Jerusalem - Israeli forces killed a
suspected Palestinian militant they were seeking to arrest after
he shot at them in the occupied West Bank, police and the
military said.
Police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld said the man was suspected
of carrying out two shooting attacks in the West Bank on
Saturday and opened fire at soldiers and policemen who had
tracked him down.
"The terrorist was found and surrounded, he pulled out his
weapons at them, and in response, the terrorist was killed,"
Rosenfeld said.
There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials.
The incident took place before dawn in the West Bank village
of Nabi Saleh, near the city of Ramallah, and no Israeli
casualties were reported. One man was lightly wounded in the
Saturday shooting, the Israeli military said.
A wave of Palestinian street attacks that began in 2015 has
slowed but has not stopped. At least 260 Palestinians and one
Jordanian citizen have been killed since the violence began.
Israel says at least 175 of those killed were carrying out
attacks while others died in clashes and protests.
Forty Israelis, two U.S. tourists and a British student have
been killed in Palestinian stabbings, shootings and
car-rammings. A few of the attacks had been carried out by Arab
Israeli citizens.
On Friday, two Israeli policemen were shot dead by three
Arab Israeli gunmen on the outskirts of one of Jerusalem's most
sacred sites, known as Noble Sanctuary to Muslims and Temple
Mount to Jews. The gunmen were all shot dead by
police.
Israel blames the violence on incitement by the Palestinian
leadership. The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited
self-rule in the West Bank, says desperation over the 50-year
occupation of land sought by Palestinians for a state is the
cause.
Palestinians want to establish an independent state in East
Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, territories Israel
captured in the 1967 Middle East war.