Four Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank by undercover Israeli security forces on Monday, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. The men were shot dead in Jenin, in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said. Palestinian officials identified two of the dead as Saleh Amar, 19, and Raid Abu Seif, 21. A shootout erupted in Jenin when undercover Israeli agents entered a refugee camp west of the Palestinian city’s centre. Officers returned fire after being shot at when they tried to make an arrest. Five Palestinians were shot and no Israelis were wounded in incident, Israeli police said in a statement. The Palestinian presidency condemned the killings as a “heinous crime”. “The continuation of this Israeli policy will lead to an explosion in the situation and to more tension and instability,” presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa. It said a general strike and day of mourning has been declared in Jenin. Israeli and Palestinian security forces regularly carry out raids in the city’s camp. It has high poverty and unemployment rates, according to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
