Israeli troops kill 10 in West Bank raid

Israeli troops killed 10 Palestinians, including a teenager, and wounded dozens more, in a raid on a city in the occupied West Bank city that threatens further bloodshed.

The daytime operation targeted three militants who were near the centre of the the old city of Nablus, the Israeli military said. All three wanted men were killed along with seven others, including a 72-year-old man. Palestinian officials said at least 103 people were injured, with many of them sustaining gunshot wounds.

The raid was one of the biggest of the past year, in which an already combustible situation in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem has steadily worsened. A similar raid in January was followed by a Palestinian militant attack near an East Jerusalem synagogue that killed seven Israelis.

The violence comes at a critical juncture in ties between Israel and the Palestinians, with the new Israeli government dominated by ultranationalists who have vowed a hard line against militants, while at the same time pushing for an expansion of settlements in the West Bank.

One video apparently taken at the scene showed two young men running and falling as shots rang out.

The Israeli military said its forces were confronted with heavy gunfire when they attempted to detain the wanted men. It released images of two automatic weapons it said were seized from the house in which they were located.

Nablus and Jenin had been focal points of Israeli raids that have killed 62 Palestinians since the start of the year, Palestinian health officials say. At the same time, 10 Israelis and a Ukrainian tourist have been killed by Palestinians, according to Israeli officials.

US officials have previously said conditions in the occupied Palestinian territories were ripe for further escalation and urged the Israeli government and Palestinian leadership to resume dialogue. The CIA chief, William Burns, visited both sides in January as tensions soared.

Earlier, the Palestinian Authority had suspended security ties with Israel, a move that means it will not cooperate in the arrest of militants.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, hardline groups whose members have been at the forefront of attacks in recent years, have pledged to carry out more attacks inside Israel.

Israel has over the past several years forged new relations with some Arab states, including the UAE and Bahrain as part of the Abraham accords, which have formalised trade, security and economic ties, and overturned decades of policies that had prioritised the Palestinian cause.

The pacts have often been met with silence by residents of Arab countries, where residents still identify strongly with the fate of Palestinians.

Additional reporting by the Associated Press and Reuters