A Palestinian man has been shot and killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, the health ministry said, during what witnesses described as a confrontation between protesters and Israeli soldiers.
The Palestinian health ministry said on Tuesday that a Palestinian “citizen” was killed by Israeli fire in Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah.
The Maan news agency, citing local sources, identified the victim as 19-year-old Nehad Amin Barghouti. According to them, he died after being “shot by live bullets in the abdomen area”, shortly after arriving at the hospital.
Barghouti hailed from the town of Kafr Ein and was a freed political prisoner, the sources added.
Confrontations broke between Palestinians and Israeli forces at the entrance of Nabi Saleh, where Israeli troops fired live rounds, as well as tear gas canisters towards the crowds, Maan reported.
Meanwhile, an Israeli army spokesperson told the AFP news agency they were looking into the incident.
The killing comes days after another teenage boy was killed by Israeli gunfire near the West Bank town of Jenin.
Mohammed Abu Salah, 17, was shot during confrontations that erupted as Israeli forces arrived late on Sunday to demolish the home of Muhammad Jaradat, a man accused of killing an illegal Jewish settler late last year. The Palestinian health ministry said dozens were injured by live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets fired by the Israeli army.
Last week, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian and international rights groups have long condemned what they see as a policy of shoot to kill and excessive use of force.
B’Tselem, an Israeli rights group, said it had recorded 77 Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli forces in the West Bank last year. More than half of those killed were not implicated in any attacks, it added.
Earlier this month, Amnesty International said in a new report that Israel was carrying out “the crime of apartheid against Palestinians” and must be held accountable for treating them as “an inferior racial group”.
Israel occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war.
Israeli settlements built on Palestinian land are considered illegal under international law. Today, between 600,000 and 750,000 Israeli settlers live in at least 250 illegal settlements in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
