BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) – Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian health ministry said, the third such killing in 24 hours.
The Israeli military said in a statement that troops carrying out an arrest raid in Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem opened fire when locals threw homemade bombs and rocks at them.
It was not clear whether the man killed, a father of three, was involved in the confrontations.
The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the killing.
“The escalation in field executions is clear evidence that the ruling Israeli coalition is implementing the plans and policies of the right and far right in the occupying state,” it said in a statement.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club, which advocates on behalf of Palestinians in Israeli jails, said the man killed had been released from an Israeli jail in 2014. It did not elaborate on the reasons for his detention.
Violence in territories where Palestinians seek statehood has simmered since U.S.-sponsored peace talks stalled in 2014. It has flared since January, with Israeli raids that have killed at least 46 Palestinians and Arab street attacks that have killed 19 people in Israel and the West Bank.
(Reporting by Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; Additional reporting by Henriette Chacar in Jerusalem; Editing by Christina Fincher)
