An angry crowd of Palestinians has stormed a court in the West Bank town of Jenin and killed three men just convicted of slaying a Palestinian security officer.

Witnesses say the three defendants were shot dead in the building's bathroom, where police had hidden them after the mob of several hundred people rushed the building. The bodies of the defendants were then dragged into the street.

Witnesses say the killings were the result of a years-old feud within a Palestinian clan from the nearby village of Qabatiyeh.

Shortly before the courthouse attack, a Palestinian judge had handed down the death penalty to two of the defendants and a 15-year jail term for the third, who were convicted of murder for the killing of security officer Osama Qmeil.

The defendants had told the court they killed the policeman in revenge for his killing in years past of clan members accused of collaborating with Israel.

They killed the security officer last week after luring him to a garbage dump on the outskirts of his home town of Qabatiyeh.

Some information for this report provided by AP, Reuters, AFP and DPA.

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