Two Palestinian men were killed by Israeli troops during an army raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian health ministry has said.

The Israeli military said that troops arrested two people suspected of assisting a gunman who shot two soldiers in the occupied West Bank town of Hawara last month.

The army said its soldiers returned fire after being shot at during the raid.

Violence has surged in recent months in the West Bank and east Jerusalem amid near-daily Israeli arrest raids in Palestinian-controlled areas and a string of Palestinian attacks.

The US has tried to broker talks between Israel, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinians to try to defuse tensions during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, now in its second week.

At least 88 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli or settler gunfire this year, according to an Associated Press tally. Palestinian attacks against Israelis have killed 15 people in the same period.

Israel says most of those killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting against the incursions and people not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.

The West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians seek those territories for their future independent state.