RAMALLAH, PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (AFP) – A Palestinian died yesterday after being shot in the stomach by Israeli forces during what the army described as a counter-extremism operation in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 27-year-old Mahmud Fayez Abu Ayhour was killed in Halhul, north of the flashpoint city of Hebron. The Red Crescent had earlier reported several injuries following unrest in Halhul.
The army told AFP security forces “conducted counter-terrorism activities to confiscate terror funds in the town of Halhul”.
It said the operation was concentrated in a store “suspected of being a focal point” for resources linked to the Hamas extremist group that controls the Gaza Strip but also has a presence in the West Bank.
In recent weeks, the Israeli army has been conducting near daily operations across the West Bank, making multiple arrests.
The most recent operation, conducted overnight, involved nine arrests, the army said.
Forty Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank – suspected militants but also non-combatants, including an Al Jazeera journalist who was covering a raid in Jenin and bystanders.
Separately in Gaza yesterday, the army reported that gunshots fired from the Israeli-blockaded strip landed in a field inside Israel. No one was injured.
