A 21-year-old Palestinian man was killed by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank late Monday as the region saw another surge in recent violence.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said that the victim, identified as Zakaria al-Zaoul, was shot in the head in the town of Husan, west of Bethlehem. The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that he was killed during clashes with the military.
The Israeli military claimed that al-Zaoul allegedly threw a firebomb at troops stationed along a West Bank highway near Husan. The troops responded with live fire and confirmed a hit, the army said.
Israel and the Palestinians have been gripped by months of violence, focused mainly in the West Bank, where at least 126 Palestinians have been killed this year.
Monday saw one of the fiercest days of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups near the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
At least five Palestinians were killed, including a 15-year-old boy, and over 90 others were wounded, Palestinian health officials said. Eight Israeli soldiers were also wounded, according to the army.
The fighting saw Israel use helicopter gunships in the West Bank for the first time in several years while Palestinian armed groups attacked an Israeli armored vehicle.
Israel has been staging near-nightly raids in the West Bank in response to Palestinian protests and violence, which has also surged.
At least 20 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks so far this year.
Israel captured the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians claim these territories as part of their future independent state.
