JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli reservist soldier killed a Palestinian man in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, the third Palestinian killed in the West Bank this week. Violence has surged in the territory as Israel intensifies its military presence because of the war across the region.
Amir Muhammad Shanaran, 28, was killed on Saturday and his brother Khaled was critically injured after a reservist soldier opened fire on Palestinians in the south Hebron Hills, according to the Israeli rights group Btselem.
It was the third time this week a Palestinian was killed. On Monday,Israeli settlers killed two Palestinian brothersin the northern West Bank village of Qaryout. Three others were also wounded by gunfire in the incident.
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The Israeli military said it responded to reports of a violent altercation between settlers and Palestinians on Saturday. According to an initial review, a reservist soldier opened fire, injuring two Palestinians, and one later died of his wounds. The military said it is investigating the incident.
Palestinians and rights groups say that Israeli authorities routinely fail to prosecute settlers or holdthem accountable for violence.
Saturday's incident took place in the Masafer Yatta region, a collection of Bedouin villages which was depicted in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. The documentarychronicles the struggleby residents to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages as well as Israeli settler violence against Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry on Saturday accused Israel of "exploiting the atmosphere of war" and the lack of international attention to issues in the West Bank to intensify intimidation, violence, and forced displacement.