Palestinian shot dead by Israeli forces in West Bank

Sporadic Palestinian attacks are on the rise against Israelis in the West Bank in recent month

HEBRON, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: A Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli forces on Tuesday near the flashpoint city of Hebron in the south of the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said.

Palestinian official news agency Wafa identified the dead man as Omar Awwad, 27, and said he was shot by Israeli forces near Hebron.

The health ministry confirmed he had died after being taken to hospital.

Israeli police said a man was shot after his car "drove towards border police" at a checkpoint.

"Shots were fired at the suspect vehicle. No injuries to officers," spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement, adding that the incident was under investigation.



Police later said the Israeli forces had approached Awwad's village Idna to take action against illegal copper smelting.

"A Palestinian car driven by the suspect tried to escape the security forces, the car hit the supervisor's car and headed toward a border police officer who was securing the event," a statement said.

"The officer fired at the car, hitting the man suspected of attempting to run him over," it added, confirming the driver had died.

In a separate incident in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian car drove toward Israeli security forces involved in enforcing construction laws.

Border policemen fired in the air and apprehended the driver, a 30-year-old resident of the village of Jiftlik.



Israeli forces in the West Bank have been on high alert since Sunday evening, when seven Israelis were wounded in a shooting at the entrance to a West Bank settlement.

A woman and her prematurely delivered baby were still in serious condition on Tuesday, a hospital spokesperson told AFP.

"I wish a swift recovery to all those wounded," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday at a ceremony marking the opening of a new road junction in the West Bank.

"We will chase down the perpetrators and settle the account with them."

Netanyahu said that the Palestinian attacks were aimed at scaring Israelis into leaving the West Bank.

"We will prove to them that their will to uproot us from our land will be met with a fortified wall," he said. "As long as I'm prime minister of Israel, no Jew will be uprooted from his home."

There have been sporadic Palestinian attacks against Israelis in the West Bank in recent month.

On November 26, a Palestinian rammed a car into Israeli soldiers, injuring three of them. The driver was later killed by Israeli forces.