Palestinian killed after Israeli soldiers return fire
Jerusalem, Jan 17 (EFE).- A Palestinian man was shot and killed in confrontations with Israel’s military in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, amid one of the deadliest spates of violence in the region for years.
The Palestinian health ministry named the man as Hamdi Shaker, 40.
According to an Israeli military spokesman, Shaker opened fire on troops while they were conducting “routine activities” in the Palestinian village of Halhul. Soldiers returned fire and “neutralized” him.
No Israeli soldiers were injured in the incident.
Eyewitnesses told Wafa news agency the Israeli forces blocked ambulance access to the area and that the army kept the body of the Palestinian man.
So far this year, a total of 15 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops, including four minors.
Fourteen-year-old Omar Khaled was killed Monday during an Israeli military raid on a refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.
There have been intense Israeli raids and armed clashes with Palestinians, especially since late March last year when Israel launched a military operation it calls “Breaking the Wave” in response to a wave of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli soil.
Since then, violence has been on the rise, leaving dozens of Palestinians dead, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The fatalities have mostly been militants, but also include children and civilians such as Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh.EFE
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