RAMALLAH, West Bank, June 24 (Reuters) - A Palestinian militant opened fire at an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on Saturday, wounding a security guard before he was shot dead by forces at the scene, Israel's police said. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group associated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, claimed the gunman as a member. Police distributed a photo of an M-16 rifle they said was used by the gunman to carry out the shooting. Violence surged this week in the West Bank, where for over a year the military has conducted regular sweeps leading to repeated clashes with Palestinian fighters amid a spate of Palestinian street attacks on Israelis. The past few days saw deadly clashes in the city of Jenin, a fatal Palestinian shooting attack near a settlement, attacks on Palestinian villages by settlers and a rare Israeli air strike in the West Bank against militants.

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Persons: Israel's, Mahmoud Abbas, Fatah, WAFA, Jake Sullivan, Maayan Lubell, Ali Sawafta, William Mallard, Toby Chopra Organizations: West Bank, Martyrs Brigade, Palestinian, Police, White House, Thomson Locations: RAMALLAH, West, Palestinian, Kafr Aqab, Jenin, Israel, East Jerusalem, Gaza, Jerusalem, Ramallah