Israeli soldiers shot dead five Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Jenin today, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said.
Israeli military sources said soldiers conducting a sweep for militants exchanged fire with a carload of Palestinian gunmen on their way to carrying out an attack on the Jewish settlement of Kadim on Jenin's eastern outskirts.
Israeli military officials said as far as they knew only four Palestinian gunmen died in the incident.
The gun battle occurred at a crossroad that leads to the settlements of Kadim and nearby Ganim, Palestinian residents said.
All the dead were identified by Palestinian witnesses as members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group in Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction.
Israeli troops have conducted frequent raids in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that have resulted in arrests of hundreds of militants since the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising in September 2000 after peace talks failed.