A Palestinian was killed on Saturday (October 22nd) in the occupied northern West Bank by Israeli soldiers, the Palestinian health ministry said.
This is Rabi Arafah Rabi, 32, hit "
by a bullet in the head
" at a checkpoint located southeast of the Palestinian town of Qalqilyah.
Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army said that "
three suspects had tried to enter Israel illegally in a vehicle
".
“
Soldiers present in the area stopped the vehicle for examination, but the vehicle fled and hit a soldier
,” she continued, adding that the soldiers fired at the vehicle.
Strong tensions
The incident comes amid heightened tensions between Palestinians and Israeli security forces, particularly in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories occupied by Israel since 1967.
Earlier Saturday, Israeli police announced that an Israeli was seriously injured in a stabbing attack in East Jerusalem.
According to the Israeli media, the latter is an Orthodox Jew in his twenties.
Police said the suspect fled after the attack but was later "
neutralized
", that is, he was shot by officers in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem.
She did not immediately give further details on the identity of the assailant or on his condition.
Violence has increased in recent months in the northern West Bank, particularly in the area of Nablus and Jenin, strongholds of armed groups where the Israeli army has stepped up operations in the wake of deadly anti-Israeli attacks in March and april.
These raids, often interspersed with clashes with the Palestinian population, left more than a hundred dead on the Palestinian side, the heaviest toll in the West Bank for nearly seven years, according to the UN.