Israeli forces killed a Palestinian, a member of Islamic Jihad, near Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank on Monday night, the Israeli army and the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.
Another Palestinian, Amjad Aref Fayyad Abou Jaas, 48, was seriously injured in an Israeli raid in Jenin (north) on Monday and died from his injuries, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday. The death brings the number of Palestinians killed in deadly fighting in Jenin on Monday to six. More than 90 Palestinians and eight members of the Israeli armed forces were injured.
According to a press release from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 20-year-old Zakaria Mohammed al-Zaoul was “hit in the head by live ammunition from the crew (Israel, ed.) in the village of Husan” near Bethlehem (south).
He was a member of Islamic Jihad, the armed group said in a statement.
“A suspect threw Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers who were carrying out routine activities,” the Israeli army said in the city of Husan, adding that the soldiers responded with live ammunition and one victim has been identified.
The official Palestinian news agency, Wafa, reported clashes between Palestinian youth and Israeli forces, who fired live ammunition and used tear gas and sonic grenades.
This incident comes against a background of violence in the occupied West Bank, where frequent Israeli incursions into Palestinian towns often lead to clashes with the population.
Nearly three million Palestinians live in the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967. About 490,000 Israelis also live there in settlements that the United Nations has declared illegal under international law.
At least 166 Palestinians, 21 Israelis, one Ukrainian and one Italian have been killed in violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since the beginning of the year, according to an AFP tally compiled from official Israeli and Palestinian sources.
These statistics include combatants and civilians, including minors, on the Palestinian side and mostly civilians, including minors, and three members of the Arab minority on the Israeli side.