Ramallah/Tel Aviv, June 11 (IANS/DPA): Four members of the armed wing of the Islamist Palestinian organisation Hamas have been killed in an Israeli military operation in the West Bank.

The army said on Tuesday that Israeli security forces had entered a town near Ramallah on Monday evening to arrest a suspect following an attempted attack.

When the troops approached the building in which the suspect and three other Hamas members were hiding, they tried to flee in a vehicle. They then tried to drive towards the soldiers, according to the Israeli account. The soldiers then opened fire. A rifle and explosive devices were found in the vehicle.

Hamas media reported that the four people killed were members of al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing.

The situation in the occupied West Bank has worsened significantly since the war between Israel and the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip began on October 7.

According to the local Health Ministry, 516 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in Israeli attacks, in clashes or their own attacks since then.