Israeli troops kill Palestinian man in ongoing violence
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces have killed a Palestinian man who they claimed was approaching them with a drawn knife. The latest killing was of 23-year-old Yazan Omar Jamil Khasib, who died after being shot by Israeli forces at the northern entrance of el-Bireh city near Ramallah.
None of the Israeli forces was harmed.
Israeli forces claim that they spotted a suspect and asked him to identify himself, but he drew a knife, prompting them to open fire and “neutralize” him. The incident took place near the Palestinian village of Beitin, close to el-Bireh, according to a statement by the Israeli army.
Since the start of this year, at least 84 Palestinians, including children, have been killed by Israeli forces.
On Thursday, at least four Palestinians, including a teenager, were killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. A week earlier, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in a Jenin raid and, less than 48 hours later, six others were killed in another raid in the same city.
In January, Israeli soldiers killed nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, during a large-scale operation carried out in the Jenin refugee camp.
Palestinian attacks against Israelis led to the death of 14 people in 2023.
Friday’s killing of the 23-year-old adds to the current round of bloodshed and puts 2023 on track to be one of the worst years for violence in the Palestinian territories for years.
More than 170 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem in all of 2022, making last year one the deadliest in the occupied territories since 2004, according to the human rights group B’Tselem.
During the same period in 2022, 30 Israelis were killed, according to news reports.