Palestinian security forces have launched a rare crackdown against local militant groups in the northern West Bank.

The Palestinian health ministry said on Thursday that a Palestinian elderly women and a young man were shot dead by Israeli forces in Balata refugee camp near Nablus City in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian Authority security forces have battled Islamist fighters in Jenin for days, as they wrestle to exert control of one of the historic centres of militancy in the West Bank ahead of a likely shakeout in Palestinian politics after the Gaza war.

The Palestinian government has been carrying out a rare and lethal sweep against militants in a flashpoint West Bank city, saying it was needed to foil an imminent car-bombing and other attacks.

The rare move by the Palestinian Authority, who govern pockets of the Israeli- occupied West Bank, was justified to remove Iran-backed militant groups causing "chaos."View on euronews

In the past week, the Palestinian Authority has made its most intense show of force in years. Its security forces have surrounded and are attacking the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp,

The authority, which has struggled to crack down on powerful armed groups in the territory, is under pressure from the United States to escalate law-and-order operations.

At least one person was killed as Palestinian security forces clashed with Palestinian militants and set up checkpoints on Saturday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, residents and medics said.

Hamas called on "all movements, factions, tribal gatherings, and human rights organizations to mobilize massively" to repel the ongoing operation carried out by Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank city of Jenin in an official statement on Tuesday.