Two Palestinians killed in West Bank clashes with Israeli forces -medics

SENSITIVE MATERIAL. THIS IMAGE MAY OFFEND OR DISTURB People react as they carry the body of Palestinian Yazan Afanah, who was killed during an Israeli raid in Qalandiya, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank September 1, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept 1 (Reuters) – Two Palestinians were killed in separate incidents in the West Bank on Thursday, with one of them shot by Palestinian gunmen apparently after being misidentified following an Israeli security operation, local authorities said.

A 25-year-old man, identified as Samer Khaled from the al-Ein refugee camp in Nablus, was shot in the neck after driving into the area following a raid by Israeli security forces, the governor of Nablus, Ibrahim Ramadan said in a statement.

Three people were detained in connection with his killing, and they were being interrogated, the governor said.

Israel’s Army Radio also reported that the man in Nablus was struck by Palestinian gunmen, citing checks by Israeli security officials.

In a separate incident, a 26-year-old man from the Qalandia refugee camp near Jerusalem was shot in the heart during clashes with Israeli forces, the Palestinian health ministry said.

The military said in a statement that it was aware of reports of two Palestinians killed during overnight operations in the West Bank.

The statement said that in the town of al-Bireh near Ramallah, soldiers responded to disperse “violent riots,” in which rocks and Molotov cocktails were hurled at them, and in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus, Israeli forces responded to fire with fire.

The Israeli military has been conducting near-daily raids in the West Bank since the start of the year and these often lead to Palestinian casualties. The raids have intensified in recent months since a spate of deadly Arab street attacks in Israel.

Israel says the raids are a security measure targeting suspected militants. Palestinians consider the raids a form of collective punishment and say they are fighting against decades of Israeli occupation.

Reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza Writing by Henriette Chacar in Jerusalem Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Frances Kerry

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