5 Palestinian fatalities near Jenin on Saturday.

Palestinian sources in Jenin reported that a Palestinian woman was killed by IDF gunfire, during a gunbattle with Palestinian operatives.

According to the report, IDF forces entered a refugee camp in the city in order to arrest a wanted operative from Islamic Jihad, and during subsequent exchanges of fire that developed in the area, the operative's sister was killed instead.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of the Islamist faction Hamas condemned the killings in a statement.

“These crimes are new proof on the brutality of the occupation (Israel), its pursuit of liquidation and is a futile attempt to break the will of the Palestinian people and push them to surrender,” the statement read.

Earlier Saturday evening, Border Guard policemen operating in Jenin shot and killed three Palestinian gunmen, after the gunmen opened fire at police forces. According to Palestinian sources, two of those killed were Fatah operatives and the third was an operative in Islamic Jihad. 

Palestinian sources also said one of the Fatah gunmen, Abbas Damaj, was closely associated with Zakariya Zubeidi, the commander of al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades (the organization's military wing) in Jenin.

The other two gunmen were Muhammad al-Aishi - also an operative in al-Aqsa - and Mahmoud Jaliel, a senior operative in al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of Islamic Jihad.

No policemen were injured during the altercation.  IDF sources explained that police forces - in the midst of an operation to arrest wanted Palestinian operatives in the West Bank - surrounded the vehicle containing the three gunmen. 

When gunmen shot at the policemen, they returned fire killing the men.  Upon searching the gunmen's vehicle, police found a Kalashnikov, an M-16 and an RPG missile launcher, the army reported.

A source from Fatah had a different story, saying that a number of police jeeps toured the area and then tried to ambush the gunmen's vehicle.  Upon identifying the ambush, gunmen fired at the police forces. 

Saeb Erekat, a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas, condemned the incident, saying it "undermines our efforts to bring about a cessation of hostilities. As such, I believe this is very very bad."

Zubeidi had a more forceful response, saying: "This action will not frighten us. Lately we have been committed to the calm, but the Israelis have proven that they are not interested in it. From this moment on we are no longer committed to the calm. Our response will be harsh, painful and deep within Israel."

Earlier shootings near Jenin 

Saturday morning, near Jenin, Palestinian sources reported that a Palestinian police officer was killed Saturday morning in exchanges of fire between IDF soldiers and gunmen.

Tuesday, IDF forces shot and killed a terror suspect from al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades - Fatah's military wing. 

Palestinian witnesses to the incident said al-Aqsa member Ahmed Hanaishe was traveling between Jenin and the town of Qabatiya when his car was blocked by another vehicle and undercover troops inside shot at him. 

Efrat Weiss and the Associated Press contributed to this report