Israeli says Palestinian man killed in shootout with troops
Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man who opened fire at them from a passing vehicle in the occupied West Bank late Wednesday, Israeli officials said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the death of Muhammad Issa Abbas, 26, saying he had been shot in the back near the al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah.
The ministry gave no further details.
The Israeli military said it had been searching for Palestinian suspects who approached a nearby Jewish settlement when soldiers came under fire from a passing vehicle. It said the troops returned fire and hit the assailant.
The military said dozens of Palestinian residents then surrounded the troops, who used unspecified “riot dispersal means” to clear out the crowd. No further casualties were reported.
The shooting came amid a recent jump in Israeli-Palestinian violence in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
Late Tuesday, Israeli troops killed a man who allegedly attempted to carry out a car-ramming attack in the northern West Bank. Last Thursday, a Palestinian gunman killed an Israeli man near an unauthorised West Bank settlement outpost.