Deadly clashes erupt in West Bank after elderly Israeli killed in carjacking

78-year-old man declared dead after being found on side of road near Qalqilya following car theft; Palestinian teen killed as troops raid West Bank city in hunt for perpetrators

Illustrative: Israeli soldiers guard near Qalqilya on August 12, 2022. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Illustrative: Israeli soldiers guard near Qalqilya on August 12, 2022. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

Israeli forces clashed with Palestinians in the West Bank city of Qalqilya on Thursday, as soldiers carried out raids in search of the alleged perpetrators of a fatal carjacking earlier in the day.

Police said the 78-year-old died after being brought unconscious to the Eliyahu crossing between Israel and the West Bank by a passerby who saw him on the road.

The man, whose name was not released for publication, was “forcibly removed from his car by a number of suspects who fled with the vehicle” after he arrived at the entrance to Qalqilya, police said in a statement Thursday.

After initial efforts to resuscitate him and rush him to the hospital in a mobile intensive care unit, the man was pronounced dead, authorities said.

It was not immediately clear what had brought the man to Qalqilya, a large West Bank city abutting central Israel some 13 kilometers (8 miles) from Tel Aviv.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry said Naeem Abdullah Samha, 15, was killed by Israeli troops who entered the city, apparently to hunt for the carjackers.

This photo taken July 5, 2017, shows a neighborhood in the West Bank city of Qalqilya. (AP/Nasser Nasser)

A military source said violent riots erupted as troops entered the city to search for the attackers, with Palestinians hurling stones and Israeli soldiers firing in response, hitting at least one person.

Samha was rushed to a hospital after being shot in the chest, and was later declared dead, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

AFP contributed to this report.

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