An Israeli soldier was shot dead near an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank in an attack alleged by a Palestinian group, the second such attack on forces in a few days.
The Israeli army said the soldier was killed on Tuesday when “two attackers arrived in a vehicle next to the community of Shavei Shomron and fired live guns”.
The shooting in the Israeli settlement was alleged by the lion’s den, a loose coalition of Palestinian fighters that has sprung up in recent months.
“We announce the conduct of a second shooting operation aimed at occupation [Israeli] Soldiers in the Deir Sharaf area, west of Nablus,” the group said.
The area lies between Nablus and Jenin, Palestinian cities that have seen increased Israeli army incursions for half a year after a wave of street attacks on Israeli cities.
Israeli forces are searching for those who carried out the attack, the military added in its statement. According to the AFP news agency, Israeli forces were stationed in the area and controlled vehicles.
In a Twitter post, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz vowed he would “get our hands on the terrorist and those who aided him.”
The soldier killed was identified as 21-year-old Ido Baroukh.
The killing comes three days after an 18-year-old Israeli soldier was shot dead at a checkpoint in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shuafat in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli forces are continuing their search for the suspected gunman, who police have identified as a 22-year-old Palestinian resident of the city.
Israeli forces closed entrances to the refugee camp and the United Nations said schools there were closed on Monday.
“Collective Punishment”
Palestinian Knesset member Ahmad Tibi visited the camp on Tuesday and described the “suffering” of residents.
“Sick people can’t go outside to be treated, bakeries are empty, some doctors and doctors and nurses couldn’t go in,” he told AFP.
“You have to wait in your car for three or four hours to get out. This is suffering, this is collective punishment,” Tibi added.
Meanwhile, four Palestinian teenagers have been shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since Friday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
A fifth Palestinian man, a 12-year-old boy, died Monday from wounds he sustained during an Israeli military attack in the West Bank city of Jenin last month.
The Israeli army and other security forces have been conducting almost daily raids in the West Bank for the past few months, mainly in Jenin and Nablus, where the Palestinian armed resistance has become better organized and new groups of fighters have formed.
More than 80 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, have been killed since January in what the European Commission described as the deadliest year in the occupied West Bank since 2008.
Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead in May while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin.
At least 20 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank this year, according to the United Nations.
Israel conquered the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War. The Palestinian leaders seek these areas for a future state.
Israeli settlements are illegal under international law. Successive Israeli governments have built and expanded settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories — a move Palestinians say is aimed at demographic change.
At least 600,000 Israeli settlers live in some 250 settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, often under heavy Israeli military protection.