Violent confrontations erupted in Ramallah in the West Bank during the Israeli army demolition of a Palestinian prisoner’s flat.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, three people were injured by gunshots in the early hours of Thursday.

A photojournalist suffered a gunshot wound to the head, local media reported.

The Israeli army said on Twitter that security forces had destroyed the home of a detained assassin.

He was responsible for bombings in Jerusalem that killed two people and injured dozens more in November, it said.

During the operation, riots broke out, and the soldiers used live ammunition in clashes with residents of the West Bank city.

The flat is on the first floor of a four-storey building.

The Supreme Court in Jerusalem rejected a petition against the destruction.

Israel used house demolitions as a punishment and deterrence measure.

Human rights organisations considered this collective punishment and, therefore, a violation of international humanitarian law.

The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian Territories had long been extremely tense.

There were repeated clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli military in the West Bank.

The army had been conducting more raids in the area since a series of attacks on Israelis that began more than a year ago.

Since the beginning of the year, 119 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations, confrontations or after attacks of their own.

In the same period, 18 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian, were killed in attacks.

Israel took control of the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the 1967 Six-Day War.

Palestinians claimed the territories for their own state.

(dpa/NAN)