Ramallah, occupied West Bank – The Israeli army has killed two Palestinian men during two separate raids in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry and the state news agency.
The men were identified as Samer Khaled, 25, from al-Ain refugee camp in Nablus, and Yazan Affaneh, 26, in Umm al-Sharayet, a neighbourhood south of Ramallah and el-Bireh.
Khaled was killed at approximately 5am (02:00 GMT) on Thursday after confrontations broke out with the Israeli army during its raid on the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, according to the official Wafa news agency.
The Israeli army did not comment on the killing but said its forces had operated in the Balata camp and arrested “wanted” suspects.
“During the operation, the forces responded by firing after a shot was fired at them,” the army said on Twitter.
The Israeli army killed Affaneh about an hour later, during confrontations that broke out following its raid on Umm al-Sharayet.
Israeli forces said that they had “information regarding the allegations of a dead Palestinian”.
The army spokesperson said that they had conducted operations in el-Bireh and “confiscated funds that were suspected to be destined for terrorism”.
He added: “Confrontations erupted in some areas of the West Bank, during which stones were thrown and Molotov cocktails were thrown at the soldiers, who responded by using means to suppress and disperse the demonstrations.”
According to Wafa, the youth was from the nearby Qalandiya refugee camp, which falls within the boundaries of occupied East Jerusalem but is cut off from the city by the Israeli separation wall.
The health ministry said the killings had raised the number of Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip since the start of the year to 140.
Israeli forces raid Palestinian towns and cities in the occupied West Bank on a near-daily basis, which often results in the killing or wounding of Palestinians during confrontations or armed clashes.
