HEBRON: Israeli troops killed a Palestinian driver in the occupied West Bank on Monday, officials on both sides said on the day US Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Tel Aviv for talks to urge a de-escalation in the deadly violence that has flared in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Nassim Naif Salman Abu Fouda, 26, died from “a bullet wound to the head fired by the occupation [Israeli] soldiers in Hebron this morning,” the Palestinian health ministry said.

The Israeli army said that soldiers had “identified a suspicious vehicle” and “asked the driver to stop the vehicle in order to inspect it.

“A soldier approached the vehicle and the driver rammed into his leg. The soldiers fired toward the vehicle as it attempted to flee the scene and hits were identified.

26-year-old man shot in West Bank; US secretary of state to hold talks with both sides

“The vehicle continued driving and then crashed,” the army statement said, adding that the driver was taken from the car by Palestinian medics and “was later declared dead”.

Abu Fouda is the 35th Palestinian killed in the conflict this month, in the occupied West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem — including militants, civilians and several children — according to an AFP tally based on official sources from both sides.

Over the same period six Israeli civilians, including a child, and one Ukrainian civilian have been killed. All were shot dead in the attack Friday outside the synagogue in an east Jerusalem settlement.

Blinken’s visit

Mr Blinken has arrived in Israel on the second leg of his Middle East tour, after meet ing Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and the country’s foreign minister in Cairo.

On arrival at Tel Aviv’s airport, Mr Blinken condemned those who celebrated the Jerusalem violence and “any other acts of terrorism that take innocent lives”.

“It’s the responsibility of everyone to take steps to calm tensions rather than inflame them,” he said.

“That is the only way to halt the rising tide of violence that has taken too many lives — too many Israelis, too many Palestinians.”

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2023