Israeli troops kill two Palestinian gunmen in West Bank

Israeli troops killed two Palestinian gunmen in the occupied West Bank on Saturday in what witnesses described as a running skirmish touched off by an army raid near a flashpoint town.

Jenin and outlying areas have seen intensified military sweeps following a spate of street attacks in Israeli cities last year. The violence has further clouded prospects of a resumption in US-sponsored peace talks that stalled in 2014.

Witnesses said Israeli troops clashed with gunmen before dawn, wounding one. Two other gunmen drove away with him, and after unloading him with local residents, continued in the car, pursued by the troops until they were shot, said the witnesses.

An army spokesperson said troops opened fire on the car after being shot at, and that there were no Israeli casualties. There were bloodstains inside the vehicle, which crashed into a wall during the incident.

The Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad claimed the two dead men as its members. One of them was also claimed by Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, an armed offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction.