Israeli forces kill four Palestinians in West Bank clashes

RAMALLAH - Israeli forces killed four Palestinians during raids in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said. Two of the dead were identified by militant factions as their members.

As it wages a now three-week-old war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Israel has also stepped up operations against Islamist groups in the West Bank, killing scores of Palestinians and arresting hundreds. One Israeli soldier was killed in a clash.

The Israeli military said that during West Bank arrest operations its troops came under attack in the city of Jenin and fired back, killing Ayser al-Amar of the Islamic Jihad faction.

Islamic Jihad confirmed al-Amar belonged to the group. Hamas said one of its men, Jawad al-Turki, was killed during the Jenin fighting.

WAFA named the two men, another Palestinian killed in Jenin and a fourth man in the West Bank town of Qalqiya, saying their deaths took the number of Palestinians killed since the Hamas-Israel conflict broke out to 110, with more than 1,900 people injured.

The military said that in Qalqiya, troops came under fire while shutting down a store whose owner was accused of incitement to violence. They returned fire, hitting at least one person, the military's statement said.