldiers found two rifles, a submachine gun and ammunition in the vehicle.

The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, said "fierce clashes" erupted following the incident, leaving 10 Palestinians wounded.

Israel said its forces did not suffer any casualties.