Israeli forces kill two Palestinians

Israeli troops killed two Palestinians on Saturday in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said, as the army claimed to have targeted the perpetrators of a "shooting attack".

"Two martyrs, shot by the occupation (Israeli forces) arrived at Thabet Thabet government hospital," in the city of Tulkarm, the health ministry said in a statement.

In a separate statement, the ministry named the two men as Hamza Khrewish and Samer al-Shafei, both 22, and said that one other person was injured in the raid.

The Israeli army said the pair were "involved in the shooting attack in Avnei Heftz on May 2, 2023 during which an Israeli civilian was injured".

"The two gunmen were shot and killed after attempting to flee the scene," an army statement said, adding that two others were arrested in the operation.

"Two M-16 rifles, military vests and magazines" were confiscated during the raid, the army said.

Hundreds of mourners later gathered for the funerals of the two men whose bodies, shrouded in the Palestinian flag, were carried through the streets of Tulkarm.

Avnei Heftz is an settlement in the West Bank deemed illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.

The Tulkarm Brigade, a local militant group linked to the Al- Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, the armed wing of the ruling Fatah party, claimed the two mens as members.