Israeli troops have killed two Islamic Jihad militants in a clash near the West Bank town of Jenin.
Islamic Jihad says one of the two militants who died in the gun battle was a top leader of the group, Nidal Abu Saada.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said Israeli troops had surrounded a house near Jenin in order to arrest the militants when gunfire broke out.
Islamic Jihad has carried out a string of recent suicide attacks in Israel.
Elsewhere in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers prepared to evict Jewish settlers and activists from a hilltop settlement, a section of Amona, near Ramallah. Hundreds of settler activists entered the area Tuesday in an attempt to resist the eviction, planned for Wednesday.