Palestinian shot dead by Israeli border forces

A Palestinian man who allegedly tried to stab an Israeli border policeman has been shot and killed in the occupied West Bank, near the city of Nablus, medics have said.

Monday’s incident occurred near an Israeli military checkpoint. The army said the man, 26-year-old Mohammad al-Atrash, approached a group of soldiers, telling them he felt unwell.

As he drew near, they allege he pulled out a knife and stabbed one of them. Another soldier then shot him.

The Palestinian government condemned the killing of al-Atrash. In a statement, it denounced “the far from truth flimsy excuses used by the Israeli side to justify the killing of al-Atrash”.

It said that al-Atrash was heading toward the soldiers simply to ask for water after feeling unwell, when he was shot at by Israeli soldiers.

The incident came after a Palestinian man died of wounds sustained on Saturday, after stabbing a border policeman in the same area. The soldier was treated at the scene and the Palestinian was taken to hospital with a light shoulder wound, the army said.

Tensions have soared in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks in the wake of the deadly firebombing of a Palestinian home, attributed to Israeli settlers.

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An 18-month-old boy was killed in the July 31 arson attack in the West Bank village of Duma, south of Nablus city, and days later his father died in hospital from burns to more than 80 percent of his body.

According to the UN, at least 120 attacks by Israeli settlers have been documented in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2015.

A recent report by Yesh Din , an Israeli human rights organisation, showed that more than 92.6 percent of complaints Palestinians lodge with the Israeli police go without charges being filed.