HALHUL: Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man on Tuesday after he allegedly fired at troops in the occupied West Bank, medical and military officials said.
The Palestinian health ministry said Hamdi Abu Dayyeh, 40, was killed "by Israeli occupation bullets" in the southern town of Halhul.
Israel's army said an assailant shot at soldiers, "who responded with live fire and neutralised him."
An AFP photographer saw the body of a man beside a military tower at the northern entrance to the town, before it was covered by soldiers.
A Palestinian woman said she was in a car with her family when gunfire erupted.
"We were on the road, people were moving around normally... the army kept firing, we got down under the seats," said Umm Amir Taqatqa, a resident of nearby Beit Fajjar.
The Halhul shooting raises the toll of Palestinians killed this month in the West Bank to 15, including civilians and fighters, according to an AFP tally.
The majority have been killed by Israeli forces, which have occupied the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War.
A surge in violence in 2022 made it the deadliest year in the West Bank since United Nations records began in 2005. At least 26 Israelis and 200 Palestinians were killed across Israel and the Palestinian territories last year, according to AFP figures. The majority of the fatalities were in the West Bank, while 49 Palestinians were killed in a three-day conflict in Gaza.
The West Bank, among areas where Palestinians seek statehood, has seen a surge in violence since Israel stepped up military sweeps in response to a spate of street attacks in its cities last year.
"The assailant fired at the soldiers, who responded with live fire and neutralised him," the Israeli military said, adding that no soldiers were wounded.
Before Tuesday's incident, 13 Palestinians had been killed in raids since the start of this year, including four teenagers, according to Palestinian officials. No Israeli soldiers have been killed in the operations. A Palestinian who stabbed a Jewish settler in the West Bank was shot dead in the same period. -- AFP
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