Israel kills 3 Palestinians, injures dozens in West Bank protest

RAMALLAH West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinian protesters and wounded about 100 on Thursday in confrontations with several thousand people demonstrating in the occupied West Bank against a 17-day-old Israeli offensive in Gaza, Palestinian medical officials said. The Israeli military confirmed troops had used "riot dispersal means" against protesters who threw rocks and firebombs at them and blocked a road with burning tyres. The protest erupted after allies of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement marched from the West Bank city of Ramallah to the edges of Jerusalem in protest against Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza where the Palestinian death toll has topped 760. A doctor at Ramallah hospital said three people died of bullet injuries, including a man in his 20s who was injured in the head, while at least 100 other people were treated for various injuries after the protest. Israel Radio said the protest appeared to be the largest since a 2000-2005 Palestinian uprising. Israeli troops have killed two other Palestinians this week in smaller confrontations in the West Bank, territory Israel captured along with Gaza in a 1967 war. Protests were also reported in Jerusalem, where police confronted Palestinian protesters in and near the old walled city, including outside a flashpoint holy site revered by Muslims and Jews. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said several officers were injured by rocks thrown at them in Jerusalem and that about 20 protesters were arrested. (Reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)