(Adds Israeli military source) By Wael al-Ahmed JENIN, West Bank, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinian militants and a civilian on Tuesday during raids to arrest suspected gunmen in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said. Thirteen other people were wounded in clashes near the West Bank town of Jenin where troops killed an 18-year-old member of the Islamic Jihad group and later a civilian, the officials said. Five gunmen were arrested. Israeli troops often raid the West Bank looking for militants. At least 230 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, have been killed in Israeli operations in Gaza and the West Bank since Israel intensified its raids after the capture of one of their soldiers near the Gaza border in June. The Israeli military confirmed both incidents around Jenin. In the first case it said it had identified a gunman and opened fire with live ammunition. In the second incident, the military said it had used rubber bullets and it believed the person killed was a militant, not a civilian. Separately, Palestinian hospital officials said Israeli troops shot dead two militants in a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Nablus. The men belonged to Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, the officials said. An Israeli military source said a special army unit was in the area trying to arrest a wanted gunman. The militant was seen carrying a weapon in a car with a driver, the source said. The source said the special unit opened fire and "apparently both were killed". Palestinian witnesses said the two militants were killed at close range in their car by an Israeli undercover unit. Israel has also stepped up military action against militants firing rockets at Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip with raids that have killed 21 Palestinians, mostly gunmen, since Thursday. (Additional reporting by Jonathan Saul)
