JERUSALEM — Palestinian militants killed three Israeli police officers today when they opened fire on a vehicle in the occupied West Bank, where Israel has carried out large-scale raids in recent days.

The attack took place along a road in the southern West Bank. The raids have mainly been focused on urban refugee camps in the northern part of the territory, where Israeli forces have traded fire with militants nearly daily since the war broke out in Gaza.

The police confirmed that all three of the dead were officers and said the assailants slipped away.

One of the officers was Roni Shakuri, 61, from the southern town of Sderot near the Gaza border, police said. His daughter, Mor, who was also a police officer, was killed in a battle with Hamas militants when they tried to take over the Sderot police station during the Oct. 7 attack.

A little-known militant group calling itself the Khalil al-Rahman Brigade claimed responsibility for the shooting today. Hamas praised the attack as a “natural response” to the war in Gaza and called for more.

Over 650 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank, mainly during Israeli military arrest raids. Most appear to have been militants involved in gunbattles with Israeli forces, but civilian bystanders and rock-throwing protesters have also been killed.

Israelis have gathered in the thousands in Tel Aviv tonight protesting Netanyahu and his government.

Demonstrators were angered over the news that Hamas was alleged to have killed six hostages before the military found their bodies in a tunnel in Gaza. Some carried Israeli flags, while others carried mock coffins for the six abductees.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Il., offered condolences to the families after the "gut-wrenching" news emerged that six hostages had been killed in Gaza,

“The capture and subsequent killing of hostages by Hamas is unconscionable and unacceptable. Full stop," Duckworth wrote in a statement. "It is imperative for a permanent ceasefire to be negotiated and upheld by all parties that releases the remaining hostages, and I will keep doing everything I can to push for a deal."

She extended her condolences to the parents of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who she said had become fierce advocates on behalf of the hostages in Gaza the last 10 months. She described their love for their son as "awe-inspiring."

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with Hersh Goldberg-Polin's parents along with her husband, Doug Emhoff, she said today on X.

"My heart breaks for their pain and anguish," Harris wrote. "I told them: As they mourn this terrible loss, they are not alone. Our nation mourns with them."

President Joe Biden said he was "devastated and outraged" over the death of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American citizen who was killed in captivity in Gaza.

"He lost his arm helping friends and strangers during Hamas’ savage massacre. He had just turned 23. He planned to travel the world," Biden said.

He said that Hamas leaders "will pay for these crimes" and that he will continue to push for a deal to release the remaining hostages. Hersh's parents, Jon and Rachel, have endured the "unimaginable," he added.

"They have been relentless and irrepressible champions of their son and of all the hostages held in unconscionable conditions," he said. "I admire them and grieve with them more deeply than words can express."

A White House official said Biden has spoken with Goldberg-Polin's parents to offer his condolences.

The six hostages recovered from Gaza were killed somewhere between Thursday and Friday, a spokesperson from Israel's health ministry said.

According to the ministry, forensic examination of the hostages' bodies showed they were killed 48 to 72 hours prior to the autopsies. The National Institute of Forensic Medicine found they were killed by a "number of short-range shots."

The Israeli military said the abducted men and women were killed by Hamas, though the group has claimed it was IDF fire that killed them. The IDF said there was no exchange of fire between the two groups when the military stormed into the tunnel where the hostages were recovered.

"America grieves this morning for the family, friends, and loved ones of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, and the five other hostages recovered by Israel," Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement Sunday morning, adding, "Our hearts break especially for the families and friends of these brave souls who have been working endlessly for eleven months to have their loved ones back."

Johnson also reiterated his support for Israel, saying that, "Israel must not merely be allowed to defend itself, but supported in its effort to completely eradicate the threat of future attacks by Hamas."

Josep Borrell, the European Union's high representative for foreign affairs, called for a cease-fire to "end this tragedy" and bring the hostages home.

The European official said he was horrified at the news that six Israeli hostages were killed in Gaza and that he stands "with all hostages."

"These young innocent men women should have long been brought to safety & to their loved ones," Borrell wrote on X.

California Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna on Sunday called for an end to the war in Gaza, adding that Goldberg-Polin's death was "a devastating lawless murder by Hamas."

"What we need now is an end to the war," Khanna told NBC News' "Meet the Press," adding, "I hope there's going to be pressure on Hamas and Netanyahu to end this war, release the hostages."