At least three Palestinian militants were killed in an Israeli military operation in Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Thursday. Israel's Shin Bet intelligence agency said two of them were terrorists who shot and killed three Israeli women in an attack last month. They are members of the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas.

The men were hiding in an apartment in the Old City of Nablus, it said. On the basis of intelligence information, fighters from the Shin Bet and soldiers broke into the apartment. In an exchange of fire, a third man, an accomplice of the two Hamas attackers, was also killed.

Palestinian television reported that the Israeli security forces were disguised as Arabs when they entered the city. Subsequently, dozens of vehicles came to reinforce. The building in which the men were hiding was attacked with rockets and destroyed. Because of the serious injuries, it is difficult to identify the bodies.

The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories has long been extremely tense. There are repeated clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military in the West Bank. The army has been carrying out more raids there since a series of attacks.

Since the beginning of the year, 102 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or after their own attacks. In the same period, 17 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian were killed in attacks.

Israel conquered the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War. The Palestinians, on the other hand, are demanding the territories for their own state - with East Jerusalem as their capital.