Palestinians: 1 killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank
The Israeli army says troops fired at a Palestinian man who approached soldiers and pulled out a knife near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah
JERUSALEM — The Israeli army said soldiers shot a Palestinian man who approached soldiers on Friday and pulled out a knife near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. Palestinian authorities said the man succumbed to his injuries a short time later.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as 23-year-old Yazan Khaseeb.
The military said the man refused to identify himself and pulled out a knife, prompting soldiers to open fire. He posted a photo of the alleged knife on the floor.
It was the latest bloodshed in the current round of violence, one of the worst between Israelis and Palestinians in years. The escalation began a year ago after a series of Palestinian attacks on Israelis sparked near-night Israeli raids in the West Bank.
Friday’s death brings the number of Palestinians killed so far this year to 85. Palestinian attacks on Israelis killed 14 in 2023.
According to an Associated Press tally, about half of the Palestinians killed this year were affiliated with militant groups. Israel says most of the dead were militants.
But young rock-throwers protesting the incursions, some in their early teens and others not involved in the clashes, including three men over 60, were also killed.
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 2022, making it the deadliest year in those areas since 2004, according to leading Israeli rights group B’Tselem. Palestinian attacks on Israelis during the same period killed 30 people.
Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East War. The Palestinians seek these territories for their future independent state.
ABC
