Palestinians say Israeli forces denied access to paramedics after three men were killed south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli security forces killed three Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police said.

Israeli police said the men were armed and “killed in a shootout”, in the predawn incident. “This is a terrorist cell that has recently been involved in terrorist activities against security forces and was apparently on its way to another attack,” the police statement said on Saturday.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials. Palestinians at the scene reported on social media that Israeli forces denied access to paramedics after three “resistance fighters” were killed at the Arraba junction, south of Jenin in the West Bank.

Palestinian media reported a statement from the Islamic Jihad movement, in which it confirmed the killing of three members of its armed wing, the Al-Quds Brigades, by Israeli forces.

Calling them “martyrs,” the Palestinian group named the three men Khalil Tawalbeh, 24, from Jenin, Saif Abu Libdeh, 25, from Tulkarem, and Saeb Abahra, 30, from Jenin.

Palestinian emergency service sources said Israeli forces held the bodies of the three men and refused to release them to their families.

Speaking from Arrabeh, near Jenin, Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim said witnesses reported heavy gunfire from Israeli forces to which the three men who were also armed responded.

“One of the men seemed to have a will encouraging everyone to keep fighting,” Ibrahim said. “The ambulance arrived but was prevented from proceeding and the bodies were taken away by Israeli forces,” she said. “No funeral will take place here today,” she added.

Tensions have risen over the past week after a series of deadly attacks in Israel.

On Tuesday, a Palestinian reportedly shot dead five people in the Israeli town of Bnei Brak before being killed by police. The shooting brought the number of people killed allegedly by Palestinian attackers to 11 in Israel in one week.

With Saturday’s deaths, seven Palestinians have been killed in three days. Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians in the West Bank on Thursday, including a minor in the Jenin refugee camp. On Friday, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man in the West Bank city of Hebron after prayers at the mosque.

Also on Friday, the Palestine Red Crescent Emergency Service said 36 Palestinians had been injured in weekly clashes with Israeli forces elsewhere in the West Bank. Thirty-three of the injured were hit by rubber bullets and three by live ammunition, the Red Crescent said.

Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders have held a flurry of talks in recent weeks, all aimed at easing tensions ahead of Ramadan, amid tensions between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters that have boiled over in recent years. Last year, Israeli security forces carried out several raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during Ramadan, triggering protests.

They hope to avoid a repeat of last year, when protests against the illegal eviction of Palestinians from homes in East Jerusalem’s occupied Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood during Ramadan sparked an 11-day Israeli offensive on Gaza in May.

At least 260 Palestinians, including 66 children, were killed in the Israeli bombardment. On the Israeli side, 12 people, including two children, were killed.