Jerusalem: Palestinian health officials reported that Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian man on Thursday in the occupied West Bank, the latest bloodshed in a cycle of violence that has engulfed the area.
The violence between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank has reached its worst level in almost 20 years as a result of months of fighting with rising death tolls.
In the Palestinian city of Nablus, Israeli worshippers, including the head of the local Jewish settlers council and the Israeli police chief, were being escorted by Israeli forces to a location known as the biblical Joseph's Tomb.
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The shrine has long been the scene of clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians. A focal point of the recent escalation of violence has also been Nablus.
According to the Israeli military, during the visit, suspects fired shots, threw explosives, rocks, and burning tires at the soldiers, who then opened fire back. 19-year-old Badr Al-Masri was the man killed by Israeli fire, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. It stated that three additional people received wound care.
In response to a wave of Palestinian attacks against Israelis, Israel began conducting almost nightly raids into Palestinian areas of the West Bank, which heightened fighting between the two sides early last year.
According to a count by The Associated Press, the violence has increased this year, with more than 150 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank and east Jerusalem since 2023 began.
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Israeli claims that while the majority of those killed were militants, there were also deaths among youths throwing stones in protest of army raids and others who were not involved in the altercations. In attacks by Palestinians against Israelis during that time, at least 26 people have died.
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Israel claims that its nearly nightly raids throughout the West Bank are necessary to destroy militant networks and prevent further attacks. The violence, which includes accelerated settlement construction by Israel's government and increased violence by Jewish settlers, is seen by the Palestinians as a natural reaction to 56 years of occupation.
In the Middle East conflict of 1967, Israel won the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem. Those areas are sought after by the Palestinians for their future independent state.