At least 84 Palestinians have died so far in 2023, making this year one of the bloodiest.
Israeli forces have shot dead a Palestinian man they say approached them with a knife drawn, the latest killing of a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of Yazan Omar Jamil Khasib, 23, who died “after the occupation”. [Israeli forces] opened fire on him at the northern entrance to the town of el-Bireh near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Friday.
None of the Israeli forces were injured.
The Israeli army later said its troops “found the suspect and asked him to identify himself.” They claimed the man then pulled a knife and Israeli forces opened fire and “neutralized” him, the army said in a statement, adding that the killing took place near Beitin, a Palestinian village near el-Bireh.
Since the beginning of this year, Israeli forces have killed at least 84 Palestinians, including children.
On Thursday, Israeli forces killed at least four Palestinians, one of whom was a teenager, in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. A week earlier, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in an attack in Jenin, and less than 48 hours later six more were killed in another attack in the same city.
In January, Israeli soldiers killed nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, in a major operation in the Jenin refugee camp.
Palestinian attacks on Israelis resulted in 14 deaths in 2023.
Friday’s killing of the 23-year-old adds to the current bloodshed and sets 2023 up for one of the worst years of violence in the Palestinian territories in years.
More than 170 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem throughout 2022, making last year the deadliest in the occupied territories since 2004, according to human rights group B’Tselem.
According to news reports, 30 Israelis died during the same period in 2022.