Israeli soldiers killed three Palestinians in a refugee camp in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm today, medics said.
Israeli-Palestinian violence has increased after a brief lull following Yasser Arafat's death last month when new hopes were raised for peace in the Middle East.
The Israeli army said troops opened fire on two suspected gunmen in Tulkarm and saw that both were hit but did not know their condition.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a militant faction of the Palestinian mainstream Fatah movement, said three of its fighters died in an exchange of gunfire with Israeli soldiers in the town's refugee camp.
The Israeli army has frequently conducted raids against what it says are militant hideouts during a four-year Palestinian uprising that erupted after peace talks failed.
The shootings occurred hours before Christmas celebrations were to begin in another West Bank town, Bethlehem, site of Jesus' birth.