3 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, Palestine says

Fierce clashes broke out early Monday after Israeli forces raided a Palestinian refugee camp in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, with at least three Palestinians killed and six others wounded.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement that the three died after being shot by Israeli soldiers during the clashes.

Witnesses said that the Israeli army stormed the camp at midnight, triggering conflicts between the soldiers and Palestinians.

There has been no immediate Israeli comment on the incident.

Tension has been mounting between Israel and Palestine since January with 156 Palestinians killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, part of a far-right government that came to power in December, visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, sacred to both Muslims and Jews, who know it as Temple Mount, and declared Israel was "in charge."

Israel's ally the U.S. on Sunday rebuked the Middle Eastern country over an order that allows Jewish settlers to enter the Homesh outpost area in the West Bank, paving the way for a formal settlement to be built there.

Washington has repeatedly called on Israel to refrain from any moves that escalate tensions with Palestinians, like formalizing settler outposts, and specifically warned it over Homesh.

The order is inconsistent with Israeli government commitments made in 2004 and more recently to Biden administration officials, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the order in question was intended to allow Israelis to keep attending an existing religious school in Homesh, and that the government has no intention of rebuilding the settlement or allowing Israeli presence on private Palestinian land.

(Xinhua, Reuters)