Palestine praises 'martyr' killed by Israeli troops in West Bank

Occupational soldiers kill Mujahid Mahmoud Hamed, 32, who according to his family had spent some 11 years in Israeli prisons and was released around a year ago.

Palestine's Civil Affairs Ministry says "a citizen was killed, after being shot by the occupation (Israeli forces) near the town of Silwad" in the central West Bank.
Reuters

Palestine's Civil Affairs Ministry says "a citizen was killed, after being shot by the occupation (Israeli forces) near the town of Silwad" in the central West Bank.

Israeli occupational troops have killed a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank, Palestine's officials said, following what the Israeli army alleged was a drive-by shooting at a military post.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the deceased on Wednesday as 32-year-old Muhajid Mahmoud Hamed.

Family members told the AFP news agency he had spent some 11 years in an Israeli prison and was released around a year ago.

Palestine's Civil Affairs Ministry said "a citizen was killed, after being shot by the occupation (Israeli forces) near the town of Silwad" in the central West Bank.

Palestine's President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement issued a statement with a picture of Hamed, praising him as a "martyr".

The Israeli military said in a statement that soldiers conducting routine activity in the area responded with live fire and launched a pursuit when a driver shot at one of its posts near the settlement of Ofra.

"During the pursuit, the suspect spotted the soldiers, got out of the vehicle and fired at them. The soldiers responded with live fire and neutralised the assailant," the statement said.

An AFP news agency journalist at the scene saw Israeli troops standing over a body near a white van.

A group of Palestinians later blocked a road east of Ramallah to protest Hamed's death.

READ MORE: Israeli troops shoot dead Palestinian in occupied West Bank raid

More than 210 Palestinians killed since August

The incident is the latest in a surge of killings in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.

A US State Department spokesperson said on Friday that Washington was "deeply concerned by the intensifying violence in the West Bank".

According to Palestine's Health Ministry, more than 210 Palestinians have been killed this year, including those who died during a brief conflict in besieged Gaza in August.

Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since the 1967 Six-Day War.

An estimated 500,000 Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank in communities considered illegal under international law, alongside some 2.9 million Palestinians.

READ MORE: 'Killed in cold blood': Palestinians protest Israeli point-blank killing

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