A Palestinian was gunned down Sunday by Israeli troops near a West Bank petrol station, amid heightened tensions sparked by recent settler violence.
The Palestinian died of gunshot wounds after troops opened fire on a “group of Palestinian assailants” accused of attacking an Israeli civilian. According to Palestine's Ma'an News, an Israeli army spokesperson said troops opened fire to “prevent the suspect from escaping.”
The Israeli civilian has been hospitalized with a light injury to the shoulder. Israeli media have reported the civilian was assaulted with a knife while filling his vehicle at the petrol station, though details of the incident remain murky.
The incident occurred amid simmering tension in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, after weeks of sporadic clashes involving Palestinians and Israeli settlers.
Tensions flared earlier this month when Israeli settlers allegedly torched a Palestinian home, burning alive a baby.
The United Nations recently reported that at least 120 attacks by Israeli settlers have been documented in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of this year.
More than a dozen other Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since January, including a Palestinian man who died after Israeli forces sprayed the interior of his home with gunfire. The death came a day after Israeli troops gunned down a Palestinian man in the West Bank village of Burkin.
Israeli forces routinely abuse human rights in the West Bank and Gaza, according to documents submitted to the International Criminal Court by the Palestinian Authority last month.