Surge of killings in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict...
JERUSALEM: On Wednesday, in occupied West Bank Israeli forces killed a Palestinian, Palestinian officials said, following what the Israeli army said was a drive-by shooting at a military post.
The Palestinian Civil Affairs Ministry said “a citizen was killed, after being shot by the occupation (Israeli forces) near the town of Silwad” in the central West Bank.
The man who died was named Muhajid Mahmoud Hamed a 32-year-old man, by Palestinian health ministry.
According to Israel’s army, after a drive-by targeting a military post next to Ofra soldiers launched a manhunt, an Israeli settlement south of Silwad.
The suspect spotted the soldiers during the pursuit, got out of the vehicle and fired at them. The soldiers responded with live fire and neutralised the assailant,” an army statement said.
An Israeli military spokesman was unable to confirm to AFP that troops had shot dead a Palestinian.
At the scene AFP journalist saw Israeli forces standing over a body metres (yards) from a white van.
The incident is the latest in a surge of killings in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Washington was “deeply concerned by the intensifying violence in the West Bank”. A US State Department spokesman said, on Friday.
This year across the West Bank, at least 147 Palestinians and 26 Israelis have been killed. Israel and the contested city of Jerusalem.
Since 1967 six-day war, Israel has occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Jewish settlers who live in the West Bank an estimated 475,000 in communities under international law considered illegal, alongside some 2.9 million Palestinians.
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