NABLUS, West Bank (AP) — A Palestinian man was killed by Israeli troops during an arrest raid in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the latest bloodshed in one of the most violent stretches of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in years.
Israeli forces entered the al-Ein refugee camp near the West Bank city of Nablus and arrested a suspected militant after surrounding his house, the army said. Palestinian officials said a 23-year-old man was killed when fighting erupted between Palestinian militants and Israeli security forces.
The Israeli army said Palestinians opened fire and threw stones and paint at soldiers, who responded with live fire.
Another two Palestinians were wounded by bullet shrapnel, including a female motorist caught in the crossfire, medics from the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man killed as Mohammed Nada and said he was shot in the chest.
Wednesday’s incident came a day after Israeli troops killed three Palestinian gunmen who opened fire on soldiers near Nablus.
Israeli-Palestinian fighting has surged in the occupied West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinians seek the territory, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, for a hoped-for future state.
In recent months, the West Bank has witnessed a volatile mix of the rise of local armed Palestinian groups carrying out frequent shooting attacks against Israelis and near-daily Israeli military raids that have increasingly turned deadly.
So far this year, over 161 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank — the highest death toll in over a decade. Around half of them were affiliated with militant groups and killed in fighting during Israeli military raids, but stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions as well as innocent bystanders have also been killed.
Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis have killed at least 25 people this year.
