
Smoke billows from the site of several explosions during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. AFP
The shooting took place in the morning at a military post in Tayasir in the northern part of the West Bank, the military said in a statement.
The gunman "fired at the soldiers at a military post in Tayasir," it said, adding the troops killed the gunman during a shootout.
One of the two slain soldiers was identified by the military as Sergeant Major Ofer Yung. The name of the other soldier was still not cleared for publication.
Two other soldiers were "severely injured" in the attack, while six others were slightly wounded.
Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad praised Tuesday's "heroic" attack on the checkpoint, saying "the resistance will continue until the occupation is defeated".
Israeli forces have been engaged in and around the area of Jenin.
On Sunday, the army said it killed at least 50 since it launched the operation on January 21, while the Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said a day later that Israeli forces have killed 70 people in the territory since the start of the year.
The operation has also seen troops leveling buildings in a refugee camp adjacent to Jenin.
The offensive has drawn strong condemnation from the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, which called Israel's actions "ethnic cleansing".
A spokeswoman for UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said that events in the Jenin refugee camp were heading in a "catastrophic direction".
"Large parts of the camp were completely destroyed in a series of detonations by the Israeli forces," Juliette Touma said.
"It is estimated that 100 houses were destroyed or heavily damaged."
Violence has surged across the West Bank since Israel began war began on Gaza.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 884 Palestinians in the West Bank, many of them militants, since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
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