Raiding Israeli troops shot dead three Palestinian gunmen on Thursday, widening an offensive against militants prompted by renewed rocket salvoes from Gaza after Israel's pullout from the territory, Reuters reported. Despite the violence, thousands of West Bank Palestinians voted on Thursday in the final phase of municipal council elections seen as a test of strength for rival factions before a landmark parliamentary election in January. Rocket fire abated on Tuesday amid pleas from the Palestinian public for calm in Gaza to enable reconstruction after 38 years of occupation. But Israeli military action continued in a bid to pin down Palestinian groups, despite a U.S. call for restraint. Overnight on Thursday, Israeli troops swept into the northern West Bank town of Jenin to arrest wanted Palestinians and killed one who opened fire on them, an army spokesman said. Soldiers also raided the village of Burqin outside Jenin and shot dead two members of Islamic Jihad after they shot at the troops to resist arrest, the army spokesman said.
