Seven Palestinians were shot dead during separate Israeli military operations in the West Bank on Sunday, Palestinian witnesses and medics said.

The first Palestinian, a security intelligence officer named Ali Omar Jabarin, 20, was killed by an elite special Israeli force near the security intelligence headquarters in the West Bank town of Jenin, said the witnesses.

In another operation, Israeli forces stormed the village of Qabatya near Jenin and surrounded a building full of members of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), where fierce gunbattle took place.

Two brothers were killed and then another four were killed during the exchange of fire in the village.

All the six were members of the militant group which has been responsible for rocket attacks against Israel and has the Gaza Strip as its stronghold.

Abu Mujahed, spokesman for the group in Gaza confirmed to reporters that the leader of the group's armed wing in Jenin Saer Hanaysha, 22, and his younger brother were killed in the gunbattle.

Abu Mujahed vowed to avenge the killing, saying that the group would continue to its armed struggle.

Source: Xinhua