Israeli forces kill four Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Two of the dead said to be responsible for killing British-Israeli family last month

A Palestinian medic checks a damaged house where Israeli forces killed Palestinian gunmen in the occupied West Bank. Reuters

Israeli forces shot and killed a woman near the West Bank town of Huwarra after she stabbed an Israeli soldier, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

Iman Odeh, 26, was "killed by a bullet to the chest fired by the occupation soldiers in Huwara, south of Nablus", the ministry said.

The Israeli army said an assailant stabbed a soldier, who was "lightly injured" and taken to hospital for treatment. It said the attacker was "neutralised".

The incident came hours after Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in a morning raid in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry has said.

“Two of the martyrs have completely distorted features due to the intensity of the shooting, which makes it difficult to identify them,” the ministry said.

Israel said two of the dead were responsible for killing a British-Israeli woman and her two daughters last month.

It named Hassan Katnani and Maad Masri as Hamas operatives and said an accomplice, Ibrahim Hura, was also killed.

Lucy Dee's daughters Rina and Maia were killed when their car was shot at near an Israeli settlement during the Passover holiday.

Ms Dee died in a hospital in Jerusalem days later.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid settled "the accounts with the murderers".

"Our message to those who harm us, and those who want to harm us, is that whether it takes a day, a week or a month, you can be certain that we will settle accounts with you. It does not matter where you try to hide – we will find you. Whoever attacks us will pay the price," he said.

The Israeli army said counter-terrorism personnel, troops and the army took part in the operation “using precise intelligence” from Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service.

The army said intelligence showed the men were hiding in an apartment in Nablus, which it previously described as headquarters for the Lion's Den militant group.

The men were killed in an exchange of fire and several weapons were found at the site, the army said.

Gaza militant group Hamas, which praised the April attack but did not claim responsibility, said those killed in the raid were "heroes of resistance".

Israeli troops surrounded a home in the Yasmina neighbourhood of Nablus and fired bullets and missiles, while preventing medical workers from entering the area, Palestine's official Wafa news agency reported.

More than 160 people were injured, it reported.

Four were shot and 152 were exposed to tear gas, Wafa said.

Sixteen nearby schools were closed because of the violence, education officials said.

Several pupils were treated for exposure to tear gas, the local education directorate said.

Israeli media reported explosive drones were used in the raid.

Nablus has been a flashpoint for violence over the past year amid daily raids following attacks last spring.

The latest raid brings the number of Palestinians killed in the conflict to 106 this year.

Nineteen Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian have been killed in that time, AFP reported.