JENIN: Israeli forces killed a Palestinian security officer during clashes in the occupied West Bank flashpoint city of Jenin on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the report. Earlier it said in a statement that its forces came under heavy Palestinian fire while seeking the arrest of security suspects in Jenin and returned fire at the gunmen.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party identified the officer as Ashraf Sheikh Ibrahim, saying he had died "as he confronted the aggression and the occupation's storming of the city of Jenin."
In another part of the West Bank on Monday, Jewish settlers inaugurated a seminary in an area that has been a focus of U.S. scrutiny, drawing Palestinian condemnation.
Most countries deem Israel's settlements illegal - a view Israel disputes. Palestinians say they eat away at the land they want for a future state and cite growing violence by settlers.
Abbas said Homesh must be removed. "Statements of condemnation are no longer enough in the face of the (Israeli) extremist right-wing government," said his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
In a bid to quell international concern, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel has no intention of building any new settlements as his nationalist-religious government has vowed to bolster existing ones.
Two days ago, an Israeli settler shot dead a Palestinian man who the military said tried to carry out a stabbing attack in a settlement in the occupied West Bank.
The incident came as several European countries condemned Israeli demolitions and settler violence in the West Bank, which flared again as Palestinian farmers said Jewish settlers fired at them while they were working on their agricultural land.
The military said a suspect infiltrated the gated area in the southern West Bank near the city of Hebron on Friday morning and tried to stab a resident before being "neutralised". There were no Israeli casualties, it said.
The Palestinian health ministry said it was informed by the unit that coordinates civilian affairs with Israel that 28-year-old Alaa Qaysiyeh was shot dead "by the occupation" south of Hebron.
Israeli media said the incident occurred as people in the settlement of Teneh Omarim were gathering for prayers for the Jewish Shavuot festival. — Reuters
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