AP / February 13, 2023
JERUSALEM – A Palestinian man was killed and at least seven others were injured Monday during a shootout with Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian officials said.
It was the latest death in a surge of Israeli-Palestinian violence that shows no signs of slowing.
The Israeli military said it carried out raids across the West Bank overnight, and that troops came under fire during the arrest of two men suspected of killing an Israeli soldier in October. The army said the two wanted men were injured in a shootout with soldiers and apprehended.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Amir Bustami, 21, was killed in the Israeli army raid. It was not clear if he had been involved in the shootout.
Tensions have mounted for months as Israel has conducted nightly arrest raids in the West Bank, which were prompted by a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis last spring. Some 30 people were killed in Israel by Palestinians in 2022, and at least 11 others in attacks so far in 2023.
Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed last year in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, making it the deadliest year in those areas since 2004, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B’Tselem. At least 46 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since the start of this year.
Israel says that most of those killed have been militants but others — including youths protesting the incursions and other people not involved in confrontations — have also been killed.
Israel says the military raids are meant to dismantle militant networks and thwart future attacks while the Palestinians view them as further entrenchment of Israel’s open-ended, 55-year occupation.
Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war, territories the Palestinians claim for their hoped-for independent state.
Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military said aircraft bombed a rocket manufacturing site and military installations in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants launched four rockets into southern Israel overnight. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Gaza-Israel frontier had been largely quiet in recent months, but there have been intermittent rocket fire and airstrikes as tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem have soared.
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Palestinian teenager shot dead by Isreali forces near Nablus
Middle East Eye / February 14, 2023
Mee Staff
Mahmoud Majed al-Aydi, 17, was killed during raid on Faraa refugee camp in the West Bank city of Tubas.
A Palestinian teenager was shot dead by Israeli forces on Tuesday during a dawn raid near Nablus, in the occupied West Bank.
Mahmoud Majed al-Aydi, 17, was shot in the head after troops stormed the Faraa refugee camp in the city of Tubas.
Aydi was taken to hospital in critical condition, shortly before being pronounced dead, the Palestinian health ministry confirmed.
Israeli forces raided the camp at dawn, surrounding one house and using live ammunition against residents who confronted them.
“A suspicious figure approached the forces with an explosive device, the forces opened fire in response,” the Israeli military claimed in a tweet. One arrest was made by Israeli forces during the raid.
Israeli policeman killed
Separately, an Israeli policeman was killed on Monday following a stabbing attack in occupied East Jerusalem.
A border guard was allegedly stabbed on Monday near the entrance of Shuafat refugee camp, police said. An Israeli civilian attempted to shoot the attacker, but mistakenly hit the stabbed policeman in the process.
The border guard died from both the stab wounds and the gunshot. The alleged attacker was also arrested.
The West Bank has seen a spike in violence since Israel intensified raids last year, with at least 48 Palestinians killed so far this year.
Last year, Israeli forces killed at least 167 Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the highest death toll in the region in a single year since the Second Intifada.
In December, UN experts condemned Israel for the record violence and warned that 2023 could witness a higher number of casualties.
“Unless Israeli forces abandon this dominant settler mindset and rightfully treat Palestinians in the occupied territory as protected persons, Israel’s deplorable record in the occupied West Bank will likely deteriorate further in 2023,” they said.
CIA director William Burns warned last week that current tensions bear an “unhappy resemblance” to the Second Intifada.
