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Palestinian killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank

It's the latest death in a months-long spiral of violence that has left 13 Palestinians dead since the start of the year.

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Tensions have been surging for months in the occupied territory, where the Israeli military has been staging nightly arrest raids since last spring.

Israeli troops have shot and killed a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the latest death in a months-long spiral of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

The circumstances behind the death on Sunday were not immediately clear.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as Ahmad Kahla, 45.

A statement from the ministry said the death was reported near the town of Silwad, north of Ramallah, without giving further details.

Eyewitnesses told Palestinian state-run Wafa news agency that the man was shot after a verbal altercation with Israeli soldiers and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Meanwhile, Israel's Channel 12 reported that a Palestinian man was shot in a suspected knife attack.

The Israeli military did not comment on the reports.

Tensions have been surging for months in the occupied territory, where the Israeli military has been staging nightly arrest raids since last spring.

On Saturday, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli army fire in the West Bank.

Deadliest year since 2004

Nearly 150 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem in 2022, according to figures by the Israeli rights group B'Tselem, making it the deadliest year since 2004.

Since the start of this year, 13 Palestinians have been killed, according to a tally by the Associated Press.

Israel says most of the dead were militants. But Palestinian stone-throwers, youths protesting the incursions and others not involved in confrontations also have been killed.

The raids were prompted by a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis that killed 19 people, while another 10 Israelis were killed in a second string of attacks later last year.

55-year of occupation

The Palestinians see the raids as further entrenchment of Israel's open-ended, 55-year occupation of lands they seek for their future independent state.

Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem.

Israel has since settled 500,000 people in about 130 settlements across the West Bank, which the Palestinians and much of the international community view as an obstacle to peace.

SOURCE: AP