Three Palestinian gunmen killed by Israeli forces

Israeli forces tracking down Islamic Jihad militants killed three Palestinian gunmen in a West Bank raid early Friday.

Israeli police and troops went into the village of Ilar in the Tulkarem area after midnight, Palestinians and Israeli military officials said. The military said troops surrounded a building with the intention of arresting senior Islamic Jihad militants holed up inside, the AP says.

Two armed Palestinians fled the building in one direction and began shooting at Israeli soldiers, who returned fire, the military said. Palestinians said the two gunmen, Jamil Abu Saada, 25, and Said Al-Ashkar, 23, a Palestinian policeman whose family is active in Islamic Jihad, were killed.

Troops tracked down a third armed man who fled in another direction hours later. Raed Ajaj, 30, an Islamic Jihad leader from Tulkarem, opened fire at the troops, who shot back and killed him, the military said.