Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank shot dead a Palestinian who attacked them during an overnight operation to arrest suspected militants, the army said on Tuesday. A Palestinian rights group said the man was shot in his home at point blank range, calling it an "execution."
A military statement said no soldiers were injured in the raid at Al-Fara refugee camp, north-east of the city of Nablus. "Overnight, an assailant, armed with a knife, attempted to stab soldiers on operational activity to arrest suspects," the statement said. "Forces called the attacker to halt and, upon his continued advance, fired toward him, resulting in his death." It added that others in the camp hurled explosives and shot at the soldiers.
Khaled Mansour, an official in the camp, identified the dead man as Mohammed al-Salhi, 32. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) called it an "execution," saying the shooting occurred inside Salhi's house in front of his mother. In a statement the group said Israeli soldiers raided the house and one "pulled out a gun with a silencer and directly fired five bullets at Mohammed at point-blank range."
Asked by AFP, the army denied it took place in the house but did not respond further to the PCHR allegations. The Palestinian Prisoners Club said Salhi had been jailed by Israel between 2004 and 2007 for being a member of a banned militant group linked to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. Since October 2015, 248 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed, according to an AFP count.