Israeli soldiers shot dead five Palestinians in two separate incidents in the West Bank today, raising to 10 the number of Palestinians killed over the weekend.
The violence, including an Israeli helicopter strike yesterday that killed four young Palestinians along with a militant who was its target, clouded prospects for a renewal of Israeli-Palestinian security talks, suspended twice last week.
In the latest incident, Israeli troops on patrol near the West Bank city of Hebron killed four Palestinians. A military source said the group was carrying wire cutters and a saw.
The source said the army had information of a plan to infiltrate a Jewish settlement in the area and had set up an ambush.
But Palestinian villagers said the four had been working in a stone quarry several kilometres from the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba.
In a separate incident, Israeli soldiers entered Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank and killed a 16-year-old boy after gunmen fired at them, Palestinian
sources said. The violence coincided with a visit by US Deputy of State Mr David Satterfield, who held talks yesterday with Palestinian officials on Palestinian security reforms seen as crucial by Washington for reviving talks on a Palestinian state.