In one of the most deadly outbreaks of Middle East violence in months, Israeli soldiers have killed six Palestinians in two separate incidents.

Three men killed in the Gaza Strip were thought to have been trying to infiltrate into Israel, according to its military. A Hamas security source said the trio were civilians collecting scrap metal.

Elsewhere, in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian witnesses said troops shot dead three members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. An offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas’ Fatah movement, it is one of two groups claiming to have killed an Israeli settler.

Laid to rest yesterday, he died when his car came under fire near Nablus on Thursday night. It was the first Israeli fatality in a Palestinian militant attack in the West Bank since April.

Today’s violence comes a day before the anniversary of the Gaza conflict that killed some 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis.

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