Palestinian man killed by Israeli army in the West Bank

A young man was shot dead by Israeli forces at the entrance of Nabi Yunis town north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Palestine TV reported.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said the 40-year-old man, identified as Hamdi Shaker Abdullah Abu Dayyah, was shot and killed by Israeli forces in Halhul, north of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday.

Palestinian activists and local media circulated a video showing a young man lying on the ground while Israeli soldiers surrounded him.

"The Israeli forces prevented the medics from reaching the young man," an eyewitness told Anadolu Agency.

According to Israeli Army Radio, Israeli forces claim that the Palestinian man was shot after he tried to attack them near the town of Halhul.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade — an armed group affiliated with Fatah, the secular political party that controls the Palestinian Authority — claimed the man was a protester and said he had also been a police officer.

The Israeli military claimed in a statement that troops in the occupied Palestinian territory were fired upon and returned fire. It also claimed that Israeli forces were investigating reports that the killed Palestinian was connected to an earlier shooting attack on an Israeli bus.

No injuries were reported among Israeli forces.

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"Deadliest year" since 2004

Tensions have soared in the occupied West Bank, where the Israeli military has been conducting near-nightly arrest raids since last spring.

On Sunday, a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces in the West Bank for allegedly trying to grab a soldier's gun.

On Monday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a 14-year-old Palestinian boy during an early morning military raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said. 

Violence and unrest have raged for months in the occupied West Bank, which Israel has been occupying since the 1967 Mideast war, along with occupied east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

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

READ MORE: Israeli army kills Palestinian teen during raid in occupied West Bank