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By EMILY ROSE
JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian man who was shot by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank died of his wounds on Sunday, Palestinian officials said.
The Israeli military said soldiers came under attack “during routine security activity near the town of Jaba” in the northern West Bank on Saturday. It said Israeli forces fired at a man suspected of throwing a firebomb, and that the incident was under review.
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry identified the man as 19-year-old Kamel Abdallah Alwaneh from near the city of Jenin and condemned his killing.
Alwaneh’s death was the latest in a surge of deadly violence in the West Bank in recent months.
The Israeli military has conducted daily raids in Palestinian towns and villages in the wake of a series of deadly attacks by Palestinians that killed 19 Israelis, with several of the attackers coming from the Jenin area. Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military raids.
Most of the dead were alleged to have opened fire on Israeli forces or hurled stones or firebombs at them. The dead also include at least two apparent passersby.
Nearly 500,000 Israeli settlers live in more than 130 settlements scattered across the West Bank, alongside nearly 3 million Palestinians who live under Israeli military rule.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians seek it as the heartland of a future state. Israel views the West Bank as the biblical and historical heartland of the Jewish people.
The Palestinians and much of the international community consider Israel’s West Bank settlements a violation of international law and an obstacle to a peaceful resolution of the decades-long conflict.