Two Palestinians were shot dead this morning during exchanges of fire with the Israeli army at Jenin in the north of the West Bank, city mayor Walid Abu Muwes said.
Hassan Hassan (52), a fireman, and Iyad Abu Lel (23), an activist of the Hamas movement, were killed in a shootout after Israeli forces surrounded the city fire station, the mayor said.
A colleague of Mr Hassan said he was shot dead by an Israeli soldier as he was trying to escape the building, but an Israeli military spokesman said he was killed by a bullet fired by Mr Abu Lel.
The two deaths brought to 2,915 the number of people killed as a result of the Palestinian uprising that broke out more than 28 months ago, including 2,172 Palestinians and 687 Israelis.
Some 40 tanks accompanied by bulldozers moved into Jenin last night and soldiers began a major search operation that was continuing this morning.
AFP