NABLUS, Jan 3: Israeli soldiers shot dead four Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy, who were throwing stones in protests around the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, Palestinian medics and witnesses said.

Palestinian witnesses said Amjed el-Masri, 15, was shot in the chest by a sniper as he threw stones at an Israeli armoured vehicle from a rooftop in the old city area of Nablus.

Rawhi Shuman, 19, was shot in the chest in a separate incident, medics said.

Both died of their injuries at nearby Rafidiyeh hospital, while a third Palestinian, Amer Arafat, 26, was pronounced dead on arrival. He had been shot in the back in another confrontation with soldiers, hospital officials and medics said.

In a separate incident, an explosive charge was detonated as the troops patrolled the town of Nablus as it was under curfew, causing no injury, the Israeli spokesman said.

Later, soldiers fired tear gas and hurled stun grenades at protesters who threw stones at them during a tense funeral for the three that was attended by several thousand people, witnesses said.

A Palestinian protester was shot and wounded in a further confrontation in nearby Balata refugee camp, where protesters threw stones as a military bulldozer sealed entrances to the camp, witnesses and medics said.

"We have a catastrophic situation in Nablus," Mahmoud el-Aloul, the Palestinian Authority's governor for the city, told Reuters.

The violence came a day after Israeli forces lifted a close to three-year blockade on the northern West Bank city of Jenin, with a removal of roadblocks and reopening of the city's eight entrances.

A limited military presence was reported again in Jenin on Saturday. A military source said two wanted Palestinians were arrested there on Friday night, and that another 11 Palestinians were held in villages near Hebron and Ramallah in the West Bank.

The Israeli source confirmed reports by witnesses in Jenin that several roads in the Jenin area were blocked intermittently on Saturday by armoured vehicles.-AFP