One Palestinian man was killed and four others were seriously wounded during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent and the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The Red Crescent said the raid involved gunfire and that five people were hit during an Israeli military operation in a crowded area, with the incident taking place as schools were letting out for the day, witnesses told AP.
The Health Ministry identified the man who was killed as Nayef Firas Ziad Samaro, 26, and said his body was brought to a local hospital where his wife was giving birth, AP reported.
The Red Crescent said a 12-year-old was shot in the shoulder during the raid and that additional injured people were among those hit by gunfire.
In a statement, Israel’s military said it responded to a confrontation in the Nablus area in which several “terrorists” threw rocks toward soldiers, adding that soldiers fired and “several hits were identified.”
The killing came amid wider warnings that violence in the West Bank has been worsening, with international observers, rights groups and Palestinian officials pointing to a rising toll on young Palestinian men. The United Nations humanitarian office said at least 42 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the year, and that armed settlers were responsible for at least 11 of those fatalities.