JERUSALEM, March 21, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A Palestinian was shot dead late Wednesday in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian medical sources said, with the Israeli army saying a soldier opened fire after Israeli cars were stoned.
The Palestinian health ministry said Ahmed Manasara, 26, was shot dead near a checkpoint close to Bethlehem, without providing further details.
The Israeli military said that a soldier had “opened fire after identifying rocks being thrown at Israeli vehicles.”
“The incident will be examined,” the army said in a statement early Thursday.
Official Palestinian news agency Wafa said Manasara was in the car when he was shot dead, with another Palestinian in the car seriously wounded.
Manasara’s death comes a day after two Palestinians were killed in clashes near Nablus as tensions in the West Bank rose ahead of the April 9 general elections in Israel.
Palestinian attacks against Israeli soldiers and settlers occur sporadically in the West Bank, under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Six-Day War.