A statement from the Israeli military confirmed soldiers were operating in the area in order to demolish the home of assailants Israel says were involved in the killing of an Israeli soldier last year.

The statement did not confirm the fatalities.

Last year saw the worst levels of violence in the occupied West Bank in more than a decade, much of it concentrated around Nablus and the nearby city of Jenin, with at least 150 Palestinians and more than 20 Israelis killed.