Palestinian shot dead by Israeli troops during West Bank clashes

IDF says soldiers used live fire, riot dispersal means after rocks at them near Umm Safa, one of several villages where settlers rioted after deadly attack last month

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Illustrative: Israeli security forces in Kfar Qaddum, near the West Bank city of Nablus, October 7, 2022. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)
Illustrative: Israeli security forces in Kfar Qaddum, near the West Bank city of Nablus, October 7, 2022. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

A Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops near the West Bank village of Umm Safa on Friday afternoon, Palestinian health officials said.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry announced the man’s death, but did not immediately provide further details. The slain man was identified on social media as Abdel Jawad Saleh, 24, from the central West Bank village of ‘Arura.

According to the military, Palestinians threw rocks at a road, troops and Border Police officers outside of Umm Safa, with the Israeli forces in turn responding with riot dispersal means and live fire.

“A hit was identified,” a statement from the Israel Defense Forces said. “The circumstances of the incident are being looked into.”

Umm Safa was one of several Palestinian towns where settlers rioted last month, after four Israelis were killed in a terror shooting at a gas station outside the settlement of Eli.

That attack and the settler violence came as tensions between Israelis and Palestinians have been high across the West Bank for the past year and a half, with the military carrying out near-nightly raids, amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks.

Since the beginning of this year, Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have killed 25 people, including a soldier shot dead Thursday.

According to a tally by The Times of Israel, 151 West Bank Palestinians have been killed during that time — most of them during clashes with security forces or while carrying out attacks, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under unclear circumstances.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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