Israeli forces kill Palestinian, 23, in West Bank raid

Israeli soldiers have shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded at least three others during an overnight raid in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said.

Mohammed Edwan, 23, was shot near the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem, the Palestinian health ministry said on Tuesday.

Edwan was reportedly in his vehicle when he was shot from close range with live ammunition, witnesses told Maan news agency.

His body remained in the custody of the Israeli army before being handed over to medics at the scene, who then transferred Edwan to a hospital in Ramallah, where he was pronounced dead.

According to the health ministry, the three others who were wounded in the shooting were being treated at the hospital.

Local media reported that Israeli forces raided a number of Palestinian homes in several neighbourhoods in the West Bank and that a crowd gathered in the area.

They said Israeli forces fired live ammunition as well as tear gas and stun grenades.

Two residents said soldiers arrived in the Qalandiya area early on Tuesday to carry out arrests and young men threw stones at them.

Three others inside the camp were arrested as part of the wider arrest campaign, Maan reported.

The Israeli army said there was a “riot” during an operation in the nearby Kufr Aqab area, and “rocks and explosive devices were hurled at the troops, who responded with fire”.

“A report was received regarding an injured Palestinian. The incident will be examined,” the army statement said.

Qufr Aqab has been cut off from the rest of Jerusalem by Israel’s separation fence, declared illegal by the International Court of Justice more than a decade ago.

The Israeli army frequently carries out wide-ranging arrest campaigns across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.

It says its raids are necessary to detain violent criminals and potential attackers.

The Palestinian Authority, which has limited autonomy in parts of the West Bank, says such raids are a breach of the agreements Israel has signed up to under the Oslo II Accord.