A Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops on Wednesday during a military operation in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medical sources said.
Saleh Fuqahaa (24) died after being shot by Israeli soldiers who opened fire to disperse Palestinian stone throwers, medics and witnesses said.
Thirteen Palestinians, including various school children, were wounded by Israeli fire during a military incursion into Jenin in what Israeli military sources called a “routine operation to arrest terrorists”.
Israeli troops imposed a curfew in the volatile city after several dozen armoured vehicles entered Jenin and soldiers took up positions on rooftops as house-to-house searches were conducted.
Israeli military sources said three soldiers were lightly wounded in exchanges of gunfire with militants.
Two bulldozers began demolishing a building, surrounded by Israeli troops and where suspected militants were believed to be hiding, witnesses said.
The city has been the scene of some of the bloodiest fighting of the five-year Palestinian uprising.
Fuqahaa’s death brought to 4 889 the number of people killed since the start of the Palestinian intifada in September 2000. More than three-quarters of the victims have been Palestinians.
Near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli troops arrested three wanted militants after surrounding a house in the village of Kfar Khalil, military sources said.
The Israeli army has cut back on nonetheless routine arrest operations in the West Bank since a peace summit between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in February. – AFP