Israel says gunman kills two soldiers at West Bank checkpoint

The shooting took place in the morning at a military post in Tayasir in the northern part of the West Bank, the military said in a statement.

"A terrorist fired at the soldiers at a military post in Tayasir," it said, adding the troops killed the gunman during a shootout.

Two other soldiers were "severely injured" in the attack, while six were slightly wounded.

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad praised Tuesday's "heroic" attack on the checkpoint, saying "the resistance will continue until the occupation is defeated".

Israeli forces have been engaged in what the army says is "an operation to thwart terrorism" in and around the northern city of Jenin, long a hotbed of militancy.

Israeli commander Major General Avi Bluth, who is responsible for the West Bank, said Tuesday's attack showed the "necessity" of continuing with the offensive in the northern part of the territory.

"This morning's engagement with a despicable terrorist who emerged from the northern Samaria region is the demonstration of the necessity of the counterterrorism operation," Bluth told journalists when he visited the scene, vowing to "neutralise" militants in the area.

On Sunday, the army said it had killed at least 50 militants since it launched the operation on January 21. The Palestinian health ministry said on Monday that Israeli forces had killed 70 people in the territory since the start of the year.

The operation, which has also seen troops levelling buildings in the city's refugee camp, has drawn condemnation from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, which called Israel's actions "ethnic cleansing".

A spokeswoman for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said that events in Jenin refugee camp were heading in a "catastrophic direction".

"Large parts of the camp were completely destroyed in a series of detonations by the Israeli forces," Juliette Touma said.

"It is estimated that 100 houses were destroyed or heavily damaged."

Violence has surged across the West Bank since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack from Gaza sparked war with Israel.

Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 884 Palestinians in the West Bank, many of them militants, since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

At least 32 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the territory over the same period, according to Israeli official figures.