Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during a pre-dawn raid on the West Bank town of Aqraba, south of Nablus, on Tuesday, and withheld his body, Palestinian officials said.
اضافة اعلان
The General Authority for Civil Affairs confirmed the death and put the man's age at 28. Palestinian news agency WAFA, citing a security source, identified him as Abdul Karim Mohammad Salem Khader and gave his age as 29.
Troops entered the western part of the town before dawn and surrounded a house in the Deiriya neighbourhood, according to the authority. They fired an Energa rifle grenade at the building and brought in a military bulldozer, which demolished part of the structure.
Local sources said the man inside had been ordered to surrender and told the house would be destroyed if he refused. Residents reported sustained gunfire and at least two explosions.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its medics were prevented from reaching the man or examining him before Israeli forces removed his body.
The Israeli military gave a different account later on Tuesday. It said troops entered the house to question the man over alleged involvement with armed groups, that he threw a Molotov cocktail at soldiers as they surrounded the building, and that he was holding a knife when he was killed.
The military also said it arrested four Palestinians in Aqraba, three on suspicion of weapons trafficking and one suspected of planning an attack. Jordan News could not independently verify either account.
The raid follows a killing in the same area a day earlier. Palestinian health officials said Mahmoud Mohammad Arabi Mohsen, 34, from Qabalan, died on Monday of gunshot wounds sustained during an Israeli raid on the town, and that his body was also withheld.
According to figures compiled by the Shireen Observatory, 99 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers since the start of the year, among them 26 children and six women. Nablus governorate accounts for 21 of those deaths.
Source: Al-Ghad, citing the General Authority for Civil Affairs
