The Palestinian authorities announced the death of a Palestinian, presumably killed by Israeli forces, this Friday, July 21 in Nablus in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli army refers to an “attempted ramming attack”.
Fawzi Moukhalifa, 18, “was killed by (Israeli) occupation bullets in the town of Sebastia” near Nablus, the Palestinian health ministry said. In a statement, the Israeli military described “an attempted vehicular attack”, adding that “(Israeli) forces retaliated by firing at the suspects in the vehicle, the driver was neutralized”.
The army added that another “suspect” had been arrested. The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the West Bank, following a series of Palestinian attacks on Israeli settlers and violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.
Mukhlafia was the second Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Friday. Mohammed al-Bayed, 17, was shot dead near the city of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Israeli Border Police claimed that “violent disturbances” had broken out, “during which suspects threw rocks and explosives” at Israeli forces, which at the time consisted of police and soldiers.
At least 198 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year in violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as 27 Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian, according to an AFP count compiled from official sources. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967. About 490,000 Israelis live in the territory in settlements considered illegal under international law.