Palestine (AA/Imemc) A Palestinian group said Sunday that three of its members were assassinated by Israeli forces by shooting them in a Palestinian vehicle near the Surra military roadblock in the Nablus area in the occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military confirmed the shootings and said a fourth armed Palestinian had been arrested and taken into custody.

The three men who were killed were identified as Jihad Muhammad Wasfi Al-Shami, 24, Odai Othman Rafiq Al-Shami, 22, and Mohammad Raed Naji Al-Dabeek, 18.

All three were declared dead on the scene after Israeli occupation forces fired many rounds of live ammunition into the vehicle they were driving. A fourth young man, Ibrahim Awartani, was taken away by Israeli forces.

WAFA News reported, quoting eyewitnesses, that two workers were wounded by shrapnel from the Israeli occupation bullets, while they were in the area where the three young men were targeted.

After the assassinations the Israeli occupation forces stormed the town of Surra and seized surveillance camera recordings from commercial stores, in a move that local Palestinians claimed was meant to cover up the evidence of their crime

No injuries were reported among Israeli soldiers.

The Israeli army accuses the Lion’s Den group, which emerged last year in the occupied West Bank, of carrying out deadly attacks on Israeli targets.

Tensions in the occupied West Bank have escalated in recent months with repeated Israeli attacks on Palestinian towns.

According to Palestinian figures, the death toll of Palestinians since the beginning of 2023 has risen to 84 Palestinians, killed by Israeli forces and paramilitary Israeli settlers, including 15 children, a woman, and a prisoner in the occupation prisons. Fourteen Israelis were also killed in separate attacks during the same period.

[Photo: Jihad Muhammad Wasfi Al-Shami, 24, Odai Othman Rafiq Al-Shami, 22, and Mohammad Raed Naji Al-Dabeek, 18 assassinated by Israeli forces on 12 March, 2023. Photo by imemc.org]