NABLUS, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — A Palestinian man was killed during a confrontation with Israeli soldiers near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, the Palestinian health ministry said Thursday, as violence soars in the occupied territories.
The death brings the number killed in clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the West Bank to three on Wednesday alone.
The clashes come amid the most intense Israeli-Palestinian hostilities in seven years, which have killed at least 65 Palestinians, including 16 children, and seven in Israel since Monday.
The Israel Defense Forces said “an assailant armed with a handgun and a knife” had “exited his vehicle and fired towards IDF troops” south of Nablus on Wednesday evening.
“The troops responded with fire and neutralised the assailant. Two of the soldiers were evacuated to a hospital for medical treatment,” the IDF added in a statement.
The man killed was identified by local sources in Nablus as 35-year-old Mohammed al-Najjar.
Rachid Abouara, 16, was killed by gunshots to the head and chest in the village of Aqaba north of Nablus, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The Israeli army did not comment on that death.
Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli gunfire killed Hussein Al-Titi in the Fawwar refugee camp near the city of Hebron, the health ministry said.
The Israeli army said the incident took place during a “violent riot”, as soldiers “spotted one of the rioters standing on a rooftop with the intention of hurling a block towards the troops”.
© Agence France-Presse
