Palestinian shot dead after allegedly hurling explosive at IDF troops in West Bank

A young Palestinian man who allegedly hurled an explosive device at Israeli troops was shot dead in the West Bank on Saturday evening, the military and Palestinian health officials said.

The Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said 20-year-old Ayed Azzam Salim was shot in the abdomen and chest in the town of Azzun, near Qalqilya.

The Israel Defense Forces said troops were conducting “routine activity” when a “number of suspects hurled an explosive device” at the forces.

The IDF said troops responded with live ammunition at the Palestinian suspects, adding that one was hit by the gunfire.

The military added that no soldiers were hurt in the incident.

The incident comes as tensions have soared across the region, with a rocket attack from Syria on Saturday night; a barrage of rockets from Lebanon on Thursday; tit-for-tat rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli strikes over the past week; clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem’s Temple Mount; deadly terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank; and a suspected Iranian drone launched from Syria earlier in the week.

#صورة الشهيد عايد عزام سليم الذي أستشهد متأثراً بإصابته برصاص جيش الاحتلال عند مدخل بلدة عزون شرق قلقيلية. pic.twitter.com/2g5MzgD0IE

— Newpress | نيو برس (@NewpressPs) April 8, 2023

Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have been high for the past year, with the IDF conducting near-nightly raids in the West Bank amid a series of deadly Palestinian terror attacks.

At least 89 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the year, most of them while carrying out attacks or during clashes with security forces, but some were uninvolved civilians and others were killed under circumstances that are being investigated.

Palestinian attacks in Israel and the West Bank have left 18 people dead since the beginning of the year.