Palestinian, Jordanian shot dead by Israeli troops

By Anees Bargouthi

JERUSALEM

Two men -- a Palestinian and a Jordanian -- were shot dead by Israeli forces on Friday during two separate alleged attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

According to the Israeli military, two Palestinians -- a man and a woman -- were shot and injured by Israeli troops after attempting to ram their vehicle into the entrance of the Jewish-only Kiryat Araba settlement in the southern West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry, for its part, said in a statement that the man had been killed and the woman seriously injured after being shot by Israeli troops near the West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil).

On the same day, a Jordanian man was shot dead after he allegedly attacked an Israeli police officer with a knife in occupied East Jerusalem, according to a statement released by the Israeli police.

"An assailant armed with a knife tried to stab an Israeli police officer at the Damascus Gate [outside Jerusalem’s Old City]," the statement read.

"Police at the scene shot the assailant, resulting in his death," it added.

Police identified the alleged attacker as a 28-year-old Jordanian national.

In a related development Thursday evening, a Palestinian man succumbed to injuries sustained earlier the same day during clashes with Israeli forces near Hebron, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

"Mohamed Saraheen, 30, was shot and injured by Israeli forces during clashes that occurred in the village of Beit Ola near Hebron," the ministry said in a statement.

"Saraheen later succumbed to his injuries at an Israeli hospital," it added.

Eyewitnesses, however, told Anadolu Agency that Saraheen had been arrested -- along with his father -- earlier the same day.

Tensions have soared in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories since an uptick in Israeli-Palestinian violence began almost one year ago.

Since October of last year, at least 237 Palestinians have been killed in the violence, according to official Palestinian figures.

The Jewish state, for its part, says at least 40 Israelis have been killed in violence over the same period.